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The Captaincy of the Second Portuguese Voyage to Brazil, 1501–1502

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

William B. Greenlee
William B. Greenlee*
Affiliation:
The Newberry Library, Chicago
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Extract

On the 8th of March, 1500, a fleet of thirteen ships and caravels departed from Lisbon under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral. Two of the caravels were destined for East Africa and the others for Calicut, on the Malabar coast of India, where they were sent to obtain cargoes of spices and other Eastern commodities, to establish friendly relations with its ruler, and to leave a factory for future trade. Vasco da Gama with his fleet had preceded; Cabral followed to reap the reward. The route was carefully selected to secure the safest and best passage to the Cape of Good Hope. The ships of the fleet were clumsy so that the course must be taken with the most favorable winds. They sailed somewhat to the west of south from the Cape Verde Islands and the coast of Brazil was reached, probably for the first time. After remaining here for about a week taking on supplies of water and wood, the main fleet continued to India. Before doing so, possession of this discovery was taken for the Crown, though it was not then known whether it was mainland or an island. A small supply ship was sent back to Lisbon carrying letters for the King, among them one by Pedro Vaz de Caminha telling of the sojourn and describing the natives, and another by the king’s astrologer, Master John. Both of these letters still exist. The date of the arrival of the supply ship in Portugal is not known but it was probably early in July, 1500. The news of the discovery was of great interest to the King and to the Portuguese people, but their chief concern was with the success of the India fleet, and Caminha’s letter reported that little of value was found in the new land during Cabral’s stay. The discovery made by Cabral was considered of sufficient importance, however, to warrant sending a second fleet for further investigation. The King and the cosmographers wished to know whether it was mainland, as they undoubtedly suspected, and if so its extent. If such were the case, they desired to claim the land for Portugal under the Bull of May 4, 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed June 4, 1494. If it were an island, the Spice Islands farther to the west might be reached as Columbus had claimed. The merchants were interested in its commercial value particularly for obtaining pearls and dye wood and in its possibilities for the cultivation of sugar cane. In the latter of these Bartolomeo Marchioni, a wealthy Florentine, who had long resided in Lisbon and operated sugar plantations in Madeira and elsewhere, could anticipate profits, if the land were fertile and native labor adequate. The New Christians or converted Jews evidently also saw in this new land the possibility of escape from persecution in Portugal and a chance for wealth from the products which might be found there.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , July 1945 , pp. 3 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1945

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References

1 “Pedralvares, seeing that because of his voyage, nothing else could be done, sent from there a ship of which Gaspar de Lemos was captain, with news for the King D. Manuel of what he had discovered; which ship on its arrival gave great pleasure to El-Rey and to all the kingdom, not only to learn of the good voyage which the fleet made, but also of the land which was discovered.” (Barros, Asia, vol. 1, 390, ed. 1778.)

2 Pearls and dye wood had previously been found by the Spaniards to the north.

3 In 1508 Vespucci was appointed Chief Pilot of Spain and because of his proficiency in the use of the astrolabe, one of his principal duties was to examine Spanish navigators in its use. Another duty was to collect charts and accounts of Spanish voyages, knowledge of which had not been carefully preserved and to incorporate them in an official map, the Padrón Real. Vespucci died at Seville on February 22, 1512. A few months later the Spanish fiscals began to take testimony in the celebrated trial of the heirs of Columbus. Had Vespucci lived his knowledge of the Spanish voyages, which were claimed to have been made to Brazil before the arrival of Cabral, would have been of great interest.

4 In the letter attributed to Vespucci as having been written from Cape Verde in which he tells of an encounter with two vessels of Cabral’s fleet returning from the East, he states that he had shortened his life by ten years in studying the problem of the determination of longitude.

5 The persecution of Jews both in Spain and in Portugal was due to religion rather than race. Their wealth and the ostentation shown in their synagogues was the envy of both the Crown and the clergy. There was little antagonism to the Jews in Italy, even at the Vatican.

