State of Brazil

The State of Brazil (Portuguese: Estado do Brasil) was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil.

State of Brazil

Estado do Brasil
1549–1815
Flag
Coat of arms
The State of Brazil in 1572
StatusState of the Portuguese Empire
CapitalSalvador (1645–1763)
Rio de Janeiro (1763–1815)
Common languagesPortuguese
Religion
Roman Catholicism
GovernmentAbsolute Monarchy
Monarch 
 1621–1640
Philip IV of Spain
(Philip III of Portugal)
 1750–1777
Joseph I of Portugal
Governor General/Viceroy 
 1621
Luís de Sousa (governor)|Luís de Sousa
 1806
Marcos de Noronha e Brito
History 
 End of hereditary captaincies
1549
 Transference of the capital to Rio de Janeiro
1763
1792
 Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil
22 January 1808
 Elevation of Brazil to Kingdom
16 December 1815
CurrencyPortuguese Real
ISO 3166 codeBR
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Governorate General of Brazil
State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro
State of Maranhão and Piauí
United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves

History

In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was split into two states, the State of Brazil and the State of Maranhão. The state was created in June 13, 1621 by Philip II of Portugal.[1]

This action divided Portuguese America into two administrative units, with the capital of the State of Brazil located in São Salvador and the capital of the State of Maranhão located in São Luís.

The State of Brazil became a Viceroyalty in January 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.

Composition

The State of Brazil originally included 12 of the original 15 captaincies, all except Ceará (which became subordinate to Pernambuco later) and Maranhão, two parts, which included the subcaptaincy of Para west of the Tordesillas Line at that time (north to south):

  • Captaincy of Rio Grande de Norte
  • Captaincy of Paraíba (southern Rio Grande & Itamaraca)
  • Captaincy of Pernambuco
  • Captaincy of Bahia
  • Captaincy of Ilhéus (became a comarca of Bahia in 1761)
  • Captaincy of Porto Seguro
  • Captaincy of Espírito Santo
  • Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro (São Tomé and São Vicente first section)
  • Captaincy of Santo Amaro
  • Captaincy of São Vicente (second section, later renamed Captaincy of São Paulo e Minas de Ouro)
  • Captaincy of Santana

Captaincies created by the state

  • Captaincy of Alagoas 1817 from Pernambuco
  • Captaincy of Ceará 1799 re-split from Pernambuco (previously existed as one of 15 original donatary captaincies)
  • Captaincy of Goiás
  • Captaincy of Mato Grosso
  • Captaincy of Minas Gerais
  • Captaincy of São Paulo
  • Captaincy of Sergipe 1820 from Bahia
  • Captaincy of Rio Grande do Sul (from region of Rio Grande de Sao Pedro)
  • Captaincy of Santa Catarina

Governors

References

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