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Former territorial division of Brazil (1534–1821) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Captaincy of Ceará (Portuguese: Capitania do Ceará) was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the colonial period of Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditary captaincies and granted by John III, King of Portugal, to the so-called donatários. Initially, it was donated to Antônio Cardoso de Barros, subordinate of Fernão Álvares de Andrade and D. Antônio de Ataíde.[1][2]
Captaincy of Ceará Capitania do Ceará | |
---|---|
1534–1821 | |
Official languages | Portuguese |
Religion | Catholicism |
Government | Absolute monarchy |
Today part of | Brazil |
European colonization in America effectively began in 1534, when King John III divided the territory into fourteen hereditary captaincies and gave them to twelve donatários, who could exploit the land's resources, but in exchange had to populate and protect the regions. Since the 15th century, the system of captaincies had been used by the Portuguese Empire on the islands of Madeira and Cape Verde. In a letter addressed to Martim Afonso de Sousa in 1532, John III announced the decision to divide the Portuguese territory, beginning the donations in 1534.[3][4]
There are three possible factors for the adoption of the captaincy system in Brazil: a response by the Portuguese monarchy to France's threat to its project of domination in America; the transfer of expenses with colonization from Portugal to the donatários, favoring the Crown in a situation of limited resources; and the conversion of the native population to Christianity, continuing the ideal of the Crusades.[1][5][6]
On November 20, 1535, the Captaincy of Ceará was donated to Antônio Cardoso de Barros, a subordinate of Fernão Álvares de Andrade and Antônio de Ataíde. For a variety of reasons, like his neighbors, he never occupied his plot. From 1590 onwards, French corsairs allied themselves with the Tabajara people of Ibiapaba and established a fortified factory on their coast to exploit brazilwood. Initially, the territory lay between the mouths of the Jaguaribe and Mundaú rivers.[7][8]
The first Portuguese expedition in the region was conducted in 1603 during the Philippine Dynasty, when Captain-Major Pero Coelho de Sousa traveled along the coast of Ceará leading eighty-six soldiers and two hundred indigenous people. The orders were "to discover the port of Jaguaribe by land, stop foreign trade, discover mines, offer peace to the natives" and to establish "settlements and forts in the places or ports that seem most suitable, seeking the friendship of the indigenous people, offering them peace and the law of the Church". This expedition founded the Fort of São Lourenço (1603), conquered and annihilated the French presence in Ibiapaba (1604) and established the Fort of São Tiago da Nova Lisboa (1604) at the mouth of the Ceará River, which was abandoned the following year (1605).[9][10][11]
Shortly afterwards, faced with the French threat in the Captaincy of Maranhão, Governor Diogo de Meneses commissioned Captain-Major Martim Soares Moreno to establish a factory, provide strategic points, promote economic progress and catechize the natives on the coast of the Captaincy of Ceará. Accompanied by just six soldiers and a religious man who spoke the language, Moreno returned to the mouth of the Ceará River. With the help of the morubixaba Jacaúna, he built a new settlement on the same site as the old Fort of São Tiago and a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Amparo, on January 20, 1612.[9][12]
In 1621, the State of Maranhão was created, incorporating the captaincies of Grão-Pará, Ceará and Maranhão. During the second Dutch invasion of Brazil, Ceará remained occupied by the invaders from 1637 to 1654. From 1680 onwards, it became a subordinate captaincy to Pernambuco and was detached from the State of Maranhão. The captaincy of Ceará only achieved autonomy at the end of the 18th century, by royal charter of January 17, 1799.[9][13][14]
On the eve of Brazil's independence, on February 28, 1821, the captaincy became a province and remained so until 1889, when it became the current state of Ceará with the Proclamation of the Republic.[9][14]
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