Thomé de Sousa (1503-1579) was the first governor-general of Brazil from 1549 to 1553, when it was a Portuguese colony. He was a nobleman and soldier born in Rates, Póvoa de Varzim. Sousa was born a half-breed noble and participated in military expeditions in Africa, fought the Moors and commanded the Nau Conceição to India, part of the armada of Fernão de Andrade.
He was the agent in charge of restoring the king's authority in Brazil. Up until t...
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Thomé de Sousa (1503-1579) was the first governor-general of Brazil from 1549 to 1553, when it was a Portuguese colony. He was a nobleman and soldier born in Rates, Póvoa de Varzim. Sousa was born a half-breed noble and participated in military expeditions in Africa, fought the Moors and commanded the Nau Conceição to India, part of the armada of Fernão de Andrade.
He was the agent in charge of restoring the king's authority in Brazil. Up until this point, Brazil had been neglected by Portugal, which was putting all of its resources into the spice trade in India. There was a decline in the spice trade and increasing threats around Brazil's borders by the surrounding Spanish colonies, which prompted Portugal to intervene. As part of this mission, Sousa had established his capital city at Bahia on the Atlantic coast between São Paulo and Pernambuco. The new capital was supposed to bring together the twelve pre-existing settlements, though Sousa traversed the bordering areas and aided...
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