The first landing of European explorers to the territory of present-day Brazil, which was already inhabited by various Indigenous communities, is often credited to Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, who sighted the land later named Island of Vera Cruz, near Monte Pascoal, on 22 April 1500 while leading an expedition to Calicut, India. Cabral's voyage is part of the so-called Portuguese discoveries.
Although used almost exclusively in relation to Pedro Álvares Cabral's voyage, the term "discovery of Brazil" can also refer to the arrival of the expedition led by Spanish navigator and explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, who reached the Cape of Santo Agostinho, a promontory located in the current state of Pernambuco, on 26 January 1500. This is the oldest confirmed European landing in Brazilian territory.
The use of the term "discovery" for this historical event considers the viewpoint of peoples from Europe. They recorded it in the form of written history, and the record expresses a Eurocentric conception of history. Some people in Brazil call this event the invasion of Brazil. The term "discovery" disregards the presence of Indigenous civilizations in Brazil before the arrival of the Portuguese, treating the European arrival as an act of unveiling rather than as an invasion that triggered a violent process of colonization and genocide of the original peoples. This Eurocentric view reflects the colonizers' narrative and conceals the historical reality from the perspective of Indigenous peoples; therefore, the concept of the "coloniality of knowledge" is discussed, denouncing how the historical narrative is shaped by a Eurocentric bias that silences and erases the knowledge, practices, and resistance of Indigenous peoples in the face of colonial violence.
Discovery by Amerigo Vespucci
In 1499, an expedition licensed by Spain and led by Alonso de Ojeda as fleet commander and Juan de la Cosa as chief navigator set sail to explore the coast of a new landmass found by Columbus on his third voyage and in particular investigate a rich source of pearls that Columbus had reported. Vespucci and his backers financed two of the four ships in the small fleet.
The vessels left Spain on 18 May 1499 and stopped first in the Canary Islands before reaching South America somewhere near present-day Suriname or French Guiana. From there the fleet split up: Ojeda proceeded northwest toward modern Venezuela with two ships, while the other pair headed south with Vespucci aboard. The only record of the southbound journey comes from Vespucci himself. He assumed they were on the coast of Asia and hoped by heading south they would, according to the Greek geographer Ptolemy, round the unidentified "Cape of Cattigara" and reach the Indian Ocean. They passed two huge rivers (the Amazon and the Para) which poured freshwater 25 miles (40 km) out to sea. They continued south for another 40 leagues (about 240 km or 150 mi) before encountering a very strong adverse current which they could not overcome. Forced to turn around, the ships headed north, retracing their course to the original landfall. From there Vespucci continued up the South American coast to the Gulf of Paria and along the shore of what is now Venezuela. At some point they may have rejoined Ojeda but the evidence is unclear. In the late summer, they decided to head north for the Spanish colony at Hispaniola in the West Indies to resupply and repair their ships before heading home. After Hispaniola they made a brief slave raid in the Bahamas, capturing 232 natives, and then returned to Spain.
Discovery by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón
Many scholars assert that the real discoverer of Brazil was the Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, who on 26 January 1500 landed at Cape of Santo Agostinho, on the northern coast of Pernambuco. This is considered the earliest documented European voyage to what is now Brazilian territory.
The fleet, consisting of four caravels, set sail from Palos de la Frontera on 19 November 1499. After crossing the Equator, Pinzón encountered a severe storm. On 26 January 1500, he sighted the cape and anchored his ships in a sheltered port easily accessible to small boats, with a depth of 16 feet, as indicated by sounding. The mentioned port was the cove of Suape, located on the southern slope of the promontory, which the Spanish expedition named Cape of Santa María de la Consolación. Spain did not claim the discovery, although it was meticulously recorded by Pinzón and documented by important chroniclers of the time such as Peter Martyr d'Anghiera and Bartolomé de las Casas. Spain and Portugal had signed the Treaty of Tordesillas to divide their areas of influence in the New World, and this area was to be controlled by Portugal.
During the night after the landing, the Spanish observed large fires burning in the distance, along the northwest coast. The following morning, they sailed in that direction until reaching a river, which Pinzón named "Rio Formoso". On the beach, along the riverbanks, their crew had a violent encounter with the local Indigenous people (now known to have belonged to the Potiguara tribe), an event recorded by the Spanish chronicler.
Heading north, Pinzón rounded the Cape of São Roque and reached the Amazon River in February, which he named Santa María de la Mar Dulce. From there he continued to the Guianas and then to the Caribbean Sea and across the Atlantic. He reached Spain on 30 September 1500.
Pinzón's cousin, Diego de Lepe, undertook a parallel journey, departing from Palos in 1499, twenty days after Pinzón's fleet. Lepe arrived at the Cape of Santo Agostinho in February 1500, but sailed a few miles to the south, noting that the coast slanted markedly to the southwest. From there he followed the same route to the north and the Caribbean as had Pinzón.
The map by Juan de la Cosa, a chart made in 1500 at the request of the first kings of Spain – known as the Catholic Monarchs – shows the South American coast adorned with Spanish flags from the Cape de la Vela (in present-day Colombia) to the easternmost point of the continent. The accompanying text reads, "Este cavo se descubrio en año de mily IIII X C IX por Castilla syendo descubridor vicentians" (lit. 'This cape was discovered in 1499 by Castile, with Vicente Yáñez as the discoverer'). This most likely refers to Pinzón's arrival at the Cape of Santo Agostinho in late January 1500.
The map shows that further east, and separated from the mainland, is an island marked as discovered by Portugal, and colored in blue. De la Cosa probably intended to show the land discovered by Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500, which he named "Terra de Vera Cruz" or "de Santa Cruz". The Portuguese believed it to be an island (Island of Vera Cruz) lying in the Atlantic, separating Europe from the Indies.
On 30 October 1500, king Manuel I of Portugal married Maria of Aragon and Castile, daughter of the Catholic Monarchs and sister of his first wife Isabella (who died during a difficult childbirth). This union initiated a deep dynastic connection between the Catholic nations of Portugal and Spain.
The following year, the first Portuguese expedition to explore the Brazilian coast departed from Lisbon, entrusted to Amerigo Vespucci and commanded by Gonçalo Coelho. On 17 August 1501, the fleet sighted the Cape of São Roque in present-day Rio Grande do Norte, already discovered by Pinzón (latitude calculations were relatively accurate at the time, although longitude was quite faulty). The Portuguese sailed southward, tracing the entire east coast of Brazil. Near Santa Cruz Cabrália, they encountered two exiles from Cabral's fleet, whom they rescued. They realized then that Cabral had not discovered an island, but a stretch of coastline of the new continent. The fleet then allegedly sailed to the Cape of Santa Maria in present-day Uruguay.
Later the Spanish Crown sent navigator Juan Díaz de Solís on an expedition to explore the lands allocated to Spain according to the Treaty of Tordesillas – whose imaginary line passed along the coast of the present-day state of São Paulo, near Cananéia. For his discovery of Brazil, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was honored by King Ferdinand II of Aragon on 5 September 1501.
Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet
In order to seal the success of Vasco da Gama's voyage in discovering the sea route to India – which allowed bypassing the Mediterranean, then under the control of the Moors and Italian nations – King Manuel I hastened to outfit a new fleet for the Indies. Since Vasco da Gama's small fleet had struggled to establish itself and engage in trade, this would be the largest fleet assembled by the West up to that point. It comprised thirteen vessels and more than a thousand men. Except for the names of two ships and a caravel, the names of the other ships under Cabral's command are not known. It is estimated that the fleet carried provisions for about eighteen months.
This was the largest squadron ever sent to sail the Atlantic: ten ships, three caravels, and a supply ship. Although the name of the flagship is unknown, the vice-commander's ship of the fleet, Sancho de Tovar's ship, was named El-Rei. Another ship was the Anunciada, commanded by Nuno Leitão da Cunha. This ship belonged to Álvaro de Bragança, son of the Duke of Braganza, and was equipped with resources from Bartolomeo Marchionni and Girolamo Sernigi, Florentine bankers residing in Lisbon who invested in the spice trade. The bankers' letters exchanged with their Italian partners and shareholders preserved the ship's name. The caravel commanded by Pero de Ataíde, was São Pedro. The name of the other caravel, commanded by Bartolomeu Dias, is lost. The fleet was completed by a supply ship commanded by Gaspar de Lemos. It was her responsibility to return to Portugal with news of the discovery of Brazil.
Based on an incomplete document found in the Torre do Tombo in Lisbon, Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen identified five of the ten ships that made up Cabral's fleet. They were Santa Cruz, Vitória, Flor de la Mar, Espírito Santo, and Espera. Because the source cited by Varnhagen has never been found again, most historians prefer not to adopt the names he listed. The fleet remains largely anonymous.
Some 19th-century historians declared that Cabral's flagship was the legendary São Gabriel, the same ship commanded by Vasco da Gama three years earlier, when he discovered the sea route to India. But no documentation has been found to support this theory.
Shortly before the fleet's departure, the King ordered a mass to be said at the Monastery of Belém, presided over by the Bishop of Ceuta, Diogo de Ortiz. He personally blessed a flag with the arms of the Kingdom and handed it to Cabral, bidding farewell to the nobleman and the remaining captains.
Vasco da Gama reportedly made recommendations for the impending long journey: stressing coordination among the ships in order to prevent their losing sight of each other. He recommended to the captain-general to fire the cannons twice and wait for the same response from all other ships before changing course or speed (a counting method still used in terrestrial battlefields), among other similar communication codes.
Arrival at Vera Cruz
On 24 April, Cabral, accompanied by Sancho de Tovar, Simão de Miranda, Nicolau Coelho, Aires Correia, and Pero Vaz de Caminha, received a group of Indigenous people on his ship. They were described as recognizing the gold and silver displayed on the vessel – notably a gold thread and a silver candlestick. The Portuguese concluded that they were familiar with gold as a result of having much of it in their land. But in a letter, Caminha, wrote that he could not ascertain whether the natives were saying that there was gold there, or if the sailors' desire for it was so great they imagined a positive response from the natives. It was later proven that the crew had imagined a positive interpretation; the natives made no claims to gold.
Caminha also recorded in a letter the later violent encounter between Portuguese and Indigenous people on the beach. The cultural shock for each side was evident. The Indigenous people did not recognize the animals brought by the sailors, except for a parrot that the captain had with him. The sailors offered the natives food and wine which they did not recognize and rejected. They were curious about unfamiliar objects – such as Rosary beads. The Portuguese were surprised that the natives appeared to recognize precious metals. Cabral had dressed in all the attire and adornments befitting a captain, to impress the Indigenous people, and yet they passed by him without appearing to distinguish him from the other crew members.
The Indigenous people were curious about the newcomers and attended the First Mass, celebrated by Friar Henrique de Coimbra, on Sunday, 26 April 1500. The Portuguese liked to think they had introduced the natives to their faith. Shortly after the mass, Cabral's fleet set sail for the Indies, its ultimate destination. It sent one of the ships back to Portugal with Caminha's letter.
Later, when Portuguese fleets arrived with missionaries and colonists, it became obvious that they needed other methods to evangelize the Indigenous people in earnest. The Indigenous people had simply been curious about the ritual gestures and words of the Mass, with no real interest in the Catholic faith. They had their own religion.