Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves | |||||||||
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| 1415–1580 | |||||||||
| Capital | Lisbon | ||||||||
| Common languages | Galician-Portuguese,Old Modern Portuguese | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||
| Demonym | Portuguese | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute Monarchy | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1415–1433 | João I(first) | ||||||||
• 1578–1580 | Henrique I(last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 14 August 1415 | |||||||||
| 4 August 1578 | |||||||||
| 31 January 1580 | |||||||||
| Currency | Portuguese dinheiro,Portuguese real | ||||||||
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The history of theKingdom of Portugal from theIllustrious Generation of the early 15th century to the fall of theHouse of Aviz in the late 16th century has been named the "Portuguese golden age" (Portuguese:Século de Ouro; "golden century") and the "Portuguese Renaissance".[1][2] During this period, Portugal was the first European power to begin building acolonial empire as during theAge of Exploration Portuguese sailors and explorers discovered aneastern route to India (that rounded theCape of Good Hope) as well as several Atlantic archipelagos (like theAzores,Madeira, andCape Verde) and colonizedthe African coast andBrazil. They also explored theIndian Ocean and established trading routes throughout most ofsouthern Asia, sending the first direct European maritime trade and diplomatic missions toMing China andto Japan, at the same time installing trading posts and the most important colony:Portuguese Macau (Only inEast Asia).[3] The Portuguese Renaissance produced a plethora of poets, historians, critics, theologians, and moralists. TheCancioneiro Geral byGarcia de Resende (printed 1516) is taken to mark the transition fromOld Portuguese to themodern Portuguese language.
John I of Portugal acceded in 1390 and ruled in peace, pursuing the economic development of his realm. The only significant military action was thesiege and conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415. By this step he aimed to control navigation of the African coast. But in the broader perspective, this was the first step opening theArab world to medieval Europe, which in fact led to theAge of Discovery with Portuguese explorers sailing across the whole world.
Contemporaneous writers describe John as a man of wit, very keen on concentrating power on himself, but at the same time with a benevolent and kind personality. His love for knowledge and culture was passed to his sons, often collectively referred to by Portuguese historians as the "illustrious generation" (Ínclita Geração):Edward, the future king, was a poet and a writer;Peter, the Duke of Coimbra, was one of the most learned princes of his time; and PrinceHenry the Navigator, the duke of Viseu, invested heavily in science and the development of nautical pursuits. In 1430, John's only surviving daughter, Isabella, marriedPhilip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and enjoyed an extremely refined court culture in his lands; she was the mother ofCharles the Bold.
Underking Edward, the colony at Ceuta rapidly became a drain on the Portuguese treasury, and it was realised that without the city ofTangier, possession of Ceuta was worthless. In 1437,Duarte's brothers Henry andFerdinand persuaded him to launch an attack on theMarinid sultanate ofMorocco. The expedition was not unanimously supported:Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and theInfante John were both against the initiative; they preferred to avoid conflict with the king of Morocco. Their instincts proved to be justified. The resultingattack on Tangier, led by Henry, was a debacle. Failing to take the city in a series of assaults, the Portuguese siege camp was soon itself surrounded and starved into submission by a Moroccan relief army. In the resulting treaty, Henry promised to deliver Ceuta back to the Marinids in return for allowing the Portuguese army to depart unmolested. Duarte's youngest brother, Ferdinand, was handed over to the Marinids as a hostage for the final handover of the city.
Meanwhile, colonization progressed in theAzores andMadeira, wheresugar andwine were now produced; above all, thegold brought home fromGuinea stimulated the commercial energy of the Portuguese. It had become clear that, apart from their religious and scientific aspects, these voyages of discovery were highly profitable. UnderAfonso V (1443–1481), surnamed the African, theGulf of Guinea was explored as far as Cape St Catherine (Cabo Santa Catarina),[4][5][6] and three expeditions (1458, 1461 and 1471) were sent to Morocco; in 1471Arzila andTangier were captured from the Moors. UnderJohn II (1481–1495) the fortress ofSão Jorge da Mina, the modern Elmina, was founded for the protection of the Guinea trade.Diogo Cão, discovered theCongo in 1482 and reachedCape Cross in 1486;Bartolomeu Dias doubled theCape of Good Hope in 1488, thus proving that theIndian Ocean was accessible by sea.
