BRAZIL
I The Captaincies
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The Colony |
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It is generally
accepted that Brazil was first discovered by Europeans on April 22, 1500, by Pedro
Álvares Cabral, though this is contested by some. Until 1530 Portugal had
little interest in Brazil, mainly due to the high profits gained through
commerce with Indochina. This lack of interest led to several “invasions” by
different countries, and the Portuguese Crown devised a system to effectively
occupy Brazil, without paying the costs. Through the Hereditary Captaincies
system, Brazil was divided into strips of land that were donated to
Portuguese noblemen, who were in turn responsible for the occupation of the
land and answered to the king. Later, when the Portuguese realized that the
system was a failure - only two lots were successfully occupied - the king
took control of the remaining lots. |
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Other Colonizers |
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During the first two centuries of the colonial period, attracted by the
vast natural resources and untapped land, other European powers tried to
establish colonies in several parts of Brazilian territory, in defiance of
the papal bull and the Treaty of Tordesillas, which had divided the New World
into two parts between Portugal and Spain. French colonists tried to settle
in present-day Rio de Janeiro, from 1555 to 1567 (the so-called France
Antarctique episode), and in present-day São Luís, from 1612 to 1614 (the
socalled France Équinoxiale). The unsuccessful Dutch intrusion into Brazil was longer lasting and more
troublesome to Portugal. Dutch privateers began by plundering the coast: they
sacked Bahia in 1604, and even temporarily captured the capital Salvador.
From 1630 to 1654, the Dutch, at war with the spanish king and lord of
Brasil, set up more permanently in the Nordeste and controlled a long
stretch of the coast most accessible to Europe, without, however, penetrating
the interior. But the colonists of the Dutch West India Company in Brazil
were in a constant state of siege, in spite of the presence in Recife of the
great John Maurice of Nassau as governor. After several years of open
warfare, the Dutch formally withdrew in 1661. |
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As Brazil
was, in colonial times, ruled directly by the Portuguese king, consequently
his heraldic devices were also used in the colony. These consisted of his
personal arms and flag and the symbol of the Empire of Portugal,
being a golden armillary-sphere, introduced by king Manuel I (1495-1521) at
the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century.
At
the same time the arms of the Empire were parted per pale Argent and Gules,
an armillary-sphere Or. ð See illustration in the head
of this essay. The
first proof of the use of the royal Portuguese arms in Brazil can be seen on
the map of Diogo Homem of the, then still superficially explored,
South-American continent. On this map, dated 1558, we see the crowned
Portuguese royal arms together with the legend Brasilis, painted in the right upper
corner on the spot of about the state of Bahia. Somewhat lower there is a
yellow banner with the quinas, that is to say a cross of five blue
escutcheons each charged with five silver discs. Still lower, below the name
of Terrargetea (=
Argentina), is a picture of the Portuguese gonfanon. These devices were also
depicted in Angola and Moçambique, two other 16th c. Portuguese settlements,
on the map of Diogo Homem of Africa. |
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Also,
there is a flag more specific for Portuguese America. This flag is of a
yellow-orange colour with the quinas at the mast-side. Like this:
This flag
differs from the flag which is displayed in Angola, and also from the flag
displayed at the same time in Moçambique. It is not known if these flags had
any official status or were merely the product of the fantasy of the
cartographer. It must be pointed out that the Spanish and Portuguese
carthographers of the 14th and 15th centuries traditionally depicted flags
with great accuracy on their so-called portulan’s or sea-charts. It
must be admitted however that the accuracy of the flags Diogo Homem depicts
on the other pages of his work, cannot be considered free from doubt. |
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Arms of King John III of
Portugal As in the Armorial of
Antonio Godinho, 1541. |
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After the discovery of Brasil in the beginning of the 16th
century King John III (1521-1557) divided the acquired new territory between
1534 and 1536 in fifteen parcels along degrees latitude. These parcels, the
socalled captaincies,
