'Acts of grace': Portuguese monarchs and their subjects of African descentin eighteenth-century Brazil

This article examines direct appeals to Portuguese monarchs and how this ex trajudicial option was invoked by slaves and free persons of African descen t in colonial Brazil. It also addresses the production and content of appea ls and what these reflect of the lives of Afro-Brazilians, relations betwee n slave and owner, manumissions, judicial and individual abuse of women and popular perceptions and expectations of a monarch. The pros and cons of th is appellate recourse are discussed in the context of colonial governance a nd of how royal acts of private justice reinforced the moral authority of m onarchs, the sacred quality of monarchy and those personal qualities of mag nanimity and compassion associated with the ideal of kingship.