Lately, several historians refute the idea that Brazil was discovered in 1500 by the squadron led by Pedro Alvares Cabral. This review of the fact is usually sustained when the degree of technological development is highlighted, the information control carried out by the Portuguese government and the concern to review the colonial limits with the signature of Treaty of Tordesillas.
To better understand this issue, it is necessary to look at some episodes prior to the announcement of Brazilian lands. In the early 1500s, the Portuguese Crown sent an expedition that was to fetch yet another precious shipment of spices from Calicut, India. This new maritime undertaking would be led by experienced navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral and would have the presence of cosmographer Duarte Pacheco Pereira.
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change of route
According to some experts, Pacheco would have participated in a secret expedition that, in 1498, would have verified the existence of Brazilian lands
. Before departure, the king Dom Manuel I organized a great festivity to celebrate the departure of the brave navigators who would launch themselves into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. After celebrating the match, the navigators moved away from the African coast, contrary to the traditional circumnavigation route of that continent.Also read about:Great Navigations
The action taken never had a clear explanation, but since it is a squad composed of experienced browsers, it would be, at the very least, strange to launch into a type of endeavor absent from any other safety. In addition, it should be noted that the routes used for navigation were extreme secrecy, as they guaranteed the supremacy and commercial interests of a given nation. In this way, the idea of an accidental encounter loses even more strength.
Meeting without many surprises
The accounts of Cabral's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean do not mention any type of great difficulty or unforeseen event. On March 22, the navigators passed through the Cape Verde archipelago and, soon after, headed west to meet the “long sea”, the name customarily given to the Atlantic Ocean. After a month of travel and approximately 3600 kilometers covered, the crew of the Cabralina expedition found the first signs of land.
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In day April 22, 1500, on the eighth day of the Christian Easter, the crew had a first visual contact with an elevator that soon gained the name of mount paschal. In the reports of Pero Vaz de Caminha, one of the members of the trip, this name is refuted when the “biographer of the trip” states that the region was named Vera Cruz. Throughout this same account, there is no mention of a possible enchantment with the “new” discovery.
The ships first decided to dock on the banks of the Frade River, from where they sent a Jewish translator named Gaspar Gama to contact the natives. After a first contact with the Indians, the squadron decided to land in a safer region, where the Bahia municipality of Santa Cruz Cabrália. On dry land, Portuguese settlers organized an Easter Mass led by Friar Henrique de Coimbra.
Baptism of the new land and letter from Pero Vaz de Caminha
The celebration, which made the discovery of new lands official, encompassed the material achievement of the Portuguese Crown and opened the way for more space for religious conversion for the church. At first, the land was named Vera Cruz, but was soon replaced by land of Santa Cruz. In a last modification of the name of the new lands, the Portuguese settlers decided to name it as “Brazil” due to the great availability of Brazilwood in the region.
On May 2, 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral dismembered his squadron and left for the Indies. Gaspar de Lemos was ordered to return to Portugal with the news contained in Pero Vaz de Caminha's report. In that document, there was general information about the explored region and some prospects about the local economic potential. However, only three decades later, the Portuguese started the regular activities of colonization in Brazil.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "Controversial facts about the discovery of Brazil"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/descobrimento-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.