Published for the first time in 1990, Assis Brasil’s Videiras de Cristal (Crystal
Vines), subtitled o Romance dos muckers (Te Novel of the Muckers), is a novel set
in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul during the reign of Dom Pedro II
(1872–1874), the second and final Emperor of Brazil. It tells the true story of a
group of immigrants from Germany who, under the leadership of Jacobina
Maurer, fought the Imperial forces in defence of their messianic Protestant faith.
Jacobina Maurer’s husband used to cure immigrants with plants and herbal
remedies, while his wife gave spiritual support to the sick. Over the course of
time this woman became a spiritual leader of a small community of Germans
and Brazilians, both Protestant and Catholic. Jacobina Maurer called herself the
new Christ and, like Christ, chose her own apostles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
