As I said before, there were many portuguese voyages of exploration to the west before 1492. However, the first now "widely known" started in 1499, with one of the most unknown famous discoverers. The very famous Lavrador is actually very little known everywhere. He's famous because today there is a land with his name, Labrador, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada. The existance of a common Newfoundland and Labrador province is at least ironic as Portugal claimed both, together with Cape Breton and adjacent islands.
But let's get back to Lavrador, the discoverer. In September 1499 something very important happened in Portugal, with the return of Vasco da Gama. The sea route to India was open, and in my opinion this allowed Portugal to formalise its discoveries in the west, together with the fact that the Portugal-Spain bound was put only in prince Miguel da Paz, that was very young. I think king Manuel I of Portugal played a safe game and the future happening, with the death of prince Miguel da Paz in 1500, would prove him right. I don't think it is a coincidence that in 1499 and 1500 Portugal quickly discoveres all the western lands assigned to Portugal by the Treaty of Tordesillas (Greenland, Brazil, Newfoundland, Labrador). In October 1499, a month after Vasco da Gama returns to Portugal, the following authorization is issued:
Dom Manuel etc. A quantos esta nossa carta virem fazemos saber que Joham Fernandez morador em a nossa Ilha Terceira nos disse que por serviço de Deos e nosso se queria trabalhar de hyr buscar e descobrir algumas Ilhas de nossa conquista aa sua custa e vendo nos seu bõo desejo e preposito aalem de lho termos em serviço a nos praz e lhe prometemos por esta de lha darmos como de feito daremos a capitania de quallquer Ilha ou Ilhas asy povoadas como despovoadas que elle descobrill (sic) e achar novamente e esto com aquellas remdas homrras proveitos e imteresses com que temos dadas as capitanias das nossas Ilhas da Madeira e das outras e por sua guarda e nossa lembrança lhe mandamos dar esta carta per nos asynada e aseelada com o nosso seelo pemdente. Dada em a nossa cidade de Lisboa a 28 dias do mez d'outubro, André Fernandez a fez, anno de nosso senhor Jhuu x.º de 1499
Dom Manuel etc. To those who see this letter we let you know that Joham Fernandez [old portuguese for João Fernandes] that lives in our island Terceira told us that by the service of God and ours he wanted to discover some islands to us and as we see his good will and objective we grant and promise him the captaincy of any island or islands inhabited or not that he may discover or have discovered and together all those rights we gave to other captaincies of our islands of Madeira and others and we send him this letter signed by us and with our seal. Given in the city of Lisbon, the 28 October, André Fernandez made it, the year of our lord Jesus Christ of 1499 (sic)
Two years later, in the 19th Mars 1501, king Henry VII of England gives a similar authorization to Richard Ward, Thomas Ashurst, John Thomaz, from Bristol, and to João Fernandes, Francisco Fernandes and João Gonçalves, these ones from the islands of Azores, vassals of the king of Portugal (
Armigeris in Insulis de Surris, sub obedientia Regis Portugalis oriundos). The 7th January 1502, Henry VII gives "to the men of Bristol that found the island pounds=5", so the voyage was sucessfull. We know more of Lavrador indirectly from Pedro de Barcellos, that in a dispute over some woods in Terceira, defends himself, explaining his absence of the island with:
houve um mandato d'Elrei para ir a descobrir eu e um João Fernandes Lavrador, no qual descobrimento andamos bons tres annos
the king sent me and a João Fernandes Lavrador, in this discovery we took 3 years (sic)
There is doubt about the date of this letter by Pedro de Barcellos, Ernesto do Canto believed it was from the 14th April 1495, I saw other authors indicating the year of 1502, a more plausible alternative when we see king Manuel's donation in 1499. However, the donation said "that he may discover or have discovered" so that may mean that he discovered the island before 1499. We have to confirm the correct date. We will get back to a Barcellos family later, probably the same as Pero de Barcellos'.
