Rui Gonçalves da Câmara (c. 1430 – 27 November 1497), was the second son of João Gonçalves Zarco, and inherited the title of Donatary-Captain of the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. Rui Gonçalves da Câmara was made the third person to administer/manage the colonization of the island of São Miguel by regal charter on 10 March 1474 (becoming the first of the family Gonçalves da Câmara to obtain this title). After his 21-year mandate to administer the island of São Miguel, in which he was successful in promoting and establishing settlements throughout the colony, the Vila Franca do Campo received a

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...

(''charter'') as town.

Biography

Early life

Rui Gonçalves da Câmara was the son of

João Gonçalves Zarco João Gonçalves Zarco ( 1390 – 21 November 1471) was a Portuguese explorer who established settlements and recognition of the Madeira, Madeira Islands, and was appointed first captain of Funchal by Henry the Navigator. Life Zarco was born in ...

, one of the men identified in the discovery of the archipelago of Madeira.Carlos Melo Bento (2008), p.23 Rui da Câmara married Maria de Bettencourt. Rui Gonçalves became a squire in the House of D.

Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and Beja (or ''Fernando,'' , 17 November 1433 – 18 September 1470) was the third son of Edward, King of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon. Biography Ferdinand was born in Almeirim on 17 November 1 ...

, and was favoured and confided by the Prince.Susana Goulart Costa (2008), p.237

Captaincy

Until 1474, the island of São Miguel was part of a larger fiefdom bequeathed to

João Soares de Albergaria João Soares de Albergaria (c. 1415 – 1499), also referred to as João Soares (or João Soares Velho),Gaspar Frutuoso, ''Saudades da Terra'', (1873) Book III was the second Portuguese Dontary-Captain of the islands of Santa Maria and São Mi ...

, the

Captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

of Santa Maria and São Miguel.Carlos Melo Bento (2008), p.22 At that time, the island was a large, underpopulated and, therefore, unproductive possession of the

Donatário A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The kings of Portug ...

Diogo, Duke of Viseu Infante Diogo of Viseu (1450–1484) was the second son of Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, and his wife Beatriz, Duchess of Viseu. History Diogo's father, uncle of King John II, was believed to be the richest man in Portugal, having accumulated tw ...

, nephew of

King Edward King Edward may refer to: Monarchs of England and the United Kingdom * Edward the Elder (–924) * Edward the Martyr (–978) * Edward the Confessor (–1066) * Edward I of England (1239–1307) * Edward II of England (1284–1327) * Edward III o ...

: the Duke approved its transfer to Rui da Câmara, as his Captain on the island of São Miguel, during a period when João Soares de Albergaria was more preoccupied with the health of his wife, and looked to the sale as a way of improving his finances. Albergaria had decided to sell his concession while staying with their family on Madeira. With broad physique and great intelligence, he occupied most of his administration with the establishment and settlement of his Capitania. Rui da Câmara was an imposing figure on his horse, wearing fur bonnet and large overcoat; he was unafraid to visit his fiefdom along without scribes, servants or soldiers. Apart from his small workforce that tended to his possessions, Rui da Câmara offered lands to settlers who were obligated to transform the uncultivated lands within a five-year contract. Those were unable to fulfill the contract would forfeit their lands to another, who were under the same obligations. It was through these conditions that the island was rapidly populated.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Rui Goncalves da Camara Rui Goncalves 1 1430s births 1497 deaths 15th-century Portuguese people Gonçalves da Câmara family