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

Part of a series on the
History of São Tomé and Príncipe

Chronological
Pêro Escobar João de Santarém Álvaro Caminha Batepá massacre Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe Manuel Pinto da Costa
São Tomé and Príncipe portal

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

Valentim Fernandes (1506), Descrição da Ilha de São Tomé, in: A. Baião and J. Bensaúde (1940), O manuscrito de Valentim Fernandes, Lisboa, Ática.
Descriptio Africae Codex hisp. 27 in: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Manuscript Collection, Bild 416.

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