Constantino de Sá de Noronha was the 6th and 8th
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of
Portuguese Ceylon
Portuguese Ceylon (; ; ) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658.
Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658. Their arrival was largely accide ...
.
Sá de Noronha was first appointed in 1618 under
Philip II of Portugal, he was Governor until 1622 and then in 1623 until 1630.
He was killed during the
Battle of Randeniwela in a last stand after refusing to abandon his troops. Several accounts, though varying in accuracy, describe the moment of his death in detail.
The
Journal
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...
of
Robert Knox Robert Knox or Rob Knox may refer to:
*Robert Knox (surgeon) (1791–1862), Scottish surgeon, anatomist and zoologist
* Robert Knox (bishop) (1808–1893), Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore and Archbishop of Armagh
*Robert Knox (sailor) (1641–17 ...
(1681):
The General, seeing that defeat, and himself like to be taken, called his black boy (slave) to give him water to drink, and snatching the knife that stuck by his boy’s side, stabbed himself with it
The Journal of João Ribeyro (1681):
The General, having done his duty as a chieftain and a soldier, threw himself in the midst of the enemy and cut down all who were bold enough to remain near him, till pierced with balls and arrows he fell dead on a heap of enemies whom he had slain.
More recently, the Sri Lankan author C. Gaston Perera, writing in 2007, admits the possibility that Constantino de Sá was killed by "
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...
", from a Portuguese
archer
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...
who, when trying to shoot down an attacker from the Sinhalese armies, hit by mistake the commander of the Portuguese forces, who subsequently surrendered.
He was succeeded by
Jorge de Albuquerque and
Filipe Mascarenhas respectively.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noronha, Constantino de Sa de
Governors of Portuguese Ceylon
16th-century Portuguese people
17th-century Portuguese people