Antão Gonçalves - Lisboa, Portugal
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 38° 41.766 W 009° 12.360
29S E 482086 N 4283073
Antão Gonçalves was a 15th century Portuguese explorer and slave trader who was the first European to buy Africans as slaves from black slave traders.
Waymark Code: WMDXTA
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Date Posted: 03/08/2012
Views: 9
Antão Gonçalves coat of arms is by a stripe across the shield where we can see two fighting lyons.
The coat of arms is placed in a magestic fountain in Belem (Fonte Luminosa)in front of Jerónimos Monastery together with 49 other coat of arms of important personalities from the time of Portuguese Discoveries. The fountain was designed by Cottinelli Telmo and built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Exhibition. There´s very little information about the fountain and the Coat of Arms and most available information refers to a total of 32 Coat of arms of Portuguese inland and Overseas provinces wich is wrong. These coat of arms can be seen in the gardens around the fountain designed with flowers and bushes.
Antão Gonçalves was a 15th century Portuguese explorer and slave trader who was the first European to buy Africans as slaves from black slave traders.
In 1441, Gonçalves was sent by Henry the Navigator to explore the West African coast in an expedition under the command of Nuno Tristão. As Gonçalves was considerably younger than Tristão, his duty was less exploration than it was hunting the Mediterranean monk seals that inhabit West Africa. After he had filled his small vessel with seal skins, Gonçalves, on his own initiative, decided to buy some Africans to return to Portugal. With nine of his crewmen, Gonçalves bought an Azenegue Berber and a black tribesman who had worked as a slave for the Berbers.
By this time, Tristão had arrived at the same place, and the two crews joined together for another purchasing trip, on which they bought 10 slaves, one of them an Azenegue chief. After this, Tristão continued exploration southwards while Gonçalves returned to Portugal.
He embarked on another expedition in 1442, taking the Azenegue chief he had bought the year before. Gonçalves hoped to barter the chief for a number of the Azenegues' black slaves. He received 10 slaves, some gold dust and, curiously, a large number of ostrich eggs. However, this expedition contributed nothing to the cause of exploration; Gonçalves had not even sailed past the Río de Oro.
He was granted a new Coat of Arms for his name.
(From Wikipedia)
Bearer of Coat of Arms: Noble (aristocratic) family
Full name of the bearer: Antão Gonçalves
Where is Coat of Arms installed (short description) ?:
Fonte Luminosa @ Praça do Império (Fountain )
Material / Design: Stone
Blazon (heraldic description):
See above.
Address:
Praça do Império
Web page about the structure where is Coat of Arms installed (if exists): [Web Link]
Web page about the bearer of Coat of Arms (if exists): [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
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