WELCOME TO

THE WORLD'S LARGEST REPOSITORY OF INFORMATION ABOUT BRAZIL IN THE HISPANIC MONARCHY (1580-1640).

BRASILHIS derives from and is one of the main objectives of the Research Projects "Redes políticas, comerciantes y militares en Brasil durante la Monarquía Hispánica y sus postrimerías (1580-1680)" ref. HAR2012-35978 (hasta 2016), "Circulación de personas, libros, objetos y noticias entre Brasil y los territorios de la Monarquía Hispánica (1580-1668)", from 2017 to 2020, HAR2016-78099-P del MINECO and “Intercambios culturales, transculturación y castellanización en los territorios del Reino de Portugal y Brasil durante el periodo de integración en la Monarquía Hispánica y sus postrimerías 1580-1668” SA110P20, of the Junta de Castilla y León; with Professor José Manuel Santos of the University of Salamanca as Principal Investigator.

BRASILHIS Database arises as a different way of answering the question

What was the impact of Spanish Habsburg rule on the territory of portuguese America?

To get to the deeper aspects of this broad issue, the Database was organized, in a first phase, around three main sections: persons, documental references, and bibliographic references, linked together.

The main core of persons offers micro biographies with numerous personal data, collecting as much information about them as possible and establishing their network connections, whether political, social, economic, or military.

In addition, the database presents information about the movement of these people between the two sides of the Atlantic, thus providing valuable information about the communication between the colonial and the metropolitan world in the late 16th and early 17th century.

In the second phase, another serie of categories has been added, such as Properties, Legislation, Iconography, Means of Transport, Identities, etc., to complete the complex information that the sources offer us about this territory and this "crucial" period.

We intend to give present and future researchers a different tool to undertake the study of this period of Brazilian colonial history. About this period there have been important studies until today, but still with many gaps, some of which we hope to overcome through our work.

Any suggestions or contributions are welcome and can be made via the contact form available on the site.