Vasco de Ataíde (or Taide) was a Portuguese sailor whose ship was a part of Pedro Álvares Cabral's expedition to India in 1500. His ship went missing early in the voyage and so was not present when the fleet accidentally became the first recorded European presence to visit what is now Brazil.[1]

Vasco de Ataíde
Coat of Arms of the Ataíde family
Born
Died1500
OccupationSailor
Known forMysterious disappearance
Parents
FamilyAtaíde

Little is known about Vasco, even less than about his brother Pêro de Ataíde, although contemporary sources record that he was one of four illegitimate children (three sons and one daughter) of D. Pedro de Ataíde, Abbot of Penalva do Castelo, himself an illegitimate son of D. Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde, the first Count of Atouguia.[2]

On Tuesday, 24 March 1500, the ship he captained and its crew of one-hundred-and-fifty disappeared after sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean toward Brazil. The ship had departed the day before from the Portuguese settlement at Cape Verde, off the coast of Western Africa.[3]

Pêro Vaz de Caminha, chronicler of Cabral's expedition, wrote: "On the night of Monday next, at sunrise, Vasco de Ataíde was lost from the fleet without any strong or contrary winds that could make it happen. The captain did his best to find it, but it appeared no more."

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen - História General do Brasil - 7th edition -Tome 1 - page 77
  2. ^ "D. Pedro de Ataíde, abade de S. Pedro de Penalva. - Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo - DigitArq". digitarq.arquivos.pt. Retrieved 2024-01-17. [D. Pedro de Ataíde, Abbot of S. Pedro de Penalva, formal legitimation of his daughter Isabel]
  3. ^ "A CARTA DE PERO VAZ DE CAMINHAL" (PDF). objdigital (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 October 2022.