Publication Date
2009
Categories
Tags period
Small volcanic island on the Bight of Biafra (Gulf of Guinea), with an area of 17.5 sq km of surface, today part of Equatorial Guinea under the name of Annobón. After the independence of Equatorial Guinea and during a short period of time, it was called Pagalu. It has been identified as the "island of Diogo Cão" [a Portuguese Navigator], present in some maps from the beginning of the 16th century. The date of its discovery is uncertain, probably between 1483 and 1501. Like the other islands of the Gulf of Guinea, with exception to Fernando Pó (currently Bioko Island), Ano Bom was deserted when the Portuguese first arrived there.

On October 16, 1503 King Dom Manuel I delivered to Jorge de Melo, a nobleman of his house, and his descendents, the captaincy and administration of Ano Bom Island, with "full civil and criminal jurisdiction, with the exception of executions and cut off human parts", as well as other privileges, namely of fiscal nature, usual in these circumstances. In 1565, Álvaro da Cunha, son of Jorge de Melo, sold his rights over this small island for an amount of 520,000 réis [currency of the colonial period] to Luís de Almeida, a squire in the service of the Royal House and landowner in São Tomé.

None of these donators, or their successors, lived in Ano Bom; in the best scenario, they had a Procurator in São Tomé, generally a clergy member, and only a Factor in the seat of the captaincy. An intensive colonization of the island was never promoted due to its location, aside from the great Portuguese intercontinental routes, and due to its small size.

Between 1543 and 1565, the first group of African slaves was brought to the island to work the land. It is probable that these slaves stayed in São Tomé for a considerable period of time and that they were part of a process of acculturation. This explains how they had already learnt about Christianism and why they spoke proto-Creole, from which Anobonense or Fa d'Ambô, a language with a lexicon of about 90% of Portuguese origin, derived. The presence of the Europeans in the territory was never significant; the donator was represented generally by at most two people, but generally by only one person. Religious assistance, which was a responsibility of the donator, was provided in a very irregular basis, generally by chaplains of the ships that stopped in the island during their courses, or by a priest who came to the islands of São Tomé and Ano Bom, once a year and sometimes even less, under the expenses of the donator.

From the economic viewpoint, since its beginning, the only production that donators thought could be suitable to export was cotton. In the middle of the 17th century, they tried the introduction of sugar production but with disappointing results.

The presence of European ships in Ano Bom became constant since the end of the 16th century. The isolation of the island turned it into an attractive port of call, where French, English, Dutch and Danish ships that traded on the coast of Guinea were supplied with water and food. This presence was not always pacific and the island was occupied by the Dutch on several occasions, namely in 1598-1599 and 1660-1664.

From the beginning of the 18th century onwards, the Portuguese presence in Ano Bom disappeared, and the African population gained an effective independence and created its own mechanisms of government. The population also developed a strong feeling of resistance against any foreign intromission, even in religious terms, only accepting sporadically the presence of some Italian Capuchin friars.

In 1744, the island was officially integrated in the Crown possessions, but it was not possible to reintroduce the former Portuguese clerks or clergymen in the place despite some pacific attempts. In 1777, in the Treaty of Santo Ildefonso, ratified and adjusted in the Treaty of Pardo on March 11, 1778 Portugal conceded to Spain the rights over Ano Bom, as well as over Fernando Pó Island, but the transfer of sovereignty was troubled by the opposition of the locals.

Bibliography:
CALDEIRA, Arlindo Manuel, "Uma ilha quase desconhecida. Notas para a história de Ano Bom", Studia Africana - Revista Interuniversitària d' Estudis Africans, Barcelona, nº 17, Out. 2006, pp. 99-109. IDEM, "A 'república negra' de Ano Bom: invenção de um 'Estado' entre duas colonizações", in Trabalho Forçado Africano - Experiências coloniais comparadas , Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto (coord.), Porto, Campo das Letras, 2006, pp. 47-65. Castro, Mariano de e DE LA CALLE, Maria Luisa, Origen de la colonización española de Guinea Ecuatorial (1777-1860), Valladolid, Universidad de Valladolid, 1992.