Entre o arcabuz e a forca: as controvérsias jurídicas no julgamento dos líderes militares da Sabinada pelo Tribunal da Relação do Rio de Janeiro (1838-1840)

Abstract

This thesis aims to reveal the main legal aspects of the judgment of the twelve main military leaders of Sabinada (1837-1838) by the Court of Relation of Rio de Janeiro (1840), in order to understand the fundamentals of the decision that sentenced them to death. To do so, we analyzed the defendant’s legal process, which began in 1838, based on the assumption that Brazilian military justice, during the Regency Period, was still essentially conducted by the legal rules of Ancien Régime, clearly mismatching the ideals of modernity propagated by our ruling elite. From this discussion, we demonstrate how the Court solved the controversy concerning the competent jurisdiction to judge the defendants: central issue of the trial