Jácome (Jacob) de Bruges, governador de Terceira

Current evidence for the ancestry of Jacome de Bruges...

• Jacome de Bruges lived 32 years in Portugal, 11 years as a trader in Ourense, and about 21 years as governor of the island of Terceira. Jacome was Terceira's first colonist.
• On March 2, 1450, in Silves, the infante Dom Henriques accorded Jacome the first colonisation license for Terceira. Dom Henriques was the brother in law of duke Philippe of Burgundy, employer of Lodewijk Gruuthuuse in Brugge.
• Jacome was a wealthy merchant, involved in the trade between Bruges and Portugal. He is supposed to have left Bruges around 1438, together with Portuguese merchants on their way back to the homeland. Jacome started trading in Ourense.
• According to genealogist/historian André Claeys, it is impossible to believe that the governorship of the island of Terceira would have been given to an unknown fleming who claimed to be from Bruges. The governorship required a high degree of trust. In addition, Jacome needed a lot of capital in order to invest in this colonisation venture. As a result, the connection into the wealthy Gruuthuuse family in Brugge seems more than evident.
• Caveat: no formal document establishes a family link for Jacome de Bruges. Currently, we suggest to accept this inferred affiliation on the basis of this strong circumstantial evidence, unless proven otherwise.