Rui Gonçalves da Câmara
Rui Gonçalves da Câmara (c. 1430 – 27 November 1497), was the second son of João Gonçalves Zarco, and inherited the title of Donatary-Captain of the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Rui Gonçalves da Câmara was made the third person to administer/manage the colonization of the island of São Miguel by regal charter on 10 March 1474 (becoming the first of the family Gonçalves da Câmara to obtain this title). After his 21-year mandate to administer the island of São Miguel, in which he was successful in promoting and establishing settlements throughout the colony, the Vila Franca do Campo received a foral (charter) as town. Biography Early life Rui Gonçalves da Câmara was the son of João Gonçalves Zarco, one of the men identified in the discovery of the archipelago of Madeira. Rui da Câmara married Maria de Bettencourt. Rui Gonçalves became a squire in the House of D. Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, and was favoured and confided by the Prince. Captaincy Until 1474, the island of São Miguel was part of a larger fiefdom bequeathed to João Soares de Albergaria, the Captaincy of Santa Maria and São Miguel. At that time, the island