Editing History of Portugal (1415–1578) (section)

===Reasons for exploration===
Portugal's long shoreline, with its many harbours and rivers flowing westward to the [[Atlantic Ocean]] was the ideal environment to raise generations of adventurous seamen. As a seafaring people in the south-westernmost region of [[Europe]], the [[Portugal|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 crossing [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] territory) it is not surprising that goods were sent via the sea to [[England]], [[Flanders]], [[Italy]] and the [[Hanseatic league]] towns.

[[File:Lisbon monument.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Padrão dos Descobrimentos]]'' ("Monument to the Discoveries") in [[Lisbon]]]]

Having fought to [[Reconquista|achieve]] and to [[1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum|retain]] independence, the nation's leadership had also a desire for fresh conquests. Added to this was a long struggle to expel the [[Moors]] that was religiously sanctioned and influenced by foreign [[crusades|crusaders]] with a desire for martial fame. Making war on [[Islam]] seemed to the Portuguese both their natural destiny and their duty as [[Christians]].

One important reason was the need to overcome the expensive eastern trade routes,  dominated first by the republics of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] in the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean]], and then controlled by the Ottoman Empire after the [[Fall of Constantinople|conquest 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 as [[medicine]], [[drug]]s and preservatives was something of a necessity—at least to those Europeans of better than modest means.

The [[Economic history of Portugal|Portuguese economy]] had benefited from its connections with neighbouring [[Muslim]] states. A money economy was well enough established for 15th century workers in the countryside as well as in the towns to be paid in [[currency]]. The agriculture of the countryside had diversified to the point where grain was imported from [[Morocco]] (a symptom of an economy dependent upon Portugal's), while specialised crops occupied former grain-growing areas: vineyards, olives, or the sugar factories of the [[Algarve]], later to be reproduced in [[Colonial Brazil|Brazil]] (Braudel 1985). Most of all, the [[House of Aviz|Aviz]] dynasty that had come to power in 1385 marked the semi-eclipse of the conservative land-oriented aristocracy (See [[The 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, many [[mathematician]]s 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 Point|Sagres]] and [[Lagos, Portugal|Lagos]] in the [[Algarve]] become famous as such places.