A donatário (Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed [one]"), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a donataria) by the Kingdom of Portugal. The king exempted these titleholders from normal colonial administration; the donatários were comparable to a royal governor or a British Lord Proprietor. As the donataria were often captaincies, the position is also translated as captain.
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Donatário in the context of Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro
The Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro was established in the northern portion of the Captaincy of São Vicente, encompassing territory from Macaé (now part of Rio de Janeiro) to Caraguatatuba (now part of São Paulo). This region had been abandoned by its donatário Martim Afonso de Sousa, who, uninterested in its settlement, directed his attention and resources to the area along the current São Paulo coast.
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