C angaceiros are the most famous of all Brazilian bandits, considered as anything from infra-revolutionaries or social bandits to thieves of honour or merely the armed wings of local power brokers. The lack of understanding about this social phenomenon leads back, in reality, to an even greater ignorance, that of the semi-arid regions in the interior of North-eastern Brazil, the area from which these bandits originate. Indeed, the image of these semi-arid sertões has remained replete with clichés to this very day. One of these stereotypes involves describing this open-spaced sertaneja society as having generated men who are more passionate about freedom but also more violent, and who are, in addition, subject to the implacable “customary laws”, which are seen as the source for all abuses. This view has, in fact, its own history. To understand its past, it is necessary to go back to the heart of the Ancien Régime and establish comparisons with the European world. It is also essential to analyse the juridical transformations which took place in Brazil at the end of the 19^th century, as well as their local repercussions. In this way, it becomes possible to re-examine the theme of violence and to focus our attention on how these individuals used the juridical apparatus to manage their social conflicts as a community.