The Discovery of Brazil

Cabral, Pacheco or ?

Recently, I was discussing history with a Brazilian colleague of mine, and I mentioned Cabral's voyage to India, noting how he veered off course and ended up in Brazil, thereby being credited with the discovery of Brazil. My colleague, Ricardo, frowned after listening patiently and said that the issue remained contested, with differing opinions on the matter, and added that it was a topic frequently debated in Portuguese academic circles. Until then, I hadn't really stopped to think about the discovery of Brazil or studied the subject in depth. However, after hearing Ricardo's comment, I started reviewing and gathering information for a study. As expected, I found plenty of material, much of it in Portuguese; however, the English works were sufficient to get me started and understand the basics, which I can now share with you for further reading.

In 1095, Pope Urban II issued the papal bull Terra Nullius (empty land), which declared that all land controlled by Christian empires was legally theirs. This was followed by several papal pronouncements (papal bulls) that collectively became known as the Doctrine of Discovery. Later, in 1493, the Inter caetera was issued, granting Spain and Portugal ownership of all lands west and south of a line drawn from pole to pole, 100 leagues west and south of any of the Azores or Cabo Verde Islands. This bull was modified in 1494 with the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established that any newly discovered lands outside Europe, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands off the West African coast, would belong to Portugal. Later, a document called the ‘Compact of 1495’ was created, in which Portugal agreed to delay marking the lines until some island or mainland could be discovered in the Portuguese or Spanish sections of the Atlantic. This was due to a disagreement over the exact location of the 370-degree longitude, as there was no method of determining longitude by measurement at that time.

In this context, it is important to note that Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer, is famously known for his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, which led to European contact with the Caribbean islands through his four journeys, marking the announcement of the discovery of the New World. Although the claim that he discovered the mainland during his third voyage was disputed, it was later accepted after the 1513-15 trials. Spain had thus already made numerous discoveries, and following the treaty, amicability existed between Spain and Portugal, so there was no real need for secrecy. However, considering that private finance was involved, some level of competition always existed between them.

We all know the basics - Brazil was officially "discovered" in 1500 when a fleet led by the 32-year-old Portuguese noble Pedro Alvares Cabral, en route to Calicut, ended up at Porto Seguro, between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. His appointment as the leader of the second fleet, despite limited navigational and sailing experience, was seen as a political move by the King. However, the reader should remember that he was accompanied by more experienced navigators such as Bartolomeu Dias, Diogo Dias, and Nicolau Coelho.

As we know, the fleet departed from Lisbon on March 9, 1500, passed the Canary Islands five days later, and arrived at Cape Verde on the 22nd. The equator was crossed on April 9, and for some unclear reasons (some scribes mentioned a fierce storm), it turned westward, following the Volta do mar technique perfected by Portuguese navigators. Instead of sailing directly against the wind and current, ships first sailed west, away from the coast, to reach the westerlies (winds blowing from west to east); then, they turned east and were carried back toward their destination. On the 22nd, the ships arrived at Monte Pascoal, on the northeastern coast of present-day Brazil. After this initial contact, they studied the Indigenous people, exchanged gifts, restocked the ships' supplies, and built a large cross, while the fleet's supply ship hurried back to Lisbon to announce the discovery of the new land. According to Cabral's calculations, the land was east of the demarcation line established in the Treaty of Tordesillas. The territory was within Portugal's designated area, and a large cross was placed to mark the event and reinforce Portugal's claim to the new land.

After confirming that this land was indeed along a long coast and not an island, Cabral and his fleet sailed to India around May 2nd or 3rd. Twenty days later, they encountered a fierce storm, and Bartolomeu Dias's ships were lost. The battered remnants of the fleet rounded the Cape of Good Hope and eventually stopped near Soffola, then proceeded to Malindi by August for repairs and refurbishment. The fleet arrived in Calicut on September 13. The rest of Cabral's story was recounted in earlier articles, i.e., his meeting with the Zamorin, the issues with the Arabs, the violence, and the bombardment of Calicut that ensued.

Cabral sailed to Cochin in December 1500, a place that had become friendly with the Portuguese after Vasco da Gama's first visit in 1498. After securing a shipload of valuable spices, the fleet next moved to Cannanore and then started its long voyage back to Lisbon in January 1501. The ships once again got separated and arrived back in Lisbon separately, six months later. Although only five ships had been fully loaded, two sailed empty, and six ships were lost, the cargoes on the five were quickly sold, resulting in a healthy profit for the Portuguese Crown.

King Manuel quickly organized the next voyage with Cabral to command what was known as the Revenge fleet, aiming to deal heavy damage to the Zamorin of Calicut, who had rejected Portuguese demands for a pepper monopoly. Strangely, six months after preparations started, Cabral was removed from command, and Vasco da Gama was appointed as the fleet's admiral. Cabral fell out of favor with the king and went into virtual exile, never regaining the monarch's favor. Perhaps his sins at Malabar caught up with him, as he fell ill and eventually retreated into a mostly secluded private life, dying unrecognized in 1520. Cabral, a person who should have benefited greatly from the incredible discovery of Brazil, received little acclaim and then vanished from history for nearly 300 years.

After its discovery, the official Portuguese name for the land was the "Land of the Holy Cross" (Terra da Santa Cruz). However, it was popularly known as Brazil, named after the Portuguese word for the red brazilwood, a tree that once grew abundantly along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word Brasil commonly believed to derive from the phrase "red like an ember," formed from brasa (meaning 'ember') and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium).  Terra da Santa Cruz was thus replaced by Terra do Brasil. The Portuguese expanded their holdings in Brazil, and by 1750, this wealthy territory was considered Portugal's most important part of its far-reaching maritime empire.

It took a long time for Cabral to re-enter historical discussions. When Brazilian historian Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (later Viscount of Porto Seguro) found Cabral's long-forgotten tomb in Santarém in 1839, historians and politicians were shocked by the explorer's misfortune, which caused a public outcry. While Cabral’s discovery was widely accepted until then, a controversy emerged toward the end of the 19th century when Emperor Pedro II of Brazil posed a question during a meeting in 1854: whether the discovery was actually ‘accidental’, as everyone had been led to believe, or if it was ‘intentional’. By ‘intentional’, the assumption was, of course, that Portugal knew about a large landmass to the West.

Why would Portugal continue to promote the 'accidental' theory? Telma Alancar argues that Brazil had about seven million indigenous people in 1500, and it was not an empty land ready for colonization. Therefore, framing Brazil's colonization by Cabral and others as ‘accidental’ allowed the Portuguese to avoid ethical and moral questions about the domination of its land and people. However, those who believe it was ‘intentional’ point to the "Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis" by Duarte Pacheco, which implies that Cabral's visit was planned. The contents of this work were kept secret from the public for nearly four centuries by order of King Manuel I, and parts of it, including maps and notes, have since been lost. Pacheco claimed in his Esmeraldo de situ Orbis that the King of Portugal sent him to discover land to the west in 1498, two years before Cabral's landfall. Let’s now take a look at this explorer.

Duarte Pacheco Pereira was a Portuguese sea captain, soldier, explorer, and cartographer. He traveled extensively in the central Atlantic Ocean, west of the Cape Verde Islands, along the coast of West Africa, and was later sent to India. In 1503, he set out for India as captain of the Espírito Santo, one of the three ships in the armada led by Afonso de Albuquerque. In 1504, he was put in charge of defending Cochin, a Portuguese protectorate in India, against a series of attacks between March and July of that year by the Zamorin of Calicut. Using his skills, considerable luck, and deep knowledge of the tidal patterns in the Cochin backwaters, he managed to defend Cochin heroically for five months, despite having a much smaller army compared to the large army and navy of the Zamorin of Calicut. Duarte Pacheco was celebrated by the Raja of Cochin for this effort and honored by King Manuel I of Portugal with public festivities upon his return to Lisbon in 1505.

But what connection could he have to the discovery of Brazil? Between 1505 and 1508, Duarte Pacheco Pereira wrote a book, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis. It was never finished, but was published only in 1892 (with the English translation in 1936). There was much debate about the meaning of the term Esmeraldo, and one theory suggests that Pacheco's name is related to the Malayalam word for green, implying that he was being compared to a unique green emerald stone. The book mainly covers cosmography and navigation, with three parts completed and a fourth left unfinished.

In the Esmeraldo de situ orbis, written from 1505 to 1508, it is stated that in the third year of the reign of D. Manuel (therefore in 1498), the King ordered him to "discover the western part, beyond the greatness of the Ocean Sea, where a very large landmass is found and navigated, with many large islands adjacent to it", which extends from the equator to 70º N. and from the same equator to 28º S.; and in this last part "much fine Brazil" was found.

