Vasco da Gama
In command of three heavily-armed ships, Vasco da Gama took to the sea on 8 July 1497. He sailed around the African coast, calling in at several ports on the way and always greeted with the utmost courtesy, probably due to the threatening sight of the ship's cannons. After arriving at the Hindu port of Calicut, where more than 1 500 ships were already anchored, Gama went to see the sovereign, the Zamorin. He found him lying down, chewing betel leaves and spitting them out into a gold bowl. The King of Portugal's letter delivered by Gama had hardly any effect on the sovereign. During his second visit, the welcome that Gama received was even worse. They laughed at his jodhpurs and his ruff. They asked him for gold: he did not have any. The Zamorin bellowed: "The merchants from Mecca show greater generosity than you!". A few years later in 1502, Gama returned to Calicut. To avenge his compatriots, who had been slaughtered at the hands of the Indians, he bombarded the city and destroyed the pursuing fleet.
The Aviz Dynasty and the Domination of the Seas
Upon his death, Ferdinand left only one daughter, Beatrice, who was engaged to John I of Castile, an ally of France, which opened the floodgates for a major crisis of succession (1383-1385), which pitted the nobility (in favour of a Castilian pretender to the crown) against the bourgeoisie (intent on maintaining Portuguese independence under the authority of a national prince). With backing from the English, the national candidate, John, a Grand Master of the Order of Aviz and illegitimate son of Pedro I and half-brother of Ferdinand, was brought to power, and the Cortes of Coimbra ratified the decision (1385). John I (1385-1433) and his general, Nuno Alvares Pereira, consolidated Portugal's independence by defeating the Castilians in Aljubarrota with the help of English mercenaries (1385); Portuguese independence was confirmed by the peace treaty of 1411 with Castile and the English alliance, which had been bolstered in 1387 by the marriage of John I and Philippa of Lancaster. The crisis enabled the new king to reduce the nobility's pretensions by relying on the support of the bourgeoisie, who had started to play a dominating role in the Cortes.
Portuguese expansion continued in the 15th century. Intrepid journeys were made easier with the advent of scientific research (the astronomical tables of Alfonso X the Wise and the Iberian Jews) and the advances in shipbuilding (sternpost rudder, caravel developed in 1439-1440). There were many reasons for undertaking such journeys: Portugal's relative overpopulation, the no-go situation for pursuing a policy for continental expansion at the expense of the mighty Castile, the wheat shortage, the increased demand for fish, leather and dyestuffs, the search for new land suitable for sugar cane plantations, the need for slaves to operate the sugar mills that started cropping up in the Algarve, and the lack of gold that affected trade in the West. Ruined by the economic crisis, the knights conquered the Moroccan port of Ceuta (1415); the bourgeois organised the colonisation of the Madeira Islands (from 1418) and the Azores (from 1432), and the exploration of the African coast to reach the country of gold; the Portuguese rounded Cape Bojador (1434) and reached Rio de Oro (1436). Taking advantage of King Edward's weakness (1433-1438), the nobility decided to go to war with Morocco. The failure at Tangiers (1437) and the minority of King Alfonso the African (1438-1481) propelled the infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, to the forefront, whom the Cortes appointed regent over his sister-in-law, Queen Eleanor of Aragon (1440); "Alfonsine legislation" attempted to codify and standardise Portuguese law. Pacific expansion continued to develop, though heavy on the bourgeois' pockets: wheat fields and then sugar cane covered Madeira and the Azores; explorers passed the Saharan coast and reached the black people's country, where they forged more convenient trade relations: Portugal's first gold coin, the cruzado, was minted in 1457. But the young king Alfonso V, goaded by the great lords, provoked Pedro to revolt, who was killed in Alfarrobeira (1449) and whose achievements were then attributed to his brother Henry the Navigator, who was careful not to get involved in the quarrel. The war resumed against the Moroccans, who lost Alcacer Ceguer (present-day Ksar es-Seghir) [1458], Tangiers and Arzila (1471), Safi (1508) and Mazagan (1514); as an indirect consequence, Castile's push towards North Africa was deviated towards the east (Oran and Tlemcen region). But trade in Guinea was so profitable (gold, slaves, ivory, melagueta pepper, gum) that it was maintained by private initiative alone. In 1469, this traffic was leased to Fernao Gomes for an annual payment of 200 000 reis and the obligation to explore 100 leagues of coast every year beyond Sierra Leone; in 1474, the concession passed to Prince John, heir to the crown. The royalty was now pursuing a double aim: explore the islands and lands of the West and discover the sea route to India via South Africa. In the West, the Cape Verde Islands, discovered in 1460, and the Azores served as a base for Portuguese journeys to near Newfoundland before Christopher Columbus, who made the most of their experiences. In Africa, the journey of 1471 was marked by the discovery of Sao Tomé and Annobon, and the crossing of the equator. King Alfonso V, fearing Castile's growing power just like his predecessors, ended his reign by vainly attempting to impose his rule in Castile by marrying Joan, the infanta of Castile, and heir apparent to Henry IV.
