Captaincies of the Portuguese Empire

The Captaincies of the Portuguese Empire (Portuguese: Capitanias do Império Português) were the socio-administrative territorial divisions and hereditary lordships established initially by Henry the Navigator, as part of the Donatário system in order to settle and developed the Portuguese overseas Empire. Pioneered on the island of Madeira and institutionalized in the archipelago of the Azores, the captaincy system was eventually adapted to the New World.

Captaincies

The prince and his successors (the Donatários) remained on the mainland, owing to their responsibilities related to the Royal Household, during the epic period of trans-Atlantic exploration.[1] When the King constituted and bestowed the Donatary system, he never specifically thought of sending his donatários to the archipelagos.[1] Before the discovery of Brazil (1522), the captaincy system already operated in the Atlantic possessions of Madeira and the Azores, in addition other islands and settlements along the African coast.

Azores

Following the model established on Madeira, the archipelago was divided into various captaincies, which functioned for settlement and development on a reduced scale.[2] The creation of the captaincies were not a uniform process, and resulted from the dedication of its donatary-captain.[2] Gonçalo Velho Cabral, commander in the Order of Christ, Castle of Almourol, Master of Pias, Beselga and Cardiga was nominated the first Donatary-Captain on the discovery and settlement of Santa Maria.[3] After constructing a few houses, the first Azoreans began to give names to places, ravines, capes, coves, mountains and valleys of their dominion.[3] They raised cattle and goats, and using the fertile volcanic lands cultivated wheat and vineyards.[3]

In the 16th century, there were eight captaincies: São Miguel, Santa Maria, Graciosa, São Jorge, Praia (Terceira), Angra (Terceira), Faial-Pico and Flores-Corvo. Each captaincy evolved according to their captains.[2] Although most evolved into their own captaincies, there were exceptions, as with the island of Terceira, where two captaincies developed. The islands of Faial and Pico were originally intended to be two captaincies, but were granted to Josse Van Huerte, following his success with Faial.[2] Likewise, São Miguel and Santa Maria were once one dominion, but Velho Cabral sold São Miguel to Rui Gonçalves da Câmara for two thousand cruzados and a quantity of sugar.[2] As he grew old, Velho Cabral abandoned his new dominion and returned to Lisbon, replaced by his nephew João Soares de Albergaria in 1460, who lived in his captaincy.[3]

The captains of the Azores oscillated between living in their dominions and working as caretakers from Lisbon, and leaving in the archipelago their own lieutenants, councillors (Portuguese: ouvidores) and magistrates.[3] The captains were responsible for fermenting interest in the new colonies, which were expanded with new settlers, from poorer areas of the northern and southern Portugal, or by foreigners loyal to the King, but interest in developing the concession.

Brazil

Main article: Captaincies of Brazil

Having succeeded with the administration of Madeira and the Azores to impose a social order, King John III applied the same structure to consolidate power in the Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross).[4] In Brazil, each captaincy consisted of a portion of land originally 50 leagues wide (but in practice varying considerably) along the Brazilian coast and extending inland to the line established by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which divided Portuguese and Spanish colonial possessions.[4] Each was given to a single capitão-mor (Captain-major) or capitão-donatário (Donatary-Captain), a Portuguese who might or might not have been a member of the aristocracy. They consisted of large, geometrically straight strips of land, running along parallel lines to the Equator from the Atlantic coast to the Tordesilhas Line defined by King John III of Portugal in 1534, in a treaty with Spain.

The difficulty of governing large territories meant that by 1549, only four captaincies remained viable (from a total of 15 captaincies created): the Captaincy of Pernambuco (granted to Duarte Coelho Pereira), the Captaincy of São Vicente (granted to Martim Afonso de Sousa), the Captaincy of Ilheus and the Captaincy of Porto Seguro.[4] In order to save the collapsing colonies of Brazil, in 1549, John III sent Governor-General Tomé de Sousa and Jesuits under the direction of Manuel da Nóbrega to the colonies. Under their discipline, and later the governorship of Governor-General, Mem de Sá (1557–72), the colonies began to reverse the unworkable policies: by 1580, Brazil had become an economically viable colony.[4] Over time, the Brazilian donatários were replaced by royal administrators, until the system was abolished by 1754.

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.232
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.235
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Carlos Melo Bento (2008), p.22
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Donatário". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
Sources
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