Álvaro Caminha

Álvaro Caminha
Captain-major of São Tomé
In office 29 July 1493 – 28 April 1499
Monarchs	John II of Portugal Manuel I of Portugal
Preceded by	João Pereira
Succeeded by	Fernão de Melo
Personal details
Born	14?? Kingdom of Portugal
Died	28 April 1499 São Tomé Island

Álvaro Caminha was appointed by King John II of Portugal in 1492 Captain-major (governor) – the third – of the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe which had been discovered 22 years earlier.

He was a knight of the king's household. He was told to settle and "Christianize" the then-deserted island with his family and friars, and for that purpose was given the children of Spanish Jewish refugees from Granada, which had not been able to pay the tax requested by the king, and who were married to Black people from the Congo.

References

• Valentim Fernandes (1506), Descrição da Ilha de São Tomé, in: A. Baião and J. Bensaúde (1940), O manuscrito de Valentim Fernandes, Lisboa, Ática.
• Descriptio Africae Codex hisp. 27 in: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Manuscript Collection, Bild 416.