The Captaincy of Pernambuco or New Lusitania () was one of the hereditarily granted administrative subdivisions of northeastern Portuguese Brazil during the colonial period from 1534 to 1821, with a brief interruption from 1630 to 1654 when it was part of Dutch Brazil. At the time of the Independence of Brazil, it became a province of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Captaincies were originally horizontal tracts of land (generally) 50 leagues wide extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Tordesillas meridian.
During the earliest years of colonial Brazil, the Captaincy of Pernambuco was one of only two prosperous captaincies in Brazil (the other being Captaincy of São Vicente), primarily due to growing sugar cane. As a result of the failure of other captaincies, in part due to the invasion of the Northeast coast of Brazil by the Dutch during the Seventeenth Century, Pernambuco's geographical area grew as failed captaincies were attached. At its height, the Captaincy of Pernambuco included the territories of the modern states of Pernambuco, Paraíba, Alagoas,Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and the western portion of Bahia (north and west of the São Francisco River) having thus a southern border with Minas Gerais. In the years surrounding Brazilian independence, the captaincy was reduced by repartitioning of several previously merged territories, until today's state with the same name was left.
History
Etymology Recent research indicates that the name Pernambuco derives from "Boca de Fernão" (Fernão's Mouth). The place, now known as Canal de Santa Cruz, is where Fernão de Noronha loaded his ships with Brazilian wood to trade in Europe. The name was spoken by the Tupi as "Pernãobuka", and was recorded by French writers as "Fernambouc"; the two pronunciations have been combined into the name most common today.
Colonial period: the Captaincy of Pernambuco
In 1630, at the close of this initial period of Portuguese colonization of Pernambuco, then the richest and most successful colony in Brazil, the Dutch attacked with sixty-seven ships, 7000 men, and 1,170 guns.C. R. Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil: 1624-1654, The Shoe String Press, Hamden, Connecticut, 1973, p. 37 The size of the force they mounted is a witness to the wealth and success of the Captaincy of Pernambuco after just 95 years of colonization.
The foundation of the Captaincy of Pernambuco
While no single person was solely responsible for the success of Pernambuco during this period, much of the credit belongs to Duarte Coelho Pereira, the first donatário (Lord Proprietor). Duarte Coelho arrived in Nova Lusitânia (or "New Lusitania") in 1535 along with his wife Dona Brites de Albuquerque, her brother Jeronimo de Albuquerque, and a small armada of settlers and supplies to found his captaincy.Francis A. Dutra. “Duarte Coelho Pereira, First Lord-Proprietor of Pernambuco: The Beginnings of a Dynasty,” The Americas 29:4 (April 1973), pp.415-441. Despite historians having few remaining documents relating to Duarte Coelho's governance of what was decidedly the most successful of all the initial captaincies of Brasil, it is clear that the first donatário's initial efforts set Pernambuco on the path to success. Duarte Coehlo directed military actions against the French-allied Caeté Indians and upon their defeat in 1537 established a settlement at the site of a former Marin Indian village, henceforth known as Olinda, as well as another village at Igarassu.
During the early 1540s, Duarte Coelho made a visit to Portugal and found backers to invest in engenhos (sugar mills). Duarte wrote the King that fields of cane were planted and one large engenho was nearing completion. In 1576 Pero de Magalhães Gandavo reported that Pernambuco had about 1000 (Portuguese) inhabitants and twenty-three engenhos (three or four not yet completed). In a good year Pernambuco produced more than 50,000 arrobas or 800 tons (1 arroba = 32 lbs ~ 14.75 kg) of sugar.Pero de Magalhães Gandavo (1576). The Histories of Brazil, Trans. John B Stetson. Jr., The Cortes Society. New York. P. 132 There are varying report of the number of engenhos in Pernambuco during the decade of the 1580s: In 1584 Frei Fernão Cardim reported 66; also in 1584 Pe. José de Anchieta reported 60; In 1587 Gabriel Soares, reported 50;Mircea Bueseu (1970). História Econômica do Brasil: Pesquisas e Analises, Rio de Janeiro and also about 1587 Lopes Vaz reported 70.Richard Hakluyt (1904). The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffique & Discoveries of the English Nation. Glasgow. XI, pp 249&250. In 1612, Pernambuco produced 14,000 tons of sugar.
As a result of his leadership, sugar would, by 1570, rival Brazilwood as Pernambuco's most profitable export. He also encouraged the cultivation of cotton. Due to the cultivation of sugar and cotton, Pernambuco was the most successful captaincy in Brazil. Among other problems the first donatário encountered was frontier lawlessness, in part due to the crown policy of sending degredados overseas rather than imprisoning them. While many degredados were convicted and exiled for very minor offenses, there were enough murderers, bandits, thieves, and swindlers that Duarte Coelho called the degredados poison and complained to the King that he could not be expected to straighten out these convicts.
While in twenty years, the Captaincy of Pernambuco was flourishing, most of the other captaincies of Brazil were not. (The other successful settlement was São Paulo which was first known as São Vicente).
The King decided that a Governor for all of Brazil was necessary. In 1549, Tomé de Sousa was dispatched to the failed captaincy in Bahia de Todos os Santos.
In acknowledgment of the success of Duarte Coelho, the new governor was instructed to visit all the remaining captaincies except for Pernambuco. The Jesuits and other officials of the new government of Brazil were not similarly restricted. In 1551, the visit of Jesuits Manuel da Nóbrega and Antonio Pires resulted in multiple letters back to both the crown and their Jesuit headquarters in Coimbra. The fathers described a settlement in which laws both civil and particularly religious were broken probably as much as they were observed. Father Nobrega complained variously of sins that were long-established and deep-rooted.
He reported extensive sexual license taken with the indigenous women, who freely gave themselves to the Portuguese men. He also noted many mestiço children in the colony who were raised without instruction in the faith or education. Nóbrega commented as well on the clergy in Pernambuco, saying they were living no better lives than the laymen. While in Pernambuco the Jesuits preached the gospel in the indigenous communities and made efforts to reestablish Christian mores among the Portuguese as well. They also established two brotherhoods of the rosary one for the Portuguese and one for the slaves. However, their stay was short, Father Nóbrega returned to Bahia quickly and after the departure of Father Pires in 1554 the Jesuits did not return to Pernambuco until 1561.
In 1553, Duarte Coelho returned to Portugal, leaving the governance of Pernambuco with Dona Brites de Albuquerque and her brother Jeronimo de Albuquerque. When he died while in Portugal, his heir Duarte Coelho de Albuquerque was a minor and Dona Brites would govern during her son's minority and while he was in Portugal to finish his education. While Duarte Coelho had led fighting against the French and their Caeté allies during his lifetime, his absence was soon followed by more fighting with the Caeté people. Jeronimo de Albuquerque, who married the daughter of a Tabajara chieftain and fathered at least 24 children, was an effective leader in both peace and war. Shortly after the departure of the first donatário for Portugal, there was renewed war. By 1555, Jeronimo de Albuquerque had driven the Caetés South and opened up the várzea (flood plain) around the Capibaribe river for settlement and sugar cultivation. This would prove to be one of the most productive areas for sugar cultivation. After the return of the heir in 1560, there was again fighting with the indigenous tribes in which the second donatário, Duarte Coelho de Albuquerque, and his brother, Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho, participated.Francis A. Dutra. “Duarte Coelho Pereira, First Lord-Proprietor of Pernambuco: The Beginnings of a Dynasty,” The Americas 29:4 (April 1973), p. 433
During most of his lifetime, Duarte Coelho had enjoyed a free hand in developing his captaincy. In the period following his death until the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, Pernambuco continued to develop along a path set by the first donatário with success breeding success and with somewhat less guidance from Duarte Coelho's heirs and little interference in the captaincy by the governors-general in Bahia.Dutra, “Centralization vs. Donatarial Privilege” in Colonial Roots of Modern Brazil, Dauril Alden, ed., University of California Press, 1973, pp. 19-60. The reasons were several: First, despite the intention of the crown to reduce the privileges previously granted to the donataries and enhance the royal government in Bahia, the crown's intentions were often not realized in Pernambuco. The Portuguese crown first experienced the death of João III in 1557. At that time, his grandson and heir, Sebastian, was three years old. In 1578, Sebastian led an ill-advised invasion of Morocco. He was defeated at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir.H. V. Livermore, A New History of Portugal, Cambridge University Press, 1966, pp 151-158 His uncle, Cardinal Enrique reigned for two years and died without an heir.H. V. Livermore, A New History of Portugal, Cambridge University Press, 1966, pp 158-162 (In 1580, Philip II of Spain assumed the crown as Philip I of Portugal.)
Second, while Dona Brites and her brother Jerónimo de Albuquerque continued to guide the captaincy during their lifetimes, the sons and heirs of Duarte Coelho were most often absent, first for education in Portugal, later for service to the crown including their participation at the battle of Alcácer Quibir where both were captured, subsequently ransomed, and after which the second donatário, Duarte Coelho de Albuquerque, died. His brother Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho, the third donatário never returned to Pernambuco and died in 1602.
Third, in Brazil, the royal governors, despite now having instructions to visit Pernambuco, never visited before the beginning of the Seventeen Century. Mem de Sá was occupied with the French incursion in Rio de Janeiro, and most of the other royal governors were occupied with wars with indigenous peoples and the search for gold, silver, and emeralds. The lack of visitation by the governors-general is worthy of note. As was common with the Iberian monarchs, the royal treasury was insufficient to provide satisfactory compensation for royal officials and it was expected for all officials to supplement their salaries with fees and by finding business opportunities during their tenure. In the absence of the Governor and his entourage, Pernambuco's colonists would have had fewer high-ranking officials competing for available opportunities.
Jesuits and other religious orders in Pernambuco