John II (1481-1495) decided to subdue the nobility by executing the Dukes of Braganza (1483) and Viseu (1484). He methodically organised explorations and exploited the countries discovered. In Guinea (now Ghana), Diogo de Azambuja founded the fort of Sao Jorge da Mina (1482), which served as a stopover for later expeditions. From 1482, Diogo Cao knocked in Portuguese padroes (columns indicating a claim to ownership) in the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Santa Maria in Angola. While Pêro da Covilha explored India and Ethiopia, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Storms (known today as the Cape of Good Hope) and discovered the Indian Ocean (1487). Christopher Columbus, whom the King of Portugal had denied boats in 1484, returned from his first journey, flying the flag of Castile (1492-1493) and announcing that he had reached India by the west. John II was still convinced that the best route was via the east, but in 1493, Pope Alexander VI restricted the navigation zone, initially granted to Portugal by the papal bull issued by Pope Callistus III, to the east of a meridian located 100 leagues from the Cape Verde Islands; the court of Lisbon, which valued the mysterious islands of the West, had the restriction pushed to 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands (treaty of Tordesillas, 1494).
It was during the reign of Manuel I the Fortunate (1495-1521) that Vasco de Gama completed the first sea journey to the Indies, though not without running into the hostility of the Muslim merchants, who until then had a monopoly on the transport of goods from the Far East to Europe, via Alexandria. Making the most of their superior ships and their artillery, the Portuguese punished the local sultanates, ruined the Muslims' trade and within a few yeas dominated the Indian Ocean by occupying the fortresses along the straits: Vasco de Gama bombarded Calicut (1502); Francisco de Almeida, appointed viceroy of Cochin, Cannanore and Quiloa, built forts along the African coast (1505) and destroyed the Egyptian fleet in Diu (1509); between 1507 and 1515, Albuquerque took Socotora, Mascate, Goa, Malacca and Ormuz. The Portuguese arrived in Malacca in 1509 to learn that the spices came from an archipelago to the east, the Moluccas, where they founded a trading post (Amboine) around 1512. Despite Magellan's presence (1521), the archipelago was established as Portugal's after the Treaty of Saragossa (1529). The Portuguese finished discovering Asia's markets by landing in Siam, Cambodia, Dai Viêt, China (1514 or 1517), Canton, where they received the Macao concession (1557), and Japan (1542).
The sovereign then took the title of "King of Portugal and the Algarve" on both sides of the sea
and "Lord of Guinea and the Conquest, Navigation and Trade of Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia" in Africa.
He was represented by a viceroy in Goa and fully intended to profit from the discoveries;
he entrusted the control of remote trade to a crown office, the Casa da Guiné, which took the name
Casa da Guiné e Mina in 1482-1483 before being incorporated into the Casa da India e da Guiné (1499).
The ships were grouped into fleets and left Lisbon in Easter, and sped along by the monsoon, they
reached Calicut, Cochin and Goa in September; from these ports, other ships
made their way to the spice markets of Malacca and Ternate, which other Portuguese
were going to distribute to Japan, China and Persia, including the latest inventions of
European technology (watches, arquebuses, cannons) and products from the newly founded metallurgical industry
in Lisbon. The returning fleet guaranteed the King of Portugal a dominating position
in the European market for Asian spices, sugar from the islands and black slaves.
Outside its forts, Portugal did not have any land extended beyond the seas.
But Portugal's activities were not merely trade-based; the Jesuits'
missionary ventures (Saint Francis Xavier) and the attempts at forced conversion
led to a scattering of small pockets of Christendom throughout the Far East and paved the way for
the evangelisation of Japan and China; thanks to the Portuguese, the European civilisation
made inroads into areas as varied as the Kingdom of Congo and the Japanese Empire.
The length of the journeys, which delayed the profits, the costs and especially
the impossible situation of trying to maintain a monopoly on the spice trade took a huge chunk out of the
King of Portugal's profits. The court of Lisbon stepped down efforts in the Far East,
began liquidating its Moroccan holdings (except Tangiers, Ceuta, Azemmour and Mazagan)
and shifted the focus back to its Atlantic land.
Sugar cane, for which Portugal had practically cornered the market, was running out of space
on the islands: Madeira, the Azores, Cape Verde and Sao Tomé; Portugal came across
an almost unlimited field for expansion in the country of the "Brazil wood", which was proclaimed
Portuguese property by Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500. By order of John III, who
wanted to conceal it from French pirates, Martim Afonso de Sousa organised its colonisation
from Sao Vicente (1532). The Brazilian plantations enhanced the trade posts
in Guinea and then in Angola in the second half of the 16th century; the Portuguese
were practically the only ones to sell slaves and consequently
supplied their colonies and Spanish America, thereby earning the money required for trade in the
Far East.
The intellectual and artistic culture (Manueline art) experienced the same boost as the economy and reached its golden age during the reign of John III (1521-1557), who received approval from Pope Paul III to establish the Jesuits in Portugal (1547), where they built their university in Evora, while the king permanently transferred Lisbon university to Coimbra (1537). Portugal became one of the centres for the Catholic Reformation. Despite the hostilities, the major Jewish community played a key role in both intellectual and economic circles.
The Rhinoceros of 1515
An Indian Rhinoceros, known as gomda, derived from the Indian term ganda. This rhinoceros was offered by King Muzaffar II of Cambay in India to Alfonso de Albuquerque in 1514, and was then sent to King Emmanuel I of Portugal in Lisbon, where it arrived on 20 May 1515. It was immediately identified as the rhinoceros mentioned by the Ancients and quickly became the star of the royal menagerie and the centre of interest among scientists.
The rhinoceros became an overnight celebrity in Europe. A letter describing the animal, accompanied by a fairly accurate sketch, was sent to Nuremberg; since lost, this document was used by Albrecht Dürer for his drawing entitled RHINOCEROS 1515, followed by a famous woodcut entitled RHINOCERVS 1515. According to this same document, Hans Burgkmair completed a rather different woodcarving entitled RHINOCEROS MDXV, but which proved much less successful. According to a similar document received in Italy, Giovanni Giacomo Penni published a poemetto about the animal in Rome on 13 July 1515: Forma & natura et costumi de lo rinoceron che stato condutto in Portogallo dal capitanio de larmata del re & altre belle cose condutte dalle insule nouamente trouate.
The rhinoceros had apparently been tamed and came to Lisbon with its Indian tamer, who looked after the animal. In May, King Emmanuel I had the animal parade along with other exotic animals during one or more processions through the streets of Lisbon, all without the slightest incident. On 3 June behind closed doors, the king organised a fight between the rhinoceros and one of his elephants: upon discovering its opponent, the elephant ran for cover in its enclosure and the rhinoceros was declared winner by default. This chivalrous exploit was proclaimed throughout Europe.
In December, Emmanuel I, who had already offered Hanno the elephant to Pope Leo X, decided to send him the rhinoceros with a luxurious embassy. The animal boarded the ship, which then set sail for If Island, off Marseille. On 24 January, the King of France, Francis I, travelled to the island with his court to see the rhinoceros; then the ship set sail again, but sank off Porto Venere, near La Spezia. The poor rhinoceros died in the shipwreck and we do not know exactly what happened to the body: according to the legend, the body was retrieved and the hide offered to the pope (though the Vatican officially denies having any rhinoceros skin in its secret archives).
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