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Santa Maria Island (Azores)
Santa Maria (; Portuguese language, Potuguese and Spanish language, Spanish for 'Saint Mary') is an island in the Eastern Group, Azores, eastern group of the Azores archipelago (south of the island of São Miguel Island, São Miguel) and the southernmost island in the Azores. The island is known for its white sand beaches, distinctive chimneys, and dry warm weather. History The first records of a group of islands in the Atlantic (aside from the legends of Atlantis) came from the voyages of Portuguese sailors during the reigns of Dinis of Portugal, King Denis (1279–1325) and his successor Afonso IV of Portugal, King Afonso IV (1325–1357). These were unsubstantiated accounts and unofficial, until 1427 when navigator Diogo de Silves found the island of Santa Maria (at that time referred to on nautical charts as ''Ilha dos Lobos'' or ''Ilha do Ovo'') during his journey to Madeira. Myth tells that on the day of the island's discovery, Gonçalo Velho Cabral and his crew were ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pico Alto (Santa Maria)
Pico Alto (literally ''high/tall peak'') is a mountain which is the highest point, , on the island of Santa Maria Island (Azores), Santa Maria, in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. History The initial formation of the Facho-Pico Alto Volcanic Complex was a phase of intense volcanism, resulting from submarine eruptions as early as 5 million years ago, resulting in the formation of Pico do Facho and extensive pillow lavas.Serralheiro (2003) Remnants of these pillow lavas can be identified above sea level, helping to increase the size of the island to roughly its current dimensions. Following these eruptions, the land receded into the sea, resulting in a period of subaerial, sub-aerial volcanism that resulted in the great relief in the complex, which is associated with lahars and erosional growth. The Pico Alto complex occurred continuously between 5 and 3 million years ago. On 8 February 1989 Independent Air Flight 1851 struck Pico Alto due to pilot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diogo De Silves
Diogo de Silves (fl. 15th century) is the presumed name of an obscure Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic who allegedly discovered the Azores islands in 1427. He is only known from a reference on a chart drawn by the Catalan cartographer, Gabriel de Vallseca of Mallorca, dated 1439. The map, marred by an inkwell accident in 1869, has a note by the Azores archipelago, presumably written by Vallseca, stating: The surname and part of the date are smudged. The earliest known reading of this portion of the map is by a Majorcan named Pasqual in 1789 (before the ink accident) who jotted the surname down as "Guullen".Gago Coutinho, ''A Nautica dos Descobrimentos'', 1969 edition, Vol. 1, p.208 It has since been read by other investigators as Diego de Senill ('the Old' - a hopeful reference in the direction of Gonçalo Velho, who officially discovered the Azores in 1431). Others have proposed de Sevill or de Seville or de Sunis, Survis, Sinus, Simis, Sines, Sivils. The date has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captaincy
A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule administrations of medieval feudal governments in which the monarch delimited territories for colonization that were administered by men of confidence. The same term was or is used in some other countries, such as Kingdom of Croatia (1102–1526), Croatia, Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, Ottoman Empire, Slovakia or Austria. Captaincy system Portuguese Empire The Captaincies of the Portuguese Empire were developed successively, based on the original donatário system established by King John I of Portugal in Madeira, and expanded with each successive new colony discovered.Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.232 Prince Henry the Navigator instituted the Captaincy system to promote development of Portuguese discoveries, but it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carte Blanche
A blank cheque or blank check in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefore subject to abuse, or in which a party is willing to consider any expense in the pursuance of their goals. The term ''carte blanche'' (borrowed from French; ) is used in a similar way. Literal meaning Cheque writers are advised to specify the amount of the cheque before signing it. A blank cheque can be extremely expensive for the drawer who writes the cheque, because whoever obtains the cheque could write in any amount of money, and might be able to cash it (if the current account or checking account contains sufficient funds, and depending on the laws in the specific country). Under American law, a blank cheque is an example of an "" as defined in the Uniform Commercial Code's Article 3, Section 115 (a). Writing an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Of Viseu
Duke of Viseu (in Portuguese ''Duque de Viseu'') was a Portuguese Royal Dukedom created in 1415 by King John I of Portugal for his third male child, Henry the Navigator, following the conquest of Ceuta. When Henry the Navigator died without issue, his nephew, Infante Ferdinand of Portugal (King Edward, King of Portugal's younger son), who was already Duke of Beja, inherited the Dukedom of Viseu and, when his younger son became King of Portugal as Manuel I, this became a royal Dukedom. List of dukes of Viseu # Infante Henrique, Duke of Viseu (1394–1460), King João I's fourth son (third surviving); # Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu (1433–1470), also 1st Duke of Beja, King Duarte I's third son (second surviving); # Infante João, Duke of Viseu (1448–1472), also 2nd Duke of Beja, Infante Fernando's eldest son; # Infante Diogo, Duke of Viseu (1450–1484), also 3rd Duke de Beja, Infante Fernando's second son; # King Manuel I (1469–1521), Infante Fernando's sevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ is a Portuguese honorific order. It is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was founded in 1318, with the protection of King Denis of Portugal, after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312 by the papal bull, '' Vox in excelso'', issued by Pope Clement V. King Denis refused to pursue and persecute the former knights as had occurred in most of the other sovereign states under the political influence of the Catholic Church. Heavily swayed by Philip IV of France, Pope Clement had the Knights Templar annihilated throughout France and most of Europe on charges of heresy, but Denis revived the Templars of Tomar as the Order of Christ, largely for their aid during the ''Reconquista'' and in the reconstruction of Portugal after the wars. Denis negotiated with Clement's successor, J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry The Navigator
Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15th-century European maritime exploration. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discovery. Henry was the fourth child of King John I of Portugal, who founded the House of Aviz. After procuring the new caravel ship, Henry was responsible for the early development of Portuguese exploration and maritime trade with other continents through the systematic exploration of Western Africa, the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, and the search for new routes. He encouraged his father to conquer Ceuta (1415), the Muslim port on the North African coast across the Straits of Gibraltar from the Iberian Peninsula. He learned of the opportunity offered by the Sah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain-major
A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipient of these grants was called a (donatary), because he had been given the grant as a (donation) by the king, often as a reward for service.Johnson 1972 The term also applied as the rank of the field officer that was in charge of a captaincy, captaincy's territorial militia, called in Portuguese, a military unit which existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Captaincy system Due to the impossibility of exercising direct control and sovereignty over overseas territories, the captain-major was the channel by which the monarch could delegate his powers, with certain restrictions, under the responsibility of persons in whom he confided. The could administer, on behalf of the Sovereign, the lands to which he was assigned, with all the regalia, rights and obligations, with the exception of certain limits, including military aut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donatário
A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed [one]"), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The kings of Portugal, king exempted these titleholders from normal Portuguese colonization, colonial administration; the donatários were comparable to a royal governor or a British Lord Proprietor. As the ''donataria'' were often captaincy, captaincies, the position is also translated as captain. History Normally, the ''donatário'' was the recipient of a captaincy, a territorial division and land grant, within Portuguese colonies. It was an effective administrative system that ceded certain rights and responsibilities to the ''donatário'', facilitating the settlement of unpopulated places with little cost to the Crown.Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.231 The ''donatário'' was obligated to govern his territories under specific terms: in exchange for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eared Seal
An eared seal, otariid, or otary is any member of the marine mammal family Otariidae, one of three groupings of pinnipeds. They comprise 15 extant species in seven genera (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the walrus ( odobenids). Otariids are adapted to a semiaquatic lifestyle, feeding and migrating in the water, but breeding and resting on land or ice. They reside in subpolar, temperate, and equatorial waters throughout the Pacific and Southern Oceans, the southern Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic. The words "otariid" and "otary" come from the Greek ' meaning "little ear", referring to the small but visible external ear flaps ( pinnae), which distinguishes them from the phocids. Evolution and taxonomy Morphological and molecular evidence supports a monophyletic origin of pinnipeds, sharing a common ancestor with M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formigas
Formigas Islets ( ; literally, ''Islets of the Ants''), sometimes referred to as the Formigas Bank, are a group of uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the eastern group of the Azores archipelago, an autonomous region of Portugal. The bank is located northeast of Santa Maria and southeast of São Miguel, covering a surface area of approximately . The submerged Dollabarat Reef is in the same area. The only structure on the islets is a lighthouse located on Formigão (''Big Ant''), the largest islet. History The Formigas were discovered by Portuguese explorers Diogo de Silves and Gonçalo Velho Cabral in 1431 during their journey to Madeira. The islets were neglected due to the contemporaneous discovery of the neighboring inhabitable islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel. In the 16th century, Portuguese chronicler Gaspar Frutuoso reported on the Formigas' rich marine life. The Formigas served as both an aid and hindrance to navigation from their discovery well into the 20th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kings Of Portugal
This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the nearly 800 years in which Portugal was a monarchy, the kings held various other Style of the Portuguese sovereign, titles and pretensions. Two kings of Portugal, Ferdinand I of Portugal, Ferdinand I and Afonso V of Portugal, Afonso V, claimed the crown of Castile and waged wars in order to enforce their respective claims. Ferdinand I managed to be recognized as Kingdom of Galicia, King of Galiza in 1369, although his dominance of the region was short-lived. When the House of Habsburg came into power, the kings of Spain, kings of Naples, Naples, and kings of Sicily, Sicily also became kings of Portugal. The House of Braganza brought numerous titles to the Portuguese Crown some honorary, such as the attribution of the title of ''Rex F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
