3 - The Fabric of Dissent

Summary

This chapter reconstructs Vicente Nogueira’s Inquisitorial trial, recovering the many political and religious motivations which lay behind it. Inquisitorial sources provide an opportunity to reflect on the interplay between Nogueira’s religious and sexual identities. Tried by the Inquisition for sodomy, Nogueira conceived his trial and subsequent exile as opportunities to reflect on his social statuses as someone who belonged to diverse intellectual, ecclesiastical, political and emotional communities. Despite the personal challenges posed by the trial and forced migration, these experiences ultimately provided Nogueira with more resources and greater public exposure as a mercenary of knowledge. Between his cell in Lisbon and the sugar mills of northern Brazil, Nogueira witnessed a set of conflicts that gave him access to the most unexpected spaces of the Republic of Letters.