Brás Cubas (

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, December 1507

, 1592) was a Portuguese nobleman, explorer and the founder of

Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints''), officially Municipality of Estância Balneária de Santos, is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese n ...

. 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 ...

(1545–1549 and 1555–1556). He arrived in the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the year of 1531 with

Martim Afonso de Sousa Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portuguese '' fidalgo'', explorer and colonial administrator. Life Martim Afonso de Sousa was born in Vila Viçosa, and had been raised in the Duke of Bragança household and was a personal fri ...

, 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 was later 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 ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...

, 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, 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 () 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 (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

. His attempts to enslave the natives resulted in a revolt that ended up by determining the appearance of the Tamoio Confederation, that could only be partially contained by the action of the jesuits Manuel da Nóbrega and

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

. 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.

References

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