João da Nova (; ; ; in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia, Spain – July 16, 1509, in Kochi, India) was a Galician-born explorer in the service of Portugal. He is credited as the discoverer of Ascension and Saint Helena islands.
The Juan de Nova Island, in the Mozambique Channel, is named after him. The Farquhar atoll (in the Seychelles) was, for a long time, known as the João da Nova islands.The appellation 'João da Nova islands' for the Farquhar atoll appeared in most European navigational charts until the 19th century, when they were renamed after British Mauritius governor Robert Townsend Farquhar, to avoid confusion with the Mozambique Channel island.Findlay, A. G. (1866) A Directory for the Navigation of the Indian Ocean, London: Laurie, p.479 It is sometimes thought that the Agaléga islands (in the Indian Ocean) were also named after him (although it is almost certain he never visited them).Theories behind the 'Agalega' name are reviewed by Robert Scott (1961) Limuria: The Lesser Dependencies of Mauritius
Biography Juan da Nova was born into a noble family in Maceda, Galicia, then a constituent kingdom of the Crown of Castile. João de Barros, Manoel Severim de Faria, and João Baptista Lavanha, Da Asia de João de Barros e de Diogo de Couto, vol. I, book V, chapter X (Lisbon: Regia Officina Typografica, 1777), 463. Nova was sent by his family to Portugal, where he grew up, to escape the struggles between aristocratic factions known as the Irmandiño revolts. In Portugal, he was also known as João Galego ("the Galician"). In 1496, he was appointed as Alcaide menor (mayor) of Lisbon by King Manuel I.
It was only realised around the turn of the millennium that when writing about the discoverer of St Helena, most English sources had incorrectly appended the word “Castella” to his name, i.e., naming him as João da Nova Castella. Alexander H Schulenburg, ‘Joao Da Nova and the Lost Carrack’, Wirebird: The Journal of the Friends of St Helena 16 (Autumn 1997): 19–23. Trevor W. Hearl, ‘Everyone Knows Joao Da Nova Castella Discovered St Helena or Did He?’, South Atlantic Chronicle XXII, no. 1 (1998): 10. Alexander H Schulenburg, ‘St Helena Historiography, Philately, and the “Castella” Controversy’, South Atlantic Chronicle XXIII, no. 3` (1999)., J. Edgar Williams, ‘More on João Da Nova Castella Controversy’, South Atlantic Chronicle XXV, no. 1 (2001): 15, 20. This error was traced back to an 1817 guidebook by the Town Major of Jamestown, Saint Helena, John Barnes.Barnes, John. A Tour through the Island of St Helena; London: J M Richardson, 1817: 2. Just as an earlier author had added the Portuguese word of “Galego” as a suffix to da Nova’s name to indicate the latter was born in the province of Galicia,George Forster, Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty’s Sloop Resolution Commanded by Capt. James Cook during the Years 1772, 3, 4 and 5, vol. II (London: B. White, 1777), 571. so it was speculated that Barnes’ handwritten book used the Portuguese word of “Castela” as a suffix to also show that he was born in the kingdom of Castile, this being misspelt by Barnes or his printer as “Castella”, an error that was then repeated by later English authors for nearly the next two centuries.Bruce, Ian. ‘The Origin of the Name Castella’. Wirebird: The Journal of the Friends of St Helena No 48 (2019): 72–76
First voyage to India
The date of João da Nova’s departure from Lisbon as commander of the third Portuguese expedition to India has variously been quoted as 1 March,Gaspar Corrêa and Rodrigo Jose de Lima Felner, Lendas da India. Publicadas de ordem da Classe de sciencias moraes, politicas e bellas lettras da Academia real das sciencias de Lisboa e sob a dirrecção de Rodrigo José de Lima Felner, vol. 2 (Lisboa Typographia da Academia Real das Sciencias, 1858), 235. 5 March,João de Barros, Manoel Severim de Faria, and João Baptista Lavanha, Da Asia de João de Barros e de Diogo de Couto, vol. I, book V, chapter X (Lisbon: Regia Officina Typografica, 1778), 466. Damião de Góis, Chronica do serenissimo senhor rei D. Manoel (Lisbon: Na officina de M. Manescal da Costa, 1749), 84. 11 March,Duarte Leite, História da colonização portuguesa do Brasil, Chapter IX, O mais antigo mapa do Brasil, ed. Carlos Malheiro Dias, vol. 2 (Porto: Litografia Nacional, 1922), 251. 26-27 MarchWilliam Brooks Greenlee, The Voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil and India (London: Hakluyt Society, 1938), 139. or 10 April. Edzer Roukema, ‘Brazil in the Cantino Map’, Imago Mundi 17 (1963): 15 He led a small four-vessel fleet under a joint private initiative of Florentine Bartolomeo MarchionniBartolomeo Marchionni, possibly the richest man in Lisbon then, was the chief merchant in sugar from Madeira island and had participated extensively in voyages to Guinea, Brazil, Madeira, and would finance several voyages to India.Greenlee, William Brooks (1995). The voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India: from contemporary documents and narratives, p.146, Issue 81, Hakluyt Society, Asian Educational Services. and Portuguese Álvaro de Bragança.Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1997). The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama, p.182, New York: Cambridge University Press, Suggestions that da Nova’s ships were sent to reinforce Cabral’s ships following the outbreak of war with the Calicut kingdom (e.g., “as the plight of the Portuguese at Calicut was acute, three ships were sent on ahead under the Admiral, Joao da Nova Castella, to reinforce de Cabral, the Portuguese commander in India”. Thomas H. Brooke, A History of the Island of St Helena: From Its Discovery by the Portuguese to the Year 1806 (Black, Parry and Kingsbury, 1808), 35.Gosse, Philip. St Helena 1502-1938. Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 1938. ) are now doubted because the Portuguese monarchy was unaware of the outbreak of war at India until the first of Cabral’s ships returned to Lisbon some six months after da Nova sailed from Lisbon. It has been suggested that da Nova was charged to block any attempt by the Spanish to enter the spice trade.Geneviève Bouchon, Vasco de Gama (Paris: Fayard, 1997), 232.[ Geneviève Bouchon, Vasco de Gama - Persée (persee.fr)] If true, given the small size of his fleet, he was entrusted with a very delicate mission.
