Publication Date
2009
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Located out in the North Atlantic (latitude between 36 and 43 degrees north and longitude between 25 and 31 degrees west), the archipelago of the Azores is part of the Macaronesia Region, along with Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and the African Northwest.
With a total surface area of 2, 329.67 square kilometers, the nine Azorean islands are divided into three groups, all of tem with multiple islets near the coast. The oriental group comprises the islands of Santa Maria (97 square kilometers) and São Miguel (747 square kilometers). The central group includes the islands of Terceira (397 square kilometers), Graciosa (61 square kilometers), São Jorge (238 square kilometers), Faial (173 square kilometers), and Pico (447 square kilometers). The islands of Flores (143 square kilometers) and Corvo (17 square kilometers) constitute the occidental group.
Conflicting understandings regarding the discovery of the islands have persisted to this day. One can legitimately acknowledge that the long-standing maritime tradition of Europe and of the Middle East, at different times and under diverse circumstances, facilitated the sighting of the Azorean islands and, eventually, led to landing there. Among other types of documentation, should be noted a reference to the Azores in the Libro del Conoscimiento, written between 1345 and 1348, by a Spanish Franciscan. Additionally, several portolan charts representative of 14th Century cartography, record nine islands situated in an area near the actual Azorean location, though represented with an incorrect orientation. The cartographic sources and records of the 15th and 16th Centuries refer to the Portuguese discovery of the Azorean islands, namely the oriental and central groups between 1427 and 1431, when Prince Henry the Navigator ordered the introduction of cattle and domestic birds into the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria. With this data, the issue of the discovery of the islands attains new meaning, as it is the dynamism of the Kingdom of Portugal that leads to the integration of the Azores into the European map, not only from the perspective of geographical identification (as was previously the case), but also in a truly "humanizing." project.
The settlement of the islands was dependent on two central factors. The first is internal and connected to the geographical location of the archipelago: the accessibility and the economic potential of each of the islands. The second is external and related to the dynamic of Portuguese expansion as a whole. The interests of the Portuguese monarchy in the occidental coast of Africa were primary; and, the political agitation resulting from the death of D. Duarte delayed the Azorean settlement, which was consolidated in the second half of the 15th Century (oriental and central groups) and in the early 16th Century (occidental group). Slowly, the Azorean islands were settled and, at the end of the 16th Century, the population of the Azores amounted to 65,000 inhabitants. This number reflects the success of the colonization process. From the population of the Portuguese kingdom (Algarve, Alentejo, Beira-Alta, Entre-Douro, Minho ), came men and families, some of them having already experienced island life in Madeira. Attracted by the news of fertile Azorean land, motivated by the goal of gaining wealth, expecting social revitalization and/or driven by a spirit of adventure, there came people from diverse social backgrounds. Additionally, the geographic isolation of the islands offered new opportunities to those who wanted a more tolerant society. Thus, moors and jews also felt motivated to go to the Azores. However, the fragility of the Portuguese demographic picture also created an incentive for the arrival of persons from other areas of Renaissance Europe. This group distinctly includes some English and, more so, Flemish. This phenomenon was particularly significant in the settlement of the islands of the central group, except for Terceira. Despite the voluntary nature of much of the settlement, let us not forget that there was also a population of imigrants composed mostly by slaves and exiles, who were coerced into settling in the archipelago: they were sent to the Azores to do agricultural and domestic work.
In light of the predominantly continental settlement, Azorean society was organized according to the dominant European model, blending bishops, parish priests, friars, nuns, squires, knights, agricultural workers, artisans, merchants, lawyers, physicians, teachers, servants, slaves... The islands´social structure, thus, mirrored the tripartite organization, inheriting the complex medieval pyramid (clergy, nobility, and peasants).
Bibliography:
AAVV, História dos Açores. Do descobrimento ao século XX, direcção científica de Artur Teodoro de Matos, Avelino de Freitas de Meneses e José Guilherme Reis Leite, Angra do Heroísmo, Instituto Açoriano de Cultura, 2008, três volumes. COSTA, Susana Goulart, Açores: Nove Ilhas, Uma História / Azores: Nine Islands, One History, Berkeley, University of California, 2008.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel
With a total surface area of 2, 329.67 square kilometers, the nine Azorean islands are divided into three groups, all of tem with multiple islets near the coast. The oriental group comprises the islands of Santa Maria (97 square kilometers) and São Miguel (747 square kilometers). The central group includes the islands of Terceira (397 square kilometers), Graciosa (61 square kilometers), São Jorge (238 square kilometers), Faial (173 square kilometers), and Pico (447 square kilometers). The islands of Flores (143 square kilometers) and Corvo (17 square kilometers) constitute the occidental group.
Conflicting understandings regarding the discovery of the islands have persisted to this day. One can legitimately acknowledge that the long-standing maritime tradition of Europe and of the Middle East, at different times and under diverse circumstances, facilitated the sighting of the Azorean islands and, eventually, led to landing there. Among other types of documentation, should be noted a reference to the Azores in the Libro del Conoscimiento, written between 1345 and 1348, by a Spanish Franciscan. Additionally, several portolan charts representative of 14th Century cartography, record nine islands situated in an area near the actual Azorean location, though represented with an incorrect orientation. The cartographic sources and records of the 15th and 16th Centuries refer to the Portuguese discovery of the Azorean islands, namely the oriental and central groups between 1427 and 1431, when Prince Henry the Navigator ordered the introduction of cattle and domestic birds into the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria. With this data, the issue of the discovery of the islands attains new meaning, as it is the dynamism of the Kingdom of Portugal that leads to the integration of the Azores into the European map, not only from the perspective of geographical identification (as was previously the case), but also in a truly "humanizing." project.
The settlement of the islands was dependent on two central factors. The first is internal and connected to the geographical location of the archipelago: the accessibility and the economic potential of each of the islands. The second is external and related to the dynamic of Portuguese expansion as a whole. The interests of the Portuguese monarchy in the occidental coast of Africa were primary; and, the political agitation resulting from the death of D. Duarte delayed the Azorean settlement, which was consolidated in the second half of the 15th Century (oriental and central groups) and in the early 16th Century (occidental group). Slowly, the Azorean islands were settled and, at the end of the 16th Century, the population of the Azores amounted to 65,000 inhabitants. This number reflects the success of the colonization process. From the population of the Portuguese kingdom (Algarve, Alentejo, Beira-Alta, Entre-Douro, Minho ), came men and families, some of them having already experienced island life in Madeira. Attracted by the news of fertile Azorean land, motivated by the goal of gaining wealth, expecting social revitalization and/or driven by a spirit of adventure, there came people from diverse social backgrounds. Additionally, the geographic isolation of the islands offered new opportunities to those who wanted a more tolerant society. Thus, moors and jews also felt motivated to go to the Azores. However, the fragility of the Portuguese demographic picture also created an incentive for the arrival of persons from other areas of Renaissance Europe. This group distinctly includes some English and, more so, Flemish. This phenomenon was particularly significant in the settlement of the islands of the central group, except for Terceira. Despite the voluntary nature of much of the settlement, let us not forget that there was also a population of imigrants composed mostly by slaves and exiles, who were coerced into settling in the archipelago: they were sent to the Azores to do agricultural and domestic work.
In light of the predominantly continental settlement, Azorean society was organized according to the dominant European model, blending bishops, parish priests, friars, nuns, squires, knights, agricultural workers, artisans, merchants, lawyers, physicians, teachers, servants, slaves... The islands´social structure, thus, mirrored the tripartite organization, inheriting the complex medieval pyramid (clergy, nobility, and peasants).
Bibliography:
AAVV, História dos Açores. Do descobrimento ao século XX, direcção científica de Artur Teodoro de Matos, Avelino de Freitas de Meneses e José Guilherme Reis Leite, Angra do Heroísmo, Instituto Açoriano de Cultura, 2008, três volumes. COSTA, Susana Goulart, Açores: Nove Ilhas, Uma História / Azores: Nine Islands, One History, Berkeley, University of California, 2008.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel