French Imperial Guard Waterloo Uniforms by Bryan Fosten

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Historians study the experience of the Anglo-Normans in Wales and Ireland to better understand the deep background to the English colonization of North America and as a reminder that the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere were not the first peoples whom the English (and their ancestors) had hoped to subdue. Further reading: R. R. Davies, Domination and Conquest: The Experience of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 1100–1300 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Arawak 1990); Liam De Paor, The Peoples of Ireland: From Prehistory to Modern Times (London: Hutchinson, 1986).

Although texts from as early as the 11th century refer to islands somewhere in the Atlantic west of the Iberian Peninsula, it is unclear whether such assertions were based on knowledge, speculation, or pure fantasy. What is clear is that the Azores lay within a Portuguese zone of navigation, a status that was formalized by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Their importance to the Portuguese Crown can be gauged by reference to contemporary maps that portray the islands well out of proportion. Even given the imaginative nature of mapmaking at the time, such a representation illustrated the importance of the islands to the sailors of the day.

The discovery of the Azores is shrouded in mystery. Although texts from as early as the 11th century refer to islands somewhere in the Atlantic west of the Iberian Peninsula, it is unclear whether such assertions were based on knowledge, speculation, or pure fantasy. What is clear is that the Azores lay within a Portuguese zone of navigation, a status that was formalized by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Their importance to the Portuguese Crown can be gauged by reference to contemporary maps that portray the islands well out of proportion.