Women and children on board—the case of the Carreira Da India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

• Type: Chapter or Part of a Book
• Date: 2023

Authors

Polónia, Amélia (Author) FLUP; Capelão, Rosa (Author) Other

Book

Title: Privacy at sea: practices, spaces, and communication in maritime history

Pages: 41-76

ISBN: 978-3-031-35846-3 (hbk); 978-3-031-35849-4 (pbk)

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-35847-0

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Other information

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-35847-0_3

Abstract (EN): This chapter explores the presence of women and children on board ships in the Carreira da India between Lisbon and the city of Goa in India via the Cape Route. In the few possible moments of solitude and isolation on these maritime routes, privacy implied control of behaviours and interactions. Depending on how this control was carried out, privacy could be seen as an impossibility, a threat, or something to be encouraged, also reflecting the tensions between state and individual goals. On the other hand, with the search for invisibility and anonymity, privacy also forced selective control of information. Following these notions of privacy, the chapter dissects the perception of privacy by women and children and how they responded and adapted to the daily circumstances on board.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific