Abstract

VASCONCELOS, Pedro. From networks to territories: the Portuguese Colonial Empire. GOT [online]. 2016, n.10, pp.35-54. ISSN 2182-1267.  https://doi.org/10.17127/got/2016.10.002.

The objective of this article is to raise geographical issues to understand the integration of Brazil in the Portuguese Colonial Empire. The "discovery" of Brazil was part of the Portuguese imperial expansion that was focused on the search for spices and for the establishment of commercial monopolies, which resulted in the establishment of a network of marine flows supported by ports and fortifications along the route between Lisbon and the Indies. The colonization of Brazil, with its huge geographical extent, forced the Portuguese to adopt different territorial logic and at the same time finding an economic activity to keep the new colony. The text is divided into two parts: the first examines the situation of Brazil in the Portuguese Colonial Empire, and in the second, the roles of the State and the Catholic Church during the colonial period in Brazil are analyzed briefly.

Keywords : network; territory; Portuguese Colonial Empire.

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