Spanish conquistadores also made significant explorations into theAmazon Jungle,Patagonia, the interior ofNorth America, and the discovery and exploration of the Pacific Ocean. Conquistadors founded numerous cities, some of them in locations with pre-existing settlements, such asCusco andMexico City.
Portugal established a route to China in the early 16th century, sending ships via the southern coast of Africa and founding numerous coastal enclaves along the route. Following the discovery in 1492 by Spaniards of the New World with Italian explorerChristopher Columbus' first voyage there and the firstcircumnavigation of the world byFerdinand Magellan in 1521, expeditions led by conquistadors in the 16th century established trading routes linking Europe with all these areas.[5]
The Age of Discovery was hallmarked in 1519, shortly after the European discovery of the Americas, when Hernán Cortés began his conquest of the Aztec Empire.[6] As the Spaniards, motivated by gold and fame, established relations and war with the Aztecs, the slow progression of conquest, erection of towns, and cultural dominance over the natives brought more Spanish troops and support to modern-day Mexico. As trading routes over the seas were established by the works of Columbus, Magellan, and Elcano, land support system was established as the trails of Cortés' conquest to the capital.
Human infections gained worldwide transmission vectors for the first time: from Africa and Eurasia to the Americas andvice versa.[7][8][9] Thespread of Old World diseases, includingsmallpox,influenza, andtyphus, led to the deaths of many indigenous inhabitants of theNew World.
In the 16th century, perhaps 240,000 Spaniards entered American ports.[10][11] By the late 16th century, gold and silver imports from the Americas provided one-fifth of Spain's total budget.[12]
Hernando de Soto and Spanish conquistadors seeing the Mississippi River for the first time.
Contrary to popular belief, many conquistadors were not trained warriors, but mostly artisans, lesser nobility or farmers seeking an opportunity to advance themselves in the New World since they had limited opportunities in Spain.[13] A few also had crude firearms known asarquebuses. Their units (compañia) would often specialize in forms of combat that required long periods of training that were too costly for informal groups. Their armies were mostly composed of Spanish troops, as well as soldiers from other parts of Europe and Africa.
Native allied troops were largely infantry equipped with armament and armour that varied geographically. Some groups consisted of young men without military experience,Catholic clergy who helped with administrative duties, and soldiers with military training. These native forces often included African slaves and Native Americans, some of whom were also slaves. They were not only made to fight in the battlefield but also to serve as interpreters, informants, servants, teachers, physicians, and scribes.India Catalina andMalintzin were Native American women slaves who were forced to work for the Spaniards.[citation needed]
Castilian law prohibited foreigners and non-Catholics from settling in the New World. However, not all conquistadors were Castilian. Many foreignersHispanicised their names and/or converted to Catholicism to serve the Castilian Crown. For example,Ioánnis Fokás (known as Juan de Fuca) was a Castilian of Greek origin who discovered thestrait that bears his name betweenVancouver Island andWashington state in 1592. German-bornNikolaus Federmann, Hispanicised as Nicolás de Federmán, was aconquistador inVenezuela and Colombia. The VenetianSebastiano Caboto was Sebastián Caboto,Georg von Speyer Hispanicised as Jorge de la Espira, Eusebio Francesco Chini Hispanicised asEusebio Kino,Wenceslaus Linck was Wenceslao Linck,Ferdinand Konščak, was Fernando Consag,Amerigo Vespucci was Américo Vespucio, and the PortugueseAleixo Garcia was known as Alejo García in the Castilian army.
The origin of many people in mixed expeditions was not always distinguished. Various occupations, such as sailors, fishermen, soldiers and nobles employed different languages (even from unrelated language groups), so that crew and settlers of Iberian empires recorded asGalicians from Spain were actually using Portuguese, Basque, Catalan, Italian andLanguedoc languages, which were wrongly identified.
Castilian law banned Spanish women from travelling to America unless they were married and accompanied by a husband. Women who travelled thus include María de Escobar,María Estrada, Marina Vélez de Ortega, Marina de la Caballería, Francisca de Valenzuela, Catalina de Salazar. Some conquistadors married Native American women or had illegitimate children.
Conquistadors praying before a battle atTenochtitlan
European young men enlisted in the army because it was one way out of poverty. Catholic priests instructed the soldiers in mathematics, writing, theology, Latin, Greek, and history, and wrote letters and official documents for them. King's army officers taught military arts. An uneducated young recruit could become a military leader, elected by their fellow professional soldiers, perhaps based on merit. Others were born intohidalgo families, and as such they were members of the Spanishnobility with some studies but without economic resources. Even some rich nobility families' members became soldiers or missionaries, but mostly not the firstborn heirs.
Catholic religious orders that participated and supported the exploration, evangelizing and pacifying, were mostlyDominicans,Carmelites,Franciscans, andJesuits, for exampleFrancis Xavier,Bartolomé de Las Casas,Eusebio Kino,Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, orGaspar da Cruz. In 1536, Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas went toOaxaca to participate in a series of discussions and debates among the Bishops of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. The two orders had very different approaches to the conversion of the Indians. The Franciscans used a method of mass conversion, sometimes baptizing many thousands of Indians in a day. This method was championed by prominent Franciscans such asToribio de Benavente.
InfanteDomHenry the Navigator of Portugal, son of KingJoão I, became the main sponsor of exploration travels. In 1415, Portugal conqueredCeuta, its first overseas colony.
Throughout the 15th century,Portuguese explorers sailed the coast of Africa, establishing trading posts fortradable commodities such as firearms, spices, silver, gold, and slaves crossing Africa and India. In 1434, the first consignment of slaves was brought toLisbon; slave trading was the most profitable branch of Portuguese commerce until the Indian subcontinent was reached. Due to the importation of the slaves as early as 1441, the kingdom of Portugal was able to establish a number of population of slaves throughout the Iberia due to its slave markets' dominance within Europe.
Before the Age of Conquest began, the continental Europe already associated darker skin color with slave-class, attributing to the slaves of African origins. This sentiment traveled with the conquistadors when they began their explorations into the Americas. The predisposition inspired a lot of the entradas to seek slaves as part of the conquest.
After his father's death in 1479,Ferdinand II of Aragón marriedIsabella I of Castile, unifying both kingdoms and creating theKingdom of Spain. He later tried to incorporate the kingdom of Portugal by marriage. Notably, Isabella supported Columbus' first voyage that launched the Spanish conquistadors into action.
The Iberian Peninsula was largely divided before the hallmark of this marriage. Five independent kingdoms: Portugal in the West, Aragon and Navarre in the East, Castile in the large center, and Granada in the south, all had independent sovereignty and competing interests. The conflict between Christians and Muslims to control Iberia, which started with North Africa's Muslim invasion in 711, lasted from the years 718 to 1492.[6] Christians, fighting for control, successfully pushed the Muslims back to Granada, which was the Muslims' last control of the Iberian Peninsula.
The marriage between Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile resulted in joint rule by the spouses of the two kingdoms, honoured as the "Catholic Monarchs" by Pope Alexander VI.[6] Together, the Crown Kings saw about the fall of Granada, victory over the Muslim minority, and expulsion or forcibly converted Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians to turn Iberia into a religious homogeneity.
The 1492 discovery of theNew World by Spain rendered desirable adelimitation of the Spanish and Portuguese spheres of exploration, thus dividing the world into two areas of exploration and colonization. This was settled by theTreaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494) which modified the delimitation authorized byPope Alexander VI in twobulls issued on 4 May 1493. The treaty gave to Portugal all lands which might be discovered east of ameridian drawn from theArctic Pole to theAntarctic, at a distance of 370 leagues (1,800 km) west ofCape Verde. Spain received the lands west of this line.
The known means of measuringlongitude were so inexact that the line of demarcation could not in practice be determined,[15] subjecting the treaty to diverse interpretations. Both the Portuguese claim to Brazil and the Spanish claim to the Moluccas depended on the treaty. It was particularly valuable to the Portuguese as a recognition of their new-found,[clarification needed] particularly when, in 1497–1499, Vasco da Gama completed the voyage to India.
Later, when Spain established a route to the Indies from the west, Portugal arranged a second treaty, theTreaty of Zaragoza.
Sevilla la Nueva, established in 1509, was the first Spanish settlement on the island ofJamaica, which the Spaniards calledIsla de Santiago. The capital was in an unhealthy location[16] and consequently moved around 1534 to the place they called "Villa de Santiago de la Vega", later namedSpanish Town, in present-daySaint Catherine Parish.[17]
Vasco Núñez de Balboa and spanish conquistadors claiming the Pacific Ocean for Spain in 1513.
After first landing on "Guanahani" inthe Bahamas, Columbus found the island which he called "Isla Juana", later named Cuba.[18] In 1511, the firstAdelantado ofCuba,Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founded the island's first Spanish settlement at Baracoa; other towns soon followed, includingHavana, which was founded in 1515.
After he pacifiedHispaniola, where the native Indians had revolted against the administration of governorNicolás de Ovando, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar led the conquest of Cuba in 1511 under orders from ViceroyDiego Columbus and was appointed governor of the island. As governor he authorized expeditions to explore lands further west, including the 1517Francisco Hernández de Córdoba expedition toYucatán.Diego Velázquez, ordered expeditions, one led by his nephew,Juan de Grijalva, to Yucatán and the Hernán Cortés expedition of 1519. He initially backed Cortés's expedition to Mexico, but because of his personal enmity for Cortés later orderedPánfilo de Narváez to arrest him. Grijalva was sent out with four ships and some 240 men.[19]
A page (folio 67), depicting indigenous Mexican warriors in theCodex Mendoza
Hernán Cortés, led an expedition (entrada) to Mexico, which included Pedro de Alvarado and Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia. The Spanish campaign against the Aztec Empire had its final victory on 13 August 1521, when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtemoc and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. The fall of Tenochtitlan marks the beginning of Spanish rule in central Mexico, and they established their capital of Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. TheSpanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most significant events in world history.
After receiving notice fromJuan de Grijalva of gold in the area of what is nowTabasco, thegovernor of Cuba,Diego de Velasquez, sent a larger force than had previously sailed, and appointed Cortés as Captain-General of the Armada. Cortés then applied all of his funds, mortgaged his estates and borrowed from merchants and friends to outfit his ships. Velásquez may have contributed to the effort, but the government of Spain offered no financial support.[22]
Pedro Arias Dávila, Governor of the IslandLa Española was descended from aconverso's family. In 1519 Dávila foundedDarién, then in 1524 he founded Panama City and moved his capital there laying the basis for the exploration of South America's west coast and the subsequentconquest of Peru. Dávila was a soldier in wars against Moors atGranada in Spain, and in North Africa, underPedro Navarro intervening in the Conquest ofOran. At the age of nearly seventy years he was made commander in 1514 by Ferdinand of the largest Spanish expedition.
Dávila made an agreement with Francisco Pizarro andDiego de Almagro, which brought about the discovery of Peru, but withdrew in 1526 for a small compensation, having lost confidence in the outcome. In 1526 Dávila was superseded as Governor of Panama byPedro de los Ríos, but became governor in 1527 ofLeón in Nicaragua.
An expedition commanded by Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what is today Panama, reaching Inca territory by 1526.[23] After one more expedition in 1529, Pizarro received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy. The approval read: "In July 1529 the queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Inca. Pizarro was named governor and captain of all conquests in New Castile."[24] TheViceroyalty of Peru was established in 1542, encompassing all Spanish holdings in South America.
Juan Díaz de Solís arrived again to the renamedRío de la Plata, literally river of the silver, after the Incan conquest. He sought a way to transport the Potosi's silver to Europe. For a long time due to the Incan silver mines,Potosí was the most important site in Colonial Spanish America, located in the currentdepartment of Potosí in Bolivia[25] and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint. The first settlement in the way was the fort ofSancti Spiritu, established in 1527 next to theParaná River. Buenos Aires was established in 1536, establishing theGovernorate of the Río de la Plata.[26]
Africans were also conquistadors in the early conquest campaigns in the Caribbean and Mexico. In the 1500s there were enslaved black and free black[clarification needed] sailors on Spanish ships crossing the Atlantic and developing new routes of conquest and trade in the Americas.[27] After 1521, the wealth and credit generated by the acquisition of the Aztec Empire funded auxiliary forces of black conquistadors that could number as many as five hundred. Spaniards recognized the value of these fighters.[citation needed]
One of the black conquistadors who fought against the Aztecs and survived the destruction of their empire wasJuan Garrido. Born in Africa, Garrido lived as a young slave in Portugal before being sold to a Spaniard and acquiring his freedom fighting in the conquests of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other islands. He fought as a free servant or auxiliary, participating in Spanish expeditions to other parts of Mexico (including Baja California) in the 1520s and 1530s. Granted a house plot in Mexico City, he raised a family there, working at times as a guard and town crier. He claimed to have been the first person to plant wheat in Mexico.[28]
Sebastian Toral was an African slave and one of the first black conquistadors in the New World. While a slave, he went with his Spanish owner on a campaign. He was able to earn his freedom during this service. He continued as a free conquistador with the Spaniards to fight the Maya in Yucatán in 1540. After the conquests he settled in the city of Mérida in the newly formed colony of Yucatán with his family. In 1574, the Spanish crown ordered that all slaves and free blacks in the colony had to pay a tribute to the crown. However, Toral wrote in protest of the tax based on his services during his conquests. The Spanish king responded that Toral need not pay the tax because of his service. Toral died a veteran of three transatlantic voyages and two Conquest expeditions, a man who had successfully petitioned the great Spanish King, walked the streets of Lisbon, Seville, and Mexico City, and helped found a capital city in the Americas.[29]
Juan Valiente was born in West Africa and purchased by Portuguese traders from African slavers. Around 1530 he was purchased by Alonso Valiente to be a slaved domestic servant in Puebla, Mexico. In 1533, Juan Valiente made a deal with his owner to allow him to be a conquistador for four years with the agreement that all earnings would come back to Alonso. He fought for many years in Chile and Peru. By 1540, he was a captain, horseman, and partner in Pedro de Valdivia's company in Chile. He was later awarded an estate in Santiago; a city he would help Valdivia found. Both Alonso and Valiente tried to contact the other to make an agreement about Valiente's manumission and send Alonso his awarded money. They were never able to reach each other and Valiente died in 1553 in the Battle of Tucapel.[30]
Other black conquistadors includeJuan García Pizarro, Pedro Fulupo, Juan Bardales, Antonio Pérez, and Juan Portugués. Juan García Pizarro was a free black ormulatto who fought in Peru. Pedro Fulupo was a black slave that fought in Costa Rica. Juan Bardales was an African slave that fought in Honduras and Panama. For his service he was granted manumission and a pension of 50 pesos. Antonio Pérez was from North Africa, and a free black. He joined the conquest in Venezuela and was made a captain. Juan Portugués fought in the conquests in Venezuela.[30]
During the 1500s, the Spaniards began to travel through and colonize North America. They were looking for gold in foreign kingdoms. By 1511, there were rumours ofundiscovered lands to the northwest ofHispaniola.Juan Ponce de León equipped three ships with at least 200 men at his own expense and set out from Puerto Rico on 4 March 1513 to Florida and surrounding coastal area. Another early motive was the search for theSeven Cities of Gold, or "Cibola", rumoured to have been built by Native Americans somewhere in the desert Southwest. In 1536Francisco de Ulloa, the first documented European to reach the Colorado River, sailed up the Gulf of California and a short distance into the river's delta.[31]
TheBasques were fur trading, fishing cod and whaling in Terranova (Labrador andNewfoundland) in 1520,[32] and in Iceland by at least the early 17th century.[33][34] They established whaling stations at the former, mainly inRed Bay,[35] and probably established some in the latter as well. In Terranova they huntedbowheads andright whales, while in Iceland[36] they appear to have only hunted the latter. The Spanish fishery in Terranova declined over conflicts between Spain and other European powers during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In 1524, the PortugueseEstêvão Gomes, who had sailed inFerdinand Magellan's fleet, explored Nova Scotia, sailing South through Maine, where he enteredNew York Harbor and theHudson River and eventually reached Florida in August 1525. As a result of his expedition, the 1529Diego Ribeiro world map outlined the East coast of North America almost perfectly.[citation needed]
The SpaniardCabeza de Vaca was the leader of theNarváez expedition of 600 men[37] that between 1527 and 1535 explored the mainland of North America. FromTampa Bay, Florida, on 15 April 1528, they marched through Florida. Traveling mostly on foot, they crossed Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and Mexican states ofTamaulipas,Nuevo León, andCoahuila. After several months of fighting native inhabitants through wilderness andswamp, the party reachedApalachee Bay with 242 men. They believed they were near other Spaniards in Mexico, but there was in fact 1500 miles of coast between them. They followed the coast westward, until they reached the mouth of theMississippi River near toGalveston Island.[citation needed]
Later they were enslaved for a few years by various Native American tribes of the upperGulf Coast. They continued through Coahuila andNueva Vizcaya; then down the Gulf of California coast to what is nowSinaloa, Mexico, over a period of roughly eight years. They spent years enslaved by the Ananarivo of the LouisianaGulf Islands. Later they were enslaved by theHans, theCapoques and others. In 1534 they escaped into the American interior, contacting otherNative American tribes along the way. Only four men, Cabeza de Vaca,Andrés Dorantes de Carranza,Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, and anenslaved MoroccanBerber namedEstevanico, survived and escaped to reachMexico City. In 1539, Estevanico was one of four men who accompaniedMarcos de Niza as a guide in search of the fabledSeven Cities of Cibola, precedingCoronado. When the others were struck ill, Estevanico continued alone, opening up what is now New Mexico and Arizona. He was killed at theZuni village ofHawikuh in present-day New Mexico.[citation needed]
A map showing thede Soto route through the Southeast (1539–1542)
The viceroy ofNew SpainAntonio de Mendoza, for whom is named theCodex Mendoza, commissioned several expeditions to explore and establish settlements in the northern lands of New Spain in 1540–1542.Francisco Vázquez de Coronado reachedQuivira in central Kansas.Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explored the western coastline ofAlta California in 1542–1543. Vázquez de Coronado's 1540–1542 expedition began as a search for the fabled Cities of Gold, but after learning from natives in New Mexico of a large river to the west, he sentGarcía López de Cárdenas to lead a small contingent to find it. With the guidance of Hopi Indians, Cárdenas and his men became the first outsiders to see the Grand Canyon.[38] However, Cárdenas was reportedly unimpressed with the canyon, assuming the width of the Colorado River at six feet (1.8 m) and estimating 300-foot-tall (91 m) rock formations to be the size of a person. After unsuccessfully attempting to descend to the river, they left the area, defeated by the difficult terrain and torrid weather.[39]
In 1540,Hernando de Alarcón and his fleet reached the mouth of theColorado River, intending to provide additional supplies to Coronado's expedition. Alarcón may have sailed the Colorado as far upstream as the present-day California–Arizona border. However, Coronado never reached the Gulf of California, and Alarcón eventually gave up and left.Melchior Díaz reached the delta in the same year, intending to establish contact with Alarcón, but the latter was already gone by the time of Díaz's arrival. Díaz named the Colorado RiverRío del Tizón, while the nameColorado ("Red River") was first applied to a tributary of the Gila River.
In 1540, expeditions under Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz visited the area ofYuma and immediately saw the natural crossing of the Colorado River from Mexico to California by land as an ideal spot for a city, as the Colorado River narrows to slightly under 1000 feet wide in one small point. Later military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at theYuma Crossing includeJuan Bautista de Anza's (1774).
In 1565, the marriage between Luisa de Abrego, a free black domestic servant from Seville, and Miguel Rodríguez, a white Segovian conquistador, in St. Augustine (Spanish Florida) is the first known and recorded Christian marriage anywhere in the continental United States.[40]
TheChamuscado and Rodríguez Expedition explored New Mexico in 1581–1582. They explored a part of the route visited by Coronado inNew Mexico and other parts in the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542.
The viceroy of New Spain DonDiego García Sarmiento sent another expedition to explore, conquer, and colonize the Californias in 1648.
Asia and Oceania colonization, and Pacific exploration
In 1525, KingCharles I of Spain ordered an expedition led by friarGarcía Jofre de Loaísa to go to Asia by trying to accomplished the task first set byChristopher Columbus in 1492 and thenFerdinand Magellan in 1521, through a western passage to the Pacific ocean, to colonize theMaluku Islands (known as the "Spice Islands", now part of present-dayIndonesia), thus crossing first the Atlantic and then the Pacific oceans. In 1542 and 1543,Ruy López de Villalobos and his crew sailed to the Philippines to find the islands where Magellan had landed in 1521, and established trade settlements in the region. From 1546 to 1547Francis Xavier worked in Maluku among the peoples ofAmbon Island,Ternate, andMorotai, and laid the foundations for the Christian religion there.
In 1564, a quest led byMiguel López de Legazpi was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain,Luís de Velasco, to explore the Maluku Islands where Magellan and Villalobos had landed in 1521 and 1543, respectively. The expedition was ordered by KingPhilip II of Spain, after whom thePhilippines had earlier been named by Villalobos. After winning a series of conflict between the native tribes of the Philippines and the Spaniards. López de Legazpi established settlements in the northern and central parts of the Philippines, and thePacific Islands in 1571 and he became the first governor-general of theSpanish East Indies.
Hagåtña (Agaña) is the capital of the United States territory ofGuam, ancient city of the Spanish possessions in Oceania.
The Spaniards settled and took control ofTidore in 1603 to trade spices and counter Dutch encroachment in the archipelago of Maluku. The Spanish presence lasted until 1663, when the settlers and military were moved back to the Philippines. Part of the Ternatean population chose to leave with the Spaniards, settling near Manila in what later became themunicipality of Ternate. A Pacific trade known as theManila Galleons was established between the Philippines andMexico. Spanishgalleons traveled across the Pacific Ocean betweenAcapulco in Mexico and Manila for almost three centuries.
Areas of what are now Alaska and British Columbia explored by Spain
In 1542,Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo traversed the coast of California and named many of its features. In 1601,Sebastián Vizcaíno mapped the coastline in detail and gave new names to many features.Martín de Aguilar, lost from the expedition led by Sebastián Vizcaíno, explored the Pacific coast as far north asCoos Bay in present-dayOregon.[41]
Since the 1543 arrival to Kagoshima (Kyushu) of a group of Portuguese traders, Spain tried to send missionaries to Japan in the 17th century. This group of Jesuit missionaries included Spaniards Cosme de Torres and Juan Fernandez.
In 1611, Sebastián Vizcaíno surveyed the east coast of Japan and from the year of 1611 to 1614 and he was ambassador of King Felipe III in the Spanish East Indies in Southeast Asia, only to return to Acapulco in the year of 1614. In 1608, he was sent to search for two mythical islands called Rico de Oro (island of gold) and Rico de Plata (island of silver).[42]
Bronze figure of a Portuguese soldier made by Benin culture in West Africa around 1600Portuguese expansion in Africa and the Middle East (1415–1801)[43]Two brass plates depicting a bearded Portuguese soldier before 1500 on top and Benin warriors at the bottom
As a seafaring people in the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Portuguese became natural leaders of exploration during the Middle 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 and Aragon territory, it is not surprising that goods were sent via the sea to England,Flanders, Italy, and theHanseatic League towns.[citation needed]
One important reason was the need for alternatives to the expensive eastern trade routes that followed theSilk Road. Those routes were dominated first by the republics ofVenice andGenoa, and then by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest ofConstantinople in 1453. The Ottomans barred European access. For decades the Spanish Netherlands ports produced more revenue than the colonies since all goods brought from Spain, Mediterranean possessions, and the colonies were sold directly there to neighbouring European countries: wheat, olive oil, wine, silver, spice, wool, and silk were big businesses.[citation needed]
The gold brought home fromGuinea stimulated the commercial energy of the Portuguese, and its European neighbours, especially Spain. Apart from their religious and scientific aspects, these voyages of discovery were highly profitable.
They had benefited from Guinea's connections with neighbouring Iberians and north African Muslim states. Due to these connections,mathematicians and experts in naval technology appeared in Portugal. Portuguese and foreign experts made several breakthroughs in the fields of mathematics, cartography, and naval technology.
UnderAfonso V (1443–1481), surnamed the African, theGulf of Guinea was explored as far as Cape St. Catherine (Cabo Santa Caterina),[44][45][46] and three expeditions in 1458, 1461, and 1471, were sent toMorocco; in 1471 Arzila (Asila) and Tangier were captured from the Moors. Portuguese explored the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans before the Iberian Union period (1580–1640). UnderJohn II (1481–1495) the fortress ofSão Jorge da Mina, the modern Elmina, was founded for the protection of the Guinea trade.Diogo Cão, or Can, discovered theCongo in 1482 and reachedCape Cross in 1486.
In 1483, Diogo Cão sailed up the unchartedCongo River, finding Kongo villages and becoming the first European to encounter theKongo Kingdom.[47]
On 7 May 1487, two Portuguese envoys,Pero da Covilhã andAfonso de Paiva, were sent traveling secretly overland to gather information on a possible sea route to India, but also to inquire about Prester John. Covilhã managed to reach Ethiopia. Although well received, he was forbidden to depart.Bartolomeu Dias crossed theCape of Good Hope in 1488, thus proving that the Indian Ocean was accessible by sea.
Álvaro Caminha, in Cape Verde islands, who received the land as a grant from the crown, established a colony with Jews forced to stay onSão Tomé Island.Príncipe island was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult; however, the Jewish settlement was a success and their descendants settled many parts of Brazil.[54]
1630 map of the Portuguese fort and the city ofMalaccaPortuguese in the Persian Gulf (1507–1750).
From their peaceful settlings in secured islands along Atlantic Ocean (archipelagos and islands such as Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde, São Tomé, Príncipe, and Annobón) they travelled to coastal enclaves trading almost every goods of African and Islander areas like spices (hemp, opium, garlic), wine, dry fish, dried meat, toasted flour, leather, fur of tropical animals and seals, whaling ... but mainly ivory, black slaves, gold and hardwoods. They maintaining trade ports in Congo (M'banza), Angola, Natal (City of Cape Good Hope, in Portuguese "Cidade do Cabo da Boa Esperança"), Mozambique (Sofala), Tanzania (Kilwa Kisiwani), Kenya (Malindi) to Somalia. The Portuguese following the maritime trade routes of Muslims and Chinese traders, sailed the Indian Ocean. They were onMalabar Coast since 1498 whenVasco da Gama reached Anjadir, Kannut, Kochi, andCalicut.
Da Gama in 1498 marked the beginning of Portuguese influence in Indian Ocean. In 1503 or 1504,Zanzibar became part of thePortuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan in exchange for peace.[55]: page: 99 Zanzibar remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries. It initially became part of the Portuguese province of Arabia and Ethiopia and was administered by a governor general. Around 1571, Zanzibar became part of the western division of the Portuguese empire and was administered from Mozambique.[56]: 15 It appears, however, that the Portuguese did not closely administer Zanzibar. The first English ship to visit Unguja, theEdward Bonaventure in 1591, found that there was no Portuguese fort or garrison. The extent of their occupation was a trade depot where produce was purchased and collected for shipment to Mozambique. "In other respects, the affairs of the island were managed by the local 'king,' the predecessor of the Mwinyi Mkuu of Dunga."[57]: 81 This hands-off approach ended when Portugal established a fort onPemba around 1635 in response to the Sultan of Mombasa's slaughter of Portuguese residents several years earlier.
After 1500: West and East Africa, Asia, and the Pacific
Cidade de Congo de São Salvador was founded some time after the arrival of the Portuguese in the pre-existing capital of the local dynasty ruling at that time (1483), which is a city of the Luezi River Valley.
WhenAfonso I of Kongo was established theRoman Catholic Church in Kongo kingdom. By 1516, Afonso I sent various of his children and nobles to Europe to study, including his son Henrique Kinu a Mvemba, who was elevated to the status of bishop in 1518. Afonso I wrote a series of letters to the Portuguese kingsManuel I andJoão III of Portugal concerning to the behavior of the Portuguese in his country and their role in the developingslave trade, complaining of Portuguese complicity in purchasing illegally enslaved people and the connections between Afonso's men, Portuguese mercenaries in Kongo's service and the capture and sale of slaves by Portuguese.[58]
The aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India werePortuguese India. The period of European contact ofCeylon began with the arrival of Portuguese soldiers andexplorers of the expedition ofLourenço de Almeida, the son ofFrancisco de Almeida, in 1505.[59] The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city ofColombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas and inland. In a series of military conflicts, political manoeuvres and conquests, the Portuguese extended their control over theSinhalese kingdoms, includingJaffna (1591),[60]Raigama (1593),Sitawaka (1593), andKotte (1594,)[61] but the aim of unifying the entire island under Portuguese control failed.[62] The Portuguese, led byPedro Lopes de Sousa, launched a full-scale military invasion of theKingdom of Kandy in theDanture campaign of 1594. The invasion was a disaster for the Portuguese, with their entire army wiped out by Kandyanguerrilla warfare.[63][64]
More envoys were sent in 1507 to Ethiopia, afterSocotra was taken by the Portuguese. As a result of this mission, and facing Muslim expansion, Queen RegentEleni of Ethiopia sent ambassadorMateus to KingManuel I of Portugal and to the Pope, in search of a coalition. Mateus reached Portugal via Goa, having returned with a Portuguese embassy, along with priestFrancisco Álvares in 1520. Francisco Álvares book, which included the testimony of Covilhã, theVerdadeira Informação das Terras do Preste João das Indias ("A True Relation of the Lands of Prester John of the Indies") was the first direct account of Ethiopia, greatly increasing European knowledge at the time, as it was presented to the pope, published and quoted byGiovanni Battista Ramusio.[65]
In 1509, the Portuguese under Francisco de Almeida won a critical victory in theBattle of Diu against a jointMamluk and Arab fleet sent to counteract their presence in theArabian Sea. The retreat of the Mamluks and Arabs enabled the Portuguese to implement their strategy of controlling the Indian Ocean.[66]
Afonso de Albuquerque set sail in April 1511 from Goa to Malacca with a force of 1,200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships.[67] Following hiscapture of the city on 24 August 1511, it became a strategic base for Portuguese expansion in the East Indies; consequently the Portuguese were obliged to build a fort they namedA Famosa to defend it. That same year, the Portuguese, desiring a commercial alliance, sent an ambassador,Duarte Fernandes, to theKingdom of Ayutthaya, where he was well received by KingRamathibodi II.[68] In 1526, a large force of Portuguese ships under the command ofPedro Mascarenhas was sent to conquerBintan, where SultanMahmud was based. Earlier expeditions byDiogo Dias andAfonso de Albuquerque had explored that part of the Indian Ocean, and discovered several islands new to Europeans. Mascarenhas served as Captain-Major of the Portuguese colony of Malacca from 1525 to 1526, and asviceroy of Goa, capital of the Portuguese possessions in Asia, from 1554 until his death in 1555. He was succeeded byFrancisco Barreto, who served with the title of "governor-general".[69]
To enforce a trade monopoly,Muscat, andHormuz in thePersian Gulf, were seized byAfonso de Albuquerque in 1507, and in 1507 and 1515, respectively. He also entered intodiplomatic relations withPersia. In 1513 while trying to conquerAden, an expedition led by Albuquerque cruised theRed Sea inside theBab al-Mandab, and sheltered atKamaran island. In 1521, a force underAntónio Correia conqueredBahrain, ushering in a period of almost eighty years of Portuguese rule of the Persian Gulf.[70] In the Red Sea,Massawa was the most northerly point frequented by the Portuguese until 1541, when a fleet underEstevão da Gama penetrated as far asSuez.
In 1511, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the city ofGuangzhou by the sea, and they settled on its port for a commercial monopoly of trade with other nations. They were later expelled from their settlements, but they were allowed the use ofMacau, which was also occupied in 1511, and to be appointed in 1557 as the base for doing business with Guangzhou. The quasi-monopoly on foreign trade in the region would be maintained by the Portuguese until the early seventeenth century, when the Spanish and Dutch arrived.
By 1619, several Ming officials who supported the use of the new technology were Christian converts of theJesuit mission, such as the influential ministerXu Guangqi andSun Yuanhua inShandong. TheTianqi Emperor approved in having a company of Portuguese gunners approved in 1620 only to have them returned the way they had come in 1621, owing to local resistance upon various pretexts. Afterthe fall ofGuangning (now Beizhen inLiaoning),Ignatius Sun's extremely thorough memorials on the superiority of Western cannon andfortification attracted attention at the highest levels of the War Ministry. TheTianqi Emperor permitted a second Portuguese expedition to reach his capital in the spring of 1622.The first pieces produced there could throw a forty-pound shot. In 1623 somehongyipao were deployed to China's northern frontier atSun's request under generals such asSun Chengzong andYuan Chonghuan. They were used to repelNurhaci at theBattle of Ningyuan in 1626.
