Portuguese and Brazilian historiography in the twentieth century turned the archbishop of Bahia, D. José Botelho de Mattos (1678-1767), into a champion of the resistance against the reformation policies of King José and his minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo. This article attempts first to analyze this historiographic construction and search its origins. Then, based on a wide scope of original documents, it seeks to draft a new interpretation of Botelho de Mattos' role as regards the Jesuits' expulsion from Bahia in 1760, as well of the true reasons for his resignation.
Expulsion of the Jesuits; Church and state in Brazil seventeenth century; History and memory