Manuel da Nóbrega and other Jesuits reached Salvador with the first governor-general, Tomé de Sousa, initiating sustained Jesuit missionary work in Portuguese America and the early formation of aldeias (mission villages) for catechesis and social control.
Nóbrega, José de Anchieta, and companions inaugurated the Jesuit college and mission at São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, a major interior foothold for evangelization and the development of mission communities that shaped Paulista expansion and conflict over Indigenous labor.
Nóbrega’s Diálogo sobre a Conversão do Gentio articulated early Jesuit arguments about evangelization and colonial society, reflecting mission priorities that underpinned the creation and governance of aldeias.
The Jesuit aldeia of Reritiba (later Anchieta, Espírito Santo) emerged as a significant catechetical center; historians disagree on its exact foundation year, commonly placed between 1565 and 1579, and it later served as a base for mission outreach and Indigenous resettlement in the captaincy.
A 1574 royal decree gave Jesuits full control over Indigenous inhabitants living in aldeias, while still allowing colonists to enslave Indigenous people taken in “legitimate warfare,” intensifying disputes between missionaries and settlers over labor and authority.
At Reritiba (Anchieta, ES), the first Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção and Jesuit residence are dated to 1579, anchoring the aldeia’s religious and administrative landscape and providing infrastructure for sustained mission life.
During the Dutch seizure of Salvador, invaders stripped valuables from the Jesuit college, illustrating how imperial warfare disrupted mission institutions and the urban religious infrastructure that supported aldeia administration.
After escalating conflicts over Indigenous enslavement and Jesuit protection of mission Indians, bandeirantes and local interests forced the Jesuits out of São Paulo, damaging the college and destabilizing mission-linked Indigenous settlements in the region.
After years of exile following the 1640 expulsion, the Jesuits regained permission to return to São Paulo, re-establishing their educational and missionary presence amid continuing contention over Indigenous labor and settlement governance.
Jesuits led by António Vieira concluded the Treaty of the Mapuá with Indigenous leaders in the Marajó Archipelago, reflecting Jesuit diplomacy on the northern frontier and the effort to stabilize relationships feeding into mission aldeias and Portuguese claims.
Following fierce conflicts with colonists over the governance and labor control of royal Indigenous villages (aldeias) in Maranhão and Pará, Vieira and other Jesuits were expelled in 1661—highlighting how missionary protection policies collided with settler demands for workers.
The Jesuit settlement of São Miguel Arcanjo (later famed for its ruins) was established in the region of the “Seven Peoples of the Missions,” representing the late-17th-century expansion of Jesuit-Guaraní mission towns on the southern frontier (then under Spanish jurisdiction).
Jesuit missions and aldeias among indigenous Brazilians (1550–1700)
