Everything about Jo O Fernandes Lavrador totally explained
João Fernandes (John, Joam) (sometimes called
João Fernandes Lavrador) was a
Portuguese explorer of the
15th century. He was perhaps the earliest of modern explorers in the upland of
West Africa, and a pioneer of the European
slave- and
gold-trade of
Guinea.
We first hear of him (before 1445) as a captive of the Barbary
Moors in the western
Mediterranean; while among these he acquired a knowledge of
Arabic, and probably conceived the design of exploration in the interior of the continent whose coasts the Portuguese were now unveiling.
Life away from Europe
In
1445 he volunteered to stay in
Guinea and gather what information he could for Prince
Henry the Navigator; with this object he accompanied
Antão Gonçalves to the "River of Gold" (Rio d'Ouro,
Río de Oro), where he landed and went inland with some native shepherds. He stayed seven months in the country and was then taken off again by Gonçalves at a point farther down the coast, near the "Cape of Ransom" (Cape Mirik); and his account of his experiences proved of great interest and value, not only as to the natural features, climate, fauna and flora of the south-western
Sahara, but also as to the racial affinities, language, script, religion, nomad habits, and trade of its inhabitants. These people maintained a certain trade in slaves, gold, etc., with the
Barbary coast (especially with
Tunis), and classed as "Arabs," "Berbers," and "Tawny Moors" didn't then write or speak Arabic.
Expeditions
In 1446 and 1447 Fernandes accompanied other expeditions to the Rio d'Ouro and other parts of West Africa in the service of Prince Henry. He was personally known to
Gomes Eannes de Azurara, the historian of this early period of Portuguese expansion; and from Azurara's language it's clear that Fernandes' revelation of unknown lands and races was fully appreciated at home.
Fernandes was granted a patent by
King Manuel I in 1499 given him the right to explore that part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the
Treaty of Tordesillas.
Fernandes, together with Pêro de Barcelos, first sighted the province Labrador in 1498. Fernandes charted the coasts of Southwestern
Greenland and of adjacent Northeastern
North America around
1498 and gave notice of them in Europe. The areas are believed to have been named
island of the Labrador and
land of the Labrador (modern-day
Labrador), respectively, after him. His landowner status allowed him to use the title
lavrador ("landholder" in Portuguese) .
On early sixteenth maps a landmass west of Greenland bears the title
Terra Laurador, and
Terra Laboratoris. Upon his return from Greenland he sailed to Bristol and received a patent from
King Henry VII and in 1501 Fernandes set sail again in discovery of lands in the name of England. He was never heard from again.
Fernandes was granted title to much of the lands he'd discovered and is considered the first European landowner in Labrador.
Further Information
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