After 1492 the arrival ofChristopher Columbus in theWest Indies rendered desirable adelimitation of the Spanish and Portuguese spheres of exploration. This was accomplished by theTreaty of Tordesillas (June 7, 1494), which modified the delimitation authorized byPope Alexander VI in twobulls issued on May 4, 1493. The treaty gave to Portugal all lands that might be discovered east of a straight line drawn from theArctic Pole to theAntarctic, at a distance of 370leagues west ofCape Verde. Spain received the lands discovered west of this line. The known means of measuringlongitude were so inexact, however, that the line of demarcation could not in practice be determined (seeJ. de Andrade Corvo inJournal das Ciências Matemáticas, xxxi.147–176, Lisbon, 1881), so the treaty was subject to very diverse interpretations. On its provisions were based both the Portuguese claim toBrazil and the Spanish claim to theMoluccas (seeHistory of East Indies). The treaty was chiefly valuable to the Portuguese as a recognition of the prestige they had acquired. That prestige was enormously enhanced when, in 1497–1499,Vasco da Gama completed the voyage to India.
The tendency to secrecy and falsification of dates casts doubts about the authenticity of manyprimary sources. Several historians have hypothesized that John II may have known of the existence ofBrazil andNorth America as early as 1480, thus explaining his wish in 1494 at the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas to push the line of influence further west. Many historians suspect that the real documents would have been placed in the Library of Lisbon. Unfortunately, due to the fire following theearthquake of 1755, nearly all of the library's records were destroyed,[citation needed] but an extra copy available in Goa was transferred to Lisbon Tower of Tombo during the following 100 years. The Corpo Cronológico (Chronological Corpus), a collection of manuscripts on the Portuguese explorations and discoveries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, was inscribed onUNESCO’sMemory of the World Register in 2007 in recognition of its historical value "for acquiring knowledge of the political, diplomatic, military, economic and religious history of numerous countries at the time of the Portuguese Discoveries."[7]
While the Crown was thus acquiring new possessions, its authority in Portugal was temporarily overshadowed by the growth ofaristocratic privilege. After the death of Edward, further attempts to curb the power of the nobles were made by his brother,D. Pedro, duke of Coimbra, who acted asregent during the minority ofAfonso V of Portugal (1439–1448). The head of the aristocratic opposition was theDuke of Braganza, who contrived to secure the sympathy of the king and the dismissal of the regent. The quarrel led to civil war, and on 20 May 1449, D. Pedro was defeated and killed at theBattle of Alfarrobeira. Thenceforward the grants made byJohn I were renewed and extended on so lavish a scale that the Braganza estates alone comprised about a third of the whole kingdom.
An unwise foreign policy simultaneously injured the royal prestige, for Afonso married his own niece,Joanna, daughter ofHenry IV of Castile, and claimed the kingdom ofCastile in her name. At theBattle of Toro, in 1476, he fought an indecisive battle that made him realize that his claims to the Castilian throne were not achievable. However, Portugal defeated Castile in the naval war (1475–79) of the same conflict (War of the Castilian Succession), capturing a large Castilian fleet -full of gold- in theBattle of Guinea (1478).
In 1479Ferdinand and Isabella and Afonso signed theTreaty of Alcáçovas, by which Joanna was relegated to aconvent and Portugal won the hegemony in the Atlantic Ocean.
His successor, John II (1481–1495), reverted to the policy of matrimonial alliances with Castile and friendship withEngland. Finding, as he said, that the liberality of former kings had left the Crown "no estates except the high roads of Portugal," he determined to crush thefeudal nobility and seize its territories. ThePortuguese Cortes held atÉvora (1481) empowered judges nominated by the Crown to administer justice in all feudal domains. The nobles resisted this infringement of their rights, but their leader,Fernando II, Duke of Braganza, was beheaded for high treason in 1483; in 1484 the king stabbed to death his own brother-in-law,Diogo, Duke of Viseu; and eighty other members of the aristocracy were executed afterwards. Thus John "the Perfect," as he was called, assured the supremacy of the Crown. He was succeeded in 1495 byManuel I, who was named "the Great" or "the Fortunate," because in his reign the sea route to India was discovered and a Portuguese Empire founded.
John II (r. 1481–1495) famously restored the policies ofAtlantic exploration, reviving the work of his great-uncle,Henry the Navigator. ThePortuguese explorations were his main priority in government, pushing south the known coast of Africa with the purpose of discovering the maritime route to India and breaking into thespice trade.Manuel I (r. 1495–1521) proved a worthy successor to his cousin John II, supporting Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and the development of Portuguese commerce.
