France Antarctique

Disgusted with France, Vice Admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon - famous in Europe and considered a man of action and notable commander of the Navy - idealized looking in the New World Brazil and found France Antarctica.

He tried to organize a military expedition that would not come only to explore Brazil, but to stay. He submitted the idea to Admiral Gaspard de Châtillon, Count of Coligny, Calvinist and head of the Huguenot party who had a reputation with Henry II. Coligny's idea was to reserve to the Calvinists a refuge in the New World, for religious fanaticism was radical in Europe.

Coligny got permission from King Henry II for the project. Villegaignon, too, resorted to the good offices of the Bishop of Lorraine - of whom he was a close friend - for the King of France to overcome the difficulties. He did so as a Catholic and a member of the Order of Malta.

Villegaignon received two large ships, artillery and ammunition for all weapons and tools for the construction and defense of a fort, plus the subsidy of ten thousand pounds tornesas and the promise of the title of viceroy of the lands that conquered.

The difficulty in recruiting seamen and settlers was great, forcing him to lower the initial moral level. He mobilized settlers in the prisons of Paris, Rouen, and other cities. Only in this way was he able to gather enough men of all ages, conditions, personalities, and beliefs.

The expedition consisted exclusively of 600 men and no women, and left the port of Le Havre, arriving at Guanabara on November 10, 1555. It settled on a cliff at the entrance of the bar, which they called Ratier and that was artilled (current Laje Fort). Then there was the transfer to the island of Seregipe (Serijipe) more to the Interior of the bay. The fort erected there was named Coligny (present Naval School).

Soon, the alliance with the Tons was solidified, thanks to the French who had already been there. The news in France of the arrival of the expedition to Brazil excited the ship-owners. Traders sought the port of Rio de Janeiro, with the protection of a military post under the French flag. They formed villages, traded all along the coast, and made trips through the interior. Those who deserted the island extended the conquest of the land.

On March 7, 1557, Villegaignon and Coligny arrived at Guanabara, reinforcing the squadron of three ships, shot with 18 pieces, called Grande Roberge, Petite Roberge and Rosée. The nephew of Villegaignon, Commander Bois-le-Conte, commanded her. The troops were 200 men. Calvinist gentlemen, artisans, and missionaries came from the Protestant church in Geneva. Among them, Jean de Lery, who became the chronicler of the expedition, when he published "Histoire d'un Voyage fait en terre du Brésil" - La Rochelle, 1578. This 2nd Expedition - was more military than colonizing.

It was then that the new Governor - General, Mem de Sá, thus came to find the Portuguese colony in 1557.

Mem de Sá in the General Government - Difficult the situation of the colony at the end of 1557, when the 3rd Governor-General, Mem de Sa, arrived in Brazil. His choice was based on the concept and prestige he enjoyed on the motherland, where he was considered a resolute man, with a strong and sure pulse, and a high moral value.

The repercussion in the Metropolis, with the fixation of the French in Rio de Janeiro, in the bay of Guanabara, and the inability demonstrated by Duarte da Costa to expel them, were demanding an odd figure, the carat of Mem de Sá. The latter, after his appointment, sought to ascertain the situation of the distant colony, and found from the information obtained that the French sea forces were appreciable in Brazil; that there was a need for great prudence in the offensive to be unleashed against Fort Coligny in order to preserve the meager human and material resources available to the Portuguese; which made it imperative to have strong naval power and a considerable contingent of ground troops for the success of the enterprise. All this was clear in comparison with what Villegaignon, the French commander and chief, had, well-armed, well-armed people, who still had great facility in receiving reinforcements, since his company contained enormous French commercial interests, especially the relative ones to Brazil wood.

Mem de Sa arrived in Brazil at the end of 1557. Soon after assuming the government, he founded in the captaincy of the Holy Spirit an earthly base capable of supplying the necessary closed support to the operations and of preventing the expansion of the French to the north, them easy access to the capital of the colony - Salvador - administrative headquarters. Hence he intended to whip them frequently, while mounting a major and decisive incursion.

