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42-466: The Canudos State Park is in the municipality of Canudos , Bahia, and has an area of 1,321 hectares (3,260 acres). It is about 410 kilometres (250 mi) from the state capital of Salvador . The park entrance is reached from highway BR-235 by a paved road. From the highest point there is a panorama of the Cocorobó Dam . The present town of Canudos is the third of that name. The first was destroyed by

84-429: A pilgrim , an itinerant benefactor and counsellor of the poor, as well a pious preacher and religious leader. He was called alternatively by the simple people of the region as Antônio Conselheiro , Santo Antônio dos Mares , Santo Antônio Aparecido or Bom Jesus Conselheiro , and began to attract not only admirers, but fanatical followers, who started travelling with him. In 1874, Antônio Conselheiro began to attract

126-501: A 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) trail that leads past strategic points associated with the bloody 19th century battles. Signs describe the sites of military camps, hospitals, cemeteries of the soldiers and of Antônio Conselheiro's followers, and trenches occupied by the combatants. The park includes the Vale da Morte , where the soldiers buried their dead, the Vale da Degola and the Alto do Maio , where

168-921: A Salvação dos Homens ("Annotations on the Precepts of Our Lord Jesus Christ's Divine Law for the Salvation of Men"). The story of Antônio Conselheiro and the War of Canudos has been dramatized in Euclides da Cunha 's Rebellion in the Backlands ( Os Sertões ). He is also portrayed in The War of the End of the World , a novel in Spanish by the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa . The story of Antônio Maciel, and

210-662: A few hours later, leaving pools where the animals drink. The Vaza-Barris River was like this until the Cocorobó Dam was built. This was the difficult environment where Conselheiro and his followers lived. Intensive research carried out by the Canudos Project, co-funded by UNEB and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB), found about 120 species of plants native to the caatinga biome. The majority of plants were pau-de-rato ( Caesalpinia pyramidalis ). UNEB and

252-474: A kind of new antichrist . Again he stepped up public criticism and rallied the social movement around these flags. General nervousness of farmers, priests and government increased to hysterical fear. Finally, in 1893, violence erupted. Protesting against taxes levied by the new Republican government in Masseté , state of Bahia , "Conselhistas" (as Antônio Conselheiro's organized following was named) were attacked by

294-469: A leather exporting business. As a community, Canudos operated somewhat like a religious commune, with Antônio Conselheiro as the principal member and director. Canudos was a heavily religious settlement, under the sway of Antonio's fanaticism, but despite his fanaticism he did not assume any official position of authority. The settlement practiced common ownership, abolished the official currency, negated Brazilian national laws and participated collectively in

336-502: A local government by committee, composed by 12 "apostles", or elders, established a communitarian society, with division of labour and produce, common property, abolition of civil marriage and of the official currency, prohibition of taverns, liquor and prostitution , rigid control over crimes and mandatory religious activities. He also gave a measure of personal freedom from injustice and oppression by landlords and governmental authorities. The fame of Canudos spread rapidly throughout

378-567: A small police force and retaliated. Antônio Conselheiro decided then to retreat and to establish in 1893 a permanent place for his growing band of now quasi-insurrectionaries. Near the city of Monte Santo , in the Northeast tip of Bahia, he founded the village of Bello Monte ( Fair Hill ), in an area named Canudos. It was set in an abandoned farm amid several mountain ranges, near the Vaza-Barris River . In Canudos, Antônio Conselheiro, aided by

420-495: A third child, a son named Joaquim Aprígio, after a brief affair with a local artist named Joana Imaginária. He was restless, however, and started to wander around the country, from 1865 to 1869, and then from 1871 and afterwards. He was tall and thin, with long black hair and beard, always dressed in a rough blue tunic, a straw hat and leather sandals, carrying a necklace with a wooden cross, Antônio Maciel cut an impressive figure, reminding people of Jesus Christ . Gradually he became

