Editing History of Macau (section)

==Macau's golden age==
[[File:Macau Trade Routes.png|thumb|right|Macau and its position in Portuguese and Spanish global trade routes]]
[[File:Jesuites en chine.jpg|thumb|right|The mission of the [[Jesuit]]s used Macau as a point of departure & formation during the 16th century.]]
Both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau, although the Portuguese were never numerous (numbering just 900 in 1583 and 1200 out of 26,000 in 1640).<ref>Porter, Jonathan. ''Macau, the Imaginary City: Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present''. Westview Press, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-8133-3749-4}}</ref> It quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: Macau–Malacca–Goa–Lisbon, Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki and Macau–Manila–Mexico. The Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process. This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Chinese and Japanese nationals.<ref name="TouristGuideHistory">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520084736/http://www.macautouristguide.com/en/history.html|url=http://www.macautouristguide.com/en/history.html|archive-date=20 May 2007 |title=Macau – a unique city|publisher=Macau Tourist Guide|url-status=usurped|access-date=19 January 2015}}</ref>

In 1637, An English explorer [[John Weddell]] arrived at Macau.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://docslib.org/doc/10663912/the-british-presence-in-macau-1635-1793 | title=The British Presence in Macau, 1635–1793 }}</ref>

Macau's golden age coincided with the [[Iberian Union|union]] of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King [[Philip II of Spain]] was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from "Settlement or Port of the Name of God" to "City of the Name of God" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).<ref>[[C. R. Boxer]], ''Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550–1770''. Martinus Nijhoff (The Hague), 1948. p. 4</ref>

The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the [[Eighty Years' War]]. After the [[Dutch East India Company]] was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a [[Battle of Macau|full-scale invasion attempt in 1622]], when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders and a large number of African slaves.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nsh8NHDQHlcC&q=african+slaves+macau&pg=PA238|title=Slavery and South Asian history|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-253-21873-X|edition=illustrated|page=238|quote=Portuguese,"he concluded;"The Portuguese beat us off from Macao with their slaves."10 The same year as the Dutch&nbsp;... an English witness recorded that the Portuguese defence was conducted primarily by their African slaves, who threw|author=Indrani Chatterjee, Richard Maxwell Eaton|editor=Indrani Chatterjee, Richard Maxwell Eaton|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529082146/http://books.google.com/books?id=Nsh8NHDQHlcC&pg=PA238&dq=african+slaves+macau&hl=en&ei=jfe6Tr-9LOfV0QGJ4cXfCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=african%20slaves%20macau&f=false|archive-date=29 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the first actions of Macau's next governor [[Francisco Mascarenhas (Governor of Macau)|Francisco Mascarenhas]], who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defences, which included the construction of the [[Guia Fortress]].<ref>Boxer, p. 99</ref>

===Religious activity===
As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan.  [[Jesuit]]s had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by [[Dominican Order|Dominican]]s in the 1580s. Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit [[Ruins of St. Paul's|Cathedral of Saint Paul]] and the [[St. Dominic's Church (Macao)|St. Dominic's Church]] built by the Dominicans. In 1576, Macau was established as an [[episcopal see]] by [[Pope Gregory XIII]] with [[Melchior Carneiro]] appointed as the first bishop.<ref name="Archdiocese of Goa">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Archdiocese of Goa}}</ref><ref name="Catholic in Macau Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/11502.htm|title=The Catholic entry in Macau Encyclopedia|publisher=Macau Foundation|access-date=6 January 2008|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224173753/http://www.macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/11502.htm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=24 December 2007}}</ref>