History of Portugal / Great Discoveries / 15th and 16th centuriesPortrait of Pedro Alvares Cabral (detail of a Portuguese bank note of 1000 Escudos).(Pedro Alvares Cabral; born in Belmonte in 1467 or 1468 and died in Santarem around 1520; Portuguese navigator; fleet commander; commissioned by the king of Portugal Manuel I to go to the East Indies and to continue the work of Vasco da Gama. He is considered as the discoverer of Brazil : on April 22; 1500; Portuguese boats landed on the north-east coast of Brazil. Cabral is today considered a key figure of the Great Discoveries).Bank note; 1998 (Private Collection).