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Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese explorer credited with discovering Brazil. Despite having little to no sailing experience, he managed to bring home a massive amount of profit and complete the tasks given to him by King Manuel I successfully.
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Key Facts & Information
EARLY LIFE
- Pedro Álvares Cabral was born in 1467 or 1468 in Belmonte, Portugal. He came from a minor noble family with Fernão Álvares Cabral and Isabel Gouveia as his parents.
- He was the second son among five boys and six girls in the family. He was christened as Pedro Álvares de Gouveia and only took his family name when his older brother died in 1503.
- The Cabral family served the crown, so young Pedro received his education in the humanities and learned to bear arms and fight at the royal court.
- When he was 17 years old, he was given the title “moco fidalgo,” which means young nobleman, by King John II. He became part of the king’s council in 1497 and named a Knight of the Order of Christ.
CABRAL’S VOYAGE
- In 1488, a fellow Portuguese explorer named Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around Africa’s southern trip but failed to continue the journey to Asia.
- Another Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama, made it to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and landed in Calicut, India. It opened up a direct trade route for the Portuguese empire.
- The Portuguese crown had the custom to appoint nobles to have naval and military commands. As part of this custom, King Manuel I appointed Cabral to head an expedition despite having little to no sailing experience.
- The captains of his ships were mostly nobles themselves. The king sent Cabral on a diplomatic mission, promoting peace and establishing trade relations in India and bringing home valuable spices.
- Cabral was also tasked to spread Catholicism as most explorers believed that native religions were wrong.
- On March 9, 1500, Cabral set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, with 13 vessels and 1200 men. Included in this exploration was the famed explorer Bartolomeu Dias to lead one of Cabral’s vessels.
- A few days later, while sailing onward to Cape Verde, a ship commanded by Vasco de Ataide went missing along with his 150 men without a trace.
- Cabral’s group believed that the ship had sunk. They intended to follow de Gama’s route around Africa to India but accidentally, or intentionally as some historians suggested, sailed too far southwest into the Atlantic Ocean.
- This brought them to the South American coast and an undiscovered large island. As the unknown land was within the Portuguese sphere, according to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Cabral erected a large wooden cross that signified that the land would be under Portugal on May 1. We now call it Brazil.
- Cabral’s fleet resumed its voyage on the 2nd or 3rd of May in 1500. They sailed along the east coast of South America and became convinced that he discovered an entire continent and not just an island.
- On the 5th of May, they navigated eastwards towards Africa. They encountered a severe storm in the South Atlantic’s high-pressure zone on May 24th, which resulted in losing four ships, three naus and a caravel. One of them was the ship carrying Bartolomeu Dias.
- With his remaining ships, they continued their navigation to India. They did stop at several African ports along the way including Sofala, Mozambique, and Kilwa but had little luck trading with them as they often encountered unfriendly natives.
- Cabral reached Calicut, India, on September 13, 1500, and asked the Zamorin, the Calicut ruler, for permission to build a factory and a warehouse. Threatened that Cabral’s group would affect the Arab’s monopoly on spices, 300 Arab traders and Hindu Indians attacked the new factory, killing over 50 Portuguese on December 16th or 17th.
- Cabral and his men were outraged and got their revenge by raiding and capturing ten Arab merchant ships and 600 crews. The Portuguese set the Arab ships on fire and their crew executed.
- Cabral travelled to other Indian cities and traded goods and spices before heading back home to Lisbon, Portugal in July 1501.
RETURN TO PORTUGAL
- One of the ships, a caravel, was sent to Sofala to fulfil one of the expedition’s goals. Cabral ordered another caravel, commanded by Nicolau Coelho, to go ahead of them and give the king advance notice of the voyage’s success. A third vessel, captained by Pedro de Ataide, became separated from the fleet after leaving Mozambique.
- Now only with two ships, Cabral’s fleet rounded the Cape of Good Hope. When they reached Beseguiche, they found Coelho’s ship and one of the naus, captained by Diogo Dias, which they thought had perished during the South Atlantic storm. Only seven sick and malnourished men were left on the tattered ship. Cabral also found another ship anchored in Beseguiche.
- Coelho’ caravel first arrived in Portugal on June 23, 1501, while Cabral waited for Ataide’s missing ship and the caravel was sent to Sofala. The expedition leader arrived in Portugal on July 21, 1501, while his remaining fleet followed days after.
- Cabral’s expedition brought home an 800% profit to the Portuguese crown, despite only having five fully loaded ships out of the thirteen ships used in the expedition.
- King Manuel had been told of the discovery of the new land before Cabral’s arrival. He sent a smaller fleet with a navigator named Amerigo Vespucci to explore it. Vespucci confirmed to the king that Cabral’s discovery was an entire continent and not just an island.
LATER YEARS
- Upon Cabral’s return, King Manuel I appointed him again to command a “revenge fleet” that would sail to India and avenge the Portuguese’ losses. He made all the preparations for eight months but found out he was relieved of command and replaced by Vasco de Gama, a nephew of Vicente Sodre.
- There were theories that Cabral strongly opposed that the navigator, Vicente Sodre, would be given an independent command over a section of a fleet. Factions had developed support for de Gama and Cabral.
- The king did not tolerate the feud and had anyone who would mention it to him banished. Cabral permanently left the court after some time.
- Cabral landed in a favourable marriage in 1503 with Dona Isabel de Castro, a descendant of King Dom Fernando I of Portugal and Afonso de Albuquerque. They had four children, two boys and two girls.
- Afonso de Albuquerque attempted to ask the king for forgiveness on Cabral’s behalf for him to return to court, but no avail.
- Cabral died supposedly in 1520 from an unspecified cause and was buried in the São João Evangelista chapel of the Convento da Graça in Santarém.
Pedro Álvares Cabral Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Pedro Álvares Cabral across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Pedro Álvares Cabral worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Pedro Álvares Cabral who was a Portuguese explorer credited with discovering Brazil. Despite having little to no sailing experience, he managed to bring home a massive amount of profit and complete the tasks given to him by King Manuel I successfully.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Pedro Álvares Cabral Facts
- The Young Nobleman
- The Tale of Two Explorers
- Discovering Words
- Four Challenges
- Influential Figures
- Famous Explorers
- The Explorer’s Journal
- Inquiries About Cabral
- Cabral’s Team
- Celebrating an Explorer
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