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

==Explorations==
{{off topic|date=July 2017}}
{{main|Age of Discovery|Portuguese discoveries}}

===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.

===Portuguese nautical science===
{{further|Portuguese Renaissance}}

The successive expeditions and experience of the pilots led to a fairly rapid evolution of Portuguese nautical science, creating an elite of [[astronomers]], [[navigators]], [[mathematicians]] and [[cartographers]], among them stood [[Pedro Nunes]] with studies on how to determine the latitudes by the stars and [[João de Castro]].

==== Ships ====
[[Image:Caravel Boa Esperanca Portugal.jpg|thumb|A modern replica of a Portuguese [[caravel]]]]

Until the 15th century, the Portuguese were limited to coastal [[cabotage]] navigation using [[barque]]s and ''barinels'' (ancient cargo vessels used in the [[Mediterranean]]). These boats were small and fragile, with only one mast with a fixed quadrangular [[sails|sail]] and did not have the capabilities to overcome the navigational difficulties associated with Southward oceanic exploration, as the strong [[wind]]s, [[shoal]]s and strong [[ocean current]]s easily overwhelmed their abilities. They are associated with the earliest discoveries, such as the [[Madeira]] Islands, the [[Azores]], the [[Canary Islands|Canaries]], and to the early exploration of the north west African coast as far south as [[Arguim]] in the current [[Mauritania]].

The ship that truly launched the first phase of the Portuguese discoveries along the African coast was the [[caravel]], 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 allowing [[luffing]]. The caravel benefited from a greater capacity to [[tack (sailing)|tack]]. 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.<ref>[[Roger C. Smith (author)|Roger Smith]], "Vanguard of the Empire", Oxford University Press, 1993, p.30</ref> Among the famous caravels are ''Berrio'' and ''Caravela Annunciation''.

With the start of long oceanic [[sailing]] also large ships developed. "Nau" was the Portuguese archaic synonym for any large ship, primarily [[merchant ship]]s. 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. 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 two [[deck (ship)|deck]]s, [[stern]] castles fore and aft, two to four masts with overlapping sails. In India travels in the sixteenth century there were also used [[carrack]]s, large merchant ships with a high edge and three masts with square sails, that reached 2000 tons.

==== Celestial navigation ====
[[File:AlmanachPerpetuum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Ephemeris]] by [[Abraham Zacuto]] in Almanach Perpetuum, 1496]]
In the thirteenth century [[celestial navigation]] was already known, guided by the sun position. For celestial navigation the Portuguese, like other Europeans, used [[Arab]] navigation tools, like the [[astrolabe]] and [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]], which they made easier and simpler. They also created the [[cross-staff]], or ''cane of Jacob'', for measuring at sea the height of the sun and other stars. The [[Southern Cross]] become a reference upon arrival at the Southern hemisphere by [[João de Santarém]] and [[Pedro 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 calculate [[latitude]]. The tables of the Almanach Perpetuum, by astronomer [[Abraham Zacuto]], published in [[Leiria]] in 1496, were used along with its improved astrolabe, by [[Vasco da Gama]] and [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]].

====Sailing techniques====
[[Image:Oceanic gyres.png|thumb|200px|left|Map of the five major [[oceanic gyre]]s]]
Besides coastal exploration, Portuguese also made trips off in the ocean to gather [[meteorological]] and [[oceanographic]] information (in these were discovered the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, and [[Sargasso Sea]]). The knowledge of [[wind]] patterns and [[ocean current|currents]], the [[trade winds]] and the [[oceanic gyre]]s 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 of [[atmospheric circulation]] and the effect of [[Coriolis effect|Coriolis]], 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]]"'' ({{langx|en|return of the sea}}).

====Cartography====
[[File:Fernão Vaz Dourado 1571-1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Pre-mercator navigation chart of the Coast of Africa (1571), by Fernão Vaz Dourado (Torre do Tombo, Lisbon)]]
It is thought that [[Jehuda Cresques]], son of the Catalan cartographer Abraham Cresques have been one of the notable [[cartographers]] at the service of Prince Henry. However the oldest signed Portuguese sea chart is a [[Portolan chart|Portolan]] made by [[Pedro Reinel]] in 1485 representing the Western Europe and parts of Africa, reflecting the explorations made by [[Diogo Cão]]. Reinel was also author of the first nautical chart known with an indication of [[latitude]]s in 1504 and the first representation of a [[Wind rose]].

With his son, cartographer [[Jorge Reinel]] and [[Lopo 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 King [[Manuel I of Portugal]] handed Lopo Homem a charter giving him the privilege to certify and amend all [[compass]] needles in vessels.

In the third phase of the former Portuguese nautical cartography, characterized by the abandonment of the influence of [[Ptolemy]]'s representation of the East and more accuracy in the representation of lands and continents, stands out [[Fernão 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.

===Henry the Navigator===
It was the genius of [[Prince 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 the [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order 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" (the [[Sénégal River]]), and, in alliance with that potentate, to crush the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] and liberate the [[Holy Land]]. The concept of an ocean route to India appears to have originated after his death. On land he again defeated the Moors, who [[Siege of Ceuta (1418)|attempted to retake Ceuta]] in 1418; but in an [[Battle of Tangier (1437)|expedition to Tangier]], undertaken in 1437 by [[Edward of Portugal|King Edward]] (1433–1438), the Portuguese army was defeated, and could only escape destruction by surrendering as a hostage [[Fernando, the Saint Prince|Prince 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 of [[Africa]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. In 1433 [[Cape Bojador]] was rounded; in 1434 the first consignment of [[slaves]] was brought to [[Lisbon]]; 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 1446 [[Álvaro Fernandes]] pushed on almost as far as [[Sierra 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 the [[Sargasso Sea]] and possibly sighted the shores of [[Nova Scotia]] well before 1492.

===Portuguese in Asia===
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 in [[Sri Lanka]], [[Malaysia]], [[Japan]], [[China]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Timor]] was a challenge for a population of only one million.
Combined with constant competition from the [[Spain|Spanish]] this led to a desire for [[secrecy]] about every trade route and every colony. As a consequence, many documents that could reach other [[Europe]]an countries were in fact fake documents with fake dates and faked facts, to mislead any other nation's possible efforts.

===Portuguese discoveries and explorations (1415–1543)===
{{main|Portuguese discoveries}}
[[Image:Portuguese discoveries and explorationsV2en.png|thumb|800px|center|Portuguese discoveries and explorations: first arrival places and dates; main Portuguese [[spice trade]] routes in the [[Indian Ocean]] (blue); territories of the [[Portuguese empire]] under [[King John III of Portugal|King John III]] rule (1521–1557) (green)]]

