Pedro Álvares Cabral

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Pedro Álvares Cabral.jpg Image:PACabral1.jpg Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 - c. 1520), was a Portuguese navigator and explorer, generally regarded as first European discoverer of Brazil (April 22, 1500).

He is thought to have been born in Belmonte, in the Beira Baixa province of Portugal. He was the third son of Fernão Cabral (c.1427-c.1492), Governor of Beira and Belmonte, and Isabel de Gouveia de Queirós (c.1433-c.1483; descendant of the first King of Portugal, Afonso I), and married Isabel de Castro, the daughter of the distinguished Fernão de Noronha (also descendant of King Afonso I). He must have had excellent training in navigation and large experience as a seaman, for King Manuel I of Portugal considered him competent to continue the work of Vasco da Gama.

His commission was to establish permanent commercial relations and to introduce Christianity wherever he went, using force of arms when necessary to gain his point. The nature of the undertaking led rich Florentine merchants to contribute to the equipment of the ships, and priests to join the expedition. Among the captains of the fleet, which consisted of 13 ships with 1,500 men, were Bartolomeu Dias, Pêro Vaz de Caminha, and Nicolau Coelho, the latter the companion of Vasco da Gama. Vasco da Gama himself gave the directions necessary for the course of the voyage.

The fleet left Lisbon on March 9, 1500, and following the course laid down, sought to avoid the calms off the coast of Gulf of Guinea. On leaving the Cape Verde Islands, where Luís Pires was forced by a storm to return to Lisbon, they sailed in a decidedly southwesterly direction. On April 22 a mountain was visible, to which the name of Monte Pascoal was given; on the April 23 Cabral landed on the coast of Brazil, and on the April 25 the entire fleet sailed into the harbor called Porto Seguro. Cabral perceived that the new country lay east of the line of demarcation made by Pope Alexander VI (see Treaty of Tordesillas), and at once sent André Gonçalves (according to other authorities Gaspar de Lemos) to Portugal with the important tidings. Believing the newly-discovered country to be an island he gave it the name of Island of the True Cross (or Island of Vera Cruz) and took possession of it by erecting a cross and holding a religious service. The service was celebrated by the Franciscan, Father Henrique, afterwards Bishop of Ceuta.

Cabral resumed his voyage on May 3 1500. By the end of the month the fleet approached the Cape of Good Hope, where it was struck by a storm in which four vessels, including that of Bartolomeu Dias, were lost. With the ships now reduced to one-half of the original number, Cabral reached Sofala on July 16 and Mozambique on July 20. In the latter place he received a cordial greeting. On July 26 he came to Kilwa where he was unable to make an agreement with the ruler. On August 2 he reached Melinde; here he had a friendly welcome and obtained a pilot to take him to India. On August 10, the ship commanded by Diogo Dias, separated by weather, discovered an island they named after St Lawrence, later known as Madagascar.

Cabral continued to India to trade for pepper and other spices, establishing a factory at Calicut, where he arrived on September 13. In Cochin and Cananor Cabral succeeded in making advantageous treaties. After a chain of bad luck, culminating in a two-day bombardment of the city, Cabral started on the return voyage on January 16, 1501, and returned with only 4 of 13 ships to Portugal, on June 23, 1501.

Cabral was buried in a monastery in Santarém, Portugal. He has been honored on a number of postage stamps, for instance in a set of Brazilian stamps issued January 1, 1900 to mark the 400th anniversary of the discovery. In Brazil, he is also in the 1 cent coin, and in a special edition of the R$10 (10 Reais) note.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia.