Captaincy General of the Azores

The creation of the Captaincy-General was part of the Pombaline reforms to the Portuguese administration, during the reign of Joseph I, under the initiatives of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, then prime minister.

The settlement of the Azores coalesced in the second half of the 15th century, in a late medieval context, that translated into the establishment of a governing structure based on the seigneur system.

[2] Royal power, until this time was represented in the Corregedor,[3] that traveled between the islands correcting, verifying and resolving issues associated with municipal laws and conflicts with the Donatary-captains.

The abolishment of the Donatary-captains, an institution imposed due to the irregularity of the maritime communication, meant that power shifted to the municipal authorities, moderated by the interventions of the Corregedor.

The concentration of administrative power in Angra during this period meant that, following the Portuguese Restoration War, the Crown made obliged to provide assurances to local politicians that the Azores would not function as a Vice-Regal fiefdom in the future.

The preamble of the charter, that created the Captaincy, justified the creation of the new politico-administrative authority only "the Terceiras islands, commonly called the Azores, adjacent to these Kingdoms...are a considerable part of them [and] by the kindness of its climate and for its distinct vassals who have their homes in them, so worthy of the same providence, which predecessor kings were masters at political, military and civil governments, to each and every one of the provinces of these kingdoms, and the state of Brazil and more domains overseas, creating in them governors and captains-general."