Pedro Álvares Cabral

Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 or 1468 Belmonte – c. 1520 Santarém) was a Portuguese nobleman, navigator and explorer who was the first European to see Brazil (on 22 April 1500).

Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral wearing plate armor in a 19th century lithograph. No contemporary portraits of Cabral are known to exist.
Born	1467 or 1468 Belmonte, Portugal
Died	== Pedro Álvares Cabral Media == The coat of arms of Cabral's family Portuguese coin celebrating the 500th anniversary of Cabral's birth Route taken by Cabral from Portugal to India in 1500 (in red), and the return route (in blue) Cabral (center-left, pointing) sights the Brazilian mainland for the first time on 22 April 1500. Romantic depiction of Cabral's first landing on the Island of the True Cross (present-day Brazil). He can be seen on the shore (center) standing in front of an armored soldier, who is carrying a banner of the Order of Christ. Twelve of 13 ships that were part of Cabral's fleet are depicted. Many were lost, as can be seen in this drawing from Memória das Armadas, c. 1568 The nau (carrack) was a type of vessel that was larger than a caravel but smaller than the later galleon. They were used in the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Cabral. Cabral's tomb in Santarém, Portugal Cantino planisphere 1502, one of the earliest surviving charts showing the explorations of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil. The Tordesillas line is also depicted. Cabral on the 10 Brazilian real polymer banknote issued in 2000, commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of Brazil 1520 (aged 52–53) Santarém, Portugal
Nationality	Portuguese
Other names	Pero Álvares Cabral Pedr'Álváres Cabral Pedrálvares Cabral Pedraluarez Cabral
Occupation	Fleet commander for the Kingdom of Portugal
Spouse(s)	Isabel de Castro
Children	Fernão Álvares Cabral António Cabral Catarina de Castro Guiomar de Castro Isabel Leonor

King Manuel I of Portugal sent Cabral on an expedition to India. Cabral sailed on 9 March 1500, with 13 ships, following the route of Vasco da Gama. On 22 April 1500, he sighted land (Brazil), claiming it for the Portuguese Crown and naming it the "Island of the True Cross." King Manuel I renamed this land "Holy Cross"; it was later renamed once again, to "Brazil", after a kind of wood found there, called pau-brasil.

Cabral stayed in Brazil for 10 days and then continued on his way to India, in a dangerous trip with storms, and he suffered the destruction of some ships at the Cape of Good Hope, and fighting against Muslim traders in Calicut, India (50 men of Cabral were killed in this attack).

Cabral successfully traded for spices in Cochin, now called Kozhikode, India (in early January, 1501).

Cabral returned to Portugal on 23 June 1501, with only 5 of the original 13 ships, carrying a big load of spices.

After this journey, King Manuel I appointed Vasco da Gama to head the next expedition (1502) because Cabral refused to command another expedition to India.

Cabral retired to his properties in Santarém. He died in c. 1520 and was buried in a monastery in Santarém, Portugal.