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The Captaincy of Itamaracá ( Portuguese: ''Capitania de Itamaracá)'' was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the colonial period of
Portuguese America Portuguese America (), sometimes called or Lusophone America in the English language, in contrast to Anglo-America, French America, or Hispanic America, is the Portuguese-speaking community of people and their diaspora, notably those tracing b ...
. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditary captaincies and granted by John III, King of Portugal, to the so-called '' donatários.'' After being established, it was donated to Pero Lopes de Sousa. It had two capitals, Itamaracá and
Goiana Goiana () is a city in Brazil in the northeast of the state of Pernambuco, roughly 65 km north of the city of Recife, 51 km from the capital of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Paraíba and 2,187 km from Brasília. Its historic center was ...
, and was originally the longest Portuguese overseas territory, stretching from the eastern end of the American mainland to Tordesillas, with
Baía da Traição Baía da Traição is a municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Paraíba This is a list of the municipalities in the States of Brazil, state of Paraíba, Paraíba (PB), locat ...
(
Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...
) as its northern limit and Igarassu (
Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...
) as its southern limit. The captaincy had six parishes, including three towns:
Taquara Taquara is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Taquara is located 72 kilometers (44 miles) from Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio ...
, Alhandra, Goiana, També, Tejucupapo and Itamaracá.


History


Background

European colonization The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and A ...
in America effectively began in 1534, when King John III divided the territory into fourteen hereditary captaincies and gave them to twelve ''donatários'', who could exploit the land's resources, but in exchange had to populate and protect the regions. Since the 15th century, the system of captaincies had been used by the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
on the islands of
Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
and
Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
. In a letter addressed to
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 ...
in 1532, John III announced the decision to divide the Portuguese territory, beginning the donations in 1534. There are three possible factors for the adoption of the captaincy system in Brazil: a response by the Portuguese monarchy to France's threat to its project of domination in America; the transfer of expenses with colonization from Portugal to the ''donatários'', favoring the Crown in a situation of limited resources; and the conversion of the native population to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, continuing the ideal of the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
.


Origins

Pero Lopes de Sousa put Francisco de Braga in charge of the captaincy, who occupied the island of Conceição and founded the village of Marial or Nossa Senhora da Conceição in 1534. Meanwhile, the mainland was home to the
Potiguara The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto, Paraíba, Rio Tinto. Th ...
indigenous people, who resisted the colonizers, and the French, who trafficked in
brazilwood ''Paubrasilia echinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood (, ; Tupi: ) and is the na ...
. In a mercantilist relationship, they allied themselves, while the Portuguese posed the threat of slavery. There were frequent attacks on the Portuguese inhabitants in the region and on the Captaincy of
Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...
, owned by
Duarte Coelho Duarte Coelho Pereira ( – ) was a nobleman, military leader, and colonial administrator in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. He was the first Donatario (Lord Proprietor) of the captaincy of Pernambuco and founder of Olinda. Early life The bir ...
. In 1539, Pero Lopes died and the land returned to the possession of the Crown, turning Itamaracá into a royal captaincy. However, the Potiguara' domination of the territory was a threat to the security of the Portuguese colonizers. In 1540, João Gonçalves was appointed royal administrator, but he didn't arrive until 1548. The end of the Captaincy of Itamaracá was triggered by the event known as the Tragedy of Tracunhaém. In 1574, Itamaracá lost part of its territory after the creation of the
Captaincy of Paraíba The Captaincy of Paraíba was a Portuguese Empire overseas Captaincies of Brazil, captaincy in Brazil created in 1574. However, it was only conquered more than a decade later with the supposed extinction of the Captaincy of Itamaracá in the sec ...
, which would only be installed in 1585 with the necessary resources to prevent further French invasions, repel attacks by the
Tabajara Tabajara (; Tabajaras) are an Indigenous people of Brazil who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory extended from Ilha de Itamarac ...
and Potiguara peoples and ensure the conquest of the north of northeastern Brazil. During Dutch rule, chronicler Elias Erckmann described Itamaracá as a province of New Holland located between Paraíba and Pernambuco. In 1763, with the death of its last ''donatário'', the Captaincy of Itamaracá was officially extinguished and annexed to Pernambuco, whose original seat was Olinda.


Main towns

* Goiana: Located on the border with Paraíba, it was able to prosper more due to its greater distance from Olinda, which tended to attract more settlers and investments; * Igarassu: Located on the border with Pernambuco, flourished precisely because of its proximity to Olinda; * Conceição: It was the first name for the island's headquarters and the coastal geographical landmark that gave its name to the entire captaincy. It represented an initial moment in the occupation of the captaincy, when the settlers were still afraid to enter the mainland.


See also

* History of Pernambuco *
History of Brazil Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over and settled by diverse tribes. Thus, the history of Brazil begins with the indigenous people in Brazil. The Portuguese arrived to the land tha ...


References

{{Provinces of the Empire of Brazil Itamaracá Former Portuguese colonies History of Pernambuco Portuguese colonization of the Americas Pernambuco