History
Since the 17th century, the title of "viceroy" was granted occasionally to some governors of the State of Brazil, who were members of the Portuguese high nobility, with the first being D. Jorge Mascarenhas, marquis of Montalvão, who assumed the office in 26 May, 1640. The remaining, kept the title of "governor-general".
Around 1763, at the same time that the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, the title "viceroy" became permanent and, since then, granted to all governors of the State. The driving force for the move was the then tiny village of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, and its capital was made São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro as a result of the Emboabas' War against Portuguese recent arrivals and colonizers from Bahia, and the consequent shift of economic power to the gold-producing Minas dos Matos Gerais: São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro was the port where the gold was sent to Portugal, and consequently the point of contact between metropolis and colony.
In 1775, the remaining states of the Portuguese America (Maranhão and Grão-Pará) were integrated in the State of Brazil, becoming under the authority of its viceroy, the capital maintained in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1808, with the Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil, the Prince Regent (future John VI of Portugal) assumed direct control of the government of the State of Brazil, suppressing the office of viceroy. In 1815, the status of the State of Brazil was raised, becoming the Kingdom of Brazil, as one of the constituent kingdoms of the newly created United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
Portuguese colonization of the Americas constituted territories in the Americas belonging to the Kingdom of Portugal. Portugal was the leading country in the European exploration of the world in the 15th century. The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 divided the Earth outside Europe into Castilian and Portuguese global territorial hemispheres for exclusive conquest and colonization. Portugal colonized parts of South America, but also made some unsuccessful attempts to colonize North America.
The federative units of Brazil are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Federative Republic of Brazil. There are 26 states and one federal district. The states are generally based on historical, conventional borders which have developed over time. The states are divided into municipalities, while the Federal District assumes the competences of both a state and a municipality.
Colonial Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. During the early 300 years of Brazilian colonial history, the economic exploitation of the territory was based first on brazilwood extraction, which gave the territory its name; sugar production ; and finally on gold and diamond mining. Slaves, especially those brought from Africa, provided most of the work force of the Brazilian export economy after a brief period of Indian slavery to cut brazilwood.
The War of the Emboabas was a conflict in colonial Brazil waged in 1706-1707 and 1708-1709 over newly discovered gold fields, which had set off a rush to the region between two generations of Portuguese settlers in the viceroyalty of Brazil - then the Captaincy of São Vicente. The discovery of gold set off a rush to the region, Paulistas asserted rights of discovery and non-Paulistas challenged their claims. Although the Portuguese crown sought more control in the area and the Paulistas sought protection of their claims, the Emboabas won. The crown re-assessed its position in the region and made administrative changes subsequently.
The Captaincies of Brazil were captaincies of the Portuguese Empire, administrative divisions and hereditary fiefs of Portugal in the colony of Terra de Santa Cruz, later called Brazil, on the Atlantic coast of northeastern South America. Each was granted to a single donee, a Portuguese nobleman who was given the title captain General.
The Treaty of Madrid was an agreement concluded between Spain and Portugal on 13 January 1750. In an effort to end decades of conflict in the region of present-day Uruguay, the treaty established detailed territorial boundaries between Portuguese Brazil and the Spanish colonial territories to the south and west. Portugal also recognized Spain's claim to the Philippines while Spain acceded to the westward expansion of Brazil. The treaty included a mutual guarantee of support in case either state's American colonies were attacked by a third power.
A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights, and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipients of these grants were called donatários (donataries), because they had been given the grant as a doação (donation) by the king, often as a reward for service.
Barcelos, formerly Mariuá, is a municipality located in the State of Amazonas, northern Brazil. Its population was 27,638 (2020) and its area is 122,476 square kilometres (47,288 sq mi), making it the second largest municipality in Brazil, equivalent in size to New York state in the United States and slightly larger than North Korea.
The current capital of Brazil, since its construction in 1960, is Brasilia. Rio de Janeiro was the country's capital between 1763 and 1960. The city of Salvador served as the seat for the Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil for its first two centuries and is usually called the "first capital of Brazil."
Francisco Caldeira e Castelo Branco (1566–1619) was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. He is noted as the founder of the city of Belém, capital of Pará, Brazil, on 12 January 1616. Caldeira served as the first Governor General of the Captaincy of Grão-Pará.
The provinces of Brazil were the primary subdivisions of the country during the period of the Empire of Brazil.
The State of Brazil was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil.
The State of Maranhão was the northern of two 17–18th century administrative divisions of the colonial Portuguese Empire in South America.
The State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire.
The State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire.
The Governorate General of Brazil was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire in present-day 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.
Lauro Sodré Palace, also called Government Palace, and initially called Residence House, is a public building, palace, museum and seat of the state government, built in 1680 and located in the neighborhood of Cidade Velha, in the Brazilian city of Belém, in the state of Pará.
The Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro was formed in the northern portion of the Captaincy of São Vicente, in a territory that extended from Macaé to Caraguatatuba. This part of the Captaincy had been abandoned by its donatário Martim Afonso de Sousa, who was never interested in its settlement and focused his attention and resources on the area of the current São Paulo coast.
The Captaincy of Maranhão was one of the administrative subdivisions of the Brazilian territory during the colonial period in Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditary captaincies and granted by John III, King of Portugal, to the so-called donatários.
