Documentary evidence in early modern Portugal and overseas : a window to literacy practices

Court files have provided a great revolution in the way we consider written culture in Modernity. Significantly, many testimonies brought into the light of our days are undeniable evidence of literacy among segments of the population traditionally placed in the shadows (Lyons 2010). The handwritten productions that we can find in civil, ecclesiastic and inquisitorial cases allow us to reconstruct more than just communication mechanisms outside the law. In fact, their search, seizure, handling and archiving are essential for understanding their use as documentary evidence. Moreover, such writings also provide personal perceptions about human relations, the everyday life and the impact of certain historical events. It is my purpose to discuss at what level personal informal manuscripts could be used as incriminatory evidence, the several roles they played even beyond the legal disputes, and how the modern researcher can explore this sources to study the literacy competence in the early modern Portuguese empire.