Sesmaria was a plot of land distributed to a beneficiary, in the name of the king of Portugal, with the aim of cultivate virgin lands. Originated as an administrative measure in the late Middle Ages in Portugal, the granting of land grants was widely used in the Brazilian colonial period. Started with the constitution of the hereditary captaincies in 1534, the granting of sesmarias was abolished only when there was the process of independence, in 1822.
THE origin of land grants it was related to the communal lands existing in the Portuguese kingdom and to the way they were distributed among the inhabitants of rural communities. The term would have some meanings: derived from sese, the word sesmaria could mean 1/6 of the value stipulated by the land; or was it due to the sesmar, whose meaning was to evaluate, stimulate, calculate; or even the division of a territory that was divided into six parts, worked six days a week, for six sesmeiros.
The purpose of delivering the sesmarias was to plow uncultivated land. In the case of the Portuguese colonization of America, the sesmarias, in addition to intending to create the conditions for the cultivation of the new conquered lands, also sought to
populate the new territory.The administrative practice of donating land grants began with the constitution of hereditary captaincies in 1534. The first grantee captain who distributed land grants was Martin Afonso de Souza. With this practice, the hereditary captaincies were also divided into smaller parts, which were the land grants.
The distribution of sesmarias also included cultivation duties for a certain period, stipulated through the letters of Sesmarias - the documents issued by the authorities that allowed the donation of lands. In the case of Portuguese colonists in America, they had a period of five years to cultivate them and pay the tributes due to the Portuguese Crown. However, this obligation was rarely fulfilled.
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The sesmaria, as well as the hereditary captaincies, did not guarantee the owner the ownership of the land, but only the right to use the land for its cultivation. Donate captains who received hereditary captaincies held only 20% of their captaincies, having to distribute the remaining 80% through sesmarias.
It was not always the sesmeiros that cultivated the land. Despite the impediment to rent, lease or sell the land, many sesmeiros did so to the so-called squatters. The existence of squatters made it difficult for the Crown to control the distribution of land. This situation also led the Crown to try to restrict the rights of sesmeiros to the donated lands. An effective regularization of the land tenure situation would only occur during the Empire, through the Land Law of 1850.
Sesmarias were at the origin of large estates in Brazil. The distribution of large tracts of land to a single allotment and the use of land that was not within the stipulated limits through the letters of Sesmarias contributed to the unequal distribution of land in Brazil, one of the causes of social inequality still prevailing in the parents.
By Me. Tales Pinto
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales of the Saints. "What is sesmaria?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-e-sesmaria.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.