Portugal MARITIME EXPANSION
Monument to the Discoveries, Lisbon
Courtesy Embassy of Portugal, Washington
Arches of the Royal Cloister at the Monastery of Santa Maria da
Vitória, Batalha
Courtesy Daničle Köhler
Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, Batalha
Courtesy Walter Opello
Figure 3. The Portuguese Empire and Routes of Exploration,
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
The maritime expansion of Portugal was the result of
the
threat to Mediterranean commerce that had developed very
rapidly
after the crusades, especially the trade in spices. Spices
traveled by various overland routes from Asia to the
Levant,
where they were loaded aboard Genoese and Venetian ships
and
brought to Europe. Gradually, this trade became threatened
by
pirates and the Turks, who closed off most of the overland
routes
and subjected the spices to heavy taxes. Europeans sought
alternative routes to Asia in order to circumvent these
difficulties.
The Portuguese led the way in this quest for a number
of
reasons. First, Portugal's location on the
southwesternmost edge
of the European landmass placed the country at the
maritime
crossroads between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Second,
Portugal was by the fifteenth century a compact, unified
kingdom
led by an energetic, military aristocracy, which, having
no more
territory on the peninsula to conquer, sought new fields
of
action overseas. Third, Portuguese kings were motivated by
a
deeply held belief that their role in history was as the
standard-bearers of Christianity against the Muslims.
Fourth,
Portugal's kings had, since the founding of the monarchy,
encouraged maritime activities. Dinis founded the
Portuguese
navy, and Fernando encouraged the construction of larger
ships
and founded a system of maritime insurance. Finally,
Portugal led
the world in nautical science, having perfected the
astrolabe and
quadrant and developed the lantine-rigged caravel, all of
which
made navigating and sailing the high seas possible.
Data as of January 1993
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