Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Javier Luzuriaga's avatar

Interesting article.

I would like to add one of the reasons, perhaps the main one, Portugal embarked on its expansion towards the coasts of Africa.

The means for the expansion were certainly the improvements of navigation that arose in the XV century, and these were not due to chance. A Portuguese prince "Henry the Navigator" established what amounted to a state sponsored research effort and set about improving all aspects of the art of navigation. An effort to draw charts , note currents and winds and set up a school for navigators was financed by the Prince. New instruments, the compass of Chinese origin and the Arabian Astrolabe were perfected. Maps and information were a state secret. The expeditions were financed by the Crown, of course, but the ships themselves were improved using funds provided by the Crown. In this Portugal´s situation, close to the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic was favorable, their sailors had experience on both seas.

Henry´s wide ranging program of research started around 1430, was probably the first applied research program in Europe, and had wide ranging consequences, although Henry died before Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498.

Two things about this are ironic.

In the first place, Henry did not go out to sea much. His nickname was coined centuries later, he was an armchair seaman, but he did give a Navy to his country.

Secondly, his main motivation seems to have been religious, rather than political. And it was the result of fake news. Henry was a deeply religious man, as was common in the late Middle Ages . He heard of a legendary kingdom, situated in the unknown Continent of Africa, whose leader was a "Preste Juan", reputed to be Christian, and anxious to contact other kingdoms of the same faith. Hence, his own motivation was based on his deep faith coupled with some false premises, although of course, other motivations pushed the continuation of his program and were probably there all the time in other less idealistic actors of this drama. The slave trade and the spices of the east were powerful incentives.

Portugal was in the right place at the right time to start her Empire. However it is worth remembering that human beings are complex systems. This gives History a very non-linear character. The role of a single, powerful individual at the right point in time can be important sometimes, and historical accidents happen.

Expand full comment
Cesáreo González Alvarez's avatar

Portugal became independent from the kingdom of Leon, not Galicia, and almost 100 years earlier. Check your sources!

Expand full comment
20 more comments...

No posts