Portuguese Crown Rewards to Seafarers and Their Families, 1640–1777

Saturday, January 9, 2010: 11:30 AM
Solana Room (Marriott)
Francis A. Dutra , University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
“PORTUGUESE CROWN REWARDS TO SEAFARERS AND THEIR FAMILIES, 1640-1777”  Francis A. Dutra
History Department University of California, Santa Barbara
dutra@history.ucsb.edu

           This paper discusses the identities of the most important masters, pilots and other maritime officers (most of whom served on the India route known as the carreira da India—the six-month voyage from Lisbon to Goa, India and its equally long return) during the more than a century and a quarter following the Portuguese Restoration of 1640 and Bragança rule. It describes where in Portugal these seafarers were born and lived, examines their role on the voyage, and the problems they faced both at sea and ashore.  The paper also examines their family life, traces and compares their career patterns, and analyzes their search for status and financial security, not only for themselves but their wives and children. Though these seafarers were essential to the success of Portugal’s presence in Asia, relatively little is known about them and their families.  This paper, which is based on previously unedited archival materials in Portugal’s Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo and the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, attempts to remedy this neglect.

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