Álvaro Martins, also known as Álvaro Martins Homem, was a 15th-century

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 ...

explorer alleged to have explored the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and later the

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 ...

n coast. He is claimed to have accompanied

João Vaz Corte-Real João Vaz Corte-Real (; c. 1420 – 1496) was a Portuguese sailor, claimed by some accounts to have been an explorer of a land called ''Terra Nova do Bacalhau'' (''New Land of the Codfish''), speculated to possibly have been a part of North Americ ...

on an undocumented expedition to ''

Terra Nova do Bacalhau Bacalao, Bacallao, or Terra do Bacalhau was a phantom island depicted on several early 16th century Portuguese maps and nautical charts. The name first appears on a chart in 1508, but there are earlier accounts of Bacalao. The name is a variation ...

'' (literally, "New Land of the

Codfish Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...

") in the early 1470s, by Gaspar Frutuoso in his 1570s book ''Saudades da Terra''.Diffie et al., 1977, p. 447. It is known that he was granted the captaincy of Praia da Vitória, Praia, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, on 17 February 1474 for his services to Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, an office he held for some years. It was following the disappearance of Jacome de Bruges that the King divided the island between Angra and Praia, granting Praia to Álvaro Martins, while

obtained the Captaincy of Angra. Álvaro Martins and his son (Antão) were responsible for the fortifications, and the development of agriculture and commerce in northern Terceira.Carlos Melo Bento (2008), p.28 He is also said to have accompanied Bartolomeu Dias on his journey around the Cape of Good Hope from 1487 to 1488.Dutra, 1997, p. 216.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * Donatary-Captains of the Azores, Martins Homem Portuguese explorers 15th-century explorers of Africa Maritime history of Portugal 15th-century Portuguese people {{Portugal-explorer-stub