In the 9th December 1502 king Henry VII of England issues another letter similar to the one of 1501, but this time the name are Thomaz Ashehurst, João Gonçalves, Francisco Fernandes and Hugh Elliott. The name of João Fernandes is absent. An important information is that this letter says "to navigate and do maritimous discoveries, however these must prejudice the previously discovered portuguese lands (sic)". This means England was guaranteeing that it would not violate the previously discovered lands by Portugal. Here is another information that nobody refers.
Does this mean that Lavrador died before the letter was issued? It is possible, as we never see his name again. But the name of Land of Lav(b)rador become to be a constant in almost all maps.
In an anonymous map pf 1434 the so called Tiera do Labrador has the text:
La qual fue descubierta por los ingleses de la vila de bristol e por que el que dio el laviso della era labrador de las illas de los Açores le quido este nombre
It was discovered by the english of the city of bristol and who warned about it was a farmer (=lavrador in portuguese) from the islands of Azores, that's where the name come from (sic)
This text is a sort of abstract of all the descriptions of the Land of Labrador in the maps of the XVIth century. But this is the most complete of them. We have to ask why Lavrador went to England to join the traders of Bristol. If we assume the letter of Pedro (= Pero in old portuguese) de Barcellos is from 1502 (the most plausible) we know then that their voyage was from 1499 to 1502. In 1501 he was in Bristol. As king Henry VII was safeguarding portuguese interests (note that in 1501 Gaspar Corte Real already departed to his second voyage) Labrador maybe wanted to ally with the people that lived from the northern seas, where the lands of Lavrador, granted by king Manuel in 1499, were located. We can't exclude the possibility of the existance of some kind of rivalry with the Corte Real, as both were from Terceira island in Azores.
We just have to clear one thing, which land(s) Lavrador and Pero de Barcellos discovered? Most of the maps of the XVIth century show modern Labrador together with Greenl
and, so the "Land of Labrador" is difficult to isolate. The Cantino map of 1502 shows Newfoundland / Newfoundland + Labrador and Greenland (see this part of the atlas in the image in the right side) in their correct positions, far away from each other, and it have a text in Greenland, that has the name of "The Tip of Asia":
Esta terra he descober (sic) por mandado do mui excelentissimo principe dom manoel, Rey de portugall a qual se cre ser esta a ponta d'asia, e os que a descobriram nam chagaram a terra mas viroula, e nam viram senam serras muito espessas, polla quall segum a opiniom dos cosmofircos se cree ser a ponta d asia
This land was discovered by order of prince Manuel, King of Portugal, it is believed it is the tip of Asia, those who discovered it did not landed but saw it, and they only saw thick mounts, some cosmographers believe it is the tip of asia
Unlike Newfoundland, that is clearly identified as discovered by Gaspar Corte Real, Greenland does not indicates a discoverer. It is likely that Greenland was then discovered by João Fernandes Lavrador and Pero de Barcellos. If Lavrador discovered or not modern Labrador we don't know, but there is a possibility he did not do it and the confusion of the maps of the XVIth century moved his name from Greenland to modern Labrador. If this is true, Labrador was the captain of Greenland, which is another never mentioned extremely interesting information. This way it makes sense his connection to Bristol, whose people fished in the coasts of Greenland. Note that Greenland's cartography made by Labrador and Barcelos would be the best for 200 years, only then any other map portrayed Greenland more accurately.
There one more thing to discuss about Lavrador, that is the reaction of the re-discovery by Denmark and Norway, as these kingdoms claimed Greenland in the viking time. It seems the last nordic populations in Greenland disappeared in the XVth century with the mini ice age of this century. Portugal claimed the land, as seen by Cantino map and others. 25 years before Portugal and Denmark made secret join explorations of the arctic so the relations of these countries should have been good. So the answer to the reaction is not yet known. We only now Labrador and Barcelos' excelent work, with very adverse condition, in very dangerous seas full of icebergs.
