History
The strong Spanish influence on the people of Puerto Rico is well documented and known all over the world. Just by being Puerto Rican, we claim our Spanish ancestry because without Spanish ancestry the Puerto Rican would not exist. However, the significant ancestral contribution of the Portuguese gets very little recognition, if any at all. All Puerto Ricans should be aware of the historical connection between Portugal and Puerto Rico.
Spain and Portugal have had a love hate relationship for generations. The two countries share a long history of territorial conflicts, but they were also one nation during the Iberian Union (1580-1640.) Through the centuries, the Spanish and Portuguese royal bloodlines have merged here and there, as noted in historical accounts of intermarriages between the monarchies of the two nations (i.e. King Philip II of Spain married Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal.)
The Portuguese have also had a direct connection to Puerto Rico via their migration to the Caribbean island. The Portuguese immigrated to Puerto Rico in such large numbers that by the mid 1500s Portuguese settlers outnumbered the Spaniards, according to “A Nation upon the Ocean Sea: Portugal’s Atlantic Diaspora and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire, 1492-1640” by Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert.
According to information from the Library of Congress, in 1593 Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Philip II of Spain and Portugal, composed the first garrison (military post) of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. On October 3, 1642, a Franciscan convent for men was founded in Puerto Rico by Portuguese friars who had come to the island in 1641.
Genealogy research conducted by Professor Antonio Sotomayor, PhD. of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows two families in Puerto Rico can trace their lineage to a family in Portugal. In his study, Genetic genealogy for the study of Puerto Rican, Spanish, and Portuguese family history: lessons from the Sotomayor, Colón, and Pereira families, Dr. Sotomayor notes new genetic, genealogical, and historical data link the families in Puerto Rico with Iberian roots to the Pereira lineage from Portugal. The Sotomayors and Colóns of Puerto Rico go back to northern Portugal and Galicia. Dr. Sotomayor, who conducted extensive research on his own bloodline, states the first Sotomayor in Puerto Rico was Don Cristóbal de Sotomayor, the youngest son of Don Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor, Count of Caminha (Portugal), who arrived on the island in 1509. Captain Rui de Pereira, 'El Bravo' who was Captain General of the both the Spanish and Portuguese fleets, was a direct descendant of the well-documented Portuguese lineage of Pereira, which goes back to the region of Braga in northern Portugal in the twelfth century.
By the early 19th century, Spain had lost most of its possessions in the New World except for Puerto Rico and Cuba. In hopes of securing these areas, Spain announced the Royal Decree of Graces in 1815, which granted the Caribbean territories the right to have commercial ties with countries that were in good standing with Spain. Soon after hundreds of European families, including many from Portugal, immigrated to Puerto Rico adopting the language and customs of the island and completely integrated into the society.
All of these historical ties, collectively, would explain why Puerto Ricans possess Portuguese DNA and why some of us have a greater number of ancestors from Portugal than we do from Spain.
Spain and Portugal have had a love hate relationship for generations. The two countries share a long history of territorial conflicts, but they were also one nation during the Iberian Union (1580-1640.) Through the centuries, the Spanish and Portuguese royal bloodlines have merged here and there, as noted in historical accounts of intermarriages between the monarchies of the two nations (i.e. King Philip II of Spain married Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal.)
The Portuguese have also had a direct connection to Puerto Rico via their migration to the Caribbean island. The Portuguese immigrated to Puerto Rico in such large numbers that by the mid 1500s Portuguese settlers outnumbered the Spaniards, according to “A Nation upon the Ocean Sea: Portugal’s Atlantic Diaspora and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire, 1492-1640” by Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert.
According to information from the Library of Congress, in 1593 Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Philip II of Spain and Portugal, composed the first garrison (military post) of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. On October 3, 1642, a Franciscan convent for men was founded in Puerto Rico by Portuguese friars who had come to the island in 1641.
Genealogy research conducted by Professor Antonio Sotomayor, PhD. of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows two families in Puerto Rico can trace their lineage to a family in Portugal. In his study, Genetic genealogy for the study of Puerto Rican, Spanish, and Portuguese family history: lessons from the Sotomayor, Colón, and Pereira families, Dr. Sotomayor notes new genetic, genealogical, and historical data link the families in Puerto Rico with Iberian roots to the Pereira lineage from Portugal. The Sotomayors and Colóns of Puerto Rico go back to northern Portugal and Galicia. Dr. Sotomayor, who conducted extensive research on his own bloodline, states the first Sotomayor in Puerto Rico was Don Cristóbal de Sotomayor, the youngest son of Don Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor, Count of Caminha (Portugal), who arrived on the island in 1509. Captain Rui de Pereira, 'El Bravo' who was Captain General of the both the Spanish and Portuguese fleets, was a direct descendant of the well-documented Portuguese lineage of Pereira, which goes back to the region of Braga in northern Portugal in the twelfth century.
By the early 19th century, Spain had lost most of its possessions in the New World except for Puerto Rico and Cuba. In hopes of securing these areas, Spain announced the Royal Decree of Graces in 1815, which granted the Caribbean territories the right to have commercial ties with countries that were in good standing with Spain. Soon after hundreds of European families, including many from Portugal, immigrated to Puerto Rico adopting the language and customs of the island and completely integrated into the society.
All of these historical ties, collectively, would explain why Puerto Ricans possess Portuguese DNA and why some of us have a greater number of ancestors from Portugal than we do from Spain.