The chapters below deal with the controversy surrounding the priority in the discovery of Brazil in the early 16th century.
After Columbus (1498), Spanish navigators reached the coast of South America: Alonso de Ojeda (1499), whose arrival in Brazilian territory is uncertain; Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (late 1499 — Jan. 1500), generally considered the first to have sighted a stretch of the Brazilian coast (possibly Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in Pernambuco), then heading north to the mouth of the Amazon and the Oiapoque; and Diogo de Lepe (late 1499), who also sailed through the region before heading to the Antilles.
Officially, the discovery is attributed to the Portuguese Pedro Álvares Cabral, sent by King Manuel I with a fleet of thirteen ships to India.
On 22–23 April 1500, they sighted land (Monte Pascoal) and landed in Porto Seguro (Baía Cabrália), where they made contact with indigenous peoples.
On 1 May, they erected a cross and took possession in the name of Portugal.
The letter from Pêro Vaz de Caminha is the main source of information about the discovery, with geographical and ethnographic descriptions and details of the religious ceremony.
There is debate as to whether the Portuguese already suspected or knew of the existence of the land (evidence in works such as Esmeraldo and clauses in the Treaty of Tordesillas) and whether Cabral’s arrival was intentional or accidental. There is no conclusive evidence of either a previous Portuguese discovery or full intentionality, although the discovery occurred in the context of planned navigation and Portuguese expansionist policy.
The Portuguese intention behind Cabral’s discovery of Brazil. Some historians debate whether it was Spanish sailors or the Portuguese who first sighted the lands of Brazil. Even without documentary evidence, French writers claimed French precedence regarding the voyage of a certain Jean Cousin in 1488. However, the Brazilians Ramiz Galvão […]
Although the Spanish navigator Vicente Yánez Pinzón is considered to have discovered Brazil first, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, the official discovery is attributed to the Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral. We will now study his voyage. 1. The Expedition Upon receiving news of Vasco da Gama’s successful voyage […]
Spanish exploration of the South American coast between 1499 and 1500: Ojeda, Pinzón, and Diogo de Lepe. Following the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, who was working for the Kingdoms of Castile and León, a series of maritime explorations of the New World began. Christopher Columbus was the first […]
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To populate the deserted Atlantic Ocean islands discovered in the 15th century, such as Madeira, Porto Santo, the Azores, Cape Verde and São Tomé,
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The return of Martim Afonso de Sousa to Portugal A brief account of Martim Afonso’s return to Portugal after completing his work in São
Martim Afonso’s voyage to Brazil (1530–1532) and Pero Lopes’ return to Portugal. The expedition led by Martim Afonso de Sousa to Brazil
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The colonising expedition led by Martim Afonso de Sousa and sent by the King of Portugal in 1530 was the first official attempt at permanently
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European interest in and conflict over Brazilwood in the 16th and 17th centuries. This chapter examines the exploitation and trade of Brazilwood
The Portuguese expedition to Brazil in 1503: discoveries, controversies and developments. Several printed and handwritten sources from the early
