Glossary

asiento

Contract to supply the Spanish territories in America with slaves

azulejos

Decorative ceramic tiles

bandeirantes

Men who formed the bandeiras

bandeiras

Armed expeditions sent into the interior of Brazil

bidonvilles

Shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris

Brasileiro

An emigrant to Brazil who returned rich to Portugal

caixeiros

Sales person in a shop

cantineiro

Bar keeper

capela

Land endowment for the support of religious services

carreira da Índia

The voyage of Indiamen from Portugal to India

cartaz

License to trade, sold to Asian shipowners and merchants

Casa de Portugal

Name given to clubs or associations of expatriate Portuguese

casados

Portuguese soldiers given permission to leave the colours and marry

colonatos

Subsidised agricultural settlements in Africa in the 1950s and 1960s

compadrazgo

Godparentage

contias

Financial payments made for those serving the Portuguese Crown in a military capacity

conto

A thousand escudos

conversos

Jews who converted to Christianity

cruzado

Portuguese silver coin worth 400 reis

degredados

Convicts

dotar

Institution for providing dowries for Jewish and New Christian girls in Amsterdam

encomienda

Grants of population made to Spanish conquerors in Moorish territory, the Canary Islands and America

engajadores

Labour recruiters

engenho

Sugar mill or plantation

estrangeirado

Someone who has settled abroad and been influenced by foreign culture

faiscador

Gold prospector

fajãs

Settlements on the island of São Jorge in the Azores formed on the edge of the sea by landslips or the estuaries of small streams

favelas

Shanty-town settlements around Rio de Janeiro

fazenda

Rural estate or plantation

fazendeiro

Owner of a plantation

feitoria

Trading factory

festa

Communal festival, often celebrating a saint’s day

fidalgo

Nobleman by birth

Francês

Someone who has made money working in France

Gastarbeiter

Foreign migrant workers in Germany

grogue

rum distilled in Cape Verde

grumetes

African servants and clients of the Portuguese in West Africa

impérios

Chapels built in the Azores to celebrate the cult of the Holy Spirit

indígena

Native of the Portuguese African colonies subject to the indigenato labour code

indigenato

Laws governing the natives in the Portuguese African colonies

lançados

Renegades who lived on the African mainland outside Portuguese jurisdiction

lavradores da cana

Sugar growers

Lei das Sesmarias

Law of the wastelands. The law by which land was granted to settlers to farm

levadas

Irrigation channels in Madeira

limpeza

Cleanness; used especially by Old Christians to describe the idea of ‘purity’ of blood

Lingua Geral

A creole dialect of Portuguese and Tupi-Guaraní

manilhas

Bracelets or anklets usually made of brass and used as a trade item

marranos

Converted Jews who practised a religion mixing Jewish and Christian elements

milrei

Brazilian currency unit

Misericórdia

The Santa Casa da Misericórdia was a charitable organisation, membership of which conferred high social status

morgadios

Entailed property of a noble family

moradores

Portuguese settlers in the overseas territories

morna

Music and dance genre from Cape Verde

nação

Nation; used to describe Portuguese Jewish communities outside Portugal

Orfãs do Rei

Crown Orphans

padroado real

The royal patronage over the Catholic Church in Asia

palmatoadas

Beating the palms of the hand

palmatoria

‘Paddle’ for administering punishment on the palms of the hand

panos

Cotton cloth produced in the Cape Verde Islands

pardos

People of mixed race

pontas

Farms worked by Cape Verdeans in West Africa

povo

The ordinary people

prazos

Grants of land and population made to Portuguese in the Zambesi valley and the hinterland of Sofala and Quelimane

rancho

A musical group or party

recôncavo

Sugar-growing area of the northern Brazilian coast

reconquista

The reconquest of territory in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa from the Moors

regimentos

Official instructions drawn up for fortress commanders or ships’ captains

retornados

Returning migrants, especially those returning from Africa after the independence of the colonies in 1975

ricos homens

A term commonly used in the Middle Ages for the noble class in Portugal

roças

Coffee and cocoa plantations in São Tomé and Príncipe

salinas

Salt pans

Senado da Câmara

Senate; governing body established in cities by royal charter

sertão

Backlands, the interior

serviçais

African contract labourers

tangomaos

Portuguese settlers on the African mainland who were more embedded in African culture

vínculos

Entails (of property)

vizinhos

Citizens (literally neighbours)