São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (''Saint Paul of the Fields of Piratininga'' in Portuguese) was the village that developed as
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 ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
in the region known as Campos de Piratininga. It was founded as a
religious mission and a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
Royal
College
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
by priests
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 ...
and
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 ...
on January 25, 1554 (the date of the first
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
and the anniversary of
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
's conversion). The village was initially populated by
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 ...
colonists and two tribes of the Guaianás
Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...
s. Later, São Paulo was the base of the
Bandeirantes
The ''Bandeirantes'' (), literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494 ...
who explored the interior in search of slaves and gold.
History
Early European colonisation of Brazil was very limited. Portugal was more interested in trade with
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. But with
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
French privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
ships just off the coast, the Portuguese Crown believed it needed to protect claims to this territory. To share the burden of defence, the Portuguese King
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 ...
divided the coast into "
captaincies", or swathes of land, 50 leagues apart. He distributed them among wealthy, well-connected Portuguese, hoping that each would take care of his territory. Fearing attacks by the numerous
Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...
tribes, João III discouraged development of the territory's vast interior.
The first coastal settlement in Brazil,
São Vicente, was founded in 1532. It was the first permanent Portuguese colony to thrive in the New World.
[ Rachel Lawrence: 2010, Page 183] Twenty-two years later the Tibiriçá Chief and
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded the village of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga inland from São Vicente. Their mission village was settled on a
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
between the
Tamanduateí and the
Anhangabaú rivers. On January 25, 1554 the village was formally founded when the priests celebrated the inaugural mass of the Jesuit school.
Santo André da Borda do Campo was a town founded in 1553 on the same plateau. In 1560, the threat of Indian attack led many colonists to flee from the exposed Santo André da Borda do Campo to the walled
Pátio do Colégio
Pátio do Colégio (in Portuguese ''School Yard'', written in the archaic orthography ''Pateo do Collegio'') is the name given to the historical Jesuit church and school in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The name is also used to refer to the squa ...
in São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga. Two years later, the Colégio was besieged. Though the Portuguese town survived, fighting took place spasmodically for another three decades.
Located just beyond the
Serra do Mar
The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil.
Geography
The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...
cliffs, above the port city of
Santos, and close to the
Tietê River
The Tietê River (Portuguese, Rio Tietê, ) is a Brazilian river in the state of São Paulo.
The name Tietê was registered for the first time on a map published in 1748 by d’Anville. The name signifies "The truthful river", or "truthful wa ...
, the new settlement became the natural entrance from the South East coast to the vast and fertile high plateau to the West. This eventually developed as the richest Brazilian state.
Colonial history in the São Paulo State official website
/ref>
The inhabitants of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, called Paulistanos, were very poor. Some men started explorations, called ''Bandeiras
The ''Bandeirantes'' (), literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494 ...
,'' in search of precious metals and stones, runaway slaves, and to capture Amerindians to sell in the domestic slave trade. The men were known as the ''bandeirantes''; they included allied indigenous Brazilians and spoke Língua Geral
Língua Geral (, ''General Language'') is the name of two distinct lingua francas, spoken in Brazil: the '' Língua Geral Paulista'' (''Tupi Austral'', or Southern Tupi), which was spoken in the region of Paulistania but is now dead, and the ''Lí ...
. In contrast, the priests had established their mission aimed at converting the Tupi–Guarani indigenous Brazilians
Indigenous peoples in Brazil ( pt, povos indígenas no Brasil) or Indigenous Brazilians ( pt, indígenas brasileiros, links=no) once comprised an estimated 2000 tribes and nations inhabiting what is now the country of Brazil, before European con ...
to the Catholic faith. They tried to acculturate them to Portuguese ways. From the beginning of the colony, the Jesuit goal of evangelising the Amerindians
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Ame ...
was opposed by many settlers, who used enslaved Amerindians as labourers and profited also from the slave trade
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 ...
in Indians.
The expeditions of the ''bandeirantes'' yielded trade, slaves and metals that were important to the developing economy. The Jesuits were often at odds with them for protecting converted natives in their missions. Finally in 1640 the bandeirantes forced the expulsion of the Jesuits from the village. Not until 1653 did the reigning bandeirante Fernão Dias Paes Leme allow Jesuit priests to return.
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 ...
officially became a city in 1711.
Campos de Piratininga
The Campos de Piratininga (''Fields of Piratininga'' in Portuguese) is the relatively flat plains territory at the top of the Serra do Mar
The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil.
Geography
The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...
just off the cities of Santos and São Vicente in the Brazilian state
The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which ...
of 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 ...
.
Other cities there are São Bernardo da Borda do Campo, Santo André da Borda do Campo and the rest of the Greater São Paulo
Greater São Paulo ( pt, Grande São Paulo) is a nonspecific term for one of the multiple definitions of the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil.
Definitions
Metropolitan Area
A legally defined specific term, ''Reg ...
. The limit of the Campos de Piratininga on the 700 meters-high coastal wall of the Serra do Mar
The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil.
Geography
The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...
is called Borda do Campo, or the Border of the Field.
See also
* Portuguese colonization of the Americas
Portuguese colonization of the Americas () constituted territories in the Americas belonging to the Kingdom of Portugal. Portugal was the leading country in the European exploration of the world in the 15th century. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1 ...
* Colonial 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. Durin ...
References
External links
City of São Paulo (History)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Paulo Dos Campos De Piratininga
Populated places established in 1554
1554 establishments in the Portuguese Empire
History of São Paulo
Historic sites in Brazil
1550s establishments in Brazil