The Governorate General of Brazil (Portuguese: Governo-Geral do Brasil) was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire in Brazil. A governorate was equivalent in status to a viceroyalty, though the title viceroy didn't come into use until the early 18th century. They were ruled by a Governor General who reported to the Crown. The Governor General had direct authority over the constituent royal captaincies, and nominal but ill-defined authority over the donatary captaincies. One captaincy, that of Duarte Coelho in Pernambuco, was exempt by royal decree from the authority of the Governors General.
History
In 1549, in order to solve the governance problem of his South American colonies, King John III of Portugal established the Governorate General of Brazil.[1] The governorate united the fifteen original donatary captaincy colonies some of which had reverted to the Crown, and others of which had been abandoned, into a single colony, but each captaincy would continue to exist as a provincial administrative unit of the governorate.[2] For two brief periods from 1572–78 and 1607–13, the Governorate General of Brazil was partitioned into the Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro in the south, and the Governorate General of Bahia in the north.
In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was partitioned into two colonies, the State of Brazil and the State of Maranhão.
Composition
- For list of captaincies, see Captaincies of Brazil.
From the original captaincies, additional donatary captaincies were carved out.
Captaincies Created under the Governorates
The northern section of the captaincy of Sao Vicente was renamed to Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro.
Governors General
- Tome de Sousa, 1549-1553
- Duarte da Costa, 1553-1558
- Mem de Sá, 1558-1572
- Luís de Brito de Almeida 1573-1578 (Bahia)
- Cristóvão de Barros 1572-1574 (Rio de Janeiro)
- Lourenço da Veiga 1578-1581
- 1581-1583 D. Fr. António Barreiros, Bispop of Baía, Cosme Rangel & Cristóvão de Barros, (interim)
- Manuel Teles Barreto 1583-1587
- 1587-1591 D. Fr. António Barreiros, Bispop of Baía, Martim leitão & Cristóvão de Barros, (interim)
- D. Francisco de Sousa 1591-1602
- Diogo Botelho 1603-1607
- Generalgouverneur: Diogo Botelho (1602–1608)
- Generalgouverneur, Bahia: Diogo de Meneses e Sequeira (1608–1613)
- Lourenço da Veiga 1607-1613 (Bahia)
- Afonso de Albuquerque 1608-1613 (Rio de Janeiro)
- Diogo de Meneses 1608-1612
- Gaspar de Sousa 1612–1617
- Luís de Sousa 1617–1621
References
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