Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças

Marcus Baccega

doi:doi:10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

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Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças

Marcus Baccega^*

Published in History Research (Volume 13, Issue 1)

Received: 22 April 2025 Accepted: 8 May 2025 Published: 16 June 2025

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Abstract

This paper aims at analysing the mediaeval traits and long-term inheritances pertaining to popular feasts called cheganças, in the Northeastern part of Brazil, and cavalhadas, in the country’s hinterland. These popular culture celebrations are annually held in some small and even somewhat pitoresque towns and villages throughout Brazil and evince the land’s strong mediaeval bequest. In these popular culture events, two cohorts of knights act out a sort of scenic combat, performing a joust between Muslims and Christians, which sets forth the profound Crusade spirit in the conquest of Portuguese America. We as well endeavour to postulate a long-term historiographic explanation for this ancestral patrimony still flourishing in the countryside. Henceforth, Luis Weckmann’s idea of a mediaeval heritage in Hispanic and Postuguese America, along with Werneck Sodré’s concept of a late Feudalism shall be mobilized in order to explain such immaterial patrimony. The paper attempts to address this intriguing cultural phenomenon from the point of view of Cultural History, interlarded with long-term political and macroeconomic issues, which brings us close to Karl Marx’s and Antonio Gramsci’s idea of a total analysis. From this scientific point of view, symbolic elements shall be highlighted and decipherd in order to set forth Brazilian mediaeval heritage. Henceforth, we do not pinpoint some elements of potential interest, such us tourism around the cavalhadas and cheganças, or microeconomic aspects surrounding the ineluctable commerce developing in these areas of Brazil. This would indeed surpass our goals in the present text. Along the explanation, we approach the origin of the popular feasts, which first came about merged with the celebrations of the Holy Spirit in Portugal and Leon. As a matter of fact, we advocate that the conquest and colonization of Potuguese America was a late-feudal process. Lastly, we endeavour to evince the late-feudal background of these cultural manifestations, thus proposing an innovative regard concerning what we could name profound Brazilian culture and long-term remains. In this regard, we affirm the binding of the cavalhadas and cheganças to the chevaleresque ideal of Crusade in Late Middle Ages. After all, we may state that this research is relevant in terms of exploring the profound roots of Brazilian, and Latin American in general, genuine culture, which endows us with the necessary knowledge not only to understand the pathways of Brazilian historical process, yet also to build up a rather promising future, based upon the singularity of the region’s past.

Published in	History Research (Volume 13, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
Page(s)	15-25
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cavalhadas and Cheganças, Mediaeval Heritage, Brazil

References

[1]	AGOSTINHO, Pedro. Império e Cavalaria na Guerra do Contestado. In: Ilha, V. 4, N. 2: Florianópolis, Dezembro de 2002, pp. 25-49.
[2]	CASCUDO, Luís da Câmara. Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro. São Paulo: Editora Global, 2012.
[3]	CORTESÃO, Jaime. O sentido da cultura em Portugal no século XV. In: Os factores democráticos na formação de Portugal. Lisboa: Portugália, 1966.
[4]	FERNANDEZ, Fernando Carmona. Conquistadores, utopía y libros de caballería. Revista de Filologia Románica, Madrid, N. 10, 1993.
[5]	FRANCO JÚNIOR, Hilário. Raízes Medievais do Brasil. In: Revista da USP, N. 78, São Paulo: Junho-agosto 2008, pp. 80-104.
[6]	GRAMSCI, Antonio. Quaderni del Carcere, Q3, §34. Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 1977.
[7]	HOLANDA, Sérgio Buarque de. Raízes do Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2025.
[8]	MACEDO, José Rivair. Mouros e cristãos: a ritualização da conquista no Velho e no Novo Mundo. In: Métis: História & Cultura, V. 3, N. 6, jul/dez. 2004, pp. 129-151.
[9]	MARX, Karl. Zur Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Berlin: Holzinger, 2014.
[10]	PRADO JÚNIOR, Caio. Formação do Brasil Contemporâneo. São Paulo: Editora Brasiliense, 1998.
[11]	QUEIROZ, Maria Isaura Pereira de. O Messianismo: no Brasil e no mundo. São Paulo: EDUSP, 2003.
[12]	SODRÉ, Nelson Werneck. Formação Histórica do Brasil. São Paulo: Editora Brasiliense, 1963.
[13]	WECKMANN, Luís. La herencia medieval del Brasil. Ciudad de México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2001.

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Baccega, M. (2025). Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. History Research, 13(1), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

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ACS Style

Baccega, M. Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. Hist. Res. 2025, 13(1), 15-25. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

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AMA Style

Baccega M. Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. Hist Res. 2025;13(1):15-25. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

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@article{10.11648/j.history.20251301.14,
  author = {Marcus Baccega},
  title = {Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças
},
  journal = {History Research},
  volume = {13},
  number = {1},
  pages = {15-25},
  doi = {10.11648/j.history.20251301.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20251301.14},
  abstract = {This paper aims at analysing the mediaeval traits and long-term inheritances pertaining to popular feasts called cheganças, in the Northeastern part of Brazil, and cavalhadas, in the country’s hinterland. These popular culture celebrations are annually held in some small and even somewhat pitoresque towns and villages throughout Brazil and evince the land’s strong mediaeval bequest. In these popular culture events, two cohorts of knights act out a sort of scenic combat, performing a joust between Muslims and Christians, which sets forth the profound Crusade spirit in the conquest of Portuguese America. We as well endeavour to postulate a long-term historiographic explanation for this ancestral patrimony still flourishing in the countryside. Henceforth, Luis Weckmann’s idea of a mediaeval heritage in Hispanic and Postuguese America, along with Werneck Sodré’s concept of a late Feudalism shall be mobilized in order to explain such immaterial patrimony. The paper attempts to address this intriguing cultural phenomenon from the point of view of Cultural History, interlarded with long-term political and macroeconomic issues, which brings us close to Karl Marx’s and Antonio Gramsci’s idea of a total analysis. From this scientific point of view, symbolic elements shall be highlighted and decipherd in order to set forth Brazilian mediaeval heritage. Henceforth, we do not pinpoint some elements of potential interest, such us tourism around the cavalhadas and cheganças, or microeconomic aspects surrounding the ineluctable commerce developing in these areas of Brazil. This would indeed surpass our goals in the present text. Along the explanation, we approach the origin of the popular feasts, which first came about merged with the celebrations of the Holy Spirit in Portugal and Leon. As a matter of fact, we advocate that the conquest and colonization of Potuguese America was a late-feudal process. Lastly, we endeavour to evince the late-feudal background of these cultural manifestations, thus proposing an innovative regard concerning what we could name profound Brazilian culture and long-term remains. In this regard, we affirm the binding of the cavalhadas and cheganças to the chevaleresque ideal of Crusade in Late Middle Ages. After all, we may state that this research is relevant in terms of exploring the profound roots of Brazilian, and Latin American in general, genuine culture, which endows us with the necessary knowledge not only to understand the pathways of Brazilian historical process, yet also to build up a rather promising future, based upon the singularity of the region’s past.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças

AU  - Marcus Baccega
Y1  - 2025/06/16
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
T2  - History Research
JF  - History Research
JO  - History Research
SP  - 15
EP  - 25
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-6719
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
AB  - This paper aims at analysing the mediaeval traits and long-term inheritances pertaining to popular feasts called cheganças, in the Northeastern part of Brazil, and cavalhadas, in the country’s hinterland. These popular culture celebrations are annually held in some small and even somewhat pitoresque towns and villages throughout Brazil and evince the land’s strong mediaeval bequest. In these popular culture events, two cohorts of knights act out a sort of scenic combat, performing a joust between Muslims and Christians, which sets forth the profound Crusade spirit in the conquest of Portuguese America. We as well endeavour to postulate a long-term historiographic explanation for this ancestral patrimony still flourishing in the countryside. Henceforth, Luis Weckmann’s idea of a mediaeval heritage in Hispanic and Postuguese America, along with Werneck Sodré’s concept of a late Feudalism shall be mobilized in order to explain such immaterial patrimony. The paper attempts to address this intriguing cultural phenomenon from the point of view of Cultural History, interlarded with long-term political and macroeconomic issues, which brings us close to Karl Marx’s and Antonio Gramsci’s idea of a total analysis. From this scientific point of view, symbolic elements shall be highlighted and decipherd in order to set forth Brazilian mediaeval heritage. Henceforth, we do not pinpoint some elements of potential interest, such us tourism around the cavalhadas and cheganças, or microeconomic aspects surrounding the ineluctable commerce developing in these areas of Brazil. This would indeed surpass our goals in the present text. Along the explanation, we approach the origin of the popular feasts, which first came about merged with the celebrations of the Holy Spirit in Portugal and Leon. As a matter of fact, we advocate that the conquest and colonization of Potuguese America was a late-feudal process. Lastly, we endeavour to evince the late-feudal background of these cultural manifestations, thus proposing an innovative regard concerning what we could name profound Brazilian culture and long-term remains. In this regard, we affirm the binding of the cavalhadas and cheganças to the chevaleresque ideal of Crusade in Late Middle Ages. After all, we may state that this research is relevant in terms of exploring the profound roots of Brazilian, and Latin American in general, genuine culture, which endows us with the necessary knowledge not only to understand the pathways of Brazilian historical process, yet also to build up a rather promising future, based upon the singularity of the region’s past.

