The republican Penal Code of 1890 made practices described by the state as spiritism, magic, or unauthorized healing punishable under provisions on public order and health. It did not name Candomblé as a whole, but its broad categories gave police and courts tools to police African-derived spiritual practice. The law treated colonial and racialized knowledge systems as superstition or fraud, while privileging European medical and religious authority. Afro-Brazilian communities continued to worship, heal, organize, and adapt under these constraints.
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What did the 1890 Penal Code do that affected African-derived spiritual practice?
The code used broad categories that enabled policing of African-derived practice, though it did not name Candomblé as a whole.
The 1890 Penal Code directly named Candomblé as a whole as a crime.
It criminalized broad categories such as spiritism and unauthorized healing, not Candomblé as a whole.