462-532: A trophy. It was examined by forensic expert, Dr. Raimundo Nina Rodrigues , and placed in permanent exhibition at the museum of the Escola Bahiana de Medicina (Medical School of Bahia), where it was destroyed in a fire in May 1905. Besides his written preachings, Antônio Conselheiro left only one religious treatise, written in May 1895 and titled Apontamentos dos Preceitos da Divina Lei de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, para

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504-453: A vida a uma criancinha (...) é o maior dos barbarismos e dos crimes que o homem pode praticar." ("I saw and witnessed the sacrifice of all those poor people (...) and I say with all sincerity: in Canudos almost all the prisoners were beheaded (...) To take the life of a little child (...) is the greatest of cruelties and crimes man can commit.") Today the area is submerged by water, the result of

546-574: A while, particularly for cash crops which required intensive labor, such as coffee , cotton , tobacco and sugarcane , the mainstays of the Brazilian economy at the time. On November 15, 1889, the Emperor was deposed by a military coup and the Republic was proclaimed, further adding instability and strife to the already torn-up country. All this was important to the make-up of Canudos . Antônio Conselheiro

588-517: The Bahia State University (UNEB), to adopt the measures necessary for the park's construction. The stated purpose of the park is to make it impossible to forget the martyrs led by Antônio Conselheiro . The area is dry and hot all year. Vegetation is caatinga , characterized by species with few leaves and many thorns, particularly cacti and bromeliads . When it rains the empty riverbeds suddenly fill with water but are sometimes dry again

630-606: The Cocorobó Dam project in the 1970s, which blocked the Vaza-Barris River and flooded the old city. At low water the ruins of the church that was once the village's centrepiece can occasionally be seen. Once a year, in October, a mass is held to commemorate those lost in what is known today as the War of Canudos . The municipality of Nova Canudos was built nearby, at latitude 09º53'48" South and longitude 39º01'35" West, and currently has around 13,000 inhabitants. The story of Canudos

672-521: The Companhia Hidrelétrica do São Francisco (CHESF) have planted about 1,000 seedlings of native plants, and plan to plant over 10,000 seedlings. The Canudos State Park is in the area where the War of Canudos was fought, and has valuable historical, archaeological and anthropological sites, serving as an open air museum. It is structured to support historical tourism and research, with a photographic exhibition, relics, maps and signs. The park has

714-505: The Counselor", real name Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel (March 13, 1830 – September 22, 1897), was a Brazilian religious leader, preacher and founder of the village of Canudos , the scene of the War of Canudos (1896–1897), a civil rebellion against the central government which was brutally stamped out with the loss of more than 25,000 lives. Born in Quixeramobim , Antônio Maciel was

756-519: The Northeast, as being a promised land of "milk and honey". Former black slaves, uprooted indigenous people and impoverished and landless caboclos started to come in droves to Canudos. By one year later, Canudos already had 8,000 new residents; by 1895 its population had grown to more than 30,000 and more than 5,000 dwellings. Two churches and one school were also built and commerce and agriculture became more organised. The massive presence of such kinds of people started to cause much fear and trouble in

798-487: The absence of any criminal charges against him. Antônio returned immediately to Bahia and restarted his wandering and preaching. He vowed to construct 21 churches and proceeded to do so in 12 cities in the backlands of the provinces of Bahia and Sergipe , as well as cemeteries and small dams . In 1877, one of the periodical catastrophic droughts began in the Northeast. It would last two years killing more than 300,000 peasants by hunger and thirst , creating havoc with

840-447: The age 67. The cause of death was probably dysentery . His death was the beginning of Canudos' defeat, which eventually brought about the brutal death of more than 50% of the city's inhabitants during the military operations and ensuing atrocities committed by the army against the civilian population. His body was found and identified by military surgeons. His head was cut off and sent to Salvador as proof of his death and displayed as

882-542: The army. The inhabitants rebuilt a town on the ruins, but it was destroyed by the Cocorobó Dam , built by the military regime in the 1960s with the dual purpose of providing water for the region and erasing history. The vacant land was acquired by decree 33.193 of 27 May 1986, and the Canudos State Park was established by decree 33.333 of 30 June 1986. The decree authorized the Department of Education and Culture, through

