Brazilian colonial revolutionary leader born in Portugal, who lived in Vila Rica, today Ouro Preto, and who led the so-called Vila Rica revolt (1720), a political movement in colonial Brazil against the prohibition by the Portuguese governor of the captaincy of Minas, Dom Pedro de Almeida, Count of Assumar, on the departure of gold powder from the Minas region, which resulted in his conviction and execution. The law of February 11th (1719) required the transformation of powdered gold into gold bars in local foundries and, thus, bars minted with the king's weapons could only be traded at a discount of one-fifth of the amount, which was for the crown.
On June 28 (1720) the revolt began in Vila Rica, when about 2,000 insurgents marched to Ribeirão do Carmo, currently Mariana, and pressured the governor to meet their requirements. The latter agreed with the rebels' requests, as it did not have the armed forces to confront them. As soon as he managed to gather enough troops, the governor backtracked and crushed the revolt, ordering the arrest of the leaders of the movement.
The rebels who were arrested and the place where the masked people used to take refuge, the Arraial do Morro, in Ouro Podre, was set on fire. The rebels were later pardoned, but their boss, imprisoned in Cachoeira do Campo, was sentenced to death, hanged in Vila Rica the following month and had his body tied to the tails of four horses and butchered. The penalty was considered excessive by the Portuguese authorities, but the Count of Assumar justified the rigor by the need to set an example and intimidate the population.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order F - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/filipe-dos-santos-freire.htm
