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Constantino de Sá de Noronha
Coat of Arms of the Sá family (Livro do Armeiro-Mor)
6th & 8th Governor of Portuguese Ceylon
In office 1618–1622
Monarchs	Philip II of Portugal Philip III of Portugal
Preceded by	Nuno Álvares Pereira
Succeeded by	Jorge de Albuquerque
In office 1623–1630
Monarch	Philip III of Portugal
Preceded by	Jorge de Albuquerque
Succeeded by	Filipe Mascarenhas
Personal details
Born	1586
Died	25 August 1630 Randeniwela, Portuguese Ceylon
Children	João Rodrigues de Sá e Meneses Joana Maria de Noronha Margarida de Mendonça

Constantino de Sá de Noronha was the 6th and 8th Governor of Portuguese Ceylon.

Sá de Noronha was first appointed in 1618 under Philip II of Portugal, he was Governor until 1622 and then in 1623 until 1630.

He was killed during the Battle of Randeniwela in a last stand after refusing to abandon his troops. Several accounts, though varying in accuracy, describe the moment of his death in detail.

The Journal of Robert Knox (1681):

The General, seeing that defeat, and himself like to be taken, called his black boy (slave) to give him water to drink, and snatching the knife that stuck by his boy’s side, stabbed himself with it

The Journal of João Ribeyro (1681):

The General, having done his duty as a chieftain and a soldier, threw himself in the midst of the enemy and cut down all who were bold enough to remain near him, till pierced with balls and arrows he fell dead on a heap of enemies whom he had slain.

More recently, the Sri Lankan author C. Gaston Perera, writing in 2007, admits the possibility that Constantino de Sá was killed by "friendly fire", from a Portuguese archer who, when trying to shoot down an attacker from the Sinhalese armies, hit by mistake the commander of the Portuguese forces, who subsequently surrendered.

He was succeeded by Jorge de Albuquerque and Filipe Mascarenhas respectively.

References

1. Rasin Deviyo Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine - Chandra Tilake Edirisuriya (Ceylon Today) Accessed 2015-12-13
2. Knox, Robert (1672). "An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies". An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies. I: 359 – via Google Books.
3. Ribeyro, João (1681). "History of Ceylon". History of Ceylon. I: 109 – via Archive.org.
4. Perera, Gaston C. (2007-01-01). Kandy Fights the Portuguese: A Military History of Kandyan Resistance [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2007] Gaston C. Perera. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, Sri Lanka. p. 313. ISBN 978-955-1266-77-6.
5. Cahoon, Ben. "Governors". Sri Lanka. Worldstatesmen. Retrieved 14 July 2012.

• Governors of Portuguese Ceylon
• 16th-century Portuguese people
• 17th-century Portuguese people