Memory, manuscript culture and orality in the portuguese franciscan chronicles during the Early Modern Times

This article analyses the role played by manuscrits and even by orality as means of knowledge and memory among the Franciscans in Portugal and in the different contexts of the Portuguese Empire during the early modern times. It considers the strategies developed in order to build a Franciscan memory, namely through the writing of chronicles and histories related to the Portuguese Franciscan Provinces. First, it analyses some elements concerning those texts’s production and their manuscript circulation during the 17th century. Secondly, it examines the schorlaly practices which shaped the writing of chronicles among the Portuguese Franciscans.

Keywords:
Franciscans; memory; manuscript culture