6 As an indication of this uncertainty, Max Fleiuss in his Historia da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (p. 25), states that this was “a flotilla composed of three caravels, under the command, according to some, of Gaspar de Lemos, according to others, of D. Nuno Manuel, favorite of the royal house, and according to Rio-Branco, of André Gonçalves”. Raphael, P. Galanti, M. is also indefinite in his Historia do Brazil (São Paulo, 1911, vol. I, p. 49)Google Scholar: “The greater number of chroniclers affirm, with little exactitude, that it was Gonçalo Coelho, and others that it was Cristovão Jacques, Varnhagen is for D. Nuno Manuel; it appears, nevertheless, more probable to have been André Gonçalves.” More recently Pedro Calmon in Historia da Babia, states “That the command of the expedition fell to D. Nuno Manuel “and that Vespucci went as the pilot. This same author, however, in Historia da Civilização Brasileira (4th ed., 1940, pp. 13–14), changes his opinion and favors André Gonçalves.

7 The Gulf of Pária on the northern coast of South America had been discovered by Columbus in 1498. It was again visited in 1499 by Hojeda who followed the shore to the East. During this voyage, in which Vespucci probably participated, the mouths of both the Orinoco and the Essequibo were discovered. The size of these rivers, greater than any which had previously been found in the Antilles, and the fact that the land extended so far to the eastward, must have caused the navigators to wonder if a landmass of large proportions did not exist to the south. When it was reported that Cabral had found a similar land and that the people there resembled those previously encountered, the existence of a mainland of continental proportions must have been realized.

8 The first author to designate Gonçalo Coelho for the position was Gabriel Soares de Sousa in Tratado descriptivo do Brasil em 1587, a third edition of which was included in the Bibliotheca Pedagogica Brasileira Series, vol. 117, São Paulo, 1938. This author amplifies a short reference to this voyage written by Antonio Galvão entitled Tratado … de todos os descobrimentos antigos & modernos … até 1550. This was first published in 1563 and a second edition appeared at Lisbon in 1731. It has since been published as The Discoveries of the World, edited by Vice-Admiral Bethune with the original text and translation by Richard Hakluyt, Hakluyt Society, London, 1862. The reference to this voyage is as follows: “In this same year of 1501 and in the month of May three ships departed from the city of Lisbon by command of King Manoel to discover the coast of Brasil; and they went to catch sight of the Canaries, and from there to Cape Verde, where they took refreshment in Bezequiche, and passed beyond the line southward, and proceeded to reach the land of Brasil in five degrees of latitude, and went along it as far as 32 degrees, little more or less, according to their count; from thence they returned in the month of April, because it was already cold and tempestuous. They were in this discovery and voyage fifteen months, and returned to Lisbon the beginning of September.”

The statement made by Sousa is as follows: “Gonçalo Coelho was later sent to these parts by His Highness with an armada of three caravels so that he might discover this coast, along which he went many months seeking the ports and rivers, in many of which he entered, and he set up marks of those which he carried for this discovery; in which he endured great hardships because of the little experience and information which they had hitherto as to how the coast ran and the course of the winds with which it is navigated, and Gonçalo Coelho returned with the loss of two ships with the information which could be obtained; he went to give it to El-Rei D. João III, who at this time reigned, who immediately ordered another armada of caravels which he sent to these conquests, which he turned over to Christovão Jacques, a fidalgo of his house, who went in it as capitão mór, which went continuing in the discovery of this coast, and worked a good deal regarding the clarification of its navigation, and he planted padrões in many parts, which he carried for this purpose.”

The account has many inaccuracies. John III only ascended the throne in 1521; Christovão Jacques probably went first to Brazil in 1516 and the padrões were not taken to Brazil until later. Several of these marcos or padrões still exist. One was found at Cape São Roque, another near São Vicente and two at Cananea. These marble markers are being carefully preserved. They have apparently carved on them the cross of the Order of Christ and the royal arms. They probably belong to a period after the establishment of the captaincies around 1540, and were used as guides for navigators.

9 This was first published in 1859–64 by the Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa in 7 vols. and edited by Rodrigo José de Lima Felner. The importance of this history of the Portuguese in India which was hitherto inaccessible to scholars, caused an enthusiasm for the value of the first book extending to 1510, which is not always justified. Corrêa’s relations of the early voyages to India differ in many respects from those of better known historians but contain valuable information not available elsewhere. His list of the captains of Cabral’s fleet, for instance, is not the same as given by other authors and includes Bras Matoso, Pedro de Figueiro, and André Gonçalves, whose names are not elsewhere mentioned. Gaspar de Lemos is included but he continued on to India and it was André Gonçalves who, Corrêa states, returned to Lisbon from Porto Seguro in Brazil.

