Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

38 THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC
and that therefore syncretism was real, not faked. Others have adopted a more Afrocentric view, pleading
that deception was maintained over time and up to the present. They feel confirmed by the fact that many
contemporary candomblé leaders now advocate a strict separation between candomblé and Catholicism.
That is however a recent development and does not constitute any evidence that syncretism did not occur in
the past.
On the contrary, what is striking about candomblé adepts up to the 1970s at least, is not only their ease in
proclaiming their Christian faith, but also their active role within that religion. Research has shown that key
figures of the candomblé world in Bahia, such as mãe Aninha and Martiniano do Bomfim, were also influential
members of Catholic brotherhoods. 33 Rather than assuming permanent deception on the part of thousands of
candomblé practitioners over generations, I find the idea that both religions did coexist more convincing. It
has also been argued that polytheist African religions can easily integrate new gods without necessarily
altering their whole systems. By contrast, a monotheist religion loses its internal coherence by adopting new
gods. Therefore candomblé adepts could worship the ‘new’ saints without feeling that they were betraying
the gods of their ancestors. In this case the process of merging different religious traditions consisted rather
in juxtapositions and convergences than in a real fusion. The term syncretism therefore needs to be broken
down in order to refine further the analysis of such complex phenomena. 34
So if it is possible to identify areas of slave and Afro-Brazilian culture characterized by a strong—even
though never exclusive—African heritage, it is also important to acknowledge by the same token that this was
not always possible or desired and involved only a segment of slaves and free Afro-Brazilians, mainly in
and around the cities or eventually in major maroon communities. In general, the most popular forms were
and are highly syncretic, merging a wide range of traditions. Even the cult houses considered most ‘pure’ or
‘traditional’ survived only through re-inventions and concessions to the dominant faith. On the other hand,
one might argue that in doing so they possibly all adopted a quite ‘African’ posture, which considered that
it was better to add different spiritual forces rather than to oppose them.
It is also crucial to underline that syncretism did not occur only with an abstract Roman Catholicism, but
also or even more so with a much wider range of beliefs and practices related to European medieval
traditions of mysticism (including the Jewish Caballa) and pagan Iberian elements, and, last but not least,
some native American traditions that eventually survived the ethnocide, such as catimbó and pajelança. In
other words, Portuguese popular religion and culture were already ‘syncretic’ before arriving in the
Americas, and this eased subsequent creolization processes. The same holds for the Africans from the
Kongo/ Angola region deported to the Americas. The Manicongo, or king of Kongo had converted to
Christianity as early as 1491, and subsequently many of his subjects became Christians. The pope
consecrated a Kongolese prince as the first black bishop in 1518. 35 In the Portuguese colonies of Angola
and Benguela, Catholicism was also imposed on the Africans, and was adopted even by long-time
opponents of European expansionism such as the famous queen Njinga. 36 The expansion of the Christian
faith into the region was accompanied by substantial adaptations and re-arrangements. In fact, the Catholic
hierarchy often despaired over the Africanization of religious practices. In other words, syncretism between
Catholicism and native religions already occurred in Africa, even before Angolans were shipped over to the
Americas. And creolization was not limited to the religious domain alone. As Linda Heywood asserts:
‘Whatever may have been the circumstances of their capture and enslavement, what most of the enslaved
Africans who came through the Portuguese-controlled coastal ports of Luanda and Benguela in the
eighteenth century had in common was some exposure to the Afro-Lusitanian culture.’ 37 Since creolization
was not restricted to the Americas, but occured on both sides of the Atlantic, the distinction between
African and creole is less meaningful than often assumed.