S-0151

Pedro Alvares Cabral was born between 1467 and 1468, towards the end of the medieval period, in Belmonte, Portugal. He was the son of Fernão Cabral and Isabel Gouvea.

The book gives a detailed account (Chapter I, pages 13-21) of Alvares Cabral's ancestry back through 4 generations to Álvaro Gil Cabral, who died in Coimbra, Portugal on 8th July 1433. Álvaro Gil Cabral was married to Maria Eanes Loureiro (also known as Maria Pires de Figueiredo). She can be traced through her mother Constança Rodrigues Pereira back to Urraca Affonso, illegitimate daughter of King Affonso III of Portugal (1210-1279). 

The book also describes Pedro Alvares Cabral's descendants through 12 generations to the mid-19th century (chapter VII, pages 56-67). At the 5th generation these link into the Viscounts of Villa Nova da Cerveira for whom a comprehensive ancestry tree is given.

On 9th March 1500 Alvares Cabral set out as commander of a trading expedition for India, with 13 ships and over 1000 men, under the authority of King Manuel I of Portugal. Whether by accident or design, he made landfall in Brazil which he claimed for the Portuguese crown, before proceeding onwards to India. He returned to Lisbon in 1501 and sank into obscurity, living in the city of Santarém. He died there around 1520, although the present source gives his death as 1528. Further details of his voyage to Brazil and India are provided. More general background may be found in general history books, encyclopedias etc.

Chapter III (pages 30-41) provides an ancestry for Vasco da Gama, a contemporary of Alvares Cabral, who, at the end of the 15th century, had established the sea route to India via the Cape of Good Hope, which Alvares Cabral was endeavouring to follow after his westerly excursion to Brazil. Vasco da Gama was descended from Alvaro Annes, a nobleman who lived in Olivença during the reign of King Affonso III in Portugal.
Almost half the book (pp.75-140) is taken up with verbatim transcripts of original documents which support the text.