Álvaro Caminha

Álvaro Caminha
Captain-major of São Tomé
In office
29 July 1493  28 April 1499
Monarch John II of Portugal
Manuel I of Portugal
Preceded by João Pereira
Succeeded by Fernão de Melo
Personal details
Born 14??
Kingdom of Portugal
Died 28 April 1499
São Tomé Island
Nationality Portuguese

Álvaro Caminha was appointed by King John II of Portugal in 1492 Captain-major (governor) – apparently the third – of the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe which had been discovered 22 years earlier.

He was a knight of the king's household and was told to settle and "Christianize" the then deserted island with his family and friars, and for that purpose was apparently given the children of Spanish Jewish refugees from Granada, which had not been able to pay the tax requested by the king, and who were married to Black people from the Congo.

References


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