Governorate General of Brazil

Governorate General of Brazil
Governorate General of Brazil; Governo-Geral do Brasil
	1549–1572 ; ; 1578–1607 ; ; 1613–1621
	Flag Coat of arms
	Captaincies of the Governorate General of Brazil by 1574
Status	Colonial State of the Portuguese Empire
Capital	São Salvador
Common languages	Portuguese
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 1549–1557	John III
• 1598–1621	Philip II
Governor General
• 1549–1553	Tomé de Sousa
History
• Established	1549
• Disestablished	1621
Currency	Portuguese Real
ISO 3166 code	BR
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Captaincy Colonies of Brazil
	Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro
	Governorate General of Bahia
Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro
Governorate General of Bahia
State of Brazil
State of Maranhão (colonial)

The Governorate General of Brazil (Governo-Geral do Brasil) was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire in present-day Brazil. A governorate was equivalent in status to a viceroyalty, though the title viceroy didn't come into use until the early 18th century. They were ruled by a Governor General who reported to the Crown. The Governor General had direct authority over the constituent royal captaincies, and nominal but ill-defined authority over the donatary captaincies. One captaincy, that of Duarte Coelho in Pernambuco, was exempt by royal decree from the authority of the Governors General.

History

In 1549, in order to solve the governance problem of his South American colonies, King John III of Portugal established the Governorate General of Brazil.[1] The governorate united the fifteen original donatary captaincy colonies some of which had reverted to the Crown, and others of which had been abandoned, into a single colony, but each captaincy would continue to exist as a provincial administrative unit of the governorate.[2] For two brief periods from 1572–78 and 1607–13, the Governorate General of Brazil was partitioned into the Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro in the south, and the Governorate General of Bahia in the north.

In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was partitioned into two colonies, the State of Brazil and the State of Maranhão.

Composition

For list of captaincies, see Captaincies of Brazil.

From the original captaincies, additional donatary captaincies were carved out.

Captaincies Created under the Governorates

Captaincy of Paraíba
Captaincy of Rio Grande de Norte
Captaincy of Cabo Frio
Captaincy of Paraguacu
Captaincy of Itaparica and Itamarandiba

The northern section of the captaincy of Sao Vicente was renamed to Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro.

Governors General

Tome de Sousa, 1549-1553
Duarte da Costa, 1553-1558
Mem de Sá, 1558-1572
Luís de Brito de Almeida 1573-1578 (Bahia)
Cristóvão de Barros 1572-1574 (Rio de Janeiro)
Lourenço da Veiga 1578-1581
1581-1583 D. Fr. António Barreiros, Bishop of Baía, Cosme Rangel & Cristóvão de Barros, (interim)
Manuel Teles Barreto 1583-1587
1587-1591 D. Fr. António Barreiros, Bishop of Baía, Martim leitão & Cristóvão de Barros, (interim)
D. Francisco de Sousa 1591-1602
Diogo Botelho 1603-1607
- Generalgouverneur: Diogo Botelho (1602–1608)
- Generalgouverneur, Bahia: Diogo de Meneses e Sequeira (1608–1613)
Lourenço da Veiga 1607-1613 (Bahia)
Afonso de Albuquerque 1608-1613 (Rio de Janeiro)
Diogo de Meneses 1608-1612
Gaspar de Sousa 1612–1617
Luís de Sousa 1617–1621

References

Brasil Escola - Governo Geral
"Arquivo Público do Estado do Espírito Santo - Relação de Tabelas do Brasil Colonial". Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-18.

External links

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[1] Brasil Escola - Governo Geral

[2] "Arquivo Público do Estado do Espírito Santo - Relação de Tabelas do Brasil Colonial". Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-18.