Lourenço de Almeida (c.1480 - March 1508) was a Portuguese explorer and military commander. He was born in

Martim Martim is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Barcelos. The population in 2011 was 2,375, in an area of 5.32 km². References Freguesias of Barcelos, Portugal {{braga-geo-stub ...

, Kingdom of Portugal, the son of

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

, first viceroy of Portuguese India. Acting under his father, Lourenço distinguished himself in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

, and made Ceylon (present Sri Lanka) tributary to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(see

Portuguese Ceylon Portuguese Ceylon ( pt, Ceilão Português, Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව ''Puruthugisi Lankawa'', Tamil: போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை ''Porthukeya Ilankai'') is the name given to the territory ...

). He belonged to the Order of Christ. He made the first Portuguese voyage to Ceylon in 1505 and established a settlement there, thus permitting the expansion of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. He defeated the fleet of the

Zamorin The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited b ...

at the Battle of Cannanore in 1506. Two years later however, he died in a naval action off

Chaul Chaul is a historic town located in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The Korlai Fort is located nearby. History The town was famous for cotton manufactured goods in the 15th and 16th century, According to Varthema, Chaul was p ...

, in India, at the Battle of Chaul.

References

1508 deaths 16th-century explorers Explorers of Asia Explorers of India 16th-century Portuguese people Portuguese explorers Maritime history of Portugal Portuguese in Kerala People from Barcelos, Portugal 1480 births Portuguese military personnel killed in action {{Portugal-explorer-stub

See also

References