HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE PORTUGUESE FORTRESS OF MALACCA (1511-1641)馬六甲的葡萄牙炮臺歷史記錄 (1511-1641)
This article synthetically reconstructs the history of the Portuguese fortress of Malacca (A Famosa) between 1511 and 1641, arguing that the Luso presence in the main entrepôt of Southeast Asia depended to a large extent on the capacity of the defensive system erected within the framework of the "Es...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2008
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40027/3648 |
| Summary: | This article synthetically reconstructs the history of the Portuguese fortress of Malacca (A Famosa) between 1511 and 1641, arguing that the Luso presence in the main entrepôt of Southeast Asia depended to a large extent on the capacity of the defensive system erected within the framework of the "Estado da Índia." The analysis draws primarily on European visual and documentary sources from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly Portuguese drawings that allow tracing the material and functional evolution of the fortification, complemented by contemporary references to its conception, location, and military role. The author contextualizes the decision to occupy Malacca following prior visits and negotiations (including reports on the city and its economic-military potential), describing Albuquerque's campaign and the strategic criteria that guided construction: topography, availability of materials and manpower, relations with local authorities, threat assessment, and the logic of maritime sustainment. It concludes that the fortress was simultaneously an instrument for controlling urban space and for the logistical protection of Atlantic-Asian traffic, serving to secure garrisons, support naval operations, and consolidate, for decades, Portuguese hegemony until the transition to Dutch dominion in 1641. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |