11. The Atlantic Centrality of the Azores
- Author:
- Jose Manuel Bolieiro
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Human history has centered on strengthening relations between communities and taking advantage of political circumstances based upon economic, social, and cultural factors. These relationships stem from the capacity for mobility that gives human beings their planetary status. The Azores, an archipelago of nine islands in the center of the North Atlantic, have played a decisive role in affirming the international community since the fifteenth century. Inhabited by the Portuguese, these islands proved to be a beneficial support point for the imperialist aspirations of the small European state, which has always shown a great maritime vocation. In the national context, the Azores have, on several occasions, come to the fore in significant events throughout Portugal’s history. In the sixteenth century, following the dynastic crisis initiated by King Sebastião’s death and the legitimate succession of Felipe II of Castile, the Azores were the last bastion of the movement actively seeking to prevent the establishment of a personal union under Spanish monarchy. Although the islands’ resistance was short-lived, the historic feat in defense of Portugal’s sovereignty against the imperialist aspirations of its Iberian neighbor endured in Portuguese collective memory.
- Topic:
- Development, History, Geopolitics, Autonomy, and Geography
- Political Geography:
- Portugal, Atlantic Ocean, and Azores