The PortugueseDiogo Rodrigues explored the Indian Ocean in 1528, he explored the islands ofRéunion, Mauritius, andRodrigues, naming it theMascarene orMascarenhas Islands, after his countryman Pedro Mascarenhas, who had been there before. The Portuguese presence disrupted and reorganised the Southeast Asian trade, and in eastern Indonesia they introduced Christianity.[71] After thePortuguese annexedMalacca in August 1511, one Portuguese diary noted "it is thirty years since they becameMoors"–[72] giving a sense of the competition then taking place between Islamic and European influences in the region. Afonso de Albuquerque learned of the route to theBanda Islands and other "Spice Islands", and sent an exploratory expedition of three vessels under the command ofAntónio de Abreu, Simão Afonso Bisigudo andFrancisco Serrão.[73] On the return trip,Francisco Serrão was shipwrecked at Hitu Island (northernAmbon) in 1512. There he established ties with the local ruler who was impressed with his martial skills. The rulers of the competing island states ofTernate andTidore also sought Portuguese assistance and the newcomers were welcomed in the area as buyers of supplies and spices during a lull in the regional trade due to the temporary disruption ofJavanese andMalay sailings to the area following the 1511 conflict in Malacca. The spice trade soon revived but the Portuguese would not be able to fully monopolize nor disrupt this trade.[74]
Allying himself with Ternate's ruler, Serrão constructed a fortress on that tiny island and served as the head of amercenary band of Portuguese seamen under the service of one of the two local feuding sultans who controlled most of thespice trade. Such an outpost far from Europe generally only attracted the most desperate and avaricious, and as such the feeble attempts at Christianization only strained relations with Ternate's Muslim ruler.[74] Serrão urgedFerdinand Magellan to join him in Maluku, and sent the explorer information about the Spice Islands. Both Serrão and Magellan, however, perished before they could meet one another, with Magellan dying in battle in Macatan.[74] In 1535 Sultan Tabariji was deposed and sent to Goa in chains, where he converted to Christianity and changed his name to Dom Manuel. After being declared innocent of the charges against him he was sent back to reassume his throne, but died en route at Malacca in 1545. He had however, already bequeathed the island ofAmbon to his Portuguese godfather Jordão de Freitas. Following the murder of Sultan Hairun at the hands of the Europeans, the Ternateans expelled the hated foreigners in 1575 after a five-year siege.
The Portuguese first landed inAmbon in 1513, but it only became the new centre for their activities in Maluku following the expulsion from Ternate. European power in the region was weak and Ternate became an expanding, fiercely Islamic and anti-European state under the rule of Sultan Baab Ullah (r. 1570–1583) and his son Sultan Said.[75] The Portuguese in Ambon, however, were regularly attacked by native Muslims on the island's northern coast, in particular Hitu which had trading and religious links with major port cities on Java's north coast. Altogether, the Portuguese never had the resources or manpower to control the local trade in spices, and failed in attempts to establish their authority over the crucial Banda Islands, the nearby centre of most nutmeg and mace production. Following Portuguese missionary work, there have been large Christian communities in eastern Indonesia particularly among the Ambonese.[75] By the 1560s there were 10,000 Catholics in the area, mostly on Ambon, and by the 1590s there were 50,000 to 60,000, although most of the region surrounding Ambon remained Muslim.[75]
Mauritius was visited by the Portuguese between 1507 (by Diogo Fernandes Pereira) and 1513. The Portuguese took no interest in the isolatedMascarene islands. Their main African base was inMozambique, and therefore the Portuguese navigators preferred to use theMozambique Channel to go to India. TheComoros at the north proved to be a more practical port of call.
Brazil was claimed by Portugal in April 1500, on the arrival of the Portuguese fleet commanded byPedro Álvares Cabral.[80] The Portuguese encountered natives divided into several tribes. The first settlement was founded in 1532.Some European countries, especially France, were also sending excursions to Brazil to extractbrazilwood. Worried about the foreign incursions and hoping to find mineral riches, the Portuguese crown decided to send large missions to take possession of the land and combat the French. In 1530, an expedition led byMartim Afonso de Sousa arrived to patrol the entire coast, ban the French, and to create the first colonial villages, like São Vicente, at the coast. As time passed, the Portuguese created the Viceroyalty of Brazil. Colonization was effectively begun in 1534, whenDomJoão III divided the territory into twelve hereditary captaincies,[81][82] a model that had previously been used successfully in the colonization of theMadeira Island, but this arrangement proved problematic and in 1549 the king assigned aGovernor-General to administer the entire colony,[82][83]Tomé de Sousa.
The Portuguese frequently relied on the help ofJesuits and European adventurers who lived together with the aborigines and knew their languages and culture, such asJoão Ramalho, who lived among the Guaianaz tribe near today's São Paulo, andDiogo Álvares Correia, who lived among the Tupinamba natives near today's Salvador de Bahia.
The Portuguese assimilated some of the native tribes[84] while others were enslaved or exterminated in long wars or by European diseases to which they had no immunity.[85][86] By the mid-16th century, sugar had become Brazil's most important export[87][88] and the Portuguese imported African slaves[89][90] to produce it.
António Raposo Tavares, abandeirante, led in 1648–1652 the largest continental expedition made in the Americas until then, from São Paulo to the east, near the Andes (via Mato Grosso, theParaguay River, the Grande River, theMamoré River, and theMadeira River), and to the Amazon River and the Atlantic.
The Dutch sackedBahia in 1604, and temporarily captured the capitalSalvador.
In the 1620s and 1630s, theDutch West India Company established many trade posts or colonies. The Spanish silver fleet, which carried silver from Spanish colonies to Spain, were seized byPiet Heyn in 1628. In 1629Suriname andGuyana were established.[clarification needed] In 1630 the West India Company conquered part of Brazil, and the colony ofNew Holland (capital Mauritsstad, present-dayRecife) was founded.
John Maurice of Nassau prince ofNassau-Siegen, was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1636 by theDutch West India Company on recommendation of Frederick Henry. He landed atRecife, the port ofPernambuco and the chief stronghold of the Dutch, in January 1637. By a series of successful expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions fromSergipe on the south toSão Luís de Maranhão in the north.
In 1624, most of the inhabitants of the townPernambuco (Recife), in the future Dutch colony of Brazil wereSephardic Jews who had been banned by thePortuguese Inquisition to this town at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. As some years afterward the Dutch in Brazil appealed to Holland for craftsmen of all kinds, many Jews went to Brazil; about 600 Jews left Amsterdam in 1642, accompanied by two distinguished scholars –Isaac Aboab da Fonseca andMoses Raphael de Aguilar. In the struggle between Holland and Portugal for the possession of Brazil the Dutch were supported by the Jews.
From 1630 to 1654, the Dutch set up more permanently in theNordeste and controlled a long stretch of the coast most accessible to Europe, without, however, penetrating the interior. But the colonists of theDutch West India Company in Brazil were in a constant state of siege, in spite of the presence in Recife ofJohn Maurice of Nassau as governor. After several years of open warfare, the Dutch formally withdrew in 1661.
Before the Iberian Union period (1580–1640), Spain tried to prevent Portuguese expansion into Brazil with the1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. After the Iberian Union period, theEastern Strip were settled by Portugal. This was disputed in vain, and in 1777 Spain confirmed Portuguese sovereignty.
In 1578, the SaadisultanAhmad al-Mansur, contemporary of QueenElizabeth I, defeated Portugal at theBattle of Ksar El Kebir, beating the young kingSebastian I, a devout Christian who believed in the crusade to defeat Islam. Portugal had landed in North Africa afterAbu Abdallah asked him to help recover the Saadian throne. Abu Abdallah's uncle, Abd Al-Malik, had taken it from Abu Abdallah with Ottoman Empire support. The defeat of Abu Abdallah and the death of Portugal's king led to the end of the PortugueseAviz dynasty and later to the integration of Portugal and its empire at theIberian Union for 60 years under Sebastian's unclePhilip II of Spain. Philip was married to his relativeMary I cousin of his father, due to this, Philip wasKing of England andIreland[95] in adynastic union with Spain.
Álvaro de Bazán, Spanish admiral famous for never having lost a battle.
As a result of the Iberian Union, Phillip II's enemies became Portugal's enemies, such as the Dutch in theDutch–Portuguese War, England or France. TheEnglish-Spanish wars of 1585–1604 were clashes not only in English and Spanish ports or on the sea between them but also in and around the present-day territories of Florida, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Panama. War with the Dutch led to invasions of many countries in Asia, including Ceylon and commercial interests in Japan, Africa (Mina), and South America. Even though the Portuguese were unable to capture the entire island of Ceylon, they were able to control its coastal regions for a considerable time.
From 1580 to 1670 mostly, theBandeirantes in Brazil focused on slave hunting, then from 1670 to 1750 they focused on mineral wealth. Through these expeditions and theDutch–Portuguese War,Colonial Brazil expanded from the small limits of theTordesilhas Line to roughly the same borders as current Brazil.
The combined Spanish and Portuguese empires during theIberian Union (1580–1640)
In the 17th century, taking advantage of this period of Portuguese weakness, the Dutch occupied many Portuguese territories in Brazil.John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1637 by theDutch West India Company. He landed at Recife, the port of Pernambuco, in January 1637. In a series of expeditions, he gradually expanded from Sergipe on the south to São Luís de Maranhão in the north. He likewise conquered the Portuguese possessions ofElmina Castle, Saint Thomas, andLuanda and Angola. The Dutch intrusion into Brazil was long lasting and troublesome to Portugal. TheSeventeen Provinces captured a large portion of the Brazilian coast including the provinces ofBahia, Pernambuco,Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte,Ceará, andSergipe, while Dutch privateers sacked Portuguese ships in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The large area of Bahia and its city, the strategically important Salvador, was recovered quickly by an Iberian military expedition in 1625.
After the dissolution of the Iberian Union in 1640, Portugal re-established authority over its lost territories including remaining Dutch controlled areas. The other smaller, less developed areas were recovered in stages and relieved of Dutch piracy in the next two decades by local resistance and Portuguese expeditions.
Spanish Formosa was established in Taiwan, first by Portugal in 1544 and later renamed and repositioned by Spain inKeelung. It became a natural defence site for the Iberian Union. The colony was designed to protect Spanish and Portuguese trade from interference by the Dutch base in the south of Taiwan. The Spanish colony was short-lived due to the unwillingness of Spanish colonial authorities inManila to defend it.
While technological superiority, military strategy and forging local alliances played an important role in the victories of the conquistadors in the Americas, their conquest was greatly facilitated by Old World diseases:smallpox,chicken pox,diphtheria,typhus,influenza,measles,malaria, andyellow fever. The diseases were carried to distant tribes and villages. This typical path of disease transmission moved much faster than the conquistadors, so that as they advanced, resistance weakened.[citation needed]Epidemic disease is commonly cited as the primary reason for the population collapse. The American natives lackedimmunity to these infections.[96]
WhenFrancisco Coronado and the Spaniards first explored theRio Grande Valley in 1540, in modern New Mexico, some of the chieftains complained of new diseases that affected their tribes.Cabeza de Vaca reported that in 1528, when the Spanish landed in Texas, "half the natives died from a disease of the bowels and blamed us".[97] When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Incan empire, a large portion of the population had already died in asmallpox epidemic. The first epidemic was recorded in 1529 and killed the emperorHuayna Capac, the father ofAtahualpa. Further epidemics of smallpox broke out in 1533, 1535, 1558 and 1565, as well as typhus in 1546, influenza in 1558, diphtheria in 1614 and measles in 1618.[98]: 133
Moctezuma Xocoyotzin under the control of the conquistadors
Recently developedtree-ring evidence shows that the illness which reduced the population in Aztec Mexico was aided by a great drought in the 16th century, and which continued through the arrival of the Spanish conquest.[99][100] This has added to the body of epidemiological evidence indicating thatcocoliztli epidemics (Nahuatl name forviral haemorrhagic fever) were indigenous fevers transmitted by rodents and aggravated by the drought. Thecocoliztli epidemic from 1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population. The cocoliztli epidemic from 1576 to 1578 killed an estimated, additional 2 to 2.5 million people, or about 50% of the remainder.[101][102]
The American researcherHenry Dobyns said that 95% of the total population of the Americas died in the first 130 years,[103] and that 90% of the population of the Inca Empire died in epidemics.[104] Cook and Borah of theUniversity of California at Berkeley believe that the indigenous population inMexico declined from 25.2 million in 1518 to 700,000 people in 1623, less than 3% of the original population.[105]
The conquistadors found new animal species, but reports confused these with monsters such as giants, dragons, or ghosts.[106] Stories about castaways on mysterious islands were common.
An early motive for exploration was the search for Cipango, the place where gold was born. Cathay and Cibao were later goals. TheSeven Cities of Gold, or "Cibola", was rumoured to have been built by Native Americans somewhere in the desert Southwest.[107][108] As early as 1611, Sebastián Vizcaíno surveyed the east coast of Japan and searched for two mythical islands called Rico de Oro ('Rich in Gold') and Rico de Plata ('Rich in Silver').
SirWalter Raleigh and some Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French and Portuguese expeditions were looking for the wonderful Guiana empire that gave its name to the present day countries ofthe Guianas.
Several expeditions went in search of these fabulous places, but returned empty-handed, or brought less gold than they had hoped. They found otherprecious metals such as silver, which was particularly abundant inPotosí, in modern-day Bolivia. They discovered new routes,ocean currents,trade winds, crops, spices and other products. In the sail era knowledge of winds and currents was essential, for example, theAgulhas current long prevented Portuguese sailors from reaching India. Various places in Africa and the Americas have been named after the imagined cities made of gold, rivers of gold and precious stones.
Shipwrecked offSanta Catarina island in present-day Brazil,Aleixo Garcia living among the Guaranís heard tales of a "White King" who lived to the west, ruling cities of incomparable riches and splendour. Marching westward in 1524 to find the land of the "White King", he was the first European to cross South America from the East. He discovered a great waterfall[clarification needed] and theChaco Plain. He managed to penetrate the outer defences of theInca Empire on the hills of theAndes, in present-dayBolivia, the first European to do so, eight years before Francisco Pizarro.Garcia looted a booty of silver. When the army ofHuayna Cápac arrived to challenge him, Garcia then retreated with the spoils, only to be assassinated by his Indian allies nearSan Pedro on theParaguay River.
The Spanish discovery of what they thought at that time was India, and the constant competition of Portugal and Spain led to a desire for secrecy about every trade route and every colony. As a consequence, many documents that could reach other European countries included fake dates and faked facts, to mislead any other nation's possible efforts. For example, theIsland of California refers to a famouscartographic error propagated on many maps during the 17th and 18th centuries, despite contradictory evidence from various explorers. The legend was initially infused with the idea that California was a terrestrial paradise, peopled by blackAmazons.
The tendency to secrecy and falsification of dates casts doubts about the authenticity of manyprimary sources. Several historians[clarification needed] have hypothesized that John II may have known of the existence of Brazil and North America as early as 1480, thus explaining his wish in 1494 at the signing of theTreaty 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.[clarification needed] Unfortunately, a fire following the1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed nearly all of the library's records, but an extra copy[clarification needed] available in Goa was transferred to Lisbon's 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."[112]
Ferdinand II King of Aragon and Regent of Castile, incorporated the American territories into the Kingdom of Castile and then withdrew the authority granted to governor Christopher Columbus and the first conquistadors. He established direct royal control with theCouncil of the Indies, the most important administrative organ of theSpanish Empire, both in the Americas and in Asia. After unifying Castile, Ferdinand introduced to Castile many laws, regulations and institutions such as theInquisition, that were typical in Aragon. These laws were later used in the new lands.
TheLaws of Burgos, created in 1512–1513, were the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of settlers in Spanish colonial America, particularly with regards toNative Americans. They forbade the maltreatment of indigenous people, and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism.
The evolving structure of colonial government was not fully formed until the third quarter of the 16th century; however,los Reyes Católicos designatedJuan Rodríguez de Fonseca to study the problems related to the colonization process. Rodríguez de Fonseca effectively became minister for the Indies and laid the foundations for the creation of a colonial bureaucracy, combining legislative, executive and judicial functions. Rodríguez de Fonseca presided over the council, which contained a number of members of theCouncil of Castile (Consejo de Castilla), and formed aJunta de Indias of about eight counsellors. EmperorCharles V was already using the term "Council of the Indies" in 1519.
The Crown reserved for itself important tools of intervention. The "capitulacion" clearly stated that the conquered territories belonged to the Crown, not to the individual. On the other hand,concessions allowed the Crown to guide the Companies conquests to certain territories, depending on their interests. In addition, the leader of the expedition received clear instructions about their duties towards the army, the native population, the type of military action. A written report about the results was mandatory. The army had a royal official, the "veedor". The "veedor" or notary, ensured they complied with orders and instructions and preserved the King's share of the booty.
In practice the Capitán had almost unlimited power. Besides the Crown and the conquistador, they were very important the backers who were charged with anticipating the money to the Capitán and guarantee payment of obligations.
Armed groups sought supplies and funds in various ways. Financing was requested from the King, delegates of the Crown, the nobility, rich merchants or the troops themselves. The more professional campaigns were funded by the Crown. Campaigns were sometimes initiated by inexperienced governors, because inSpanish Colonial America, offices were bought or handed to relatives or cronies. Sometimes, an expedition of conquistadors were a group of influential men who had recruited and equipped their fighters, by promising a share of the booty.
Aside from the explorations predominated by Spain and Portugal, other parts of Europe also aided in colonization of the New World. King Charles I was documented to receive loans from the GermanWelser family to help finance the Venezuela expedition for gold.[6] With numerous armed groups aiming to launch explorations well into the Age of Conquest, the Crown became indebted, allowing opportunity for foreign European creditors to finance the explorations.
The conquistador borrowed as little as possible, preferring to invest all their belongings. Sometimes, every soldier brought his own equipment and supplies, other times the soldiers received gear as an advance from the conquistador.
ThePinzón brothers, seamen of theTinto–Odiel participated in Columbus's undertaking.[113] They also supported the project economically, supplying money from their personal fortunes.[114]
Sponsors included governments, the king, viceroys, and local governors backed by rich men. The contribution of each individual conditioned the subsequent division of the booty, receiving a portion the pawn (lancero, piquero, alabardero, rodelero) and twice a man on horseback (caballero) owner of a horse.[clarification needed] Sometimes part of the booty consisted of women and/or slaves. Even the dogs, important weapons of war in their own right, were in some cases rewarded. The division of the booty produced conflicts, such as the one between Pizarro and Almagro.
The division of the booty produced bloody conflicts, such as the one between Pizarro and De Almagro. After present-day Peruvian territories fell to Spain,Francisco Pizarro dispatchedEl Adelantado,Diego de Almagro, before they became enemies to the Inca Empire's northern city ofQuito to claim it. Their fellow conquistadorSebastián de Belalcázar, who had gone forth without Pizarro's approval, had already reached Quito. The arrival ofPedro de Alvarado from the lands known today asMexico in search of Inca gold further complicated the situation for De Almagro and Belalcázar. De Alvarado left South America in exchange for monetary compensation from Pizarro. De Almagro was executed in 1538, byHernando Pizarro's orders. In 1541, supporters ofDiego Almagro II assassinated Francisco Pizarro in Lima. In 1546, De Belalcázar ordered the execution ofJorge Robledo, who governed a neighbouring province in yet another land-related vendetta. De Belalcázar was tried in absentia, convicted and condemned for killing Robledo and for other offenses pertaining to his involvement in the wars between armies of conquistadors.Pedro de Ursúa was killed by his subordinateLope de Aguirre who crowned himself king while searching forEl Dorado. In 1544, Lope de Aguirre and Melchor Verdugo (aconverso Jew) were at the side of Peru's first viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela, who had arrived from Spain with orders to implement theNew Laws and suppress theencomiendas.Gonzalo Pizarro,another brother of Francisco Pizarro, rose in revolt, killed viceroyBlasco Núñez Vela and most of his Spanish army in the battle in 1546, and Gonzalo attempted to have himself crowned king.
The Emperor commissioned bishopPedro de la Gasca to restore the peace, naming him president of theAudiencia and providing him with unlimited authority to punish and pardon the rebels. Gasca repealed theNew Laws, the issue around which the rebellion had been organized. Gasca convincedPedro de Valdivia, explorer of Chile,Alonso de Alvarado another searcher forEl Dorado, and others that if he were unsuccessful, a royal fleet of 40 ships and 15,000 men was preparing to sail fromSeville in June.[clarification needed]
Though vastly outnumbered on foreign and unknown territory, Conquistadors had several military advantages over the native peoples they conquered, military strategies and tactics that were mostly learned from the 781 year war of theReconquista.
A group of 16th century conquistadors that participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru (second expedition) along with their leader,Francisco Pizarro.
One factor was the ability of the conquistadors to manipulate the political situation between indigenous peoples and make alliances against larger empires. To beat theInca civilization, they supported one side of a civil war. The Spanish overthrew theAztec civilization by allying with natives who had been subjugated by more powerful neighbouring tribes and kingdoms. These tactics had been used by the Spanish, for example, in theGranada War, theconquest of the Canary Islands andconquest of Navarre. Throughout the conquest, the indigenous people greatly outnumbered the conquistadors; the conquistador troops never exceeded 2% of the native population. The army with whichHernán Cortés besiegedTenochtitlan was composed of 200,000 soldiers, of which fewer than 1% were Spaniards.[98]: 178
Spanish and Portuguese forces were capable of quickly moving long distances in foreign land, allowing for speed of maneuver to catch outnumbering forces by surprise. Wars were mainly between clans, expelling intruders. On land, these wars combined some European methods with techniques from Muslim bandits inAl-Andalus. These tactics consisted of small groups who attempted to catch their opponents by surprise, through an ambush.
InMombasa,Vasco da Gama resorted to attacking Arab merchant ships, which were generally unarmed trading vessels without heavy cannons.
Spanish conquistador in the Pavilion of Navigation in Seville, Spain.
Spanish conquistadors in the Americas made extensive use ofswords,pikes, andcrossbows, witharquebuses becoming widespread only from the 1570s.[115] A scarcity of firearms did not prevent conquistadors to pioneer the use of mounted arquebusiers, an early form ofdragoon.[115] In the 1540sFrancisco de Carvajal's use of firearms in theSpanish civil war in Peru prefigured thevolley fire technique that developed in Europe many decades after.[115]
Basque Countrymen near the France–Spain border in 1898, with characteristic horse, donkey and dogs. These were the type of animals introduced to America.Spanish Mastiff used in expeditions and guard
Animals were another important factor for Spanish triumph. On the one hand, the introduction of the horse and other domesticated pack animals allowed them greater mobility unknown to the Indian cultures. However, in the mountains and jungles, the Spaniards were less able to use narrow Amerindian roads and bridges made for pedestrian traffic, which were sometimes no wider than a few feet. In places such asArgentina,New Mexico andCalifornia, the indigenous people learned horsemanship, cattle raising, and sheep herding. The use of the new techniques by indigenous groups later became a disputed factor in native resistance to the colonial and American governments.[citation needed]
The Spaniards were also skilled at breeding dogs for war, hunting and protection. Themastiffs,Spanish war dogs,[116] andsheep dogs they used in battle were effective as a psychological weapon against the natives, who, in many cases, had never seen domesticated dogs. Although some indigenous peoples did have domestic dogs during the conquest of the Americas, Spanish conquistadors usedSpanish Mastiffs and otherMolossers in battle against theTaíno,Aztecs, andMaya. These specially trained dogs were feared because of their strength and ferocity. The strongest big breeds of broad-mouthed dogs werespecifically trained for battle. Thesewar dogs were used against barely clothed troops. They were armoured dogs trained to kill and disembowel.[117]
The most famous of these dogs of war was a mascot ofPonce de Leon calledBecerrillo, the first European dog known to reach North America;[citation needed] another famous dog calledLeoncico, the son ofBecerillo, and the first European dog known to see the Pacific Ocean, was a mascot ofVasco Núñez de Balboa and accompanied him on several expeditions.
In the thirteenth century they were guided by the sun position. Forcelestial navigation like other Europeans, they used Greek 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 became a reference upon the arrival ofJoão de Santarém andPedro Escobar in the Southern hemisphere in 1471, starting its use in celestial navigation. The results varied throughout the year, which required corrections. To address this the Portuguese used the astronomical tables (Ephemeris), a precious tool for oceanic navigation, which spread widely in the fifteenth century. These tables revolutionized navigation, enablinglatitude calculations. The tables of the Almanach Perpetuum, by astronomerAbraham Zacuto, published in Leiria in 1496, were used along with its improved astrolabe, byVasco da Gama andPedro Álvares Cabral.
