Estratégias de género? A infanta D. Beatriz e a administração dos arquipélagos da Madeira, Açores e Cabo Verde (século XV)

Abstract

Infanta Beatriz occupies a prominent place in the history of colonization of the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde. Widow of D. Fernando, heir to Henry the Navigator, and his vast heritage, Beatriz stood in front of the duchy of Viseu in the name of her minor children. Her undertakings in the Atlantic were central to cementing the Portuguese occupation of these new territories. The government of the infanta D. Beatriz will excel in a greater centralization and a growing bureaucratization of the administrative processes. But has her performance been based on gender strategies? This article analyzes Beatriz’s performance in the archipelagos of Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde and how she adapted to existing realities, trying to understand whether or not her actions followed a strategy outlined because she was a woman or whether, on the other hand, she acted in accordance with the previous donataries.