Dom António de Ataíde (c. 1500 - 1563), 1st count of Castanheira, was a childhood friend and favorite of King John III of Portugal (D. João III). As an advisor to the King, he played a key role in Portugal's policies towards its colony of Brazil. He also served as a diplomat in missions to several European countries and was a Minister and member of the King's council.
António de Ataíde | |
|---|---|
| 1st Count of Castanheira | |
 Coat of Arms of the Ataíde family | |
| Count of Castanheira | |
| Tenure | 1532–1563 |
| Predecessor | New title |
| Successor | António de Ataíde, 2nd Count of Castanheira |
| Other titles | Donatary of the captaincies of Itaparica and Tamarandiva, Brazil (1556) |
| Born | 1500 Kingdom of Portugal |
| Died | 7 October 1563 Kingdom of Portugal |
| Buried | Monastery of Santo António da Castanheira |
| Family | Ataíde |
| Spouse(s) | Ana de Távora |
| Father | Dom Álvaro de Ataíde, Lord of Castanheira |
| Mother | Violante de Távora |
| Occupation | Diplomat, Statesman |
Biography
He was born in 1500, in a prominent family of the Portuguese nobility. One of his paternal uncles was Dom Martinho de Ataíde, 2nd Count of Atouguia – and two other paternal uncles held the influential position of Prior of Crato (head of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in Portugal) in succession to one another, from 1448 to 1492. Afonso de Albuquerque, the prominent second governor of the Portuguese Estado da Índia, was his first cousin.[1]
His father, Dom Álvaro de Ataíde, senhor (Lord) da Castanheira, had participated in the conspiracy of the Duke of Viseu against king John II and from 1484 to 1496 was exiled in Spain. He was invited back to the kingdom of Portugal by John's successor, king Manuel I. He married for a second time after his return to Portugal. António de Ataíde was the only son from this second marriage.[2]
He was raised at court with the Infante Dom João (later to become King John III) the heir to king Manuel I, who was about the same age. They thus became close friends from early childhood.
John III sent him on diplomatic missions to several European countries while he was still in his 20s and appointed him state councilor in 1525 and then vedor da fazenda (Minister of Finance or chancellor) in 1530,[3] a post that he would hold until the king's death in 1557. He created him 1st Count of Castanheira in 1532.[2]
Ataíde was one of the main proponents of the establishment of the regime of captaincies of Brazil and later on, in 1549, of the creation of the general government of Brazil in the city of Salvador da Baía. As a close advisor to the King he was the key figure behind the nomination of two of his 1st cousins, Martim Afonso de Sousa and Tomé de Sousa to the number one position in the colonial government of Brazil.
On November 10, 1556, by decree of King John III, Ataíde became a Donatary of the captaincy of the islands of Itaparica and Tamarandiva, located at the entrance to the Bay of All Saints (Salvador).[3] He was thus rewarded for the more than two and a half decades that he dedicated to the policies of the Portuguese Crown towards her South American colony.[3][4]
The King made him a Count when he was still relatively young, thus generating feelings of envy within court circles. Dom António would later comment about that in the following words: "His highness made me a Count, and because I was still younger than almost all the counts of the past, who did not succeed in the title on the death of their parents, it was a great favor, and I received it and I consider it as such".[3][5]
The collection of letters of King John III assembled and published by J D M Ford under the title Letters of John III[6] are full of references to Ataíde and provide a quite clear picture of his role as an adviser and Minister of the King.
He left court service after the death of King João III in 1557. He died on 7 October 1563 and was buried in the Monastery of Santo António da Castanheira.[7]
Marriage and children
He married Ana de Távora, a daughter of the 4th senhor (Lord) de Mogadouro. They had 7 children.
The eldest of the children, Dom António de Ataíde, was the 2nd Count of Castanheira.
Another of his sons, D. Jorge de Ataíde, was bishop of Viseu, Grand Inquisitor of Portugal (a position from which he quickly resigned) and member of the Council of Portugal during the period of the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain.[8]
References
- ^ Pelúcia, Alexandra (2016). Afonso de Albuquerque: corte, cruzada e império (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Temas e Debates - Círculo dos Leitores. pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-989-644-337-5. OCLC 958470506.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b Freire, Anselmo Braamcamp (1921). Brasões da Sala de Sintra - Livro Primeiro. Coimbra, Portugal: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. pp. 418 - 421.
- ^ a b c d Pelúcia, Alexandra (2007). Martim Afonso de Sousa e a sua linhagem: a elite dirigente do Império Português nos reinados de D. João III e D. Sebastião (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. p. 159, 275, 275, 175.
- ^ Bonfim, Alexandre Gonçalves do (2017-06-27). "As capitanias de Itaparica e Tamarandiva e do Paraguaçu: administração, direito de propriedade e poder na América portuguesa (c1530-c1630)". Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal da Bahia (in Brazilian Portuguese). Post Graduate Thesis.
- ^ "Cópia de um papel em que D. António de Ataíde, primeiro conde da Castanheira deu razão de si a seus filhos e descendentes"". Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo - DigitArq (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-10-06.
- ^ "Letters of John III, King of Portugal, 1521 - 1557". Harvard University Press.
- ^ "Igreja Matriz de Castanheira do Ribatejo". Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Retrato de D. Jorge de Ataíde - Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo - DigitArq" [Portrait of Dom Jorge de Ataíde, bishop of Viseu]. digitarq.arquivos.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-01-18.