10 “There were many villages and the people were all white with broad faces and broad and low noses like those of the Javanese. Therefore the chief captain, through council of all, ordered the ship of André Gonçalves sent back from here to the kingdom, with the news to the king of this new land which was discovered; and he sent men and women and children, and their nets and clothing, and large parrots and other smaller ones; and the subsistence of the land was millet (millio). And the ship was laden with cut red woods, which are very heavy, and which they call brasil because its redness is as fine as burning coals (brasa). And he instructed André Gonçalves that he should continually follow the coast as much as he could, and that he should endeavor to see the cape of it; which he thus did. And he discovered much of it, including many good ports and rivers, writing everything down, both the soundings and signs; with which he returned to the king who was much pleased. And the king immediately prepared ships in which he again sent André Gonçalves to discover this land, because he had the wood investigated and it was found that it made a fine red color. Thereupon he immediately made contract with merchants who purchased the wood from him by weight; these went to load this brasil, from which there was great trade and much profit, because it was merchandise for many parts and especially for Flanders. The king made great profits from this as it now appears. The chief captain ordered some of this brasil wood taken, which he carried to India, and it did not have great value, because there they make the red color from lac; and because it has greater value in the kingdom, they do not load it for India.” Lendas da India, Lisbon, 1859–64, I, 152.)

11 The Duke of Braganza was one of the wealthiest men in Portugal and of royal lineage. Much of his time was spent in Spain where he was greatly honored at court. He held a high office in Seville and may have known Vespucci, at least by reputation, and recommended him for a position on this voyage.

12 The complete letter was first published by Varnhagen in Nouvelles Recherches (Vienne, 1870), pp. 9–10. An extract of this by Rodolpho Garcia is given in a note to the third edition of the Historia Geral do Brasil, I, p. 114, as follows: “que ella por parte do Imperador e sua mandasse averiguar em que tempo descobrira o dito rio, e que vossa alteza mandaria mui brevemente saber em que tempo descobrira uma armada de D. Nuno Manoel, que por mandado d’el-rei vosso pae que está em gloria, foi descobrir ao dito rio, e que quem se achasse por verdade que primeiro descobrira estivesse em posse até se lançar a linha” (of Tordesillas). The name of Nuno Manoel was first proposed as chief captain of the fleet by Armand d’Avezac-Macaya in Considérations Géographiques sur l’histoire du Brésil, Paris, 1851.

13 Fernão de Loronha evidently preferred to be called Fernando de Noronha, perhaps after the celebrated hero by that name who fought at the capture of Ceuta. If the assumption is correct that he was a Jew, this name may have been given him when baptized as a Christian. He was a cavaleiro of the court of D. Manuel and was much esteemed by that monarch. He was granted a coat of arms at a time when wealthy Jews were being persecuted and massacred. He was also granted the privilege of citizenship of the city of Lisbon. It is thus quite evident that if Fernão de Loronha had been a Jew he would not have been numbered among those more recently converted but one who had shown conclusively that he was a fervent Christian and could be trusted to maintain the Christian belief among those under his guidance. His father was buried in the Convent of São Francisco in Évora. About two years after his return from India Pedro Alvares Cabral married Dona Izabel de Castro, who was descended from Fernando of Portugal and Henry of Castile. Her father was Dom Fernando de Noronha, and her mother Dona Constança de Castro, who was a sister of Afonso de Albuquerque. In a note to the third edition of Varnhagen’s Historia Geral de Brasil Rodolpho Garcia refers to a letter of confirmation passed by Queen Maria, second wife of Dom Manuel, on the 18th of February, 1503 in favor of D. Constança, wife of Fernando de Loronha or Noronha, in which she usufructs the rent of the Lines of Torres Vedras and its term so that her daughter, Dona Izabel de Castro, might be permitted to trespass on the said property at will. This letter was confirmed by the Infanta Dona Izabel, who succeeded her mother, in a letter dated July 14, 1517. The coincidence of the name Fernão or Fernando de Loronha or Noronha as it is variously given and that of Fernando de Noronha, the father-in-law of Cabral, is strange but there seems to be no evidence that the reputed Jewish contractor and merchant was in any way related to the important Noronha or Castro families prominent in Portuguese history.

