Portugal, a small kingdom located at the southern tip of Europe, launched the conquest of the new world breaking physical and psychological unattainable barriers until then. In the age of closed worlds, dominated by fear and myths, but also the age of the world in movement, Portugal was in the vanguard. Portuguese ingenious people knew how to create and adapt the best boats to dominating winds and seas. They were the first to reach the Coast of Africa, India, Brazil, and Japan in long sea journeys.
More revolutionary than the much-celebrated feats of Columbus, the feat of the Portuguese was a more modern and planned long-term discovery venture, about which there is still little knowledge although it's getting uncovered. As Archaeology evolves, with the help of new techniques and methods some new findings are made, and some rare and hidden artifacts were found like the “Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis” document, written by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, a great explorer (Grande Explorador), an expert in all nautical science of Portuguese discoveries.
At the time, all nautical science and discovered territories were many times hidden with a policy of enormous confidence. As a great politician, Joao II knew that to be successful he needed to avoid competition. Often, he had to make use of counter-information and spread false information to distract his opponents. Amazingly, about 350 years before...Portugal became independent at the hands of Afonso Henriques, a mastermind who was an astute politician, and also a warrior who made himself knight with no other above him. He became ruler of Portugal as the new European Country. Nowadays, Portugal is the country with the oldest fixed frontier of the World.
--------
In Afonsine Era, by Afonso III, the Country was fully constituted with Algarve the last annexation. He would also make the main cities the coastline ones, instead of interior ones (practice until then), including Lisbon the Capital, open as a great harbor because of Tejo river great conditions, and started the path for a maritime country. About 200 years later Prince Henry (Infante D. Henrique), from the Sea of Algarve, launched the project of discoveries of the new world, mainly to find new richness and trade. Later, Know by its devotion to the science of the Sea navigation, João II continued the project of his uncle (Prince Henry) and also of his Father Afonso V. How can a little Country think so big? From an illustrious generation with 5 brothers and 1 sister, each with their specialty, the most notable was Prince Henry (The Navigator), acclaimed as the engine of Portugal's Golden Age. The father of this Generation was great Joao I, master of the order of Avis. João I, the bastard son of King Pedro, was made king with a dynasty crisis. Being a master of an order, a strong figure, and especially being the son of Pedro, the love of people unfolded. Pedro protocolized the most beautiful love story, many years before Shakespeare´s "Romeo and Juliet", with the real story of "Pedro e Inês".
João I married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, who soon proved to be a worthy ally: that marriage consolidated an Anglo-Portuguese Alliance that endures to the present day. The last great objective of João I Before dying was to conquer Ceuta, and he was succeeded. He conquered the city-state and his sons were armed knights in Ceuta. To fight and conquer Ceuta, more then 10,000 men traveled in around 200 Portuguese ships with a red cross in their sails. The battle itself was almost anti-climactic, as they took the defenders of Ceuta by surprise and off guard. The red cross in Portuguese ships has a story behind. This is the symbol of the Order of Christ, and the major figure and owner was Prince Henry, with a considerable amount of funds at his disposal. This order was created by King Dinis I (son of Afonso III) who had made the maritime routes possible by all means. By his efforts, Portuguese was made the main language instead of Latin. He contracted the first great admiral, Manuel Pessanha, the predecessor of Great Explorers (Grande Explorador). Manuel's role was to keep sea borders & trade safe and to expand the sea knowledge, and a hidden plan to attack north of Africa, since now they can depart rapidly from Algarve. And last but not least, Dinis maintained and grown the Leiria pines forest. At first, the goal of the forest was to sustain the sands (initial works by Afonso III). But later the pines become as one of the main sources of wood to build great ships, like Caravela Latina and Nau and helped in materializing the great project of discoveries.
--------
The Caravela Latina was the ship of the discoveries. Notably, this ship could navigate almost against the wind using the "Bolina" technique - a zigzag navigation method that enables ships to move forward against the wind direction.
The coast of the Sahara Desert to the green zone in Africa was one of the most critical navigational paths of that time. The winds always blow the same way which makes it easy to sail south but also makes it almost impossible to sail back, mainly because they have to do it against the wind. Only Caravela Latina could make this travel by taking advantage of the "Bolina" technique. With the Great Explorer (Grande Explorador) in command, this was a revolutionary ship, an agile vessel that achieved remarkable speeds against the wind, and enabled them to explore the Atlantic. A versatile and maneuverable ship like this could navigate in unknown waters. They could go further, carry more cargo and navigate places that other ships wouldn't dare to go.
Portuguese people were very good at making hybrid versions from existing technology in Europe. For instance, they took some of the heaviest ships commonly used in the northern seas of Europe and added the Mediterranean type of sails. By taking this approach, the Portuguese took the first step to a new type of pioneering shipbuilding, with this new scheme of sails empowering big and robust ships.
All rise under the command of Infante D. Henrique (Prince Henry), with the support of his "Escola de Sagres" at the tipping point of Portugal, who also was the constructor of the new Caravela Latina. Here he could see his ship's departure with the very first strong wind blow! Later, Joao II began to dominate the South Atlantic - an entirely unknown area before the Portuguese discoveries.
With the great Caravela Latina, the Portuguese made the exploration of the west coast of Africa. Their presence along the coast was signaled by the setting of Padrões (plural of Padrão), which are still visible today in some parts of the African continent. The Portuguese gradually descended along the coast, discovering around close to 300 kilometers per year. The idea was to gradually expand knowledge and eventually achieve a viable path to Asia - which was the main objective.
The idea of padrões was launched by João II, they were like milestones of a project and to show that Portugal dominated the area. Although, Padrão edification only lasted until a few years after Joao II's death. João II's devotion to the project owned him the nickname of the Perfect Prince. When he meets the king of Kongo he invited him to be his ally, showed how European culture was better and shared protection for Kongo´s wars. From there the king of Kongo and his son were baptized and got Portuguese names of João I (like João I, master of Avis, father of illustrious generation) and Afonso I (like Afonso Henriques, creator of Portugal). In later life, Afonso I (Nzinga Mbemba) originated a remarkable series of letters he wrote between 1509 and 1541 to various kings and government officials in Lisbon and Rome, some written in 1526 containing complains upon discovering that Portuguese merchants were purchasing illegally enslaved persons and exporting them.
In between those trades, the journey continues, and at the tip of South Africa a remarkable achievement that no other vessel had done before, was accomplished: Caravela Latina doubles the cable of storms, under command of Bartolomeu Dias (Grande Explorador). For thousands of years, two completely separate sea lanes suddenly came together, a true whole-world Portuguese feat. The Caravela Latina (Caravel of Discovery) had completed its mission after returning to Lisbon at the end of 1488. The navigators have told the King (João II) about the impossibility of keeping the journey beyond the Cape of Good Hope (ie: former cable of storms, since João II changed the name). They simply didn't have strong enough ships to successfully navigate through the dark seas in existence at the place. Then Joao II taught on a plan...
--------
Ten years later...Vasco da Gama (Grande Explorador) would complete the most extensive sea voyage that had been relaunched in the history of mankind. Portuguese arrived at India on board of another type of ship, the "Nau"! Vessels that had long-lasting conditions could withstand the inherent difficulties and had a large cargo capacity. Nau was very successful and the ship of the future. It was constantly improved and the most used vessel in Europe during the centuries 16th to 18th. The ship increased considerably in size between the end of the 15th and 17th centuries. The Flor do Mar is an example of this increase in size and with the longest to live (9 years). It was also preferred of Afonso de Albuquerque, the last one to use this ship.
The Nau was equipped with round sails that generate more power than default ones, with this extra capacity that other ships in the 16th century did not have, it was able to make round-trip navigations to India. The Portuguese arrived in India in 1498 whilst the English and the Dutch almost 100 years later. The Portuguese arrival was a new milestone: for the first time, a European power stepped in Asia. They started commerce tradings but the main goal was to conquer the land. The career of India begun here. The Sea path opens the commerce that until then was made by land route with many intermediaries, shortly began to be dominated by the Portuguese. They enhanced the Asiatic economy by shifting the trade and commercial networks to a greater scale, resizing Asiatic trade.
With these new capabilities, Portugal acquired the monopoly of spices trade in Europe. They created Casa da India, a Commercial monopolized outpost for managing all aspects of overseas trade working like a Feitoria. Casa da Índia was not the first unique name of this monopoly icon. The first know name was Casa de Ceuta, where the Mediterranean profits were managed. Then the name changed to Casa da Guiné when they started to manage the Mediterranean and mainly new African profits. Later on, it changed to Casa da India when they added big Asiatic profits to its managing perks. This huge monopoly has changed the World Economy at the time. As a result of this increasing trade in Lisbon, Bairro Alto was born as a response to the social & economic transformation in Lisbon in the second half of the 15th century.
Commercial development brings the growth in the population and construction expansion within the medieval walled city. This social phenomenon resulted in the urbanization process of the Bairro Alto district. Nowadays, in this neighborhood, the real culture of Portugal is alive. This context also made Lisbon miss larger key infrastructures, so Manuel I petitioned the Holy See to construct Mosteiro dos Jerónimos replacing holy site dedicated to Santa Maria de Belém and where the monks (Monge Jerónimo) would assist seafarers in transit, in a larger scale. Also, to defend Lisbon Manuel I ordered to build Torre de Belém, working together with an old big Nau with a lot of cannons.
---------
When the Portuguese went to the Indic Ocean they tried whenever possible to establish agreements with the local kings. In many places, commercial negotiations had failed and they had no option than conquer these territories to the Muslims. Between Mozambique and The East, the Portuguese built more than 50 sea fortresses. In reality, they were Feitorias, but for outside territory had to look like fortresses, meaning that the target was to defend the trade and incoming goods for Portuguese. Ormuz on Iran, Goa in India, and Malacca in Malaysia, Conquered by Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century, became key points that the military strategist Afonso de Albuquerque helped to achieve and maintain, as viceroy of India.
The Portuguese were maritime warriors and their ideology was to conquer many lands, the reason why they didn't bring the women along. Afonso De Albuquerque, while ruler, wanted to build a correct society and made pressure to foster marriages between natives and foreigners, even if a priest was not present. But even earlier, He quickly gained the antipathy of many captains that only wanted to plunder and get riches. King Manuel listened to the captain's complaints but did not act because he always trying to be just for all. When Afonso de Albuquerque died, King Manuel fully recognized his great feats (known as the Lion of The Seas) in India and some of the Red Sea areas close to India, under the control of Portugal. The Portuguese culture is still present in these cities (old City-States) nowadays.
In the end, the Portuguese had made viable a big commercial route between Lisboa, Goa, Malacca, China, and Japan, by building one of the largest ships ever. It would become known as the Nau do Trato. The ships were so strong and resilient that there was never any Asiatic nautic power capable of attacking and conquering one of these big Naus with the hull painted black. They were so efficient and powerful that only 4 ships were lost - not in battle, but for meteorological reasons by the end of the 17th century.
By the end of this trade chain from Lisbon, the arrival of the Portuguese to Japan was a truly revolutionary event for Japanese history. For the Japanese nation, until that moment and besides Japan, they're knowledge of the world was confined to the great china and faraway India. They didn't know about the existence of other continents, namely Europe. Being Portugal a small country with an inferior quantity of people when compared to wider nations, the conjugation between the fortresses (Feitorias) and powerful ships, they were able to have strategic dominions in a clear majority, in a vast territory as Asia.
--------
Even though all this power, In between these discoveries 300 Naus shipwrecked, most of them on way to home (Lisbon), some were tragically wrecked at Lisbon's entrance after a whole year of travel. Every time a Nau sinks it's like sinking a fortress on water: each of them could carry something like 140 pure iron cannons. As a result of innovation and build strategy, Portuguese ships were very difficult to conquer. Almost impossible to defeat, a single Portuguese vessel could handle 30, 40, 50 and sometimes 100 Asian vessels, because of firepower and artillery on board. In the 16th century, the development of Portuguese artillery followed the evolution of the ships and was considered the best in the world. Shooting speeds were 100 times faster than any other vessel, and many agree that they anticipated the technology by 200 years, relating to other countries or battles (even on land).
Domination of Sea during the sixth century was ensured by three different types of vessels: The Nau, which is a cargo ship, but also well equipped for ranged attack; The galleon, which is a ship with both commercial and war profiles (Botafogo "the Spitfire" was an example of the strongest Portuguese galleon ever made, but too heavy and never gone too far from Portugal); and Caravel Redonda, which was mainly a warship. The latter is a Portuguese innovation that mixed two types of sails: Redonda and Latina. It had protected the armadas of India's career when the powers of the other European big players began to increase.
All the maintenance needed offboards had many high costs for Portugal, always in search of new riches, to pay the large bill. It's said that at the time of Joao III (son of Manuel I) Portugal was almost bankrupt, and the fact is that the inquisition started at that time, inherited from Spain. Since Manuel I that the idea was of a unified Iberia (with arranged marriages), with a Portuguese King, starting with himself, which never happened, only otherwise with Spanish Kings, the 3 "Filipes", when the last King (Sebastião I) of the Avis Dynasty died in battle at 1578, leaving no Portuguese direct Heirs (also, rejected all marriage proposal, including one from Catherine Medici, who wanted to marry one of her daughters with him), and make place for Philip II.
Sebastião I (grandson of Joao III), was made king at 4 years of age, with all the ferocious leaders at the time he was not very personally protected (even having regency of his uncle Cardinal Henry), even though he became a great warrior and his goal was only one, to recover the power of his ancestors and conquer the north of Africa. Even though his war against the north of Africa was like a suicidal mission, at the battle of the 3 kings, he lost his own life, along with almost all army. Filipe II of Spain (uncle of Sebastiao) took the throne, as one of the best suitors, being Catherine Medici (descendant of Afonso III) one of the most remote chances. Filipe II promised to maintain all Portuguese engine of the empire working but since Spain had many enemies, Portugal empire "lands" and ships started to be attacked by European powers, even from England, the oldest ally (Although, England's support for Portugal during their Restoration War was confirmation of the renewal of the old alliance). 80 years later Portugal regains independence with the help of England. In meanwhile, with the loss of important trading connections in India and Africa, Portugal aimed at Brazil to maintain the empire running.
--------
Looking into the big picture, there is an important part of the Renaissance for which the Portuguese voyages contributed much. By having direct interactions and knowledge of new peoples, ideas, animals, and religions, all these new diverse cultures contributed to the enlightenment and enriched our traditional knowledge about the world in all science, social and religious aspects. The rich information compiled through all these voyages leads to the evolution and breaking of barriers to dogmatic knowledge about the world. In the following century, Galileo shook the installed knowledge base by reviewing the solar system paradigm: from earth concentric vision to a heliocentric one. Without great Discoveries, works of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo would not be possible. It turns out, Globalization is not a recent phenomenon, it is a phenomenon that began in the 15th century and began with the impulse of the Portuguese. They would be the people who would "give knowledge to the world of the world itself". The Discoveries were an important milestone, it was the beginning of a new phase of civilization in the history of mankind.
. Sorry about that.
.
