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🏛️ How Was Vila Franca do Campo Supplanted by Ponta Delgada as the Capital of São Miguel Island?

Since 1474, following the settlement of the capitão donatário Rui Gonçalves da Câmara in Vila Franca do Campo, the town—recently promoted to vila—experienced significant growth and undeniably established itself as the most important settlement and administrative center of the island.

Meanwhile, the population of São Miguel continued to grow steadily, land was cleared for agriculture at an accelerated pace, a market economy took hold, and other settlements began to gain prominence and attract influential figures. One such place was Ponta Delgada, which achieved the status of vila in 1499. But what circumstances made this possible?

Despite differing opinions, Gaspar Frutuoso’s writings suggest that this “emancipation” resulted from the dissatisfaction of the homens nobres e poderosos (noble and powerful men) living in Ponta Delgada. These landowners, who had acquired status through land possession, resented having to travel to Vila Franca on various occasions, particularly for solemn events—a situation they considered inconvenient and diminishing to their social standing.

From 1499 onward, the newly established municipality of Ponta Delgada grew rapidly, progressively asserting its dominance. As historian José Damião Rodrigues highlighted, three key events reinforced this shift:

• 1515 – The villages of Feteiras, Mosteiros, Capelas, and Fenais were removed from Vila Franca’s jurisdiction and incorporated into Ponta Delgada’s territory.
• 1518 – The customs office of São Miguel was relocated to Ponta Delgada, a clear sign of the town’s increasing commercial dynamism.
• 1522 – A devastating earthquake destroyed much of Vila Franca, the island’s capital at the time.
  The culmination of this process was Ponta Delgada’s elevation to city status in 1546. Commenting on this shift in power between the two towns, one observer remarked: "Ponta Delgada was growing and thriving, while Vila Franca, old and decrepit, risked being buried alive."

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