Álvaro Caminha was appointed by King John II of Portugal in 1492 Captain-major (governor) – the third – of the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe which had been discovered 22 years earlier. He was a knight of the king's household. He was told to settle and "Christianize" the then-deserted island with his family and friars, and for that purpose was given the children of Spanish Jewish refugees from Granada, which had not been able to pay the tax requested by the king, and who were married to Black people from the Congo.