Francisco Coutinho
Dom Francisco Coutinho , 3rd Conde (Count) de Redondo (* around 1517 in Portugal ; † February 19, 1564 in Goa , then Estado da India , now India ) was a Portuguese nobleman, military and the 8th viceroy of the Estado da India (Portuguese India) from 1561 to 1564.
Life
Coutinho was a cousin of Pedro de Mascarenhas , the 6th Viceroy of India and discoverer of the Mascarene Islands. He married Maria de Blaesvert and had two sons.
He spent his childhood and youth in Asilah in what is now Morocco , where his uncle worked as a city commander and his father as a high-ranking military man. After the death of his uncle in 1546, he was appointed city commander of Arzila himself and held the office until 1550.
He was also a Knight of the Order of Christ and, as Royal Council, the official representative of His Majesty, the King of Portugal, for the questions of Morocco, thus his official title as Privy Councilor .
Rule as viceroy
After the deposition of his predecessor, Dom Constantino de Bragança , he became the widow of Dom João III by decree of the regent, Dona Catarina . appointed viceroy on January 27, 1561.
He arrived in India on June 7, 1561 and his first measure was to strengthen Portugal's military power in Central and East Asia: he appointed new and fresh city commanders and governors, established new governorships and completely reorganized the military at his disposal, so that it was more effective and powerful.
During his term of office there were frequent skirmishes with the Turks and Ottomans , but they could not defeat the viceroy, but all battles - despite the superiority of the Turks - ended in a draw.
He made peace with various principalities and kingdoms on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts and was able to make the Samorin of Calicut a vassal of Portugal for the first time .
Coutinho distinguished himself as an almost bigoted Catholic who let the first auto-da-fe take place in India. In 1563 he also cruelly and severely suppressed an uprising by anti-Christian citizens on the Moluccas (especially in Ambon and Ternate ), where his vassal Dom Henrique de Sá proceeded with absolute severity and mercilessness. This enabled him to make part of the archipelago a vassal of Portugal.
In 1564 the Viceroy personally hurried to the aid of his city commander of Colombo , Dom Baltasar Guedes de Sousa, when he was threatened with an attack by the Prince of Sitawka . The victory over the prince was devastating and Colombo was saved for Portugal.
Dom Francisco Coutinho died on February 19, 1564 in Goa from the aftermath of a long grief of heart failure. First he was buried in the church of São Francisco in Goa, later the corpse was transferred to his home in Redondo .
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coutinho, Francisco |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese nobleman, military and 8th Viceroy of the Estado da India (Portuguese India) (1561–1564) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1517 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Portugal |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 19, 1564 |
| Place of death | Goa , then Estado da India , today India |