Paper short abstract:

Through the analysis of the example of Brigida de Gouveia, a prominent resident of Ribeira Grande, we will discuss the activities and social position of female ship-owners in 16th century Cape Verde.

Paper long abstract:

Women tend to be forgotten when analyzing the local elites of the Atlantic Archipelagoes. However, when walking around Cidade Velha, in Cape Verde, one can't help but be to be amazed by the number of women buried in the churches of Nossa Senhora do Rosário and Nossa Senhora da Conceição, prominent members of the Cape Verdean elite, who commissioned their own graves. Most of these women where ship-owners, dedicating themselves to slave trade. By identifying these women, we aim to reconstruct their activities and kinship networks, thus understanding their contribution to the economy of 16th century Ribeira Grande and to the Atlantic trade.

In this poster we will present part of a research that we have been conducting with Instituto de Património Cultural (Cape Verde) within project CONCHA, a multidisciplinary project that addresses the different way that port cities developed around the Atlantic.