UnderJohn III (r. 1521–1557), Portuguese possessions were extended inAsia and in the New World through thePortuguese colonization ofBrazil. John III's policy of reinforcing Portugal's bases in India (such asGoa) secured Portugal'smonopoly over thespice trade ofcloves andnutmeg from theMaluku Islands. As a result, John III has been called the "Grocer King". On the eve of his death in 1557, thePortuguese empire spanned almost 1 billion acres (about 4 million square kilometers). During his reign, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to make contact with both China, under theMing Dynasty, and Japan, during theMuromachi period (seeNanban trade). John III abandoned Muslim territories in North Africa in favor of trade with India and investment in Brazil. In Europe, he improved relations with theBaltic region and theRhineland, hoping that this would bolster Portuguese trade.
Sebastian of Portugal was the penultimate Portuguese monarch of theHouse of Aviz.He was the son ofJohn Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and his wife,Joanna of Austria. Sebastian succeeded to the throne at the age of three, on the death of King John III, his paternal grandfather. Soon after his birth, his mother Joanna of Spain left her infant son to serve as Regent of Spain for her father, EmperorCharles V. After his abdication in 1556, she served in the same capacity for her brotherPhilip II of Spain. Joanna remained in Spain until her death in 1573, never to see her son again. Since Sebastian was still a child, theregency was handled first by his paternal grandmother,Catherine of Austria, and then by his great-uncle, CardinalHenry of Évora. During this period Portugal continuedcolonial expansion inAngola,Mozambique, andMalacca, as well as the annexation ofMacau in 1557.
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During Sebastian's short personal reign, he strengthened ties with theHoly Roman Empire,England andFrance through diplomatic efforts. He also restructured much of the administrative, judicial and military life in his kingdom. In 1568, Sebastian created scholarships to provide financial assistance to students who wished to study medicine or pharmacy at theUniversity of Coimbra. In 1569, Sebastian ordered Duarte Nunes de Leão to compile all the laws and legal documents of the kingdom in a collection ofLeis Extravagantes known asCódigo Sebastiânico (Sebastian's code).
During the great plague of Lisbon in 1569, Sebastian sent for doctors fromSeville to help the Portuguese doctors fight the plague. He created two hospitals in Lisbon to take care of the afflicted. In his concern for the widows and orphans of those killed by the plague, he created severalRecolhimentos (shelters), known as theRecolhimento de Santa Marta (shelter of Santa Marta) and theRecolhimento dos Meninos (shelter of the children), and provided wet nurses to take care of the babies.
Sebastian created laws for the military, theLei das Armas, that would become a military organization model. In 1570Goa was attacked by the Indian army, but the Portuguese were successful in repulsing the assault. Also in 1570, Sebastian ordered that Brazilian Indians should not be used as slaves and ordered the release of those held in captivity.
TheCeleiros Comuns (Communal Granaries) were inaugurated in 1576 on Sebastian's orders. These were lending institutions intended to help to poor farmers when farm production decreased, giving credit, lending seeds and commodities to the needy, and allowing them to pay back with farm products when they recovered from losses.
In 1577 Sebastian's ordinanceDa nova ordem do juízo, sobre o abreviar das demandas, e execução dellas decreased the time for handling legal actions, regulated the action of lawyers, scribes and other court officials, and created fines for delays.
Sebastian disappeared (and was presumably killed in action) in thebattle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, after the brief reign ofKing Henry triggering the Portuguese succession crisis.
Following thePortuguese crisis of succession, adynastic union joined the crowns of Castile, Portugal and Aragon along with their respective colonial possessions, under the rule of theHabsburg dynasty
The unification of the peninsula had long been a goal of the region's monarchs with the intent of restoring theVisigothic monarchy.[8]
The history of Portugal from thedynastic crisis in 1578 to the firstBraganza Dynasty monarchs was a period of transition. ThePortuguese Empire's spice trade was peaking at the start of this period. It continued to enjoy widespread influence afterVasco da Gama had finally reached the East by sailing around Africa in 1497–98.
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Portugal's long shoreline, with its many harbours and rivers flowing westward to theAtlantic Ocean was the ideal environment to raise generations of adventurous seamen. As a seafaring people in the south-westernmost region ofEurope, thePortuguese became natural leaders of exploration during theMiddle Ages. Faced with the options of either accessing other European markets by sea (by exploiting its seafaring prowess) or by land (and facing the task of crossingCastile andAragon territory) it is not surprising that goods were sent via the sea toEngland,Flanders,Italy and theHanseatic league towns.
Having fought toachieve and toretain independence, the nation's leadership had also a desire for fresh conquests. Added to this was a long struggle to expel theMoors that was religiously sanctioned and influenced by foreigncrusaders with a desire for martial fame. Making war onIslam seemed to the Portuguese both their natural destiny and their duty asChristians.
One important reason was the need to overcome the expensive eastern trade routes, dominated first by the republics ofVenice andGenoa in theMediterranean, and then controlled by the Ottoman Empire after theconquest of Constantinople in 1453, barring European access, and going through North Africa and the historically important combined-land-sea routes via the Red Sea. Both spice and silk were big businesses of the day, and arguably, spices which were used asmedicine,drugs and preservatives was something of a necessity—at least to those Europeans of better than modest means.
ThePortuguese economy had benefited from its connections with neighbouringMuslim states. A money economy was well enough established for 15th century workers in the countryside as well as in the towns to be paid incurrency. The agriculture of the countryside had diversified to the point where grain was imported fromMorocco (a symptom of an economy dependent upon Portugal's), while specialised crops occupied former grain-growing areas: vineyards, olives, or the sugar factories of theAlgarve, later to be reproduced inBrazil (Braudel 1985). Most of all, theAviz dynasty that had come to power in 1385 marked the semi-eclipse of the conservative land-oriented aristocracy (SeeThe Consolidation of the Monarchy in Portugal.) A constant exchange of cultural ideals made Portugal a centre of knowledge and technological development. Due to these connections with Islamic kingdoms, manymathematicians and experts in naval technology appeared in Portugal. The Portuguese government impelled this even further by taking full advantage of this and by creating several important research centres in Portugal, where Portuguese and foreign experts made several breakthroughs in the fields of mathematics, cartography and naval technology.Sagres andLagos in theAlgarve become famous as such places.
The successive expeditions and experience of the pilots led to a fairly rapid evolution of Portuguese nautical science, creating an elite ofastronomers,navigators,mathematicians andcartographers, among them stoodPedro Nunes with studies on how to determine the latitudes by the stars andJoão de Castro.
Until the 15th century, the Portuguese were limited to coastalcabotage navigation usingbarques andbarinels (ancient cargo vessels used in theMediterranean). These boats were small and fragile, with only one mast with a fixed quadrangularsail and did not have the capabilities to overcome the navigational difficulties associated with Southward oceanic exploration, as the strongwinds,shoals and strongocean currents easily overwhelmed their abilities. They are associated with the earliest discoveries, such as theMadeira Islands, theAzores, theCanaries, and to the early exploration of the north west African coast as far south asArguim in the currentMauritania.
The ship that truly launched the first phase of the Portuguese discoveries along the African coast was thecaravel, a development based on existing fishing boats. They were agile and easier to navigate, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts, with lateen triangular sails allowingluffing. The caravel benefited from a greater capacity totack. The limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but did not hinder its success. Limited crew and cargo space was acceptable, initially, because as exploratory ships, their "cargo" was what was in the explorer's feedback of a new territory, which only took up the space of one person.[9] Among the famous caravels areBerrio andCaravela Annunciation.
With the start of long oceanicsailing also large ships developed. "Nau" was the Portuguese archaic synonym for any large ship, primarilymerchant ships. Due to thepiracy that plagued the coasts, they began to be used in thenavy and were provided with cannon windows, which led to the classification of "naus" according to the power of its artillery. They were also adapted to the increasing maritime trade: from 200 tons capacity in the 15th century to 500, they become impressive in the 16th century, having usually twodecks,stern castles fore and aft, two to four masts with overlapping sails. In India travels in the sixteenth century there were also usedcarracks, large merchant ships with a high edge and three masts with square sails, that reached 2000 tons.
In the thirteenth centurycelestial navigation was already known, guided by the sun position. For celestial navigation the Portuguese, like other Europeans, usedArab navigation tools, like theastrolabe andquadrant, which they made easier and simpler. They also created thecross-staff, orcane of Jacob, for measuring at sea the height of the sun and other stars. TheSouthern Cross become a reference upon arrival at the Southern hemisphere byJoão de Santarém andPedro Escobar in 1471, starting the celestial navigation on this constellation. But the results varied throughout the year, which required corrections.
To this the Portuguese used the astronomical tables (Ephemeris), precious tools for oceanic navigation, which have experienced a remarkable diffusion in the fifteenth century. These tables revolutionized navigation, allowing to calculatelatitude. The tables of the Almanach Perpetuum, by astronomerAbraham Zacuto, published inLeiria in 1496, were used along with its improved astrolabe, byVasco da Gama andPedro Álvares Cabral.