14 Raccolta di Documenti e Studi … della R. Commissione Columbiana. Rome, 1892–96, part III, vol. II, 122.

15 An extract of the document is given by Antonio Baião in História da Colonização Portuguesa do Brasil. Porto, 1921–24, vol. II, J25, as follows: “And we wish and it pleases us that in purchasing spices either at Brazil or at any other market which is in the Indies and in the new lands which are now discovered, be it little or much, there shall be no obligation to pay excise nor any other purchase tax for carrying the said merchandise outside these kingdoms and seignories, except those which are bought in the fleet and ships which go with the Admiral as well as on the return voyage of the ships which now go in these two armadas which departed last, shall pay as excise tax five per cent and no more, and the same with what the trading ships of Fernam de Loronha purchase in the new lands during the time of his contract which will be completed in the year 1505. And in all other India ships and also during the time of the contract of the said Fernam de Loronha of the said new lands they shall not pay anything on what they purchase of the said parts of India and the new lands.”

16 An account of this voyage is given as the fourth of Vespucci in the Soderini letter.

17 “To Fernam de Loronha, confirmation of donation of the captaincy of Sam João of the land of Santa Crux which he discovered.

Dom Joam, etc. We make known that through the part of Fernam de Loronha cavalier of our house there Was presented to us a letter of the king our lord and father, may he be in holy glory, of which the substance is as follows.

Dom Manoell by the grace of God king of Portugal and of the Algarves on this side and beyond the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea, and the conquest, navigation, commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and of India. To those to whom this letter may come, we make known that, because we have respect for the services which Fernam de Noronha, a cavalier of our house, has made and we hope in the future to receive from him, and wishing on this account to make him thanks and reward (graça e merçee) we consider it well and it is our pleasure, that when he at some time should come to people our island of Sam João which he has now newly found and discovered fifty leagues at sea from our land of Samta Cruz, to give him and make grant (merçee) of the captaincy of it during his life and that of his eldest legitimate son, who survives at the time of his death; and, when this is thus done, we will order his formal letter made, in which we will give him the rights and jurisdiction which the said captaincy should have, according to what then seems good to us. And for confirmation and security we order this letter to be given him signed by us and sealed with our pendant seal; which we promise to fulfil and guaranteed to him entirely as herein contained, inasmuch as it is our reward. Given in our city of Lisbon the 16th day of January. Francisco de Matos has done this in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ of 1504.

The said Fernam de Loronha petitioning us for the favor of confirming for him the said letter, and his desire being seen by us, wishing to grant him grace and reward we decide and we confirm it to him and we consider it as confirmed in such manner as is contained in it. And we wish and order that it may be thus fulfilled and kept. Given in our city of Lisbon the 3rd day of March. Pero Fragoso did it in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1522.” (Alguns documentos de Archivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo. Lisbon, 1892, 459–60.

18 “Furthermore, during the past three years since the Terra Nova was discovered there was carried each year 20,000 cantara of Brazil wood (verzin), which Brazil wood appears to have been derived from a very large tree which is very heavy. This, moreover, does not exist in the same perfection as ours of the Levant. Nevertheless much of it is exported to Flanders, and from there to Castile and to Italy through many places. This is worth 2½ to 3 ducats the cantara. This Brazil wood is contracted for by Fernando della Rogna, a New Christian, for ten years with this Most Serene King, for 4,000 ducats per year. This Fernando della Rogna sends his ships and men all at his expense on a voyage each year to the said Terra Nova with this condition; that this most serene King insists that he shall not trade from there to India. This Brazil wood, as it appears, is taken from there to Lisbon with a total expense of ½ ducat per cantara. In that land all the trees are of this Brazil wood. The distance from Lisbon there by the south and south-west winds is 800 leagues.” (“Carta de el-Rei D. Manuel ao Rei Catholico “, ed. by Prospero Peragallo in Centenario do Descobrimento da América. Lisbon, 1892, Appendix, 83–84.) Antonio Baião is firmly convinced from other evidence that a contract for the dye wood in Brazil was not entered into for 10 years following the three year period conceded to Loronha, and that from 1505 on there was freedom of commerce. Hist, da Col. Port, do Brasil, vol. 2, p. 326.

19 The complete report of this voyage is given in Ibid., pp. 343–347.

20 “and the caravels sent last year to discover la terra di Papagà or rather of Santa Croce, returned on the 22nd of July; and the captain referred to having discovered more than 2,500 miles of new coast and never having found an end of the said coast. And the said caravels have come laden with brazil wood and cassia, and they have brought other spices, etc.” (Marino Sanuto, Diarii, IV, fol. 485).