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924-621: The attention of authorities and the Catholic Church , due to his preaching to the oppressed and poor peasants and common folk of small villages and farms . In 1876 he was arrested by the police in Itapicuru , Bahia, under the suspicion of being a wanted criminal. After being identified, he was sent by ship to Fortaleza . He was severely beaten, his hair and beard were cut and he was sent back for trial to his city of origin, Quixeramobim. The local judge, however, released Antônio Conselheiro due to

966-496: The commander of the third expedition Colonel Antônio Moreira César (1850–97) died. The graves in the Vale da Morte are shallow, and erosion uncovers the bones. Although measures have been taken to protect the sites, the ground is littered with old rifle bullets, shrapnel and pieces of pottery, which are vulnerable to tourists looking for souvenirs. A photographic exhibition has glass panels up to 4 metres (13 ft) high with photographs of

1008-518: The death of his mother in 1834, his father married again, and Antônio and his two sisters suffered with the father's alcoholism and maltreatment by their stepmother. Antônio went to study with his grandfather, Manoel Antônio Ferreira Nobre, who was a teacher in Quixeramobim. He developed well as a serious, quiet and hard-working pupil, studying Latin , French , Portuguese , mathematics , geography and history . In 1855 his father died and he assumed

1050-488: The family's business, striving to get his sisters married. In 1857, Antônio himself married Brasilina Laurentina de Lima and began working as a salesman , teacher and lay counselor (poorman's lawyer ). Already with two children, he was cheated on by his wife in 1861, and disillusioned and depressed, he separated from them and retired to a farm, working as a rural teacher, and devoting himself more and more to Christian mysticism . Moving again to Santa Quitéria , Ceará, he had

1092-558: The founding of, and war on, Canudos is also told in the novel The First Garment , by Georgian writer Guram Dochanashvili . The Scottish author R. B. Cunninghame Graham wrote A Brazilian Mystic: Being the Life and Miracles of Antonio Conselheiro . "...a thousand flocks shall run from the seacoast to the backlands; and then the backlands will turn into seacoast and the seacoast into backlands." ( "...há de vir rebanhos mil correndo do centro da Praia para o sertão então o sertão virará Praia e

1134-478: The local authorities, who saw him as a Monarchist and thus a threat to their legitimacy. In 1893, following a protest over taxation and a violent melee with the police forces in Masseté, Conselheiro and his band settled on an abandoned farm called Canudos, so called because a plant, canudo-de-pita (scientific name Ipomoea carnea , its popular name referring to its hollow tubes, used for manufacturing smoking pipes)

1176-423: The management of the town. Canudos was in essence a reaction against the contemporary Brazilian nation. Neither the local nor national government supported the settlement in Canudos. The local government of Bahia felt pressure from landowners to take action against the settlement because of labor shortages caused by migration. The Brazilian national government wanted a military expedition sent to destroy Canudos in

1218-502: The most revolutionary and far-reaching social, economic and political changes of its history since Europeans settled in 1500. On May 13, 1888, slavery was abolished by the ruling Emperor, Dom Pedro II , by an act signed by his daughter, Princess Isabel. More than five million black people were suddenly free, and they abandoned the farms and swelled enormously the rural and urban ranks of extremely poor inhabitants. Tens of thousands of farmers went bankrupt and agriculture almost stopped for

1260-403: The name of liberalism and progress. In the words of one historian, "The mere existence of autonomous movements not subject to state control was antithetical to the national interest. Canudos stood for such autonomy, and therefore had to be destroyed." The first three invasions were amply defeated by the villagers. However, in 1897, a considerably larger fourth invasion force managed to overwhelm

1302-452: The novel " The First Garment " (1975) by a Georgian writer Guram Dochanashvili . The municipality contains the 1,321 hectares (3,260 acres) Canudos State Park , created in 1986 to commemorate the War of Canudos. 9°57′50″S 39°09′50″W  /  9.964°S 39.164°W  / -9.964; -39.164 Ant%C3%B4nio Conselheiro Antônio Conselheiro , in English "Anthony

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1344-438: The predominantly semi-arid agrarian economy of the region. Many villages were entirely abandoned and instances of cannibalism even occurred. Antônio Conselheiro and his followers did what they could to diminish the extreme suffering of the poor people, adding more and more admirers and followers to his group. The sense of an impending end of the world and that the only salvation could come through religion were strong incentives to

1386-404: The region, since many of the new residents were not-so-peaceful " jagunços " (hired armed men who worked for farmers), leading to appeals to the government for repression and control. Fearing an invasion of the city of Juazeiro by the "Conselhistas", who had a dispute with a lumber merchant, its mayor appealed hysterically to the provincial government. A visit by two Capuchin friars to Canudos

1428-511: The son of Maria Joaquina de Jesus and Vicente Mendes Maciel, a rugged family of cattle breeders in the sertão ("backlands"), the semi-arid zone of the Brazilian Northeast . His infancy was marked by a bloody feud with the powerful family of the Araújos, causing many deaths in both families, following the tragic cycle of vengeance and honour which were so common in these regions. After

1470-485: The surge of religious fanaticism . Conselheiro was widely regarded as a saint and a Messiah . Due to his increasing criticism of the official Church, and his open preachings in the small churches of the backlands, in 1882 the Archbishop of Bahia issued an order forbidding priests to allow him access to the flocks and characterising Antônio Conselheiro as an apostate and as a madman. In 1888 and 1889, Brazil went through

1512-477: The village. Their success was in part helped by the death, from dysentery , of Antônio Conselheiro, during the early stages of the siege . The Brazilian army showed no mercy, brutally massacring the survivors and destroying the entire village. An academic, Alvim Horcades, would thus describe the massacre: "Eu vi e assisti a sacrificar-se todos aqueles miseráveis (...) e com sinceridade o digo: em Canudos foram degolados quase todos os prisioneiros (...) Arrancar-se

1554-470: The war and its aftermath, as well as the map of the region and engravings of the country. Canudos Canudos is a municipality in the northeast region of Bahia , Brazil . The original town, since flooded by the Cocorobó Dam , was the scene of violent clashes between peasants and republican police in the 1890s. The municipality contains part of the Raso da Catarina ecoregion. The town of Canudos

1596-511: Was common in the region. The place was named Belo Monte (Beautiful Mount) by Antonio Conselheiro, but the old name, Arraial de Canudos , prevailed. Over the years people from across Bahia, including landless farmers , former slaves , indigenous people and cangaceiros flocked to join him, and within a few years the fledgling settlement numbered 30,000 people (which made it the second largest urban center in Bahia behind Salvador ) and had developed

1638-445: Was founded in the racially diverse Bahia state of northeastern Brazil in 1893 by Antônio Vicente Mendes Maciel, an itinerant preacher from Ceara . Mendes Maciel had been wandering through the backroads and lesser-inhabited areas of the country from the 1870s onwards, followed by a band of loyal supporters. As his following swelled, he took on the name Antônio Conselheiro ( Antônio the Counselor ) and increasingly began to trouble

1680-466: Was insufficient to calm the population and one of them mistakenly accused Antônio Conselheiro of trying to raise a monarchist sedition . All was set for the start of military aggression against the largely peaceful settlement. During the heavy military siege that followed, Antônio Conselheiro spent his time praying and fasting troubled by the death, hunger and suffering of his followers. Due to this severe fasting, he died on September 22, 1897, at

1722-462: Was strongly against slavery, and had preached and written about it, incurring the wrath of farmers and authorities. The number of his flocks increased dramatically, and it is estimated that over 80% were former slaves. In addition, he considered that monarchy was a grant of God , and that the Republic, with its separation between Church and State, was morally wrong and would wreck the country and family,

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1764-465: Was told by war correspondent Euclides da Cunha in the book Os Sertões (1901; translated into English as Rebellion in the Backlands , 1944), which helped inspire and provide material for the novel The War of the End of the World by Peruvian Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa (1981). The conflict was also described at length by Peter Robb in "A Death in Brazil" (2004). In fictional form it appears in

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