Studying the case, Capistrano de Abreu concluded that the first text refers to a trip to the Northern Hemisphere, and it is likely that Duarte Pacheco went with one of the Corte Real brothers to Canada and Newfoundland. As for the continentality of America and the existence of brazilwood south of the equatorial line, he claims this was already known at the time the Esmeraldo was written.

In his book, Pacheco proceeds to argue that the recent discoveries of the Portuguese in the western Atlantic, which he regards as having initiated, provide fresh evidence of his contention. The immediate interest of the passage for us lies in the fact that Pacheco believed this "large continent" to be continuous from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Morrison, who discusses this aspect in great detail, agrees with Capistrano, stating that it was simply a widely accepted hypothesis at the time and that no solid proof actually existed. It was just a concept articulated by Pacheco.

The ‘intentional’ side argues that Portugal knew, but suppressed the information under 'the conspiracy of silence' when censorship was severe, maps and travel accounts were suppressed, to maintain Portugal's ocean superiority and to keep interlopers away from Africa and Asia. Navigation charts were sometimes only loaned to navigators by the India House, and at the end of a voyage, they had to be returned to that institution. The Esmeraldo was possibly banned from circulation, censored, and sections were subsequently suppressed for national policy reasons. Approximately 18 maps of the world and numerous unique sketches were lost, along with the originals, in the Lisbon earthquake/fire of 1755, and only two copies still exist.

Although the western swing in the Cabral voyage seemed justified, as it is now confirmed to be a good navigational technique recommended by da Gama, no reason for it was given in any of the contemporary accounts of the voyage or by any reliable historians of the period, except for João de Barros, who states that the fleet went westward to avoid the Guinea calms. Many subsequent voyages to India followed this route, some to land on the coast of Brazil for wood, water, and supplies, and others because, although this course was longer, it offered better sailing conditions and ultimately allowed faster reach of the destination. Morrisson, on the other hand, believes that Cabral followed Gama's advice and took the suggested route to India, which has since proven to be the fastest then and now.

Morrison writing in 1965 argues that Pacheco must have either been an observer on the third voyage of Columbus, as Greenlee supposes, or that Pacheco indeed explored lands in the Portuguese-allocated area but failed to find any. However, he believes that Pacheco later provided enough information in his own maps, which were used to prepare the Cantino Planisphere. The idea that Pacheco had discovered Brazil before Cabral has since been rejected; it is now believed that Pacheco traveled to North America instead.

Charles Nowell, writing in 1936, concentrates on the missing sailing orders. He states - Unfortunately, the royal instructions to Cabral are only partially available, and the surviving fragment remains silent about the first and, for us, most crucial part of the voyage. Because of this, we must speculate about the nature of the orders. The fact that only a part of Cabral's instructions still exists might be significant. Manoel's fragile relations with Spain and his fear of offending that country could have led to the immediate destruction of the initial part of the orders; if they concerned any part of the New World, it would not have been safe to make them public.

There is a question whether Vasco da Gama heard about islands or landmasses to the West from Arab sailors he encountered during his voyage to India. Was that the reason he gave specific directions to Cabral to head west? Gama's secretary records – 'This is the way which it seemed to Vasco da Gama that Pedro Alvarez Cabral should go on his journey, it pleasing the king.' If he turned west to gather wood, food, and water, then he certainly knew there was land there.

Another clue appears in Mestre João's letter to the King after Cabral's discovery. Concerning the location of this land, Senhor, if your Highness will send for a map belonging to Pero Vaz Bisagudo, your Highness will be able to see there the location of this land; but the map does not state whether this country is inhabited or not; it is an old map and your Highness will find that Mina is shown on it. Mestre João, a scholar, believed and trusted the ‘old’ Bisagudo map, which suggested a pre-Columbian voyage to Brazil by the Portuguese. The Bisagudo (Cunha) map which featured the Castle of São Jorge da Mina in addition to the island of Vera Cruz, has never been found!

Portuguese historian Duarte Leite objects to the claim by Pacheco, thus - "if Pacheco did discover areas east of the Line of Demarcation and did bring back news of his to [King] Manuel [of Portugal], the reason which induced Don Manuel to keep secret. . . such an important discovery escapes me. As soon as Cabral returned in 1501, Manuel announced the discovery of Brazil to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Why would he not, in 1499, after the return of Vasco da Gama, make a similar announcement if Pacheco had already discovered Brazil? No objection could come on the part of Spain, given the division made by the Treaty of Tordesillas, as indeed none came in 1501 when Cabral's discovery was announced. I am persuaded that Pacheco neither discovered Brazil in 1498 nor was present two years later at its discovery by Cabral.

