Pedro Alvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral (Belmonte, 1467 or 1468 - Santarém, c. 1520) was a Portuguese fidalgo, military commander, navigator and explorer, considered the first to arrived in Brazil. Likewise, Cabral is known for being one of the first Europeans to arrive on the northeast coast of South America, which he claimed for Portugal. Although details about his life are scant, it is known that he came from a noble family and received a good education.
He was chosen to undertake an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly inaugurated route around Africa. The objective of this expedition was to return to Portugal with valuable spices and establish trade relations in New Spain—avoiding a monopoly on the spice trade, then in the hands of Arab, Turkish, Spanish, and Italian merchants. His fleet of thirteen ships sailed along the African coast in the Atlantic Ocean; it seems that he accidentally deviated from his route when entering the Atlantic in search of winds that would push him south, although it is possible that he consciously sought to visit the American lands that had corresponded to Portugal in the division with Castile made by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), thus arrived at what, initially, was thought to be a large island —which could be the Land of Veracruz to which Pêro Vaz de Caminha referred. As the new territory was within the Portuguese orbit in accordance with the Treaty of Tordesillas. He explored the coastline and perceived that the large landmass was possibly a continent, promptly sending a ship to notify the King of Portugal of the discovery of new land. Cabral had landed in South America, and the lands he had claimed for Portugal would later make up what is now Brazil. Subsequently, the fleet resumed its course towards the east, in order to continue its journey towards India.
A storm in the South Atlantic caused the loss of several vessels and the remaining six eventually found themselves in the Mozambique Channel before proceeding to Kozhikode, India. Initially, Cabral was successful in negotiating the rights to trade in spices, however this was seen by the Arabs as a threat to his business monopoly, and prompted an attack by Muslims and Hindus on the stores. portuguese The Portuguese suffered multiple casualties and their facilities were destroyed. Cabral avenged the attack by looting and burning the Arab fleet to later bombard the city in retaliation for his ruler's inability to explain what had happened. The expedition sailed from Kozhikode to Cochin, another Indian city-state, where Cabral befriended his ruler and loaded his ships with coveted spices before sailing back to Europe. Despite the loss of human lives and ships, Cabral's voyage was considered a success upon his return to Portugal. The extraordinary gains resulting from the sale of the spices bolstered the finances of the Portuguese Crown and helped lay the foundations for a Portuguese Empire, which would stretch from the Americas to the Far East.
Cabral was later replaced when a new fleet was assembled to establish a more robust presence in India, possibly as a result of a falling out with Manuel I. Having lost the king's favor, he withdrew from public life. There are few records of the latter part of his life and his achievements were forgotten for over 300 years. Some decades after Brazil's independence from Portugal, in the 19th century, Cabral's reputation began to be rehabilitated by the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Since then, historians have argued about whether Cabral was the discoverer of Brazil and whether his discovery was accidental or intentional. On the first issue, there is no news of many explorations prior to his and none of them contributed significantly to the development and future of the land that would become Brazil, the only nation in the Americas where the official language is Portuguese.. Regarding the second question, there is no definitive consensus and the intentional discovery hypothesis lacks solid evidence. However, despite the fact that his reputation has been overshadowed by the fame of other explorers of the time, how Christopher Columbus Cabral is now considered one of the most important personalities of the Age of Discovery.
Biography
Early Years
Little is certain about the life of Pedro Álvarez Cabral, before or after the voyage that led him to discover Brazil. He was born in 1467 or 1468 —the previous year is considered the most probable—, in Belmonte, about 30 kilometers from what is now Covilana, in central Portugal. He was the son of Fernão Álvares Cabral and Isabel Gouveia and one of the five boys and six girls in the family. Cabral was baptized Pedro Álvarez de Govea and only later, supposedly after his brother's death in 1503, did he begin to use the his father's surname. His family's coat of arms was drawn with two purple goats on a field of silver. The purple represents fidelity, and the goats derive from the family name, however, only his older brother had the right to use the family arms.
Raised as a member of the Portuguese nobility, Cabral was sent to the court of King Alfonso V in 1479, when he was barely 12 years old. He was educated in the humanities and trained in hand-to-hand combat and arms fighting. He was about to turn 17 years old when on June 30, 1484, he was named "young Fidalgo" (a minor title bestowed to the young noblemen) by King John II. Records of his actions before 1500 are extremely scarce, however there is evidence that Cabral may have explored North Africa, just as his ancestors had done. and as was commonly done by other young noblemen of his time. King Manuel I, who ascended the throne two years earlier, granted him an annual subsidy of 30,000 reales on April 12, 1497. At the same time, he received the title of Fidalgo from the King's Council and was made a knight of the Order of Christ. There is no image or detailed physical description of Cabral contemporary to his time. It is known that he was strong and that he was equal to his father in height (1.90 meters). Cabral's character has been described as cultured, courteous, prudent, generous, tolerant of enemies, humble, as well as vain and very concerned about the respect that his position and nobility demanded.
Discovery of Brazil
Major Captain
On February 15, 1500, Cabral was appointed captain-major of an expedition to India. It was customary at that time for the Portuguese Crown to appoint noblemen to command naval and military expeditions, regardless of their experience or professional competence Such is the case of the captains of the ships commanded by Cabral, in which the majority were noblemen like him. This practice was risky since authority could fall into the hands of talented people like Alfonso de Albuquerque or João de Castro or others who are highly incompetent and incapable.
Few details have survived regarding the criteria used by the Portuguese government to choose Cabral as head of the expedition. In the royal decree in which he was named captain-major, the reasons given are "merits and services", but no further information is known about these qualifications. According to historian William Greenlee, King Manuel I "undoubtedly did so." knew well at court." This, along with the "role of the Cabral family, their unquestioning loyalty to the Crown, Cabral's personal appearance, and the ability he had shown at court and in council were important factors." influenced were his brothers, who were part of the King's Council. Given the level of political intrigue present at court, Cabral may have had a faction that favored his nomination. Historian Malyn Newitt emphasized the idea that it was some kind of hidden maneuver, he also affirmed that the choice of Cabral "was a deliberate attempt to balance the interests of the rival factions of the noble families, since apparently he did not have any other qualities for recommendation and no experience in commanding great expeditions".
Cabral became military chief of an expedition in which he would be accompanied by other more experienced navigators with the mission of providing him with help in naval affairs, among them Bartolomeu Dias, Diogo Dias and Nicolau Coelho. These navigators would command, along with other captains, thirteen ships and 1,500 men. Of this contingent, 700 were soldiers, while the remainder were ordinary commoners with no prior combat training or experience.
The fleet had its divisions. The first was made up of nine ships and two caravels bound for Calicut, India, with the aim of establishing trade relations and a factory. The second division, made up of one ship and one caravel, set sail from the port of Sofala, in present-day Mozambique. As a reward for leading the fleet, Cabral was entitled to 10,000 cruzados (old Portuguese currency equivalent to approximately 35 kg of gold) and to buy 30 tons of pepper, at his own expense, to transport back to Europe. The pepper could then be resold for the Portuguese Crown, duty free. Cabral was also authorized to import 10 boxes of any other type of spice, also duty free. Although the journey was very dangerous, Cabral had the possibility of becoming a very rich man as long as he returned safely to Portugal along with the cargo. Spices were very rare in Europe, as well as highly sought after.
Previously, a fleet had been the first to reach India via Africa. This belonged to an expedition led by Vasco da Gama and had returned to Portugal in 1499. For decades Portugal sought an alternative route to the Orient, one that excluded the Mediterranean Sea, which was under the control of the Italian maritime republics and the Italian Empire. Ottoman. Portugal's expansionism would lead, firstly, to creating a route to India and, later, to colonization in many parts of the world. The desire to spread Catholic Christianity in pagan lands was another factor that motivated exploration. There was also a long tradition of warfare against the Muslims, stemming from the fight against the Moors during the construction of the Portuguese nation. The fighting spread first to North Africa and eventually to the Indian subcontinent. An ambition that further motivated the explorers was the search for the mythical Prester John, a powerful Christian king with whom an alliance against Islam could be forged. Finally, the Portuguese crown was trying to gain a share in the lucrative gold and slave trade in West Africa and the spice trade from India.
Departure and arrival to the new land
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The fleet, under the command of a Cabral who was then 32 or 33 years old, left Lisbon on March 9, 1500 at noon. The day before, the crew had received a public farewell that included mass and commemorations with the presence of the king, the court and a heated crowd. On the morning of March 14, the fleet passed Gran Canaria, the largest of the Canary Islands, after which it set course for the Cape Verde Islands, a Portuguese colony located off the east coast of Africa, which was reached on March 22. The next day, a The ship with 150 men, commanded by Vasco de Ataíde, disappeared without trace. The fleet crossed the Equator on 9 April and sailed west as far as possible from the African continent, using a navigation technique known as "volta do mar". Sailors saw algae on April 21, which led them to believe they were near the coast. It turned out to be just in the afternoon of the next day, Wednesday, April 22, 1500, when the fleet anchored near what Cabral named Monte Pascoal (in honor of Easter week). The mountain located is located in what is now the northeastern coast of Brazil.
The Portuguese detected the presence of inhabitants on the coast, and the captains of all the ships met aboard Cabral's ship on April 23. Cabral sent Nicolau Coelho, a captain who had traveled with Vasco da Gama to India, land and make contact. He set foot on land and exchanged gifts with the indigenous people. After Coelho's return, Cabral ordered the fleet to head north, where, some 65 km away, they would anchor on April 24 in a place that the captain-major called Porto Seguro. The place was a natural harbor, and Afonso Lopes (pilot of the main ship) brought two Indians on board to speak with Cabral.
As in the first contact, the meeting was friendly and Cabral offered presents to the natives. The inhabitants were hunter-gatherers described as belonging to the "Stone Age", to whom Europeans would attribute the generic label of "indians". Native men gathered food by hunting and fishing, while their women engaged in subsistence agriculture. The Indians were divided into numerous rival tribes, and the tribe that Cabral found was the Tupiniquim. Some of them were nomadic and others sedentary, and although they mastered fire, they did not know metals. Some of these tribes practiced cannibalism. On April 26 (Easter Sunday), with an increasing number of curious natives, Cabral ordered his men to build an altar on the ground, where Henrique de Coimbra celebrated a Catholic mass., of which there is evidence that it was the first mass celebrated on what would be Brazil. Wine was offered to the Indians, who did not like the drink. The Portuguese did not know that they were dealing with a people that boasted knowledge of fermented alcoholic beverages, obtaining them from the roots, tubers, barks, seeds, and fruits.
During the days that followed, water, food, wood, and other supplies were stored. The Portuguese also built a huge wooden cross that was approximately seven meters high. Cabral found that the new land was to the east of the demarcation line between Portugal and Spain that had been established in the Treaty of Tordesillas. The territory was, therefore, within the hemisphere attributed to Portugal. To solemnize Portugal's claim to those lands, another wooden cross was erected and a second mass was celebrated on May 1. In honor of the cross, Cabral named the newly discovered lands Ilha de Vera Cruz. The next, a supply ship under the command of Gaspar de Lemos or André Gonçalves (there is a conflict in the sources regarding who was the captain of the ship), returned to Portugal to inform the king of the discovery by means of a letter written by Pero Vaz de Caminha.
The trip to India
Tragedy in southern Africa
The fleet resumed its voyage on May 2 or 3, 1500 sailing along the east coast of South America. In doing so, Cabral became convinced that he had found an entire continent, and not just an island. On May 5, the fleet turned east toward Africa. On May 23 or 24, the ships encountered a storm in the high pressure zone of the South Atlantic that caused the loss of four ships. The exact location of the disaster is unknown—speculations vary from the port of the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of the African continent, to a location "within sight of the South American coast." Three ships and a caravel commanded by Bartolomeu Dias—the first European to sail the shores of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488—they were shipwrecked, taking the lives of 380 men.
The remaining ships, affected by bad weather and their equipment damaged, separated. One of the separated ships, commanded by Diogo Dias, wandered aimlessly, while the other six managed to regroup. Gathering in formations of three ships each, Cabral's group sailed east, passing the Cape of Good Hope. Their position determined and land in sight, they headed north and landed somewhere in the First and Second Islands archipelago, off East Africa and north of Sofala. The main fleet remained in Sofala harbor for the minus ten days while the ships were being repaired. The expedition then headed north, reaching Kilwa Kisiwani on May 26, where Cabral attempted to negotiate a trade treaty with the local king but failed.
From Kilwa Kisiwani they set out for Malindi, where they landed on 2 August. Cabral met with the local king, with whom he established friendly relations and exchanged presents. Likewise, in Malindi pilots were recruited for the last leg of the trip to India. Before the final destination, they disembarked in Angediva, an island where the ships on their way to Calicut were supplied. There the ships were caulked and painted, and final preparations were made for the meeting with the Governor of Calcutta.
