A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the former Spanish and Portuguese

colonial empire A colonial empire is a sovereign state, state engaging in colonization, possibly establishing or maintaining colony, colonies, infused with some form of coloniality and colonialism. Such states can expand contiguous as well as Territory#Overseas ...

s. 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

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 John I ( WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in 1383–85 crisi ...

in Madeira, and expanded with each successive new colony discovered.Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.232 Prince

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 ...

instituted the Captaincy system to promote development of Portuguese discoveries, but it was in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, where this system effectively functioned. The prince and his successors (the

Donatário A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), 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 Portug ...

s) remained on the mainland, unable to leave the court, owing to numerous responsibilities related to the Royal Household during the period of trans-Atlantic exploration. When the King constituted and bestowed the Donatary system, he never specifically thought of sending his donatários to the archipelagos. Consequently, the expansion of Portuguese overseas maritime authority resulted in the expansion of this system to their other dominions, including Madeira, Goa, Daman, Bombay and Bassein, the Azores and eventually Brazil.

Spanish Empire

Kingdom of Hungary

Croatia

has so-called ''port captaincies'' that are responsible for the civilian administration of maritime matters.

Austria

, district captaincies (''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'') have existed since 1849. These are responsible for the general administration on a district level and are comparable to county offices in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

;Notes ;Sources * * {{citation , first=Carlos Melo , last=Bento , title=História dos Açores: Da descoberta a 1934 , publisher=Câmara Municipal de Ponta Delgada , year=2008 , location= Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal , language= Portuguese

External links

Captaincies in the Ottoman Empire
Types of administrative division Subdivisions of the Portuguese Empire Subdivisions of the Spanish Empire