The mistakes of the previous administration and the effects of the French occupation had made living conditions in the colony difficult. He corrected errors and abuses, ordered the financial life and ended with gambling, theft, loitering and other plagues. His firm hand and sense of justice created the minimum conditions for what was important: the expulsion of the French invader. Equally serious and problematic, colonist and gentile relations. Obeying his conscience and religious sentiments, faithful to his conception of the future society, and counting on the precious collaboration of the Church, represented by the Jesuits, with whom he took measures to curb abuses.

It lowered acts tending to end the anthropophagic, and fight between the Indians and between these and settlers. The Allied Indians were gathered in reductions - large villages - and their catechesis intensified. With energy, he punished the offenders, whether settlers or foresters, thereby demonstrating absolute equity in the relations of authority with the two races. He further ordered that the slaves being held by the settlers be released.

The struggle to get the house in order developed throughout the colony. He lost his son Fernão de Sá when he was in charge of the expedition to fight the Indians of Espírito Santo. Even the Governor, in command of expeditions, came where his presence was necessary, causing astonishment to the Aborigines themselves. The vanquished were plunged into the backlands, fleeing and asking for peace, submitting themselves to the orders of authority. In just over a year, the situation had changed. Mem de Sá, besides the tests of courage, had demonstrated a high spirit of humanity and political wisdom, not only protecting the Gentile, entrusting it to the Jesuits, but seeking to awaken in them the feeling of family and prosperity and the notion of right. He tried to integrate them into the new society, entrusting them with positions in administration and justice. He associated the authority force with the word of the missionary. Also of importance were his arrangements as an administrator. He increased agricultural production, finished building the Piraja sugar mill, started by Duarte da Costa, which greatly favored poor farmers. Much more has been done for the benefit of the land. Ordered home, she turned to the great task of her government: the expulsion of the French invaders from the bay of Guanabara. It was unveiled in the organization and training of its troops, constituted of Portuguese settlers and allied Indians, these in greater number. And he began to wait for reinforcements from Europe.

French Expulsion

In November of 1559, he contributed in Bahia the armada of Bartolomeu Vasconcelos. Possessed of information collected from a French nobleman, who supplied him with all the order of battle of the invaders, and having beforehand the care of sending messengers to all the captaincies, he left without further delay.

In Salvador, he left a minimum of troops, only what was necessary for the defense. During the trip to Rio de Janeiro, he played in Porto Seguro, Ilhéus and Espírito Santo, where he gathered reinforcements in personnel and genres. He landed at the bar of Guanabara Bay on February 28, 1560 and obtained information about the absence of Villegaignon, a fact that decided the anticipation of the attack on Fortress or Fort Coligny, located on the island that today has the name Villegaignon and where is our Naval School. Reunited, the chiefs were against the attack in those circumstances, since the comparison had underscored the number of the attackers. In addition, the defenders counted not only with more effective, but also they had the advantage to defend a fortified position. However, the decision was made by Mem de Sá, the company's supreme leader.

Father Nobrega was sent to São Vicente to hasten the reinforcements that were delayed. By happy coincidence, they were already arriving. On 15 March 1560, a Friday, the combat began. On Saturday night, some Portuguese and Brazilian Mamelucos managed to heroically penetrate the fort by surprise and take one of the batteries. There, despite the reaction of the French, came the reinforcements and with such a great impetus that the defenders fled to the mainland. There were about 200 Frenchmen and 800 Tamoios allied to them. The following day, Sunday, for the first time, a mass of thanksgiving was celebrated on that island.

After cleaning the bay, the enemy took refuge in the hinterland. While the ships were being repaired, Mem de Sá determined that the fort was destroyed, and then hurried to leave the area without leaving a single defender. This procedure, shortly thereafter, invalidated that entire struggle. He retreated to São Vicente and then sent Estácio de Sá to Portugal to report the incident.

Returning to Bahia, he engaged in the struggle against the Aimorés, who had devastated several villages and managed to defeat them.

Its improvidence, leaving the Guanabara Bay unroofed, was soon proven. The Tamoios, allied with the French and blown up, began to move relentless war to all the Portuguese settlements of St. Vincent. Thanks to the courage and self-denial of the priests Nóbrega and Anchieta in Iperoig, by arranging peace with them and managing to placate the hatred of the savages, the fact had no disastrous consequences.

Also the French remnants were gradually returning to the bay of Guanabara, where they garrisoned and fortified a village, now in the continent. Reestablished, they changed their attitude, going on to rob ships and plunder the Portuguese settlers. The Tamoios felt strong and ran to imitate them, disrespecting even the Jesuits.

