Captaincy of São Vicente
The Captaincy of São Vicente (1534–1709) was a land grant and colonial administration in the far southern part of the colonial Portuguese Empire in Colonial Brazil.
In 1534 King John III of Portugal granted the Captaincy to Martim Afonso de Sousa, a Portuguese admiral. Sousa had founded the first two permanent Portuguese settlements in Brazil in 1532: São Vicente (near the present port of Santos) and Piratininga (later to become São Paulo).
Martim Afonso received two tracts of land:
Although divided into two lots - separated by the Captaincy of Santo Amaro - together these territories formed the Captaincy of São Vicente.
In 1681 the São Paulo settlement succeeded São Vicente as the capital of the captaincy, and the original name of the latter gradually fell into disuse.
São Vicente became the only captaincy to flourish in southern Portuguese colony of Brazil. It ultimately gave rise to São Paulo state and provided the base for the Bandeiras to expand Portuguese America to the west of the Tordesilhas Line.
The Captaincy of São Vicente in Southern Brazil:
1534
Capitanias hereditárias - the two bottommost yellow stripes denote the Captaincy of São Vicente
1719
São Paulo at its greatest extent, in pale yellow
Coordinates: 23°57′S 46°23′W / 23.950°S 46.383°W
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