Marcos de Noronha e Brito, 8th Count of Arcos

D. Marcos de Noronha e Brito, 8th Count of Arcos (7 July 1771 – 6 May 1828) was a Portuguese nobleman and colonial administrator who served as the last Viceroy of Brazil. He ruled from 21 August (or 14 October) 1806 to 22 January 1808, when Prince Regent John arrived in the city of Salvador, transferring the seat of the Portuguese monarchy to Brazil.Recôncavo rebelde: revoltas escravas nos engenhos baianos

He had been sent to Brazil to occupy the position of governor and captain general of the provinces of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro. Called back to Rio de Janeiro, he replaced Fernando José de Portugal e Castro as viceroy of Brazil. In 1808, with the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil, he was transferred to Bahia as governor.

There he established the first printing press and printed the newspaper Idade d'Ouro do Brazil (Golden Age of Brazil), created the public library, completed the São João Theater and the customs wharf, in addition to installing a postal line to Maranhão.

During the Pernambuco revolt of 1817, he helped in the repression of rebels, some of whom were hanged.

Appointed Minister of the Navy and Overseas, he moved again to Rio de Janeiro. With the return of John VI to Portugal, he remained in Brazil, in charge of the affairs of the Kingdom and Foreigners portfolio, he was Minister of Affairs of the Kingdom of Brazil.

Soon after the Dia do Fico, emperor Pedro I fired him and sent him to Portugal, at the request of the troops, who could not stand the treatment he had given them.

His rule was characterized by the severe persecution of smugglers and an effort to clean up the administration of justice.

While alive, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Benedict of Aviz and of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He was commander of the Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Viçosa and commander of Santa Maria da Vila do Rei, in the Order of Christ.

Biography He began his military career as a cadet in the Cais Cavalry Regiment in November 1796, becoming a captain the following year.

Governor of Bahia He assumed the government of Bahia in 1810, after the death of the Count of Ponte in 1809, ruling the captaincy for eight years (1810-1818) and was described as an energetic man, influenced by new ideas. The Count of Arcos was responsible for achievements in education. During his government, schools were created.

Education

His period as governor was good for the education in Bahia. the Count of Arcos was responsible for creating schools and classes. In all, 25 chairs of literacy and 11 of Latin grammar were created. He also received authorization to open the Archepiscopal Seminary.

One of his first achievements in education was the creation of the commerce class, in 1810, the same year he assumed the government. In the commerce class, bookkeepers were trained and chairs of public instruction were created. A year later, on 15 July 1811, the Praça do Comércio was founded, which concentrated commercial and mercantile buildings. The idea was suggested by judge Brito and other men. The Praça de Comércio was the beginning of the Commercial Association of Bahia, which still exists today.

Another course created under his supervision was agriculture, due to the need of the captaincy. At the time, the captaincy of Bahia was the second most important in the country, thanks to its port, through which sugar and tobacco were exported. The course was created by an order of the Royal Court, through a royal charter dated 25 June 1812, so that the inhabitants could learn how to take care of the soil, as agriculture was a great source of the national income. The Court also established that the course should be similar to those given by the other captaincies. In the Agriculture course, the cultivation of plants used by amerindians, exotic or already known, was studied, such as hemp and linen. Mulberry trees and spices from Asia were also studied. Domingos Borges de Barros was the professor appointed for the course, as he had made many trips - including to the University of Coimbra, in Portugal - and gained knowledge in the area. He was also named director of the Botanical Gardens. Because of this, there was a great proximity between the agriculture classes and the Botanical Garden itself.

A year after the royal charter for the creation of the course, on 28 July 1813, a declaration with the indigenous medicinal products studied in each captaincy was requested, which the governors should attest to the quality and quantity of the products to be used to treat sick people at the Royal Military Court Hospital. The costs of extracting the products and who was trafficking them should also be reported. The information was passed on to the court through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and War.

With the creation of the agriculture class, activities were developed in the area in addition to those requested by the Royal Court. An example was the work of Antônio Moniz de Souza, who was a recognized botanist at the time. In 1817, he traveled through the backlands of Bahia and brought exotic plants to the Count of Arcos. The plants were evaluated by the professor of theoretical chemistry Sebastião Navarro de Andrade, a course created in 1817 at the Colégio Médico-Cirúrgico. With proof that the discoveries were valuable, the Count of Arcos called Moniz de Souza, offering his protection so that the botanist could go to Europe to study natural history and bring his observations back with him.

A drawing class was also created, which was administered by the governor himself.

Music classes were created by the Count of Palma, the governor who succeeded the Count of Arcos, on 30 March 1818. At the time, although the captaincy was no longer under his jurisdiction, the Count attested to the need to create the class due to "the decay of teaching".

Creation of the public library On 13 May 1811, Noronha e Brito founded the Public Library of Bahia. The initiative came from Pedro Gomes Ferrão Castelo Branco, Alexandre Gomes Ferrão and Francisco Agostinho Gomes, who were used to reading books from France on philosophy and politics in Masonic clubs. Enlightenment ideas were discussed. For the creation of the library, colonel Pedro Gomes Ferrão Castelo Branco presented an administrative plan for the institution. The plan was approved by the Count of Arcos and the library was established. It was the first public library created in Brazil, as those existing in convents until then were private and the Royal Library of Rio de Janeiro was created in Lisbon and had its headquarters transferred to Rio de Janeiro.

When the library opened, there were donations of books, including from the governor himself. However, the copies of the Count of Arcos were only borrowed, as he withdrew his books when the library moved to the cathedral. In 1817, when the Count of Arcos was about to leave the government of Bahia, the library began to lose the attention and care it had at first.

Press In addition to improvements in education, there was the development of the press. The Idade d'Ouro do Brazil was the first newspaper printed in Bahia, approved by the prince regent and the Count of Arcos. The first edition was printed on 14 May 1811.

Upon seeing the first publication, the governor tried to establish rules for the press. In the ordinance of 5 May 1811, the Count of Arcos established that newspaper editors should tell political news in a simple way, announcing the facts without bringing reflections that could directly or indirectly influence public opinion. At the time, the press had a doctrinal character. The Count of Arcos attested that:

São João theater The construction of the São João theater was initiated in 1806, during the government of the Count of Ponte (1805-1810), predecessor of the Count of Arcos. However, it was only completed during the government of the Count of Arcos. At the time, it was noticed that the theater's shareholders' contribution was not sufficient to pay for the expenses, and the collection of the lottery was instituted. The royal charter of 27 January 1809 established that all lottery income should be transformed into benefits for the theater itself for a period of six years. In January 1811, the Count of Arcos was responsible for receiving the lottery income. Lotteries started to be advertised in the newspaper Idade d'Ouro do Brazil.

Slavery Noronha e Brito believed that slave masters were too strict and petty for punishing their slaves with unnecessary rigor, forcing them to work too much, feeding them poorly, and giving them minimal leisure. For him, slaves were "uneasy" due to mistreatment. Therefore, he encouraged the festivities held by slaves, unlike their masters. The Count of Arcos chose to deal with slaves through deterrence. In his view, when the slaves practiced their religions, they would come into conflict with each other, since the African ethnic plurality was enormous, which was also reflected in Brazil. He believed this to be a better option than inducing the practice of Christianity among them, as that could lead to unity and possibly rebellions. The Count of Arcos also believed that slavery was a necessary evil that could be alleviated by making it more bearable for the slaves.

In some cases, the Count encouraged disagreements among African peoples. He supported the jejê-nagô brotherhood of Barroquinha and the brotherhood of the Martírios, causing discord with the Angolan brotherhood Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, which was prominent among them. His goal was to exploit existing rivalries to prevent them all from uniting against the government.

It was with his support that the brotherhood of Barroquinha managed to build a noble hall attached to its temple. The temple also gained more equipment and increased in size. The meetings, which were prohibited by the previous governor, the Count of Ponte, became legal by the Count of Arcos and, therefore, had a substantial improvement even in their structures.

His policy in dealing with slavery displeased the local nobles. They wrote a letter to the king to demonstrate their displeasures. During his rule, there were at least three slave revolts in the captaincy. In the letter, they mentioned that the rebels had achieved the union of various ethnic groups, contrary to the Count's policy that the free practice of their customs would separate them. They commented that the uprisings were violent, noting that 150 houses were burned by the rebels and more than 50 people were killed. They also asserted that slaves could not be treated well, as "fear and punishment are the only means of doing them well".

The Count of Arcos paid little attention to the nobles. For him, the masters' fear and discontent was based on the very remorse they felt for daily mistreating their slaves. With this, the nobles held a meeting with the aim of removing Marcos de Noronha from power. Despite the support of the Military Commander of Bahia, brigadier Felisberto Caldeira Brant, future Marquis of Barbacena, the nobles were not prepared to carry out a coup d'état. Brant proved to be a strong opponent of the Conde of Arcos on the slave issue, as he wrote to the court in Rio de Janeiro that the governor should change his guidelines and ban slave parties, which were known as batuques. He claimed that the Count of Arcos seemed unable to "write or say a syllable against blacks". His discontent reached the level of personally going to Rio de Janeiro, seat of the court, to protest in favor of the slave owners in Bahia. There he obtained an order from the government with basic measures for the treatment of slaves. When Brant returned to Bahia, the Count of Arcos imprisoned him for a few days because of his audacity. Afterwards, the two reconciled to fight the Pernambuco Revolt of 1817, which demanded the independence of Brazil.