Francisco de Almeida: Difference between revisions

Almeida sailed for Portugal in December 1509 and reached [[Table Bay]] near the Cape of Good Hope, where the Garcia, Belém and Santa Cruz dropped anchor late February 1510, to replenish water. There they encountered the local indigenous people, the Goringhaiqua [[Khoikhoi]] clan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/lifestyle/invaders-received-a-lesson-in-warfare-1990598 |title=Invaders received a lesson in warfare |website=IOL|last1=Khoisan|first1=Zenzile|language=en |date=February 27, 2016|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref> After friendly trade with the Khoikhoi some of the crew visited their nearby village, situated in modern-day [[Observatory, Cape Town|Observatory]] where they tried to steal some of the locals' cattle. Almeida allowed his captains Pedro and Jorge Barreto to return to the village on the morning of 1 March 1510.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2elBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=1510+table+bay+portuguese|title=Imagining the Cape Colony: History, Literature, and the South African Nation|first1=David|last1=Johnson|p=11|year=2012|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9780748643080}}</ref> The village's cattle herd was raided with the loss of one man, while Almeida awaited his men some distance from the beach. As the flagship's master Diogo d'Unhos moved the landing boats to the watering point, the Portuguese were left without a retreat. The Khoikhoi and some [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] allies sensed the opportunity for an attack, during which Almeida and 64 of his men perished, including 11 of his captains.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 February 2012|title=An attempt to falsify African history|url=https://www.herald.co.zw/an-attempt-to-falsify-african-history/|access-date=2020-12-20|website=The Herald|language=en-GB}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web|date=June 2014|title=Stories of the South Peninsula|url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20research%20reports%20and%20review/Stories_of_the_South_Peninsula_chapter_10_2014-06.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=[[City of Cape Town]]|publisher=}}</ref>Almeida's body was recovered the same afternoon and buried on the shore front of the current [[Cape Town]].<ref>Vergunst, Nicolaas. Knot of Stone: the day that changed South Africa's history: http://www.knotofstone.com/2012/03/murder-memory-and-bones</ref> An archivist, [[Nicolaas Vergunst]], suggested in a 2011 book that de Almeida was the victim of a plot by his own men, who intentionally cut off his retreat after the planned provocation of the Khoikhoi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.knotofstone.com/2012/04/first-encounters-early-conflicts-and-forgotten-beaches-part-2/ |title=5. First encounters, lasting legacies—part two |language=en-US |access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref>