The Conquest, Colonisation, and First Governors of the Estado do Maranhão During the Spanish Monarchy (1580–1640)

The aim of this article is to analyse the importance of the conquest, colonisation, and installation of the first governors of the Estado do Maranhão in the context of Portugal’s annexation to the Spanish Monarchy. The conquest, colonisation, and creation of a new territory in Maranhão was one of the main milestones of the six decades during which Portuguese America belonged to the Spanish Monarchy. It was an enterprise previously planned on a political stage, in which the indigenous people played an important role, and it took shape in America through a political process that defined how the space in question would be organised, colonised, and occupied.