He spent many years in the service of King Manuel I, who in 1500 entrusted him to lead an expedition of 13 ships to India. Cabral was born into a family of great privilege, held in high esteem among the Portuguese royal family. Portuguese navigator who is credited with the discovery of Brazil. See also Edgar Prestage, The Portuguese Pioneers (1933) Charles David Ley, ed., Portuguese Voyages, 1498-1663 (1947) and Gilbert Renault, Caravels of Christ (1959). The most complete information on Cabral and his voyage to the East is the translation, with an introduction and notes, by William Brooks Greenlee of The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India: From Contemporary Documents and Narratives (1938). Cabral then apparently retired to his estate at Jardim, near Santarém, where he died about 1520. He helped to prepare the next fleet for India, which sailed under the command of Vasco da Gama. He then returned to Lisbon laden with the coveted spices of the East. The first cartographic notification of Cabral's discovery was the Cantino chart, finished no later than 1502.Īfter dispatching news of his discovery to King Manuel, Cabral proceeded to India, where he established a trading post at Cochin. Was far off the prescribed course to India-discover Brazil accidentally or intentionally? There is room for much speculation on each of these questions, but lack of documentary evidence to the contrary leads to the conclusion that Cabral was the first to discover Brazil and that he did so accidentally.
Was he the first to reach Brazil or had the Spanish or French made prior visits? Had Portugal previously discovered Brazil and protected that discovery with secrecy? Did Cabral-who
Merchants, quickly attracted to its plentiful stands of brazilwood, the source of an excellent red dye, called it Terra do Brasil, and the name Brazil gained popular acceptance.Ĭabral's discovery has raised a series of historical questions which have never been properly answered. Cabral explored the coast and claimed the new land for his sovereign. On April 22 the fleet unexpectedly sighted land in the west at 17° South latitude. Little is known of his activities before 1499, when Manuel appointed him the chief captain of a fleet being prepared to sail to India to follow the maritime route to the East charted by Vasco da Gama on his historical voyage of 1497-1499.Īmid colorful pageantry 13 ships with 1,200 men sailed from the Tagus River on March 8, 1500, en route to India. As a nobleman, he served in the council of King Manuel I and received the habit of the Order of Christ. 1467-1520) was a Portuguese navigator who discovered Brazil on a voyage to India.īorn on the family estate in Belmonte, Pedro Álvares Cabral grew up close to the Portuguese court.
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