Sancho de Tovar
Encyclopedia
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
nobleman of Castilian birth, best known as a navigator and explorer during the Portuguese age of discoveries. He was the sub-captain of the fleet that discovered Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in 1500, and was later appointed Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the East African port-city of Sofala
Sofala
Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique.-History:...
by king Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
. In this post, he conducted several exploratory missions in the interior regions of present-day Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
Early life
Sancho de Tovar was born in Cevico (now Cevico de la TorreCevico de la Torre
Cevico de la Torre is a Spanish municipality belonging to the province of Palencia, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León....
), Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
, to an old noble house of Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
ancestry dating back to the first centuries of the Iberian Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
. He was the eldest son of Martín Fernandez de Tovar, 5th Lord of Cevico and Boca de Huérgano, and his wife Leonor de Vilhena, a Portuguese lady of the house of the counts of Olivenza http://www.geneall.net/H/per_page.php?id=157907. His father's open support for Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V KG , called the African , was the twelfth King of Portugal and the Algarves. His sobriquet refers to his conquests in Northern Africa.-Early life:...
in his claim to the Castilian throne made him an enemy of Ferdinand
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
and Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
, and he was convicted of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
and beheaded around 1480, after a long imprisonment. At the age of 20, Sancho avenged the memory of his father by riding to Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
and stabbing (or, according to some records, mutilating) the judge who had sentenced him to death. He subsequently fled to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, where he was well received by Afonso's successor, king John II
John II of Portugal
John II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...
. He lived in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and attended the royal court, where he stood out as a gifted musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
(Garcia de Resende
Garcia de Resende
Garcia de Resende was a Portuguese poet and editor. He served John II as a page and private secretary, and later became a knight in the Order of Christ...
collected a few of his songs in his famous Cancioneiro Geral).http://purl.pt/12096/4/P303.html
Departure from Lisbon and life as a navigator
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
succeeded to the throne. The Portuguese effort towards maritime expansion was at its peak, and in 1499 Tovar was appointed by the king himself subcaptain of a large fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
led by Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
, made famous by its discovery of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The original intentions behind this enterprise are still a matter of speculation: some say it was merely meant as an expedition to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(which had been discovered the year before by Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
) and the discovery of Brazil was accidental, but others claim the voyage was carefully pondered and that the existence of Brazil was more or less suspected of (see Controversies about the European discovery of Brazil).
Sancho's ship during this voyage was a nao redonda, a large vessel of 200 tons with a crew
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
of 160 men. These ships were so called because when viewed from the front or rear they appeared round on account of their wide beam and bulging sails (most of the other ships in Cabral's fleet were caravels, and considerably smaller) http://books.google.pt/books?id=BwwqPJpqoX8C&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=sancho+de+tovar&source=web&ots=ORv3VstXaa&sig=qZp8N1BY7GmDZKefQ018kFcFJE4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result.
In Brazil, Sancho's fascination with the beauty of the land and his interest in the natives' way of life became apparent to Pêro Vaz de Caminha
Pêro Vaz de Caminha
Pêro Vaz de Caminha , was a Portuguese knight that accompanied Pedro Álvares Cabral to India in 1500, as a secretary to the royal factory. Caminha wrote the detailed official report of the April 1500 discovery of Brazil by Cabral's fleet...
, the fleet's secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
and chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
r, who recorded these impressions in his famous Chronicle of the Discovery of Brazil. He also writes of Sancho's attempt to give wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
to the natives, and of their negative reaction to the beverage, and mentions his gift of a boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
's tusk to a young Indian http://www.cce.ufsc.br/~nupill/literatura/carta.html. Curiously, Caminha's elder brother Afonso eventually married Sancho's sister Maria de Tovar, giving origin to the Tovar-Caminha family, a secondary branch of the house of Tovar.
As the fleet resumed its supposedly programmed route to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sancho de Tovar played an important role on the occupation of the important East African port of Sofala
Sofala
Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique.-History:...
, where his ship eventually stranded. It was then set on fire, in order to prevent its contents from falling into the hands of Muslim pirates. Upon his return to Lisbon, he was put in charge of that city and its surrounding region by the king, a duty that he only performed de facto after his return to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in 1515.
During his stay in there, Sancho improved and expanded the Portuguese fortress of Sao Caetano, which had been started by Pero de Anaia in 1505, and organized and led a great number of exploratory missions around the area of present-day Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. Although these missions are poorly documented, he is supposed to have been one of the first Europeans ever to contemplate the ruins of Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
(then referred to by the Portuguese as Monomotapa).
He died in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
around the age of 75, and was buried next to his wife in the church of the monastery of Xabregas.
Marriage and children
Sancho de Tovar married Guiomar da Silva, daughter of the Alcaide-Mor (Governor) of Porto de Mós, and had a son, Pedro de Tovar.Pedro's eldest son, Sancho de Tovar e Silva
Sancho de Tovar e Silva
Sancho de Tovar e Silva, jure uxoris Lord of the Honour of Molelos was a Portuguese nobleman and military man most notable for having been among the few companions of king Sebastian who survived the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir...
(1540-1598), who became Lord of the Honour of Molelos by marriage, was also a navigator. The country's policy, however, had changed towards terrestrial expansion and he eventually embraced military life, having fought at the disastrous battle of Alcácer Quibir
Battle of Alcácer Quibir
The Battle of Ksar El Kebir, also known as Battle of Three Kings, or "Battle of Oued El Makhazeen" in Morocco, and Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Portugal , was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir and Larache, on 4 August 1578...
alongside king Sebastian I.
See also
- Age of Discoveries
- Portuguese EmpirePortuguese EmpireThe Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
- Controversies about the European discovery of Brazil
- Pero Vaz de CaminhaPêro Vaz de CaminhaPêro Vaz de Caminha , was a Portuguese knight that accompanied Pedro Álvares Cabral to India in 1500, as a secretary to the royal factory. Caminha wrote the detailed official report of the April 1500 discovery of Brazil by Cabral's fleet...
- Pedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
- Juan de Tovar y ToledoJuan de Tovar y ToledoDon Juan de Tovar y Toledo, 3rd Lord of Cevico and Boca de Huérgano and later 1st Lord of Caracena was a Spanish nobleman and military, the eldest son of Sancho de Tovar, 2nd Lord of Cevico, and his wife Teresa de Toledo, and great-grandfather of Portuguese-naturalized navigator and explorer...
- Sancho de Tovar e SilvaSancho de Tovar e SilvaSancho de Tovar e Silva, jure uxoris Lord of the Honour of Molelos was a Portuguese nobleman and military man most notable for having been among the few companions of king Sebastian who survived the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir...