Capitães Donatários and Corregedores
- Political organization
The capitães-donatários were the first form of delegated regal power in Cape Verde. Initially they had multiple powers (juridical, economic and fiscal), but in 1520 the king put a counterbalance in place in the figure of the Corregedor,(administrative magistrate), who represented him and exercised broad powers over the entire archipelago. From 1572 this figure took on the title of capitão-corregedor and for periods of 3 years simultaneously carried out the functions of captain, provedor of the royal treasury, provedor of the deceased and provedor of orphans.
The Corregedor, sent from the metropolis, was trained in law, and his position was even strengthened at a certain time by the addition of a juiz de fora (external judge), sent by the king to reinforce the juridical competence and independence of this organ, faced with the growing complexity of the administration of Cape Verde.
While administrative organisation evolved at a sustained pace, with greater or lesser difficulties in Santiago and Fogo, it must be said that the other islands were abandoned to a certain extent by central power, to such an extent that lands, although administered by the donataries, were neglected until the 18th Century, when they reverted to the Crown, at a stage when some of them were becoming the target for attempted occupation by the Dutch (S. Vicente, Santo Antão, Maio), the English (Maio) and the French (S. Vicente).
In 1731 the Ouvidor, José da Costa Ribeiro, who had the mission of visiting each of the islands once in his three year period of office for functions, observed that these islands did not lack people capable of occupying the positions, which were only vacant due to the reluctance of the Donataries (who were still in a leadership role) to let them be occupied by the so-called “brancos da terra” (people of mixed race).
At his proposal, the administrative structure of five population centres of the more remote islands of Cape Verde was adapted as follows at this time: in Santo Antão,S. Nicolau and Boa Vista, capitão-mor, feitor (trading authority superintendent), escrivão da feitoria (scribe of the trading authority), meirinho da Fazenda Real (undersheriff of the Royal Treasury - feitoria), guardas da alfândega (customs guards); in S. Vicente, feitor (subordinate to Sto. Antão); in Santo Antão and S. Nicolau, Câmaras (chambers); in S. Nicolau and Boa Vista, guardas do campo; in Santo Antão, an alcaide (mayor).
In Brava, it was by an initiative of Caetano de Melo Albuquerque, captain and sergeant-major of Fogo, that the island was also provided with the necessary organs for government and exercise of power in 1745. He first created companhias de ordenanças (a sort of elite army that imposed authority over the militias), and then organised the fazenda (treasury) and justiça (justice), substituting the Ouvidor, due to the extreme difficulty of access to the island. The Ouvidor him self determined that Maio should be provided with a judge to be elected annually, a mayor(mayor) and a scribe, and the same applied for Boa Vista, plus a feitor (trading authority superintendent) and a second scribe.
The capitães-donatários were the first form of delegated regal power in Cape Verde. Initially they had multiple powers (juridical, economic and fiscal), but in 1520 the king put a counterbalance in place in the figure of the Corregedor,(administrative magistrate), who represented him and exercised broad powers over the entire archipelago. From 1572 this figure took on the title of capitão-corregedor and for periods of 3 years simultaneously carried out the functions of captain, provedor of the royal treasury, provedor of the deceased and provedor of orphans.
The Corregedor, sent from the metropolis, was trained in law, and his position was even strengthened at a certain time by the addition of a juiz de fora (external judge), sent by the king to reinforce the juridical competence and independence of this organ, faced with the growing complexity of the administration of Cape Verde.
While administrative organisation evolved at a sustained pace, with greater or lesser difficulties in Santiago and Fogo, it must be said that the other islands were abandoned to a certain extent by central power, to such an extent that lands, although administered by the donataries, were neglected until the 18th Century, when they reverted to the Crown, at a stage when some of them were becoming the target for attempted occupation by the Dutch (S. Vicente, Santo Antão, Maio), the English (Maio) and the French (S. Vicente).
In 1731 the Ouvidor, José da Costa Ribeiro, who had the mission of visiting each of the islands once in his three year period of office for functions, observed that these islands did not lack people capable of occupying the positions, which were only vacant due to the reluctance of the Donataries (who were still in a leadership role) to let them be occupied by the so-called “brancos da terra” (people of mixed race).
At his proposal, the administrative structure of five population centres of the more remote islands of Cape Verde was adapted as follows at this time: in Santo Antão,S. Nicolau and Boa Vista, capitão-mor, feitor (trading authority superintendent), escrivão da feitoria (scribe of the trading authority), meirinho da Fazenda Real (undersheriff of the Royal Treasury - feitoria), guardas da alfândega (customs guards); in S. Vicente, feitor (subordinate to Sto. Antão); in Santo Antão and S. Nicolau, Câmaras (chambers); in S. Nicolau and Boa Vista, guardas do campo; in Santo Antão, an alcaide (mayor).
In Brava, it was by an initiative of Caetano de Melo Albuquerque, captain and sergeant-major of Fogo, that the island was also provided with the necessary organs for government and exercise of power in 1745. He first created companhias de ordenanças (a sort of elite army that imposed authority over the militias), and then organised the fazenda (treasury) and justiça (justice), substituting the Ouvidor, due to the extreme difficulty of access to the island. The Ouvidor him self determined that Maio should be provided with a judge to be elected annually, a mayor(mayor) and a scribe, and the same applied for Boa Vista, plus a feitor (trading authority superintendent) and a second scribe.
