Brás Cubas (

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, December 1507 —

, 1592) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

, explorer and the founder of the village of Santos (a city today). The son of João Pires Cubas and Isabel Nunes, he was twice governor of the

Captaincy of São Vicente The Captaincy of São Vicente (1534–1709) was a land grant and colonial administration in the far southern part of the colonial Portuguese Empire in Colonial Brazil. History In 1534 King John III of Portugal granted the Captaincy to Martim A ...

(1545-1549 and 1555–1556). He arrived in the Portuguese

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Dur ...

in the year of 1531 with

Martim Afonso de Sousa Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portugal, Portuguese ''fidalgo'', List of explorers, explorer and colonial administrator. Life Born in Vila Viçosa, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland of th ...

, the founder of the

. The region of Santos was already populated, but it was Brás Cubas who officially founded the village because in 1543, he founded the first Holy House of Mercy, which he called ''All Saints'', a name that would pass to the village, the port of which was better located than the one in São Vicente. He was responsible for the transference of the harbor from Ponta da Praia to the city center, in the environs of Outeiro de Santa Catarina. Besides being the founder of Santos, he organized expeditions for the Crown and, afterwards, was also the governor of the Captaincy of São Vicente. He was once the biggest land owner of the coastal region. In 1551, was named by

John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious (Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the thi ...

, the Provider and Accountant of the Incomes and Rights of the Captaincy; in the following year, he built the fort of São Filipe in the island of Santo Amaro. He had a memorable participation in the defense of the captaincy against the attacks of the native Tamoios, then allied to the French. Later, on the orders of the third general-governor

Mem de Sá Mem de Sá (c. 1500 – 2 March 1572) was a Governor-General of the Portuguese colony of Brazil from 1557 to 1572. He was born in Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal, around 1500, the year of discovery of Brazil by a naval fleet commanded by Pedro Á ...

, he carried out expeditions through the interior in search of gold and silver. The accounts say he arrived as far as Chapada Diamantina in the outback of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. His attempts to enslave the natives resulted in a revolt that ended up by determining the appearance of the

Tamoio Confederation The military history of Brazil comprises centuries of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Brazil, and the role of the Brazilian Armed Forces in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. For several hundreds of years, the area was the ...

, that could only be partially contained by the action of the jesuits

Manuel da Nóbrega Manuel da Nóbrega (old spelling ''Manoel da Nóbrega'') (18 October 1517 – 18 October 1570) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and first Provincial of the Society of Jesus in colonial Brazil. Together with José de Anchieta, he was very influent ...

and

José de Anchieta José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo (Joseph of Anchieta) (19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's hi ...

. When he died, he was a nobleman of the Royal House and one of the most respected men in the captaincy. The title of '' alcaide-mor'' (mayor) of the village of Santos passed down to his son, Pêro Cubas. In his epitaph, one can read that he discovered «gold and metals in 1560». In 1578, by the way, the news of the existence of gold and silver mines in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

was current, according to an English subject who lived in Santos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubas, Bras Portuguese explorers of South America 16th-century explorers 1507 births 1592 deaths People from Porto Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese colonial governors and administrators Portuguese city founders 16th-century Portuguese people Brazilian city founders