Shetland Sheep and Azorean Wheat: Atlantic Islands as Provisioning Centers, 1400-1550

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay examines the role of Atlantic islands as food production and maritime provisioning centers during early European expansion into the Atlantic basin, roughly 1400-1550. It offers an overview of what we know about the intentional settling and exploitation of islands for food production, and how this fit wider patterns of food security and colonialism. It departs from previous work in considering both the mid-Atlantic (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Cabo Verde) and the north Atlantic (Orkney, Shetland, Faro, Iceland) archipelagos together. This essay argues that both northern and southern archipelagoes emerged as major provisioning centers in the fffteenth century; that they provided food for European metropoles, colonial projects and maritime commerce; and that there were broad similarities between northern and southern experiences in the early Atlantic. It shows that when we put food at the center of our analysis, we can rethink the role of islands in the early Atlantic.