Besides coastal exploration, Portuguese also made trips off in the ocean to gathermeteorological andoceanographic information (in these were discovered the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, andSargasso Sea). The knowledge ofwind patterns andcurrents, thetrade winds and theoceanic gyres in the Atlantic, and the determination of latitude led to the discovery of the best ocean route back from Africa: crossing the Central Atlantic to the latitude of the Azores, using the permanent favorable winds and currents that spin clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere because ofatmospheric circulation and the effect ofCoriolis, facilitating the way to Lisbon and thus enabling the Portuguese venturing increasingly farther from shore, the maneuver that became known as the"volta do mar" (English:return of the sea).
It is thought thatJehuda Cresques, son of the Catalan cartographer Abraham Cresques have been one of the notablecartographers at the service of Prince Henry. However the oldest signed Portuguese sea chart is aPortolan made byPedro Reinel in 1485 representing the Western Europe and parts of Africa, reflecting the explorations made byDiogo Cão. Reinel was also author of the first nautical chart known with an indication oflatitudes in 1504 and the first representation of aWind rose.
With his son, cartographerJorge Reinel andLopo Homem, they participated in the making of the atlas known as "Lopo Homem-Reinés Atlas" or "Miller Atlas", in 1519. They were considered the best cartographers of their time, with Emperor Charles V wanting them to work for him. In 1517 KingManuel I of Portugal handed Lopo Homem a charter giving him the privilege to certify and amend allcompass needles in vessels.
In the third phase of the former Portuguese nautical cartography, characterized by the abandonment of the influence ofPtolemy's representation of the East and more accuracy in the representation of lands and continents, stands outFernão Vaz Dourado (Goa ~ 1520 – ~ 1580), whose work has extraordinary quality and beauty, giving him a reputation as one of the best cartographers of the time. Many of his charts are large scale.
It was the genius ofPrince Henry the Navigator that coordinated and utilized all these tendencies towards expansion. Prince Henry placed at the disposal of his captains the vast resources of theOrder of Christ, of which he was the head, and the best information and most accurate instruments and maps that could be obtained. He sought to effect a meeting with the half-fabulous Christian Empire of "Prester John" by way of the "Western Nile" (theSénégal River), and, in alliance with that potentate, to crush theTurks and liberate theHoly Land. The concept of an ocean route to India appears to have originated after his death. On land he again defeated the Moors, whoattempted to retake Ceuta in 1418; but in anexpedition to Tangier, undertaken in 1437 byKing Edward (1433–1438), the Portuguese army was defeated, and could only escape destruction by surrendering as a hostagePrince Ferdinand, the king's youngest brother. Ferdinand, known as "the Constant", from the fortitude with which he endured captivity, died unransomed in 1443. By sea Prince Henry's captains continued their exploration ofAfrica and theAtlantic Ocean. In 1433Cape Bojador was rounded; in 1434 the first consignment ofslaves was brought toLisbon; and slave trading soon became the most profitable branch of Portuguese commerce, until India was reached. The Senegal was reached in 1445,Cape Verde was passed in the same year, and in 1446Álvaro Fernandes pushed on almost as far asSierra Leone. This was probably the farthest point reached before the Navigator died in 1460. Another vector of the discoveries were the voyages westward, during which the Portuguese discovered theSargasso Sea and possibly sighted the shores ofNova Scotia well before 1492.
The effort to colonize and maintain territories scattered around the entire coast of Africa and its surrounding islands, Brazil, India and Indic territories such as inSri Lanka,Malaysia,Japan,China,Indonesia andTimor was a challenge for a population of only one million.Combined with constant competition from theSpanish this led to a desire forsecrecy about every trade route and every colony. As a consequence, many documents that could reach otherEuropean countries were in fact fake documents with fake dates and faked facts, to mislead any other nation's possible efforts.
(missing data on Ormuz – from Socotra to Basra, including Muscat, Bahrain, islands in Strait of Hormuz, etc.)
in 1475 when his contract expired Rui de Sequeira had reached Cabo Santa Caterina (Cape Saint Catherine) south of the equator and the Gabon River.
and about the same time Lopo Gonçalves crossed the Equator, while Ruy de Sequeira went on to Cape St. Catherine, two degrees south of the line.
Gomes was obligated to pledge a small percentage of his profits to the royal treasury. Starting from Sierra Leone in 1469, this monetarily motivated entrepreneurial explorer spent the next five years extending Portugal's claims even further than he had been required, reaching as far south as Cape St. Catherine before his contract came up for renewal.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Almeida".The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
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