Calicut massacre
The fleet left Angediva and arrived in Calicut on September 13. Cabral succeeded in negotiating with the Samorim —a title given to the ruler of Calicut— and obtained authorization to install a factory and a warehouse in the city-state. Hoping to further improve relations, Cabral sent his men on several military missions at the request of the Samorim. Meanwhile, on the 16th On December 17, the factory was attacked by about 300 Arab Muslims and indigenous Hindus (according to other accounts, including military). Despite the desperate defense of the crossbowmen, more than 50 Portuguese were killed. The remaining defenders withdrew to the ships, some came swimming. Believing the attack was the result of unauthorized incitement by zealous Arab merchants, Cabral waited 24 hours for an explanation from the Calicut ruler, but he offered none.
The Portuguese were outraged by the attack on the factory and the death of their companions, so they attacked ten Arab merchant ships anchored in the port, killing about 600 crew members and confiscating the cargo before setting fire to the Cabral also ordered his ships to bombard Calicut for a full day in retaliation for the violation of the agreement. The massacre was attributed, in part, to Portuguese animosity toward Muslims, resulting from centuries of conflict. with the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Furthermore, the Portuguese were determined to dominate the spice trade and had no intention of allowing competition to flourish. The Arabs also had no interest in allowing "foreigners" to break their monopoly on spices. The Portuguese had begun by insisting that they be given preferential treatment in all aspects of trade. Manuel I's letter delivered by Cabral to the ruler of Calculta —translated by Arabic interpreters— requested the exclusion of Arab merchants. Muslim traders, believing they were about to lose their business opportunities and livelihood, had attempted to turn the Hindu ruler against the Portuguese. The Arabs and the Portuguese were mutually suspicious of each other.
For historian William Greenlee, the Portuguese perceived that "they were few in number and those who came to India in future fleets would also always be outnumbered, so this betrayal should be crucially and decisively punished with the so that the Portuguese would be feared and respected in the future. It was their superior artillery that enabled them to achieve that goal." Thus, the Portuguese set a precedent for the behavior of European explorers in Asia for centuries to follow.
Return to Europe
Certain notices in the accounts of Vasco da Gama's trip to India led King Manuel I to inform Cabral of the existence of another port, located south of Calicut, where they could also establish trade relations. The place mentioned was Cochin, where the fleet landed on December 24. Cochin was nominally a vassal territory of Calicut, but was also dominated by other Indian city-states. The ruler of Cochin was eager for the city's independence, and the Portuguese were keen to achieve that disunity in India, just as the British would 300 years later. The tactic would eventually ensure Portuguese hegemony over the region. Cabral forged an alliance with the ruler of Cochin and leaders of other city-states in order to establish a factory. Finally, laden with precious spices, the fleet arrived at Kannur in order to negotiate once more before leaving on its return voyage to Portugal on January 16, 1501. The expedition headed for the east coast of Africa. One of the ships ran aground on a sandbar and began to sink, but since there was no space in the other ships, its cargo was abandoned and Cabral made the decision to set the ship on fire. Immediately, the fleet continued in the direction to the island of Mozambique (northeast of Sofala) in order to carry out maintenance tasks so that the ships would be in optimal conditions due to the hectic passage around the Cape of Good Hope. A caravel was sent to Sofala, another of the objectives of the expedition, and another, the fastest ship in the fleet and captained by Nicolau Coelho, was sent ahead of the others to give prior notice to the king about the success of the trip. A third ship, commanded by Pedro de Ataíde, became separated from the fleet after leaving Mozambique.
On May 22, the fleet, reduced to only two ships, passed through the Cape of Good Hope. They arrived in Bezeguiche (present-day Dakar, located on the Cape Verde peninsula), on June 2. There they found not only Nicolau Coelho's caravel, but also the ship commanded by Diogo Dias, lost more than a year ago in the disaster in the South Atlantic. The ship had undergone various adventures and was in poor condition, with only seven sick and malnourished men on board (one of them was so weak that he died of joy at seeing his companions again). Another Portuguese fleet was also found. anchored in Bezeguiche. After Manuel I was informed of the discovery of territories in what would become Brazil, he ordered a smaller fleet to be sent to explore it. One of his navigators was Américo Vespucio (an Italian navigator whose name would be used to baptize America), who gave Cabral details about his exploration, and who effectively confirmed that he had landed on an entire continent and not on an island.
Nicolau Coelho's caravel left Bezeguiche first and arrived in Portugal on June 23, 1501. Cabral's ship was left behind, waiting for the missing ship of Pedro de Ataíde and the caravel that had been sent to Sofala. Both ships eventually turned up, and Cabral arrived in Portugal on July 21, 1501, along with the other ships over the next few days. In total, two ships returned empty, five were fully loaded, and six were lost. However, the cargoes carried by the fleet generated profits of up to 800% for the Portuguese Crown. Once the spices were sold, the proceeds covered the costs of the equipment and the fleet of ships that were lost, generating a profit. only surpassed by the sum total of these costs. "Undaunted by the preceding losses he had suffered, when he reached the East African coast, Cabral went ahead with the task assigned to him and was able to inspire the officers and surviving men of equal courage", states historian James McClymont. "Few voyages to Brazil and India were as well executed as Cabral's", stated historian Bailey Diffie, for the voyage laid a path for immediate openness "from a Portuguese maritime empire from Africa to the Far East", and later a "land empire in Brazil".
Final years
After Cabral's return, Manuel I began to plan another fleet to make the trip to India and thus also avenge the Portuguese losses in Calicut. Cabral was chosen to command that "Vengeance Fleet", as it was called. For eight months, Cabral made preparations for the voyage, however, for reasons that remain uncertain, he was removed from command. He had apparently intended to give another navigator, Vicente Sodré, independent command over part of the fleet—which Cabral had increasingly opposed. It is not known whether he was dismissed or asked to be released from office, however, when the fleet set out in March 1502, its commander was Vasco da Gama, a maternal nephew of Vicente Sodré, and not of Cabral. It is known, meanwhile, that hostility arose between the factions that supported Vasco da Gama and Cabral. At some point, Cabral opted to leave court permanently. The king was very displeased with this matter, to the point that his mere mention in his presence could result in expulsion from court, as happened with one of his supporters. by Vasco da Gama.
Despite the loss of royal favor, Cabral achieved an advantageous marriage in 1503 with Isabel de Castro, a wealthy noblewoman and descendant of King Ferdinand I. His mother was the sister of Afonso de Albuquerque, one one of the two greatest military leaders in Portugal during the Age of Discovery. The couple had at least four children: two boys (Fernão Álvares Cabral and António Cabral) and two girls (Catarina de Castro and Guiomar de Castro). They also had two other daughters, named Isabel and Leonor. Other sources state that Guiomar, Isabel and Leonor were admitted to religious orders. The eldest son Fernão was the only one of Cabral's two sons who had heirs, since António died in 1521 without marrying. Afonso de Albuquerque tried to intercede on Cabral's behalf and, on December 2, 1514, he asked King Manuel I forgive him and also allow him to return to court, but he was unsuccessful.
Cabral had suffered from constant fever and tremors (possibly the result of malaria) since his voyage, so he retired to Santarém in 1509, where he spent his last years. There is hardly any information about his activities during that time. According to a letter dated December 17, 1509, Cabral was involved in a dispute over a land transaction involving part of a piece of property belonging to him. Another letter from the same year reports that he would receive certain privileges for part of an undisclosed military service. In 1518, or even before, he was raised from nobleman to knight in the King's Council, entitled to a monthly subsidy of 2,437 reales, which was added to the pension which he was granted in 1497. Cabral died of unspecified causes, probably in 1520, and was buried inside the Chapel of São João Evangelista in the Igreja do Antigo Convento da Graça in Santarém.
Legacy
Posthumous rehabilitation
The first permanent Portuguese land settlement to be founded in Brazil was São Vicente, established in 1532 by Martim Afonso de Sousa. As the years passed, the Portuguese slowly expanded the borders of their colony to the west, conquering the lands of both the Amerindians and the Spanish. Brazil had secured much of its present borders around 1750, being considered by Portugal as the most important part of its vast maritime empire. On September 7, 1822, John VI's heir, Prince Pedro, guaranteed Brazil's independence from Portugal and became its first emperor.
Cabral's discoveries, as well as the very place where he was buried, were forgotten for almost 300 years after his expedition. This situation began to change at the beginning of the 1840s, when Emperor Pedro II, successor and son of Pedro I, sponsored research and publications on Cabral's life and expedition through the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute. This was part of the emperor's ambitious plan to encourage and reinforce a sense of nationalism in Brazil's diverse society—giving citizens a common identity and history as residents of the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. The start of a revival of interest in Cabral had resulted from the discovery of his tomb by the Brazilian historian Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (later named Viscount of Porto Seguro) in 1839. The completely decadent state in which Cabral's tomb was found led to a diplomatic crisis between Brazil and Portugal - the latter was then ruled by the older sister of Pedro II, María II -.
In 1871, the Brazilian emperor —then on an official visit to Europe— visited Cabral's tomb and proposed exhumation for scientific purposes, which was carried out in 1882. In a second exhumation, in 1896, the removal was authorized of an urn containing dirt and bone fragments. Although his mortal remains were located in Portugal, the urn was finally brought to the church of Nuestra Señora de Monte do Carmo in Rio de Janeiro on December 30, 1903. Since then, Cabral has become a national hero of Brazil. In Portugal, however, the authors claim that their prestige is stifled by the fame of Vasco da Gama. For historian William Greenlee, Cabral's journey is important "not only because of his position in the history of geography, but also for its influence on the history and economy of the time. Despite this, the author acknowledges that few trips "were of greater importance for posterity", also stating that "few were underestimated in their time". Meanwhile, the historian McClymont stated that "Cabral's position in the histories of the Portuguese conquests and discoveries is unchallenged despite the supremacy of older and more fortunate men". According to him, Cabral "will always be remembered in history as the main, if not the first, discoverer of Brazil".
Intentional discovery hypothesis
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A controversy that has occupied scholars for more than a century is whether Cabral's discovery was accidental or intentional. In the latter case, it would mean that the Portuguese had at least some indication that a land existed to the west. The question was raised for the first time by Emperor Pedro II in 1854 during a session of the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute when he inquired from the searches that the discovery may have been intentional.
During the 1854 conference, it was widely assumed that the discovery had been an accident. Initial works on the subject defended this perspective, such as História do Descobrimento e Conquista da Índia (published in 1541) by Fernão Lopes de Castanheda, Décadas da Ásia (1552) by João de Barros, Crônicas do Felicíssimo Rei D. Manuel (1558) by Damião de Góis, Lendas da Índia (1561) by Gaspar Correia, História do Brasil (1627) by Fray Vicente do Salvador and História da América Portuguesa (1730) by Sebastião da Rocha Pita.
The first work that defended the position that the discovery had been intentional was published in 1854 by Joaquim Norberto de Sousa e Silva, after Pedro II initiated the debate. Since then several scholars have supported the idea, such as Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Capistrano de Abreu, Pedro Calmon, Fábio Pestana Ramos and Mário Barata. For the historian Hélio Vianna, "despite the fact that there are signs of intentionality" of Cabral's discovery, "based mainly on knowledge or in the previous suspicions of the existence of lands on the coasts of the South Atlantic", there is no irrefutable evidence to prove it. This opinion is also shared by the historian Thomas Skidmore. The debate on whether the discovery was deliberate or not is considered "irrelevant" by historian Charles R. Boxer. For historian Anthony Smith, the allegations of the conflict "will probably never be resolved".
Forerunners
Cabral may not have been the first European to set foot on Brazilian soil, not to mention other parts of South America. Roman coins were found in present-day Venezuela, northeast of Brazil, probably originating from ships that were carried away by storms in ancient times. Scandinavians reached North America and established settlements, although they had failed at some point. moment before the end of the XV century. Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage to the New World, in 1498, toured part of present-day Venezuela.
In the case of Brazil, it was already considered probable that the Portuguese navigator Duarte Pacheco Pereira had made a voyage to the Brazilian coast in 1498. This belief was discarded and the possibility is now considered that he had traveled to North America instead of this. There is more concrete evidence that two Spaniards, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Diego de Lepe, had traveled the north coast of Brazil between January and March 1500. Pinzón carried out an expedition from what was Fortaleza to the mouth of the Amazon River. Meanwhile, Lepe would reach the Oiapoque river in March. The reason why Cabral is considered the discoverer of Brazil, rather than the Spanish explorers, is due to the fact that the voyages of Pinzón and Lepe were brief and did not have any lasting impact. The historians Capistrano de Abreu, Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Mário Barata and Hélio Vianna agree that the Spanish expeditions would not influence the development of what would be the only Portuguese-speaking nation in America —with history, culture and unique societies, differentiating themselves from the Spanish-American societies that dominate the rest of the continent.