Gonçalo de Sintra or de Cintra (d.1444/45), was a 15th-century Portuguese

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and servant of

Prince Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Infante Dom (title), Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Infante of Portugal, Portuguese prince and a ...

. According to chronicler Zurara, Gonçalo de Sintra was a young

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

(''escudeiro'') or stirrup boy in the household of Portuguese prince

Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...

Duke of Viseu Duke of Viseu (in Portuguese ''Duque de Viseu'') was a Portuguese Royal Dukedom created in 1415 by King John I of Portugal for his third male child, Henry the Navigator, following the conquest of Ceuta. When Henry the Navigator died with ...

. Others have characterized Sintra as older, an illustrious

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(''cavaleiro''), distinguished for his military service at Ceuta (although it is possible these were two different men with the same name).

African Expedition

In late 1444 (or 1445), Henry dispatched Gonçalo de Sintra in command of a

caravel The caravel (Portuguese language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...

on an exploratory expedition down the

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n coast, with strict instructions to sail straight to the 'land of

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

', and to not detract from that objective. Earlier that year, a Portuguese

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

-raiding expedition under

Lançarote de Freitas Lançarote de Freitas, better known as Lançarote de Lagos or Lançarote da Ilha, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer and slave raider from Lagos, Portugal. He was the leader of two large Portuguese slaving raids on the West African coast in 1 ...

had raided the

Bay of Arguin The Bay of Arguin (; ) is a bay on the Atlantic shore of Mauritania and the former mouth of the Tamanrasset River, now a Paleo-river. Geography It is located south of Cap Blanc, north of Cap Timiris. The bay contains three islands, including ...

(

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

), an area clustered with Sanhaja Berber fishing settlements, and taken a few hundred Berber captives, which were sold as slaves in

Lagos, Portugal Lagos (; ) is a city and concelho, municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 ...

at great profit. Desirous to make some quick profit of his own, Gonçalo de Sintra disobeyed Henry's instructions and decided to make a quick slave-raiding detour to the Arguin banks. But Lançarote's raid had driven much of the local population to evacuate the islands and coasts, with the result that Sintra found the fishing settlements deserted. Sintra managed to capture two Berber women who had lingered on Arguin island, but a Berber slave-boy Sintra had brought from Portugal to serve as translator escaped. This turn of events probably persuaded Sintra to make an effortful search for captives to 'make up' for the loss of the slave-boy rather than just call it quits and go on to Guinea. According to Zurara, Gonçalo de Sintra directed his caravel to Nair island (''ilha do Nar''), at the southern end of Arguin bay. At first Nair seemed abandoned, like all the other settlements. But taking a handful of crew aboard a launch, Sintra led a landing party to investigate. Not long after they landed, the Portuguese were ambushed by a hidden force of some seventy armed Sanhaja Berber tribesmen. The conditions of the surf and tide prevented the caravel from approaching the island and rescuing the landing party. Gonçalo de Sintra and seven crewmen were killed on the spot. The caravel, with its remaining crew, immediately returned to Portugal. Although Zurara identified the location of Sintra's death at Nair island, in the Arguin banks, later chronicler

João de Barros João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. Early y ...

asserted the event transpired much further north, just below Rio de Oro, at a location since known as Cintra Bay (''Angra de Cintra'',

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

).. Modern historians have tended to side with Zurara's identification of Nair, suggesting that Cintra Bay was probably named in error by contemporary Portuguese cartographers.Cortesão (1931); Diffie & Winius (p.82) Gonçalo de Sintra was the first of

's captains to be killed on an expedition, and is generally regarded as the first known Portuguese casualty of the era of

Portuguese discoveries Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...

. Although some historians allege Gonçalo de Sintra was a relative (possibly the father) of later Portuguese explorer

Pedro de Sintra Pedro de Sintra, also known as Pero de Sintra, Pedro da Cintra or Pedro da Sintra, was a Portuguese explorer. He was among the first Europeans to explore the West African coast. Around 1462 his expedition reached what is now Sierra Leone and named ...

(who explored the lands of Guinea in 1460), there is no evidence of this (or possibly Pedro is son of a namesake knight?)

Notes

Sources

(1552–59) ''Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente''. Vol. 1 (Dec I, Lib.1-5) *

Gomes Eanes de Zurara Gomes Eanes de Zurara (c. 1410 – c. 1474), sometimes spelled Eannes or Azurara, was a Portuguese chronicler of the European Age of Discovery, the most notable after Fernão Lopes. Life and career Zurara adopted the career of letters in mid ...

(1453) ''Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na Conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique or Chronica do descobrimento e conquista da Guiné''. rans. 1896-99 by C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, ''The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea'', London: Halykut* Cortesão, Armando (1931) "Subsídios para a história do Descobrimento de Cabo Verde e Guiné", Boletim da Agencia Geral das Colonias, No. 75. As reprinted in 1975, Esparsos, vol. 1, Coimbra * Diffie, Bailey W., and George D. Winius (1977) ''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580'' Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press * Quintella, Ignacio da Costa (1839–40) ''Annaes da Marinha Portugueza'', 2 vols, Lisbon: Academia Real das Sciencias
vol. 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sintra, Goncalo de 15th-century explorers of Africa Portuguese explorers of Africa 15th-century Portuguese explorers Maritime history of Portugal 1440s deaths Year of birth unknown