Discovery of Brazil
The first arrival of European explorers to the territory of present-day Brazil is often understood as the sighting of the land later named Island of Vera Cruz, near Monte Pascoal, by the fleet commanded by Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, on 22 April 1500. Cabral's voyage is part of the so-called Portuguese discoveries.[1][2]
Although used almost exclusively in relation to Pedro Álvares Cabral's voyage, the term "discovery of Brazil" can also refer to the arrival of the expedition led by Spanish navigator and explorer Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. He reached the Cape of Santo Agostinho, a promontory located in the current state of Pernambuco, on 26 January 1500. This is the oldest confirmed European landing in Brazilian territory.[3][4]
The use of the term "discovery" for this historical event considers the viewpoint of peoples from Europe. They recorded it in the form of written history, and the record expresses a Eurocentric conception of history.[5]
Cabral sights the Brazilian mainland for the first time on 22 April 1500, painting by Aurélio de Figueiredo, 1900
The raising of the Cross in Porto Seguro, painting by Pedro Peres, 1879
