Panel 13: Making the Missions Possible: Religious Agents, Exchanges, and Materialities on the Move (EN)

Chair:

Isabel Murta Pina, CCCM

Maria João Pereira Coutinho, CCM & IHA-NOVA FCSH

This panel focuses on religious agents responsible for the material and logistical dimensions of Catholic missions outside Europe during the Early Modern period. These were key actors who made missions possible in distant regions. The papers should contribute to broadening our understanding of the economic and financial mechanisms that enabled the circulation of people, goods, and knowledge during this time, the networks created and intersected, and the exchanges that took place. In this regard, we seek new insights and perspectives on the history of missions in a global context from the perspective of these agents. This panel aims to explore this group of actors, considering the following aspects, among others:

• identifying these 'temporal agents';
• understanding the multiple roles they played;
• assessing their skills and training;
• defining their ideal profile(s);
• comprehending the forms of coordination among them and within missionary hierarchies;
• identifying their support networks beyond the religious dimension;
• reflecting on the ethical issues they faced and the conflicts in which they were involved;
• examining the dynamics of corruption and power;
• assessing the processes and practices of accounting and recordkeeping;
• and finally, considering these individuals' dual religious and economic-financial roles.

Keywords: Religious Agents; Missions’ Finances and Administration; Materialities; extra-European Missions; Networks