Captaincy of Itamaracá
[4] European colonization in America effectively began in 1534, when King John III divided the territory into fourteen hereditary captaincies and gave them to twelve donatários, who could exploit the land's resources, but in exchange had to populate and protect the regions.In a letter addressed to Martim Afonso de Sousa in 1532, John III announced the decision to divide the Portuguese territory, beginning the donations in 1534.[5][6] There are three possible factors for the adoption of the captaincy system in Brazil: a response by the Portuguese monarchy to France's threat to its project of domination in America; the transfer of expenses with colonization from Portugal to the donatários, favoring the Crown in a situation of limited resources; and the conversion of the native population to Christianity, continuing the ideal of the Crusades.[10][11] In 1574, Itamaracá lost part of its territory after the creation of the Captaincy of Paraíba, which would only be installed in 1585 with the necessary resources to prevent further French invasions, repel attacks by the Tabajara and Potiguara peoples and ensure the conquest of the north of northeastern Brazil.During Dutch rule, chronicler Elias Erckmann described Itamaracá as a province of New Holland located between Paraíba and Pernambuco.