To populate the deserted Atlantic Ocean islands discovered in the 15th century, such as Madeira, Porto Santo, the Azores, Cape Verde and São Tomé, Portugal granted them to the noblemen and other interested parties who discovered them, or who were capable of exploiting them. This was done in the form of hereditary captaincies.
Application in Brazil
The same method of colonisation was applied in Brazil in 1504 when Dom Manuel I gifted the newly discovered island of São João (also known as Quaresma) to the shipowner Fernão de Noronha. The archipelago located fifty leagues off the north-eastern coast of Brazil was named after him.
Royal confirmation (1522).
In 1522, the new King John III confirmed the donation, stipulating that the grantee could raise cattle on the island, divide it up, and use it as they saw fit, provided they paid a quarter and a tithe.
New confirmation and settlement (1559–17th century).
In 1559, during the regency of Queen Catherine while King Sebastian was still a minor, the donation was reconfirmed in favour of a second Fernão de Noronha, who was the grandson of the first.
However, unlike his predecessor and successors, there is no record that this grantee sent settlers to the island or invested capital there. Years later, the island was still deserted, and it was not until the 17th century that reports of its sparse population began to emerge.
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