Dom Garcia de Noronha (1479 in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

– 3 April 1540 in

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

) 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 ...

. He was great-great-grandson of King

Ferdinand I of Portugal Ferdinand I ( pt, Fernando; 31 October 1345 – 22 October 1383), sometimes called the Handsome () or occasionally the Inconstant (), was the King of Portugal from 1367 until his death in 1383. His death led to the 1383–85 crisis, also k ...

, was the third

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

and tenth governor of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

As far as his life is reconstructed, Garcia de Noronha comes from noble proportions, his father Dom Fernando de Noronha, was a member of the

Crown Council of Portugal A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, as mayor of the palace. As a young nobleman he frequented regularly the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

. After the death of his father, he became a gentleman of the Board of

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was ...

and

João III 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 t ...

, captain-general of

Cartaxo Cartaxo () is a concelho, municipality in the district of Santarém (district), Santarém in continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 24,462, in an area of 158.17 km². The urbanized centre of Cartaxo had a population of 9,507 in 2001 ...

, young nobleman and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the royal house. He served in North Africa and went to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for the first time in 1511 as chief captain of a fleet of six ships. On that voyage, he is reported to have sighted the island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, that his pilots entered onto their charts. This last source claimed that this event was decisive in leading to the utilisation of the island as a regular stopover for rest and replenishment for ships en route from India to Europe. However, this seems doubtful because when Estêvão da Gama arrived at St Helena expedition in 1503 his clerk

Thomé Lopes Thomé Lopes (sometimes modernized as Tomé Lopes) was a Portuguese scrivener, writer of an eyewitness account of the second journey of Vasco da Gama to India (1502–1503). Thomé Lopes's background is obscure. All that is known is that he wa ...

)A. H. Schulenburg, 'The discovery of St Helena: the search continues'. Wirebird: The Journal of the Friends of St Helena, Issue 24 (Spring 2002), pp. 13–19.Duarte Leite, História dos Descobrimentos, Vol. II (Lisbon: Edições Cosmos, 1960), 206.de Montalbodo, Paesi Nuovamente Retovati & Nuovo Mondo da Alberico Vesputio Fiorentino Intitulato (Venice: 1507) identified St Helena's geographic position with reasonable accuracy when he quoted its distance and direction with respect to locations such as Ascension, Cape Verde, São Tomé and the Cape of Good Hope. The island's location with respect to Ascension and the Cape of Good Hope was likewise known following the 1505 Portuguese expedition led by

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

.''The Voyage from Lisbon to India'', 1505–06, being an account and journal by Albericus Vespuccius, translated from the contemporary Flemish y George Frederick Barwick and Janet M. E. Barwick and edited with prologue and notes by C. H. Coote. ith the text of the original entitled "Die reyse va Lissebone" in facsimile. Published by B. F. Stevens in 1894. He was married to Inês de Castro (a sister of D.

João de Castro Dom João de Castro (27 February 1500 – 6 June 1548) was a Portuguese nobleman, scientist, writer, and the fourth viceroy of Portuguese India. He was called ''Castro Forte'' ("Stronghold" or "Strong Castle") by the poet Luís de Camões. De Ca ...

who was later to become the fourth viceroy of Portuguese India); with her he had four children. Moreover, he was a nephew of

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

. He was a successor to the governor-general

Nuno da Cunha Nuno da Cunha (c. 1487 – March 5, 1539) was a Portuguese admiral who was governor of Portuguese India, Portuguese possessions in India from 1529 to 1538. He was the governor of Portuguese Asia that ruled for more time in the sixteenth century in ...

, nominated by a royal decree of 18 March 1538 as

Estado da Índia The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

by King John III. On 6 April 1538 he landed in India. During his reign he promoted the settlement of

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

on Celebes Islands and Macassar. He issued a temporary ban on the construction of mainly

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

s within Portuguese India. Dom Garcia died before the end of his mandate as viceroy on April 3, 1540, in

and is buried in the chancel of the Cathedral of Goa. In

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

(

São Domingos de Rana São Domingos de Rana () is a Freguesia, civil parish ( pt, Freguesia (Portugal), freguesia) of the Portugal, Portuguese concelho, municipality of Cascais, part of the Greater Lisbon subregion. The population in 2011 was 57,502, in an area of 20.36 ...

) a street is named after him.

References

{{Authority control 1479 births 1540 deaths People from Lisbon 15th-century Portuguese people 16th-century Portuguese people Viceroys of Portuguese India

See also

References