2025 Scholar Series: Professor James E. Wadsworth
The Stonehill faculty member will discuss his research on Januário de São Pedro, an historical figure who pretended to be a legitimate Dominican priest before being imprisoned and punished by the Holy Office.
About the Program
The imposter Januário de São Pedro roamed the backlands of northeastern Brazil between 1735 and 1739. His journey from Ecuador to Argentina to Brazil and then to Lisbon reveals the social, secular, and religious fissures of colonial society which enabled unscrupulous men, like Januário, to dupe both the ignorant and the learned in colonial Brazil. It also allows us to question the strategies used by imposters and analyze why they could be initially successful only to later fall from grace.
This program is sponsored by the MacPháidín Library. Light refreshments will be provided, courtesy of the Office of Academic Affairs.