Antonio Conselheiro

Antonio Counselor (1830-1897) was a religious leader and the founder of the Belo Monte village, better known as Canudos.

He was considered a religious fanatic at the time he lived, as this was a way for the republican government to justify the massacre perpetrated against his followers.

Biography of Antônio Conselheiro

Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel, known as Antônio Conselheiro, was born on March 13, 1830, in the current city of Quixeramobim, Ceará.

His father was a merchant and his mother died when he was six years old. Both wanted their son to be a priest, a way that people without economic conditions had to study and rise socially.

Antônio learned to read and write, and was a reader of stories about saints, knights and mystics who circulated in the sertão. He read a lot, including authors banned by the Inquisition.

Unable to enter a religious seminary, he ended up helping his father in the family store. When he passed away, he decides to go on a pilgrimage through the hinterland with his wife and mother-in-law.

In this nomadic life, he has various occupations as a teacher, clerk and clerk. He circulated through the hinterland of Bahia, Sergipe and Pernambuco, and his fame spread. In this way, he earned the nickname “Counselor” recognition that he was a wise man and that he helped those in need.

He was wrongly accused of murder and is imprisoned. When he gets out of prison, he decides to go out into the northeastern hinterland collecting stones to rebuild churches and meet the “unfortunate”.

Antônio Conselheiro's followers were made up of former slaves, dispossessed indigenous people and exploited workers. With his faithful, more and more numerous, he builds churches, dams, bridges, cemeteries and his authority grows.

He leaves the life of a pilgrim and settles in the village called Canudos which is renamed Belo Monte.

There he leads a community that would become a problem for local and national authorities. To put an end to the bad example of Canudos, the federal government carries out a real massacre, putting an end to the Councilor's place and life.

Life in Straws

It is estimated that Canudos gathered 30,000 people in around 5,200 houses.

There, the "counselors", as the inhabitants were called, enjoyed the goods produced in a communal way. There was a common box to support the sick and the fruit of the work was shared among all.

The place was described as a promised land where there were “rivers of milk and the ravines were of corn couscous ”.

People were touched by Antônio Conselheiro's words because they understood that it was a path that would lead them to material and spiritual progress, contrary to what happened when they listened to traditional preachers.

War of Straws

The Canudos War must be understood in the context of the newly proclaimed Republic that further excluded the poor from Brazilian society. Another conflict with the same characteristics took place in the south, the Contestado War.

Belo Monte became a problem for the Bahian government, as the inhabitants did not pay taxes and the farms lost their cheap labor.

Faced with the growth of the Belo Monte village, the Bahian authorities are beginning to worry. First, some religious missionaries try to break up the camp peacefully.

However, they cannot make the "counselors" disperse, as they declare that they do not need the help of the priests and the traditional Church.

Faced with the impasse, three army expeditions are carried out to end the Arraial de Belo Monte. The fight was hard and bloody, and ended with the complete destruction of the village on October 5, 1897.

Fun facts about Antônio Conselheiro

• To this day there are temples built by Antônio Conselheiro as the headquarters of Crisópolis/BA.
• Actually, there were three camps in Canudos. Currently, the second of them is flooded by the Cocorobó Dam and in times of drought it is possible to see the ruins of the church.
• The Canudos War was covered by Sao Paulo State reporter Euclides da Cunha. The report gave rise to the book "Os Sertões".