Estácio de Sá

In 1563, Estácio de Sá returned from Portugal, with two warships and express orders to carry out the final expulsion of the French invader. With the means that Mem de Sá, in Salvador, made available to him, he left for Rio de Janeiro in early 1564. He was, however, harassed by the Tamoios, and proceeded to Sao Vicente, knowing that some Indians had broken the peace of Iperoig .

There he met Father Anchieta with several Indian chiefs, among whom Cunhambebe - who became a valuable ally. The expedition was delayed in preparations, and only thanks to Father Nobrega, Estácio de Sá did not give up the company. After obtaining supplies, he went to Rio, where he found the reinforcements he had previously asked the Governor General. On March 1, 1565, he landed and began work on the fortification and construction of the first houses on the várzea alongside the Sugar Loaf and on the Cara-de-Cão hill, erecting Vila Velha, which would give rise to the city of Rio of January.

In mid-January 1567, after receiving reinforcements from the Metropolis and powerful contingent from San Vicente, the council was decided on the date of 20 for the beginning of the offensive. After the mass of the camp, the attacks began, first against Uruçumirim and then against the Fort of Paranapuã, on the island of Maracajás. The French, who escaped from them, took their ships and disappeared from Guanabara Bay forever, but settled in Cabo Frio, a little to the north. Estácio de Sá, wounded by an arrow in his arm, died about a month later. The Portuguese counted on a valuable collaboration of the Temiminós, headed by Araribóia, to whom they donated the lands in which today the city of Niterói is built. The assistance of both the people of Sao Vicente and Itanhaem and the Jesuits was invaluable for the happy outcome of the operations that culminated in the expulsion of the French from Guanabara.

Mem de Sá returned to Bahia. Aged and broken, after 14 years of constant fighting, he asked the king to become a substitute.

Administrative Changes

The substitute named, D. Luís Fernandes de Vasconcelos, failed to reach Brazil, having been assaulted and killed by pirates. His successor, Luís de Brito Almeida, arrived in Bahia in 1572, almost on the eve of Mem de Sá's death. The new Governor-General had far-reaching plans, but he could not put them into effect because the metropolis had decided to divide the colony into two administrative sections, both unconnected and with identical charges. D. Luís de Brito would be in Salvador, responsible for the area of Ilhéus to the north, and Dr. Antonio Salema would govern from Porto Seguro to the south. The two governors sought to agree on how to act, at least on the most important things. One of them was the relations with the Indians, whose struggle with the whites was aggravated in the middle that they occupied their best lands.

Meanwhile, with the death of D. João III and the regency of Cardinal D. Henrique, things got worse and the colony was forgotten. Nevertheless, the French invader continued its struggle, which had not given up trying to share Brazil with the Portuguese. Established now in Cabo Frio, they continued to trade with the Tamoios and plunder the coast. They made the incursion to the bay of Guanabara, with the aim of punishing Araribóia, an ally of the Portuguese. Thanks to the aid received by Araribóia, they were rejected. Salvador Correia de Sá, captain-general of Rio de Janeiro, received reinforcements and marched against Cabo Frio. With the help of Paulistas and Rio de Janeiro, he defeated the enemy again.

In 1575, following to Christopher of Barros, assumed the government of the city of Rio de Janeiro Antonio Salema. Under his command, in August of that year, the last and definitive expedition against the French and Tamoios of Cabo Frio was made. With a force of 400 whites and 800 Indians, it inflicted hard defeat to the antagonist. The survivors fled into the hinterland. An armistice was then concluded with the French, who, by handing over arms and ammunition, were able to withdraw in peace.

Thanks to the providential cooperation of the Portuguese settler and the Mamelucos, and the priceless religious services of the Jesuits, the South was able to live in peace. Here the French have not tried to establish themselves.

King Sebastian's Military Regulations

Continuing along the path of the military organization of Portugal, according to the old principles of the armed nation, and the influence of the ideas of the century, King Sebastian lowered, on December 10, 1570, the Regulation of Capitães-Mores and other Captains and Officers of Horsemen and Foot Companies. According to this regulation, in each city, town or county, the warden and masters were the capitães-mores.