Vasco da Gama [SEP] father
or 1469 in the town of Sines, one of the few seaports on the Alentejo coast, southwest Portugal, probably in a house near the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas.
Vasco da Gama's father was Estêvão da Gama, who had served in the 1460s as a knight of the household of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu. He rose in the ranks of the military Order of Santiago. Estêvão da Gama was appointed "alcaide-mór" (civil governor) of Sines in the 1460s, a post he
used to develop mills, such as the tidal mill in Corroios in 1403, fostering various the millers, caulkers and carpenters along the river. It was in Seixal that the brothers Vasco da Gama and Paulo da Gama built vessels for the trip to India. While Vasco da Gama was in Lisbon to prepare the trip, Paulo da Gama commanded carpenters and caulkers in the construction of the ships. Estevão da Gama, the father of the brothers, was commander of Seixal. The construction of the ships was the beginning of what