Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil.
Background
He was born in 1467 or 1468—the former year being the most likely at Belmonte, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from present-day Covilhã in central Portugal. He was a son of Fernão Álvares Cabral and Isabel Gouveia—one of five boys and six girls in the family. Cabral was christened Pedro Álvares de Gouveia and only later, supposedly upon his elder brother's death in 1503, did he begin using his father's surname. The coat of arms of his family was drawn with two purple goats on a field of silver. Purple represented fidelity, and the goats were derived from the family name (cabral pertains to goats in English). However, only his elder brother was entitled to make use of the family arms.
Career
Little is known of his activities before 1499, when Manuel appointed him the chief captain of a fleet being prepared to sail to India to follow the maritime route to the East charted by Vasco da Gama on his historical voyage of 1497-1499.
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.
Was he the first to reach Brazil or had the Spanish or French made prior visits?
Had Portugal previously discovered Brazil and protected that discovery with secrecy?
Did Cabral—whowas far off the prescribed course to India—discover Brazil accidentally or intentionally?
There is room for much speculation on each of these questions, but lack of documentary evidence to the contrary leads to the conclusion that Cabral was the first to discover Brazil and that he did so accidentally.
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.
He helped to prepare the next fleet for India, which sailed under the command of Vasco da Gama.
Achievements
Pedro was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly opened route around Africa.