A comment in American professor Charles Nowell’s paper suggests an answer to the question - In October, 1497, a marriage of state occurred between King Manoel and Princess Isabel, daughter of the rulers of Spain. This, coupled with the death of Prince Juan, the brother of Isabel, made Manoel, through his wife, heir to the thrones of Castile, Aragon, and Leon. In 1498, the pair made a journey through Spain, being acclaimed as future King and queen. These circumstances, in the very year of Pacheco's exploration, explain its secrecy, for Manoel was naturally reticent about giving offense to Spain, of which he hoped soon to be King. Yet even this did not prevent him from looking to Portugal's interests. The line of Tordesillas had not been adequately located, and there was a growing Spanish interest in the southern Atlantic, as evidenced by the voyage of Columbus in that same year. Obviously, the time had come to act upon the late King João's knowledge of a land to the southwest. Hence, the voyage of Duarte Pacheco and the secrecy which attended it.

De Souza, analyzing the Venetian cartographer Andrea Bianco, focuses on the mention of "Ixola Otinticha" in Andrea Bianco's map and identifies it as the island of Santiago in the Cape Verde Archipelago, thus asserting that it was indeed known to some navigators well before Cabral's discovery.

Now that we have a better understanding of the two main contenders, let's examine the other claimants, if only for completeness.

Spanish explorers, other than Columbus

The possible landings of the expeditions by Spanish fleets under de Ojeda with Amerigo Vespucci (1499), Guerra, and Yáñez Pinzón (1500), and Diego de Lepe mention lands south of Columbus's discoveries. Pinzón is the strongest contender and did provide proof of having passed the shores, and was, as such, recognized by Spanish historians.

There is some evidence that two Spaniards, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Diego de Lepe, traveled along the northern coast of Brazil between January and March 1500. Pinzón sailed from what is now Cabo de Santo Agostinho (in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco) to the mouth of the Amazon River. There, he encountered another Spanish expedition led by Lepe, which reached as far as the Oyapock River in March. The reason Cabral is credited with discovering Brazil, rather than the Spanish explorers, is that the visits by Pinzón and Lepe were brief and had no lasting impact.

Portuguese historians, such as Leite, when studying these voyages, believe that all these claims are questionable. They argue that these explorers possibly saw the mouth of the Orinoco, not the Amazon, and stayed near the Caribbean, not further south. Leite also believed that some maps associated with these voyages might have been altered after 1500.

St Brendan

Then comes the story of St. Brendan, the Irish navigator who discovered Ui Brasil, part of what they called Greater Ireland. St. Brendan (Brendan the Navigator) is credited in the Irish annals with the earliest discoveries on the New World shores, which he called "Greater Ireland." With the Irish Culdees, he is said to have visited Iceland, Vinland (New England), and traveled southward to Florida and Darien, then to Brazil. In a 1375 map, Brazil Island appears with a shape and position similar to South America. Historians do not give much weight to this claim and dismiss it as a Celtic myth.

There are many more leads, such as the evidence offered by Estevao Frois, who suggests Portuguese presence at Pernambuco in 1492, João Coelho (a partner of Corte-Real) sometime in the 1490s, and João Ramalho from Beira, a Portuguese settler at Sao Vincente in Brazil since 1490, who was perhaps a degredado or shipwreck survivor.

The arguments will continue, and debates will rage. However, despite a certain amount of mystery remaining due to the paucity of resources, even after a century of investigation, Cabral continues to be the top contender for being 'The man who discovered Brazil'.

References

Portuguese voyages to America in the fifteenth century - Morison, Samuel Eliot
The Discovery of Brazil-Accidental or Intentional? Charles E. Nowell
Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis - Duarte Pacheco Pereira. Tr. G. T. Kimble
The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India – WB Greenlee
Silencing the Doctrine of Discovery in Brazil: Accidental "Discoveries", Secret Manuscripts, Imaginary Lines and Myths - Telma Alencar
A Supposed Discovery of Brazil before 1448: Thomas Oscar Marcondes de Souza

Those who desire to study the Bianco map may peruse this paper: 1448 Andrea Bianco Portolan Chart – Cartographic Evidence of the Pre-Columbian Newport Tower - Patrick Shekleton