«¿Qué fue de José Custodio?». Un ingeniero dieciochesco en la frontera de los imperios iberoamericanos

Abstract

The Portuguese José Custodio de Sá e Faria was one of the most prominent engineers of the second half of the eighteenth century in the South American region, first in Brazil and then in the Rio de la Plata. His presence in Santa Catarina Island during the Spanish conquest of 1777 proved to be decisive in the course of his life, inasmuch he left together with the Spanish army and never returned to Lusitanian territory, becoming suspicious for many Brazilian historians.In this paper we analyze the role of José Custodio during the Spanish invasion of the island, the accusations and recriminations from which he was subjected by the Viceroy Lavradio and later historiography, Cevallos viceroy’s tactics in order to lure him into the Charles III’s service, the reasons which persuaded him to want to join it, and finally his fate at the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata.