Institution

Captaincies of Brazil

1532 · 16th century · Also known as donatary captaincy

The Captaincies of Brazil were hereditary land grants into which the Portuguese crown divided the Brazilian coast in the 1530s. Each donatary captain was responsible for settling, defending and developing his territory at private expense. Most failed, and the Portuguese Empire established a royal governor-general over the colony in 1549.

Captaincies of Brazil
Image: Floppa Historico · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Portuguese EmpireGovernance

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Captaincies of Brazil. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/captaincies-of-brazil
MLA
“Captaincies of Brazil.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/captaincies-of-brazil. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Captaincies of Brazil.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/captaincies-of-brazil.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Captaincies of Brazil’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/captaincies-of-brazil (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