History of Paraíba

[2][1][Note 1] During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Europe experienced the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era, characterized by the maritime expeditions, globalization, mercantilism, colonialism and the expansion of Christianity.

Pedro Álvares Cabral, captain of a Portuguese expedition traveling to the Indies, arrived in Porto Seguro in Bahia on April 22 of the same year and claimed sovereignty over the territory, which he called the Ilha de Santa Cruz, for the Kingdom of Portugal.

[Note 2] Initially, the European conquerors perceived their relationship with the natives as a commercial alliance based on the barter practice, in which objects of limited value (knives, scythes, axes, glass necklaces, textiles and others) were exchanged for brazilwood, cotton and exotic species such as monkeys and parrots.

Fourteen territories divided into 15 lots were distributed to 12 small noblemen, as many Portuguese wealthy men were not interested in the region, considering that the only source of wealth confirmed at that point was brazilwood, reserved for exploitation by the Crown.

The Portuguese were concerned with keeping an alliance with the tribes in order for them to join their battle against European enemies (the French, Dutch and Spanish) and other hostile indigenous peoples in the expansion of their frontiers (the Tapuia).

[2][22] In November 1535, a fleet of ten ships with 900 men and over a hundred horses commanded by Aires da Cunha, a warrior experienced in the conquests of the Orient set sail from the Tagus for Brazil.

In 1540, Duarte Coelho went to Portugal to raise funds for the construction of mills in his territory, returning in September of the following year and bringing with him specialized labour and plant seedlings from the Canary Islands.

[31][32][11] In 1536, the donatário Francisco Pereira Coutinho arrived in Todos os Santos Bay, whose territory offered favorable circumstances for colonization with a wide and safe anchorage and was frequented since 1501 by Portuguese exploration and trade fleets, Spanish navigators and French corsairs.

He founded a factory, built a fortification by the sea and formed a settlement in the place known as Vila Velha with the help of the people who had lived there for a long time, including Diogo Álvares, with his sons and sons-in-law.

After Diogo Álvares signed a peace pact between Fernando Coutinho and the rebellious natives, he decided to return to take possession of his castle, but contrary winds threw his ships onto the coast of the Itaparica Island, where he was devoured by the Tupinambá.

Among the factors that disrupted these relations, the most important were: the growth of the colonies and their increased need for food; the development of sugar cane plantations and mills that expanded from the coast into the hinterland, threatening and violating the territories occupied by the indigenous villages; the new compulsory labor relations imposed by the Portuguese, which meant the neglect of the indigenous agricultural production system, essential for the survival of the villages; the increased demands for a cultural transformation of the natives in order to adapt them to compulsory labor; the perception by the natives that, instead of being allies to fight their enemies, they had become captors and slavers, and their opponents an object of exchange, which demeaned their cultural values and religious beliefs; and the realization by the natives that the prohibition on attacking the Portuguese and their settlements did not prevent the settlers from attacking their villages in search of slave labor, in a clear disregard for the marriage agreement between them.

From 1560 onwards, the Potiguara wars, caused by the increase in the enslavement of indigenous people, and the fear that the French would settle on the Paraíba River, as had happened in Guanabara Bay, led Sebastian, the King of Portugal, to order Luís de Brito to conquer that area.

[40] In 1574, Luís de Brito e Almeida, after hearing about the Tracunhaém incident, ordered Fernão da Silva, who was based in Pernambuco, to gather Portuguese and natives and conquer the Paraíba River.

[41][42] At the beginning of his government, Veiga ordered the organization of an expedition to seize Paraíba, but abandoned it when he was informed that Frutuoso Barbosa, a wealthy brazilwood merchant who lived in Pernambuco, had offered to conquer and colonize the area in exchange for being the captain-major of the territory for ten years.

Frutuoso Barbosa and his expedition composed of four ships, with relatives, families of settlers, religious of the Franciscan, Benedictine and Carmelite orders, soldiers, ammunition and other material means necessary for colonization, set sail from Lisbon in 1580.

Also in 1579, during Veiga's rule, 11 French ships trading off the Brazilian coast of Dieppe and Le Havre were attacked and set on fire by Portuguese vessels; the survivors took refuge with the allied natives.

[43][44][45][46] Before the Kingdom of Portugal appointed a replacement for Diogo Lourenço da Veiga, a board composed of the members of the Chamber of Deputies and Cosme Rangel de Macedo, ombudsman-general, took over the administration of Brazil.

After a successful raid to Reritiba, Martim Leitão decided to return to Olinda, leaving behind only Pero Lopes Lobo and a few men with the rest of Castrejón's troops, replacing Frutuoso Barbosa who had renounced his claims to those lands.

After exploring the surrounding area with Manuel Fernandes, the King's master builder, he chose a hill near the natural wharf of the Sanhauá River (today's Varadouro district) for the future town.

When he arrived at the site in April 1586, Francisco de Moralles did not follow Martim Leitão's orders and, confronting João Tavares, expelled him from the fort along with the Portuguese forces, spontaneously taking over the command of the structure and the government of the captaincy.

On December 23, 1586, Martim Leitão and his men arrived at Nossa Senhora das Neves and left for the Copaoba Hills the following day, putting Pero de Albuquerque in command of the fort.

The Jesuit priests, including Simão Travassos and Jerônimo Machado, built the Chapel of Saint Gundisalvus in rammed earth near the village of Pirajibe, in the area known today as Ilha do Bispo.

In 1590, the captaincies of Itamaracá and Pernambuco, after a request for help from the settlers of Paraíba, sent a troop commanded by Pero Lopes Lobo who, joining forces with the men of La Cueva and the Tabajara of Pirajibe and Guarajibe tribes, managed to repel the invaders and destroy the nearby villages.

[44] In the same year, an English squad with three ships commanded by the privateer James Lancaster and four by the pirate John Venner gathered at Cape Branco, but instead of attacking Paraíba, they went to Recife, where they bombarded the fort and took over the city, as the defenders retreated to Olinda.

In 1631, Antônio de Albuquerque Maranhão, concerned about defending the bar of the Paraíba River, ordered the construction of the São Sebastião Fort on the opposite bank to Cabedelo, in the present-day district of Costinha, in Lucena.

[58][60][59] On the 14th, Captain Fernando de La Riba Aguero and João Vicente São Félix, the Count of Bagnuolo, arrived at Cabedelo with their respective troops, but to avoid the enemy trenches, they headed for Filipeia.

Jerônimo José de Melo e Castro, governor of the captaincy, did not accept having his authority contested by Luís Diogo Lobo da Silva, governo of Pernambuco, who prevented him from properly punishing his enemies.

After the death of Melo e Castro, Fernando Delgado Freire de Castilho was appointed by the Overseas Council to examine the advisability of keeping Paraíba annexed to Pernambuco or creating a government of its own; ultimately, the detachment was approved.

President Washington Luís, who was supposed to support the candidacy of Antônio Carlos from Minas Gerais, endorsed the nomination of Júlio Prestes from São Paulo, which broke the alliance between the states.

Pedro Gondim had his mandate revoked and his political rights suspended for ten years; João Agripino Filho took over, succeeded by Ernâni Sátiro, Ivan Bichara, Tarcísio Burity, Clóvis Bezerra Cavalcanti and Wilson Braga.