Shipping and empire building: crown versus individuals in Portuguese overseas expansion, c.1500-1700. A mixed model of seaport development

Abstract

Crown policies and private enterprise combined to increase efficiency levels in Portuguese overseas expansion. Within this framework, this paper will emphasize three themes. Firstly, the dependence of the Portuguese empire on shipping efficiency; while the debate largely focuses on shipbuilding and seafarers, we show how crown policies and individual enterprises adapted to the evolving requirements of an empire based on sea power. Secondly, we demonstrate how informal and self-organized mechanisms at times contributed to, and sometimes blocked, state-oriented policies. Thirdly, we gauge the extent to which local inputs, such as raw materials, labour and techniques, contributed to efficiency levels within a universe that became multi-continental.

Depredación tecnológica y creación de una élite: la respuesta mallorquina a la situación naviera hispana del siglo XVII

“…La carraca portuguesa y el galeón español surgieron de la combinación de elementos atlánticos y mediterráneos, proporcionando bastimentos fundamentales para la expansión y el liderazgo de las coronas de Portugal y Castilla, y fueron imitadas por los países del norte de Europa, que las sobrepasaron a partir de finales del siglo xvi y principios del xvii (Unger, 1980, caps. 5-6;Fernández Izquierdo, 1989, p. 41;Rahn Philips, 1991;Polónia y Oliveira, 2020) 2 .…”