Mem de Sá (c. 1500 – 2 March 1572) was a Governor-General of 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 ...

from 1557 to 1572. He was born in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

, Kingdom of Portugal, around 1500, the year of discovery of Brazil by a naval fleet commanded by

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

. In the early sixteenth century, Brazil was not a major settled area of the Portuguese empire. The

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

had established aldeias in order to evangelize the Brazilian Indians. Portuguese settlers actively enslaved the indigenous populations. Mem de Sá was nominated the third Governor-General of Brazil in 1556, succeeding Duarte da Costa, who was Governor-General from 1553 to 1557. The seat of the government at the time was Salvador, in the present-day state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

. He was fortunate in securing the support of two important Jesuit priests, Fathers

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 influe ...

(1517-1570) 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 h ...

(1533-1597), who founded

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 Ga ...

, on 25 January 1554, which is today one of the largest metropolises in the world. The Jesuits were stern and persistent missionaries of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith with the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, and their pacification of these warrior societies was one of the most important conquests of Mem de Sá's government. The Jesuits had conflicts with Duarte da Costa, because he supported the plantation owners, who tried to force

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

upon the Indians. Mem de Sá opposed the usury of the Portuguese plantation owners in their trade in Indian slaves and helped the Jesuits expand the number of their aldeias.Nizza da Silva, "Mem de Sá, p. 1. Mem de Sá also had an important military and political mission when, in 1560, leading a naval expedition of 26 ships and 2,000 soldiers and sailors, he was sent by the Portuguese crown to attack ''

France Antarctique France Antarctique (formerly also spelled ''France antartique'') was a French colony in Rio de Janeiro, in modern-day Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio. The colony quickly ...

'', a colony founded by

Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon Nicolas Durand, sieur de Villegaignon, also Villegagnon (1510 – 9 January 1571) was a Commander of the Knights of Malta, and later a French naval officer (vice-admiral of Brittany) who attempted to help the Huguenots in France escape persecutio ...

, a

French vice-admiral on the site of present-day

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Fort Coligny Fort Coligny was a fortress founded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1555, in what constituted the so-called France Antarctique historical episode. For protection against attacks by hostile Indians and the Portugues ...

, built by the French colonists on a small island of the

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói a ...

was destroyed, but Mem de Sá was able to expel definitely the French invaders in 1567 only, with the help of his nephew,

Estácio de Sá Estácio de Sá (1520 – February 20, 1567) was a Portuguese soldier and officer. Sá travelled to the colony of Brazil on the orders of the Portuguese crown to wage war on the French colonists commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. These ...

, who was also the founder of Rio de Janeiro on 1 March 1565. With the help of the Jesuits, Mem de Sá was able to convince the Tamoyo Confederation to withdraw their support to the Frenchmen. Mem de Sá died on 2 March 1572, in Salvador.

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