The ship that truly launched the first phase of the discoveries along the African coast was the Portuguesecaravel. Iberians quickly adopted it for their merchant navy. It was a development based on African fishing boats. They were agile and easier to navigate, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and one to three masts, withlateen triangular sails allowingluffing. The caravel particularly benefited from a greater capacity totack. The limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but have not hindered its success. Limited crew and cargo space was acceptable, initially, because as exploratory ships, their "cargo" was what was in the explorer's discoveries about a new territory, which only took up the space of one person.[118] Among the famous caravels areBerrio andCaravela Annunciation. Columbus also used them in his travels.
Long oceanic voyages led to larger ships. "Nau" was the Portuguese archaic synonym for any large ship, primarilymerchant ships. Due to the piracy that plagued the coasts, they began to be used in the navy and were provided with cannon windows, which led to the classification of "naus" according to the power of its artillery. Thecarrack or nau was a three- or four-masted ship. It had a high roundedstern with largeaftcastle,forecastle andbowsprit at the stem. It was first used by the Portuguese, and later by the Spanish. They were also adapted to the increasing maritime trade. They grew from 200 tons capacity in the 15th century to 500. In the 16th century they usually had twodecks, stern castles fore and aft, two to four masts with overlapping sails. In India travels in the sixteenth century used carracks, large merchant ships with a high edge and three masts with square sails, that reached 2,000 tons.
The knowledge of wind 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 Azores, using the 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 to venture farther from shore, a manoeuvre that became known as the"volta do mar" (return of the sea). In 1565, the application of this principle in the Pacific Ocean led the Spanish discovering theManila galleon trade route.
In 1339,Angelino Dulcert of Majorca produced theportolan chart map. Evidently drawing from the information provided in 1336 byLanceloto Malocello sponsored by KingDinis of Portugal. It showedLanzarote island, namedInsula de Lanzarotus Marocelus and marked by a Genoese shield, as well as the island ofForte Vetura (Fuerteventura) andVegi Mari (Lobos), although Dulcert also included some imaginary islands himself, notablySaint Brendan's Island, and three islands he namesPrimaria,Capraria, andCanaria.[119]
Mestre Jacome was a Majorcan cartographer induced by Portuguese princeHenry the Navigator to move to Portugal in the 1420s to train Portuguese map-makers in Majorcan-style cartography.[120] 'Jacome of Majorca' is even sometimes described as the head of Henry's observatory and "school" atSagres.[121]
It is thought thatJehuda Cresques, son of Jewish cartographer Abraham Cresques ofPalma in Majorca, and Italian-MajorcanAngelino Dulcert were cartographers at the service of Prince Henry. Majorca had many skilled Jewish cartographers. However, the oldest signed Portuguese sea chart is a Portolan 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 of latitudes 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. Emperor Charles V wanted 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.[citation needed]
The third phase of nautical cartography was characterized by the abandonment ofPtolemy's representation of the East and more accuracy in the representation of lands and continents.Fernão Vaz Dourado (Goa ≈1520 – ≈1580), produced work of extraordinary quality and beauty, giving him a reputation as one of the best cartographers of the time. Many of his charts are large scale.[citation needed]
^"Ferdinand Magellan".History. A&E Television Networks. 29 October 2009. Retrieved3 December 2019.
^abcdBurkholder, Mark A.; Johnson, Lyman L. (2019).Colonial Latin America (Tenth ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-064240-2.OCLC1015274908.
^p30-31 of J.H. Elliot, introductory essay to Anthony Pagdens translation of Cortés's letters "Hernán Cortés" letters from Mexico" 2001 (1971, 1986) Yale University NotaBene books
^J. de Andrade Corvo inJournal das Ciências Matemáticas, xxxi.147–176, Lisbon, 1881
^"Spanish Town". Jamaica National Heritage Trust. Archived fromthe original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved30 September 2010.
^Andrea, Alfred J.; Overfield, James H. (2005). "Letter by Christopher Columbus concerning recently discovered islands".The Human Record. Vol. 1. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 8.ISBN0-618-37040-4.
^The numbers for Grijalva's expedition are as given by Bernal Díaz, who participated in the voyage. See Díaz del Castillo (1963, p. 27).
^Crowley, Roger (1 December 2015).Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire. New York: Random House.ISBN978-0-8129-9400-1.
^Collins, Robert O.; Burns, James M. (2007). "Part II, Chapter 12: The arrival of Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa".A History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 179.ISBN978-0-521-86746-7.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.
^Arthur Percival, Newton (1970) [1932]. "Vasco da Gama and The Indies".The Great Age of Discovery. Ayer Publishing. p. 48.ISBN0-8337-2523-8.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.
^Koch, Peter O. (2003). "Following the Dream of Prince Henry".To the Ends of the Earth: The Age of the European Explorers. McFarland & Company. p. 62.ISBN0-7864-1565-7.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.
^Gates, Louis; Anthony Appiah (1999).Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. p. 1105.
^The standard view of historians is that Cabral was blown off course as he was navigating the currents of the South Atlantic, sighted the coast of South America, and thereby accidentally discovered Brazil. However, for an alternative account of the discovery of Brazil, seeHistory of Brazil
^Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu."Proof of Spanish discovery?".www.Teara.govt.nz. Retrieved30 May 2017.
^Robert Kerr (1824)."Conquest of India".A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels (Complete). Vol. VI. W. Blackwood and T. Cadell. pp. 441–442.ISBN978-0-665-47799-7.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Dobyns, H. F.American population dynamics in Eastern North Americas. Knoxville (Tenn.): University of Tennessee Press.
^Dobyns, H. F. (1983).Their number become thined: Native American population dynamics in Eastern North America. Knoxville (Tenn.): University of Tennessee Press.
^Cook, S. F.; Borah, W. W. (1963).The Indian population of Central Mexico. Berkeley (Cal.): University of California Press.
^Farnum, Mabel (1943)."The Seven Golden Cities" [Fray Marcos and the Coronado Adventure].HathiTrust Digital Library. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Bruce Publishing Company. pp. 1–225.OCLC2690209.
^Ortega, Ángel (1980) [1925],La Rábida. Historia documental crítica. 4 vol., vol. III (facsimile ed.), Diputación Provincial de Huelva. Servicio de Publicaciones, pp. 37–100,ISBN978-84-500-3860-6
^"Mestre Jacome" the Majorcan cartographer is first mentioned byDuarte Pacheco Pereira in hisEsmeraldo de situ Orbis (c. 1507,p. 58).João de Barros, in hisDecadas de Asia (1552: I.16p. 133) adds that he was also a master instrument-maker.
^"He also from Majorca caused one Master James, a man skilfull (sic) in Navigation and in Cards and Sea Instruments, to be brought into Portugall, there at his charge as it were, to erect a Schoole of Marinership, and to instruct his Countreymen in that Mysterie."Samuel Purchas,Hakluytus Posthumus, (1625, vol. 2, pt. 2p. 11)
de Vitoria, Francisco (2006).De Indis et de Iure Belli Relectiones. Reprint edition, Lawbook Exchange Ltd.
Gibson, Charles.The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico. Stanford University Press, 1964.
Hinz, Felix (2014): "Spanish-Indian encounters: the conquest and creation of new empires". In: Robert Aldrich, Kirsten McKenzie (eds.):The Routledge History of Western Empires, Routledge, London/ New York,ISBN978-0-415-63987-3, pp. 17–32.
Johnson, Lyman, and Sonya Lipsett-Rivera.The Faces of Honor: Sex, Shame, and Violence in Colonial Latin America. University of New Mexico Press, 2003.
Kirkpatrick, F. A. (1934).The Spanish Conquistadores. London: A. & C. Black.
Lockhart, James and Stuart Schwartz (1983).Early Latin America: A History of Colonial Spanish America and Brazil. Cambridge University Press.
Mignolo, Walter D. (1996).The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization. University of Michigan Press.
Restall, Matthew (2003).Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. Oxford University Press.
Seed, Patricia (1998).Colonial Spanish America: A Documentary History. Rowman & Littlefield.
Varon Gabai, Rafael (2013).Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours: A Classic Native American Creation Story as Retold by a Contemporary Seneca/Oneida Writer. Syracuse University Press.
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