Two chronicles claimed these ships discovered Ascension Island during the outward voyage, naming it Conception Island. Thus, João de Barros wrote that passing eight degrees beyond the equator, towards the south, an island was found to which the name Concepcão was givenBarros, Faria, and Lavanha, Da Asia de João de Barro, I, book V, chapter X:466. whilst Damião de Góis’ later chronicle described the sighting of an island south of the line which was named Conçeicam.Góis, Chronica do serenissimo, 84. There are at least three reasons why it is thought this name was quoted by de Barros in error, this later being repeated by de Góis.Bruce, Ian. 'The Discovery of St Helena'. Wirebird: The Journal of the Friends of St Helena 51 (2022): 26–43 First, the Church of Rome has long celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on the fixed date of 8 December, yet by then the third armada had already reached India. Second, the Portuguese Cantino Planisphere, completed in 1502 after the third armada returned, shows the newly sighted island marked as ilha achada e chamada Ascenssam [island found and called Ascension], not as Conception. Third, in 1503 a division of the 4th Portuguese India Armada (Gama, 1502) under Estêvão da Gama also named the island as Ascension, not as Conception. It is usually presumed that the island was discovered on the movable feast of Ascension Day, which fell on 20 May in 1501, 39 days after Easter. Side-by-side Easter calendar reference for the 16th century
Two sources, a letter from King Manuel I of PortugalEdzer Roukema, ‘Brazil in the Cantino Map’, Imago Mundi 17 (1963): 15. and Gaspar Corrêa’s chronicle,Gaspar Corrêa, Lendas de India, vol. 1 (Lisbon: Typ. da Academia Real das Sciencias, 1858), 235. made no mention of either Ascension or Conception, instead describing a visit to Brazil.
After doubling the Cape, it is thought da Nova called at Mossel Bay, South Africa. Here he is believed to have picked up letters left in a shoe placed in a conspicuous situation by Pedro de Atayde from the 2nd Portuguese India Armada (Cabral, 1500). This will have been da Nova’s first opportunity to learn he should avoid trade with Calicut, with whom a state of war now existed. It is speculated that the Mossel Bay Stone found after the demolition of the old Government House bears an inscription of João da Nova’s name and provides evidence of this visit Louis Albert Péringuey, ‘Inscriptions Left by Early European Navigators on Their Way to the East’, Annals of the South African Museum XIII (1913): 6–7. It is also believed that da Nova built a hermida or a small hermitage with space for only a few supplicants at a promitory at Mossel Bay. A letter written by Pedro Quaresma to King Manuel II described a visit to this location a few years later in 1506. George McCall Theal, Records of South-Eastern Africa: Collected in Various Libraries and Archive Departments in Europe, vol. 1 (Govern-ment of the Cape Colony, 1898), 54 This same reference source includes a description of the walls of a ruined hermida dedicated to Saint Blaise on the high ground (Cape St Blaise) between two coves at Mossel Bay in 1576. Later in his outward voyage, Da Nova is also said to have discovered what has since been called Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel.Birch, 1877, p.xx
Arriving in India, Nova established a feitoria (trading post) in Cannanore and left behind a factor (on behalf of the private Marchionni-Braganza consortium, not the Portuguese crown). On December 31, 1501, João da Nova's little fleet engaged the fleet of the Zamorin of Calicut in a battle outside of Cannanore harbor, the first Portuguese naval battle in the Indian Ocean.K.S. Matthew (1997) "Indian Naval Encounters with the Portuguese: Strengths and weaknesses", in K.K.N. Kurup, editor, India's Naval Traditions, New Delhi: Northern Book Centre. p.11Marinha.pt, 2009, site Cananor - 31 de Dezembro de 1501 a 2 de Janeiro de 1502 In this action, João da Nova’s four ships won a memorable sea battle, largely due to their superior cannonry and one of the earliest combinations of line-ahead and standoff gun battle tactics.K. K. N. Kurup, India’s Naval Traditions: The Role of Kunhali Marakkars (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1997), 11K. K. N. Kurup, India’s Naval Traditions: The Role of Kunhali Marakkars (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1997), 11; Frederick Charles Danvers, The Portuguese in India: A.D. 1481-1571 (London: W.H. Allen & Company, 1894), 76.