His expedition was also the second from Europe to reach India via the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope (Vasco da Gama had done so in 1498).
Cabral was to follow the same route as da Gama around Africa to India. However, he accidentally sailed too far south west into the Atlantic Ocean. This accident brought him to the South American coast and to a new land unknown to the Europeans.
Brazil1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. In 1500, Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal.
Vasco da GamaThe Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to Asia was finally achieved in a ground-breaking voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama, who reached Calicut in western India in 1498, becoming the first European to reach India.
Vasco da GamaVasco da Gama was best known for being the first to sail from Europe to India by rounding Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Over the course of two voyages, beginning in 1497 and 1502, da Gama landed and traded in locales along the coast of southern Africa before reaching India on May 20, 1498.
Vespucci's ships sailed along the coast of South America from Cape São Roque to Patagonia. Along the way, they discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Vespucci and his fleets headed back via Sierra Leone and the Azores.
The first European to claim sovereignty over Indigenous lands part of what is now the territory of the Federative Republic of Brazil on the continent of South America was Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467/1468 – c. 1520) on 22 April 1500 under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Portugal.
explorer Pedro Alvares CabralIn the same year, Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal, arguing that the territory fell into the Portuguese sphere of exploration as defined by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.
Pedro Cabral set sail from Lisbon, Portugal on March 9, 1500. He had a fleet of 13 vessels and 1200 men, including famed explorer Bartolomeu Dias. Dias was in command of one of the vessels. Cabral and his fleet sailed past the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa.
Not only was Cabral to follow the same route as da Gama, but he was also to sail farther west into the Atlantic ocean to see if any land was out there to be claimed by Portugal.5 Cabral would indeed find a vast piece of land that would expand the Portuguese empire across the Atlantic. Voyages. Principal Voyage.
In addition to setting up trading relations in India, Cabral was also tasked with spreading Catholicism.4 Catholicism is a branch of the Christian religion, and was practiced throughout many European countries.
Cabral sent a ship back to Portugal to tell the king of his news. He and the rest of his fleet stayed in Terra de Vera Cruz about 10 days. While here, he interacted with different native people. One account mentions that the natives were curious of the Portuguese’s religion. Several of the Portuguese sailors gave some of the Indians tin crucifixes (crosses) to wear around their necks.8 Cabral was ready to continue his mission to India. Before leaving, he left two members of his crew – both convicts – to further investigate the land.9
Along the way, the fleet encountered bad storms. On May 24, 1500, the storm sank four of Cabral’s ships, including the one carrying Bartolomeu Dias.
It was also a strong, sturdy wood that was used to make furniture and in ship-building. The name “Brazil” began to be popular in 1503, and was associated with this brazilwood tree.1. Biography. Early Life. Pedro Álvares Cabral was born in Belmonte, Portugal in either 1467 or 1468.
Although little is known of his early life, we know that he was the second son and came from a noble family.2 His family was in service to the crown, so young Pedro received his education at the royal court. In 1497, the king of Portugal, King Manuel I, made him part of the king’s council.
The most complete information on Cabral and his voyage to the East is the translation, with an introduction and notes, by William Brooks Greenlee of The Voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India: From Contemporary Documents and Narratives (1938).
Cabral then apparently retired to his estate at Jardim, near Santarém, where he died about 1520.
After sailing far westward of his course, Cabral landed in the country he called Island of the True Cross, which would later be renamed Brazil.
The first cartographic notification of Cabral's discovery was the Cantino chart, finished no later than 1502. After dispatching news of his discovery to King Manuel, Cabral proceeded to India, where he established a trading post at Cochin. He then returned to Lisbon laden with the coveted spices of the East.
In 1500, he led an expedition to the East Indies on the route pioneered by Vasco da Gama. To avoid contrary winds and currents, he took a westward course in the Atlantic and touched on the coast of Brazil, which he claimed for Portugal. World Encyclopedia.
Amid colorful pageantry 13 ships with 1,200 men sailed from the Tagus River on March 8, 1500, en route to India. On April 22 the fleet unexpectedly sighted land in the west at 17° South latitude. Cabral explored the coast and claimed the new land for his sovereign. He christened it Ilha de Vera Cruz.
After a voyage fraught with disaster, his fleet cast anchor at Calicut, India, where he entered into a fierce battle against Muslim soldiers. Many of Cabral's crew were killed in the struggle, but the Portuguese eventually prevailed, seizing 10 Muslim ships.
So Cabral thought that Brazil was an Island whenhe landed in the area known today as the state of Bahia, and named it “Holy Cross” These Europeans usually founded all of these INHABITED lands by mere accident, and always trying to go to India.
Cabral’s discovery of this new land had a huge impact on the colonial history of Portugal, as the coffers of the empire were filled with its resources. But the amateur navigator had no intention of reaching this particular far off land.
Believing that the land he had discovered was an island, Cabral named it the Island of the True Cross. Its name was subsequently changed to Holy Cross by King Manuel, and finally became Brazil, which is the name of a dyewood native to the country.
In any case, the fleet left Lisbon on the March 9, 1500. Cabral was in possession of navigational charts containing the information collected from the voyages of Christopher Columbus , Vasco da Gama, and Bartolomeu Dias (who, incidentally, was a captain on one of Cabral’s vessels), and was supposed to follow the route da Gama had taken in 1497.
His mission was to verify if there was an ocean route that connected Europe to Asia, which he succeeded in doing, having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arriving in Calicut, India, in 1498.
In 1500, the Portuguese king decided to follow up on da Gama’s voyage, and an expeditionary force of 13 ships and about 1200 men was assembled. This fleet was placed under the command of Cabral, who is believed to have had little to no sailing experience at that point of time.
Pedro Alvares Cabral: The Lucky Lost Navigator Who Made Brazil Portuguese. Pedro Alvares Cabral was a Portuguese explorer and navigator who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries. He is generally given credit for being the first person from Europe to have ‘discovered’ the area which is today the country of Brazil.
This lower nobility of the Cabral family would give Pedro more opportunities. At 12 years old he was sent to the court of King Dom Afonso V. While at court he would become educated in various liberal arts and be given the minor title of moco fidalgo. He had begun his ascent in the nobility and during different kings.
Pedro Alvares Cabral is believed to be born in Belmonte, Portugal in 1468. His father was Fernao Alvares Cabral and Isabel Gouveia and had 11 siblings. He would not use his father’s surname until the death of his older brother in 1503. At that point he changed his name from Pedra Alvares de Gouveia to Pedro Alvares Cabral.
He is credited with the discovery of Brazil, the largest and only Portuguese-speaking country in South America.
The change was due to his family’s Coat of Arms which was drawn with two purple goats on a field of silver.
The most important of these were Bartolomeu Dias, Diogo Dias and Nicolau Coelho. They would, along with the other captains, command 13 ships and 1,500 men. Of this contingent, 700 were soldiers, although most were simple commoners who had no training or previous experience in combat.
He and his fleet dropped anchor off the coast and stayed for 10 days. He sent two ships back to Portugal to tell the king of the new land that was discovered. Anxious to continue his trip to India, Cabral left two of his crewmen behind and set sail towards India.
The goal of these missions was to bring back an assortment of spices that could be sold. These spices were popular and rare and would turn a large profit. Cabral set sail and passed the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa.
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese explorer, navigator and military commander who is best remembered today as the leader of the expedition that first reached that lands of South America that are today regarded as Brazil.
Cabral's challenge (problem) was that he lost in to India. But after all his problem was good because when he got lost and he went on a route that got him in Brazil. He also had the problem that the Indians didn't want him there in their land. And they wanted to kick them out.