Rivalidades imperiais e emigração: Os açorianos no Maranhão e no Pará nos séculos XVII e XVIII

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present a brief survey of the imperial rivalries between Portugal and France in South America from 1500 to 1800. The French followed the Portuguese in Brazil and in the 16th and 17th centuries they established two colonies, Antarctic France, in Guanabara, and Equinoctial France, in Maranhão. Although defeated by the Portuguese in 1560 and 1615, the French didn’t give up their ambitions towards South America and they settled in the region of Guiana in mid-17th century. France kept on fighting for the seizure of Portuguese territories and there was even a plan for the conquest of Brazil in 1762. In this context, we highlight the role of Azorean settlers in Maranhão and Pará, because it was with people recruited in the Azores that the Portuguese monarchy sought to colonize and to defend the brazilian borderlands in the 17th and 18th centuries.