Objective:

The objective of this article is to recognize what characteristics define the Castilian and Portuguese border societies in the Atlantic that, during the aggregation of Portugal to the Hispanic Monarchy, were closely connected to each other. The object of study are the islands of Macaronesia in the period of consolidation of the Atlantic world, with the aim of clarifying the particularities of the insular identity built from ties of complementarity between archipelagos ruled by different kingdoms within a dynamic and related ocean.

Methodology:

The insular chronicles, both Castilian and Portuguese, contemporary to the period have been analyzed since these texts reflect in writing the social perception of the insular about their closest environment. In a complementary way, primary sources from the local administrations of different archipelagos and Canary Islands notarial protocols have been used to deepen the study of socioeconomic contacts and complementary ties between the different Macaronesian island spaces.

Originality:

The purpose of this study is to apply a supranational observation method on a border society whose inhabitants were subjects of two kingdoms and at the same time made up a single region.

Conclusions:

These chroniclers understand that there is a common insular entity that relates them, socially and economically. It is from these stories that Macaronesia begins to define itself in historical terms.