VL  - 13
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Marcus Baccega

Department of History, Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís Do Maranhão, Brazil

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2195-5028

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APA Style

Baccega, M. (2025). Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. History Research, 13(1), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

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ACS Style

Baccega, M. Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. Hist. Res. 2025, 13(1), 15-25. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Baccega M. Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças. Hist Res. 2025;13(1):15-25. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.history.20251301.14,
  author = {Marcus Baccega},
  title = {Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças
},
  journal = {History Research},
  volume = {13},
  number = {1},
  pages = {15-25},
  doi = {10.11648/j.history.20251301.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20251301.14},
  abstract = {This paper aims at analysing the mediaeval traits and long-term inheritances pertaining to popular feasts called cheganças, in the Northeastern part of Brazil, and cavalhadas, in the country’s hinterland. These popular culture celebrations are annually held in some small and even somewhat pitoresque towns and villages throughout Brazil and evince the land’s strong mediaeval bequest. In these popular culture events, two cohorts of knights act out a sort of scenic combat, performing a joust between Muslims and Christians, which sets forth the profound Crusade spirit in the conquest of Portuguese America. We as well endeavour to postulate a long-term historiographic explanation for this ancestral patrimony still flourishing in the countryside. Henceforth, Luis Weckmann’s idea of a mediaeval heritage in Hispanic and Postuguese America, along with Werneck Sodré’s concept of a late Feudalism shall be mobilized in order to explain such immaterial patrimony. The paper attempts to address this intriguing cultural phenomenon from the point of view of Cultural History, interlarded with long-term political and macroeconomic issues, which brings us close to Karl Marx’s and Antonio Gramsci’s idea of a total analysis. From this scientific point of view, symbolic elements shall be highlighted and decipherd in order to set forth Brazilian mediaeval heritage. Henceforth, we do not pinpoint some elements of potential interest, such us tourism around the cavalhadas and cheganças, or microeconomic aspects surrounding the ineluctable commerce developing in these areas of Brazil. This would indeed surpass our goals in the present text. Along the explanation, we approach the origin of the popular feasts, which first came about merged with the celebrations of the Holy Spirit in Portugal and Leon. As a matter of fact, we advocate that the conquest and colonization of Potuguese America was a late-feudal process. Lastly, we endeavour to evince the late-feudal background of these cultural manifestations, thus proposing an innovative regard concerning what we could name profound Brazilian culture and long-term remains. In this regard, we affirm the binding of the cavalhadas and cheganças to the chevaleresque ideal of Crusade in Late Middle Ages. After all, we may state that this research is relevant in terms of exploring the profound roots of Brazilian, and Latin American in general, genuine culture, which endows us with the necessary knowledge not only to understand the pathways of Brazilian historical process, yet also to build up a rather promising future, based upon the singularity of the region’s past.
},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Crusade in the Hinterland: Mediaeval Heritage in Cavalhadas and Cheganças

AU  - Marcus Baccega
Y1  - 2025/06/16
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
T2  - History Research
JF  - History Research
JO  - History Research
SP  - 15
EP  - 25
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-6719
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20251301.14
AB  - This paper aims at analysing the mediaeval traits and long-term inheritances pertaining to popular feasts called cheganças, in the Northeastern part of Brazil, and cavalhadas, in the country’s hinterland. These popular culture celebrations are annually held in some small and even somewhat pitoresque towns and villages throughout Brazil and evince the land’s strong mediaeval bequest. In these popular culture events, two cohorts of knights act out a sort of scenic combat, performing a joust between Muslims and Christians, which sets forth the profound Crusade spirit in the conquest of Portuguese America. We as well endeavour to postulate a long-term historiographic explanation for this ancestral patrimony still flourishing in the countryside. Henceforth, Luis Weckmann’s idea of a mediaeval heritage in Hispanic and Postuguese America, along with Werneck Sodré’s concept of a late Feudalism shall be mobilized in order to explain such immaterial patrimony. The paper attempts to address this intriguing cultural phenomenon from the point of view of Cultural History, interlarded with long-term political and macroeconomic issues, which brings us close to Karl Marx’s and Antonio Gramsci’s idea of a total analysis. From this scientific point of view, symbolic elements shall be highlighted and decipherd in order to set forth Brazilian mediaeval heritage. Henceforth, we do not pinpoint some elements of potential interest, such us tourism around the cavalhadas and cheganças, or microeconomic aspects surrounding the ineluctable commerce developing in these areas of Brazil. This would indeed surpass our goals in the present text. Along the explanation, we approach the origin of the popular feasts, which first came about merged with the celebrations of the Holy Spirit in Portugal and Leon. As a matter of fact, we advocate that the conquest and colonization of Potuguese America was a late-feudal process. Lastly, we endeavour to evince the late-feudal background of these cultural manifestations, thus proposing an innovative regard concerning what we could name profound Brazilian culture and long-term remains. In this regard, we affirm the binding of the cavalhadas and cheganças to the chevaleresque ideal of Crusade in Late Middle Ages. After all, we may state that this research is relevant in terms of exploring the profound roots of Brazilian, and Latin American in general, genuine culture, which endows us with the necessary knowledge not only to understand the pathways of Brazilian historical process, yet also to build up a rather promising future, based upon the singularity of the region’s past.

VL  - 13
IS  - 1
ER  -

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