were given as a hereditary fief to members of some important Portuguese noble
families. The original fifteen hereditary captaincies were: Baía de Todos os Santos; Ceará; Espírito Santo; Ilhéus; Itamaracá; Maranhão (two parts); Pernambuco; Porto Seguro; Rio Grande; Santana; Santo Amaro; São Tomé; São Vicente (two parts). The beneficiaries were the families of: |
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A member of which
received the second section of Maranhão, parts of which are today in the states of Maranhão, Paraíba and
Piauy. Its arms were: Arms: Or, a sagittary proper, its lower body
Sable. Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined Or
and Sable, the sagittary of the arms.[1] |
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Members of which
received the first part of Maranhão, Ceará
and Rio Grande, today in the states of Ceará, Maranhão, Paraná and Piauy. Its arms were: Arms: Or, three trunks per bend proper Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined Or
and murray, the trunks from the arms tied in saltire.[2] |
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A member of which received
the captaincy of Porto Seguro today in the state of Bahia. Its arms were: Arms: Argent, a bull statont on a base Vert. Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined
Argent and Vert, the bull from the arms. [3] |
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A bastard branch of
the Coelho family, a member of which received the captaincy of Pernambuco, parts of which are today in
the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco and Sergipe. Its arms were
derived from the arms of Coelho: Or, a lion rampant Azure, langued Gules, and
a bordure Azure, five rabbits crouching Argent, and were: Arms: Or, a lion passant Gules on abase Vert, a
cross Sable and below a chief Argent, five five-pointed stars Gules; within a
bordure Azure, five castles Argent. Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined Or
and Gules, the lion passant from the arms.[4] |
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A member of which
received the captaincy of Ilhéus today
in the state of Bahia. Its arms were: Arms: Or, fretty Gules. Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined Or
and Gules two arms in armoury, its hands fettered with a ribbon Gules. [5] |
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Members of which received the captaincies of Baía de Todos os Santos and Espírito Santo, parts of which are
today in the states of Alagoas, Bahia,
Sergipe and Espirito Santo. Its arms were: Arms: Or, five seven-pointed stars Gules. Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined Or
and Gules, a lion passant Gules.[6] |
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Members of which
received the captaincies of Maranhão and Rio Grande parts of which are today in
the states of Ceará, Maranhão and
Paraibá. Its arms were: Arms: Or, nine billets Azure, 3 Í 3. [Crest: On a
helmet to the dexter Or, lambrequined Or and Azure, a griffin issuant Or,
winged Azure] [7] |
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A member of which
received the captaincy of São Tomé
parts of which are today in the
states of Espirito Santo and Rio de
Janeiro. Its arms were: Arms: Argent, three ermine tails Sable, and a
chief parted per pale of Castile (Gules, a three-towered castle Or) and
Aragon (Or, four pales Gules). Crest: On a helmet to the dexter, lambrequined
Gules and Or, the Castle from the arms, ensigned with a banner Ermine. [8] |
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Members of which
received the captaincies of São Vicente (1st part), Santo Amaro, São Vicente (2nd part) and Santana, parts of which are today in the
states of Paraibá, Pernambuco, Rio de
Janeiro, Santa Catharina and São Paulo. Its arms were: Arms: ¼: 1&4: Portugal (Argent, five
escutcheons Azure, five balls Argent per saltire, per cross, and a bordure
Gules, eight castles Or); 2 & 3: Gules, four crescents respecting Argent. Crest: On
a helmet Or to the dexter, lambrequined Gules and Argent, a three-towered
castle Or.[9] |
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In 1759 the heredity of the captaincies was abolished without, however abolishing the captaincies themselves. These developed into the provinces of the Empire and later into the states of the United States of Brazil. In the course of time their borders changed considerably for political reasons. Today the former captaincies are dispersed over the states of: Alagoas, Goiás, Estado do Grão-Pará, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande de São Pedro, São José do Rio Negro, São Paulo e Minas de Ouro, São Paulo, São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Sergipe. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2011-12-08
Heraldry of the World