=== Chronology of the Portuguese discoveries ===
*1336 — Possible first expedition to the [[Canary Islands]] with additional expeditions in 1340 and 1341, though this is disputed.<ref>B. W. Diffie, ''Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415 -1580'', Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, p. 28.</ref>
*1412 — [[Henry the Navigator|Prince Henry, the Navigator]], orders the first expeditions to the African Coast and Canary Islands.
*1419 — [[João Gonçalves Zarco]] and [[Tristão Vaz Teixeira]] discovered [[Porto Santo island]], in the Madeira group.
*1420 — The same sailors and [[Bartolomeu Perestrelo]] discovered the island of [[Madeira]], which at once began to be colonized.
*1422 — Cape Nao, the limit of Moorish navigation is passed as the African Coast is mapped.
*1427 — [[Diogo de Silves]] discovered the Azores, which was colonized in 1431 by Gonçalo Velho Cabral.
*1434 — [[Gil Eanes]] sailed round Cape Bojador, thus destroying the legends of the ‘Dark Sea’.
*1434 — the 32 point compass-card replaces the 12 points used until then.
*1435 — Gil Eanes and [[Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia]] discovered Garnet Bay (Angra dos Ruivos) and the latter reached the Gold River (Rio de Ouro).
*1441 — [[Nuno Tristão]] reached Cape White.
*1443 — Nuno Tristão penetrated the Arguim Gulf. [[Prince Pedro, Duke of Coimbra|Prince Pedro]] granted Henry the Navigator the monopoly of navigation, war and trade in the lands south of [[Cape Bojador]].
*1444 — [[Dinis Dias]] reached Cape Green (Cabo Verde).
*1445 — [[Álvaro Fernandes]] sailed beyond Cabo Verde and reached Cabo dos Mastros (Cape Red)
*1446 — Álvaro Fernandes reached the northern Part of [[Portuguese Guinea]]
*1452 — Diogo de Teive discovers the Islands of Flores and Corvo.
*1458 — [[Alvise Cadamosto]] discovers the first Cape Verde Islands.
*1460 — Death of Prince Henry, the Navigator. His systematic mapping of the Atlantic reached 8° N on the African Coast and 40° W in the Atlantic (Sargasso Sea) in his lifetime.
*1461 — Diogo Gomes and António Noli discovered more of the [[Portuguese Cape Verde|Cape Verde Islands]].
*1461 — Diogo Afonso discovered the western islands of the Cape Verde group.
*1471 — [[João de Santarém]] and [[Pedro Escobar]] crossed the Equator. The southern hemisphere was discovered and the sailors began to be guided by a new constellation, the [[Southern Cross]]. The discovery of the islands of [[Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe|São Tomé and Príncipe]] is also attributed to these same sailors.
*1479 — [[Treaty of Alcáçovas]] establishes Portuguese control of the Azores, Guinea, ElMina, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands and Castilian control of the Canary Islands.
*1482 — [[Diogo Cão]] reached the estuary of the [[Zaire]] (Congo) and placed a landmark there. Explored 150&nbsp;km upriver to the [[Yellala Falls]].
*1484 — Diogo Cão reached [[Walvis Bay]], south of [[Namibia]].
*1487 — [[Afonso de Paiva]] and [[Pero da Covilhã]]  traveled overland from Lisbon in search of the Kingdom of [[Prester John]]. ([[Ethiopia]])
*1488 — [[Bartolomeu Dias]], crowning 50 years of effort and methodical expeditions, rounded the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and entered the [[Indian Ocean]]. They had found the "Flat Mountain" of Ptolemy's Geography.
*1489/92 — South Atlantic Voyages to map the winds
*1490 — Columbus leaves for Spain after his father-in-law's death.
*1492 — First exploration of the [[Indian Ocean]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
*1494 — The [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] between Portugal and Spain divided the world into two parts, Spain claiming all non-Christian lands west of a north–south line 370 leagues west of the Azores, Portugal claiming all non-Christian lands east of that line.
*1495 — Voyage of [[João Fernandes Lavrador|João Fernandes, the Farmer]], and Pedro Barcelos to [[Greenland]]. During their voyage they discovered the land to which they gave the name of [[Labrador]] (lavrador, farmer)
*1494 — First boats fitted with cannon doors and topsails.
*1498 — [[Vasco da Gama]] led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut.
*1498 — [[Duarte Pacheco Pereira]] explores the South Atlantic and the South American Coast North of the [[Amazon River]].
*1500 — [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]] discovered Brazil on his way to India.
*1500 — [[Gaspar Corte-Real]] made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}
*1500 — [[Diogo Dias]] discovered an island they named after St Lawrence after the saint on whose feast day they had first sighted the island later known as [[Madagascar]]
*1502 —  Returning from India, Vasco da Gama discovers the Amirante Islands (Seychelles).
*1502 — [[Miguel Corte-Real]] set out for New England in search of his brother, Gaspar. João da Nova discovered [[Saint Helena]]. [[Fernão de Noronha]] discovered the island which still bears his name.
*1503 — On his return from the East, [[Estêvão da Gama (c.1470)|Estêvão da Gama]] discovered [[Ascension Island]].
*1505 — [[Gonçalo Álvares]] in the fleet of the first viceroy sailed south in the Atlantic to were "water and even wine froze" discovering an island named after him, modern [[Gough Island]]
*1505 — [[Lourenço de Almeida]] made the first Portuguese voyage to [[Portuguese Ceylon|Ceylon]] ([[Sri Lanka]]) and established a settlement there.<ref>{{Nuttall|title=Almeida}}</ref>
*1506 — Tristão da Cunha discovered the island that bears his name. Portuguese sailors become the first Europeans to reach Madagascar.
*1509 — The [[Bay of Bengal]] crossed by [[Diogo Lopes de Sequeira]]. On the crossing he also reached [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]].
*1511 — [[Duarte Fernandes]] is the first European to visit the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Kingdom of Siam]] (Thailand), sent by [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] after the conquest of Malaca.<ref>Donald Frederick Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley, ''Asia in the Making of Europe'', p.520-521, University of Chicago Press, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-226-46731-3}}</ref>
*1512 — [[António de Abreu]] discovered [[Timor|Timor island]] and reached [[Banda Islands]], [[Ambon Island]] and [[Seram]]. [[Francisco Serrão]] reached the [[Moluccas]].
*1512 — [[Pedro Mascarenhas]] discovered the island of [[Diego Garcia]], he also encountered the [[Mauritius]], although he may not have been the first to do so; expeditions by [[Diogo Dias]] and [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] in 1507 may have encountered the islands. In 1528 [[Diogo Rodrigues]] named the islands of Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues the [[Mascarene Islands]], after Mascarenhas.
*1512 — [[João de Lisboa]] and [[Estevão Frois]] reached the La Plata estuary or even perhaps the Gulf of San Matias in 42°S in modern [[Argentina]] between 1511 and 1514 (1512) according to the manuscript ''Newen Zeytung auss Pressilandt'' in the Fugger archives of the time. [[Christopher de Haro]], the financier of the expedition, bears witness to the trip to La Plata (''Rio da Prata'') and the news of the "White King" to the interior and west, the Inca emperor – and the axe of silver obtained from the natives and offered to the king [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]].
*1513 — The first trading ship to touch the coasts of [[China]], under [[Jorge Álvares]] and [[Rafael Perestrello]] later in the same year.
*1517 — [[Fernão Pires de Andrade]] and [[Tomé Pires]] were chosen by [[Manuel I of Portugal]] to sail to China to formally open relations between the Portuguese Empire and the [[Ming Dynasty]] during the reign of the [[Zhengde Emperor]].
*1525 — [[Aleixo Garcia]] explored the Rio de la Plata in service to Spain, as a member of the expedition of [[Juan Díaz de Solís]], and later – from Santa Catarina, [[Brazil]] – leading an expedition of some Europeans and 2,000 [[Guaraní people|Guaraní Indians]], explored [[Paraguay]] and [[Bolivia]]. Aleixo Garcia was the first European to cross the [[Gran Chaco|Chaco]] and even managed to penetrate the outer defenses of the [[Inca Empire]] on the hills of the [[Andes]] (near [[Sucre]]), in present-day Bolivia. He was the first European to do so, accomplishing this eight years before [[Francisco Pizarro]].
*1526 — Discovery of [[New Guinea]] by [[Jorge de Meneses]]
*1528 — [[Diogo Rodrigues]] explores the [[Mascarene]] islands, that he names after his countryman [[Pedro Mascarenhas]], he explored and named the islands of [[Réunion]], [[Mauritius]], and [[Rodrigues (island)|Rodrigues]]<ref>José Nicolau da Fonseca, ''Historical and Archaeological Sketch of the City of Goa'', Bombay : Thacker, 1878, pp. 47–48. Reprinted 1986, Asian Educational Services, {{ISBN|81-206-0207-2}}.</ref>
*1529 — [[Treaty of Saragossa]] divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
*1536 — Pedro A. Campos discovers Barbados, and finds it uninhabitable.
*1542 — The coast of [[California]] explored by [[João Rodrigues Cabrilho]].
*1543 — [[António Mota (explorer)|António Mota]], Francisco Zeimoto, and possibly [[Fernão Mendes Pinto]] became the first Europeans to reach Japan.
*1557 — [[Portuguese Macau|Macau]] given to Portugal by the [[Emperor of China]] as a reward for services rendered against the [[Pirate|pirates]] who infested the [[South China Sea|China Sea]].

(missing data on Ormuz – from Socotra to Basra, including Muscat, Bahrain, islands in Strait of Hormuz, etc.)