Francisco de Sá (?-1531)

This nobleman of the royal house was inspector of the treasury of Porto. He was the third son of João Rodrigues de Sá, Chief Alcaide of Porto, and of Dona Joana de Albuquerque da Cunha, daughter of Luis Alvares Pais, master of ceremonies of King Afonso V. Francisco de Sá married Dona Isabel, daughter of Alvaro Pires de Tavora, Lord of Mogadouro. He was the brother of Garcia de Sá, captain of the 1518 India fleet, three-time captain of Malaca (1519-1521, 1529-1533, and 1545) and, lastly, governor of India (1548-1449). He was second cousin to Governor Nuno Cunha (1529-1538). In 1497 he accompanied King Manuel I when the monarch received his first wife, Queen Isabel. In 1509 he went to the Orient for the first time, as captain of Dom Fernando Coutinho´s fleet and accompanied the General in the attack on Calicut. On the return trip, he was captain of a ship which was stranded near the Baixos de Padua. Though the cargo was lost, the crew survived. This accident forced Francisco de Sá to extend his stay in India. He participated in the first attacks on Goa (1510), alongside Afonso de Albuquerque. However, he was one of the captains who supported the withdrawal of the Portuguese from the city. After some disagreements with the Lion of the Seas, he returned to the Kingdom where, on 6 September, 1511, he was granted the Inspectorship of the Treasury of Porto. In 1513, he received the Habit of the Order of Christ. In 1524 he returned to the Orient as captain of Vasco da Gama´s fleet, having also been appointed captain of the fortress to be established by him in Sunda. After taking over the government of India, Dom Henrique de Meneses designated him captain of Goa (1525-1526). He supported Pero Mascarenhas against Lopo Vaz de Sampaio in the dispute that ensued between them. For this reason, when Lopo Vaz took over, he was ousted from the Captaincy of Goa and sent to Sunda with a fleet, an expedition that would fail. When the new governor, Nuno da Cunha, arrived in India, Francisco de Sá was in Goa. In 1530 he was captain of a galley in the armada that attacked Diu. In March 1531, Nuno da Cunha nominated him Captain of Cochim. He died at the end of 1531.

Bibliography:
LACERDA, Teresa, Os Capitães das Armadas da Índia no Reinado de Manuel I - uma avaliação social, Cascais, Câmara de Cascais, 2009, no prelo. THOMAZ, Luís Filipe, "O malogrado estabelecimento oficial dos Portugueses em Sunda e a islamização da Java" in Aquém e Além da Taprobana - Estudos Luso-Orientais à memória de Jean Aubin e Denys Lombard, Luís Filipe Thomaz (org.), Lisboa, CHAM, 2002, pp. 440-441.

Translated from the Portuguese by Maria João Pimentel