Portugal's Maritime Expansion - Discovery of the Atlantic Islands

The Atlantic islands — Madeira, Porto Santo, the Azores and Cape Verde — played a central role in the early days of Portuguese maritime expansion.

This text presents their discovery, the model of exploration adopted, the economic activities implemented and the demographic consequences that led to emigration to the mainland and Brazil.

Portugal's Maritime Expansion - Discovery of the Atlantic Islands

The Atlantic Islands: the beginnings of Portuguese expansion

1. Discovery and colonisation

While Dom Henrique was still alive, under his impetus and that of the Order of Christ, the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo and the Azores archipelago were discovered and colonised.

2. System of exploitation — hereditary captaincies

The system of hereditary captaincies was adopted for exploitation by private individuals and was later also applied in Brazil.

What is the system of hereditary captaincies?

The hereditary captaincy system was a regime of colonisation and territorial administration used by Portugal (mainly in Brazil) from the 16th century onwards. The Crown divided the territory into strips and granted them to private individuals called captain-donees.

How it worked

Organisation: Territory divided into captaincies handed over to donees, transmitted by inheritance.
Rights of grantees: Receive land, distribute sesmarias (land grants), exploit resources, collect local taxes, appoint officials, and exercise administrative and judicial authority on behalf of the Crown.
Obligations: Populate and defend the captaincy, promote agriculture and development, and report to the Crown.
Objective: To decentralise costs and responsibilities, attract private investment and accelerate the occupation of the territory.
Problems and results: Many captaincies failed due to lack of resources, conflicts with indigenous peoples and isolation, which led to the creation of the General Government in Brazil (1549). Some, however, prospered (e.g. Pernambuco).

Observations

The system also had variants on Atlantic islands (Madeira, Azores) in the form of donatarias.

3. Settlement and economic activities

As they were originally uninhabited, the islands needed to be populated. Sugarcane cultivation and cattle breeding were introduced there. These economic and population elements were also brought from the Madeira archipelago and the Cape Verde islands to Brazil; the Cape Verde islands were explored in the same year as the death of the Infante.