The agency of women in the diaspora: portuguese women in the Canary islands on cross-border networks during the consolidation of the atlantic world

Abstract

The Portuguese community in the Canary Islands had special significance, especially since the incorporation of Portugal to the Hispanic Monarchy. However, the agency of the Portuguese women migrating to these islands and their transatlantic ties are little known. This research, which methodologically is based on the analysis of documentary sources of the islands, addresses the implications that this triple condition of women, emigrants and foreigners had in this group in a border area under construction with the purpose of recognizing the mark of the Portuguese women who settled in the Islands and discern the social, economic and professional relationships in which they are inserted. These objectives are intended to define the identity of migrant women from Portugal in the Canary Islands from their cross-border agency during the consolidation of the Atlantic world in order to build a novel historical narrative about foreign women in border areas.