To Serve God in Holy Freedom

This book presents one of the first accounts of Christianity in colonial India by a nun. Set in Goa in the early eighteenth century, this translation of Soror Magdalena’s account from Portuguese brings to life a watershed moment in the politics of Christian faith in early colonial India.

The volume recounts the nuns’ rebellion against the then Archbishop of Goa, Dom Frei Ignaçio de Santa Teresa. In their account they accused him of mistreating the nuns and implored the Superior General and the King of Portugal to replace him. It sketches the intricate relationships between the nuns themselves, the clerical and secular authorities, the fidalgos and the lower classes, Hindus and Catholics, and nuns and priests. It goes on to discuss the convent’s finances and the controversies surrounding them, the politics of the Church, as well as contemporary preoccupations with miracles and demons.

Expertly annotated and introduced by Daniel Michon and David Addison Smith, this book is key to understanding Portuguese colonial rule in India. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of South Asian studies, Portuguese studies, religion, especially Christianity, and colonialism.