Western Civilization - History Of European Society

Overseas Conquest and Religious War to 1648275

goods from the African, Indian, or Asian interior for
transshipment to Portugal in return for cash or Euro-
pean commodities. These colonies were rarely more
than towns protected by a Portuguese garrison and
governed by Portuguese law. They were not, for the
most part, self-sustaining. To prosper, they had to main-
tain diplomatic and commercial relations with their
neighbors while retaining the option of force, either for
self-protection or to obtain a favorable market share in
regional trade. Because Portugal’s population was small,
there was no question of large-scale immigration. Gov-
ernors from Albuquerque onward sought to maintain
colonial populations and to solidify Portuguese control
by encouraging intermarriage with native peoples.

Communication between these far-flung stations

and the mother country was maintained by the largest

ships of the age, the thousand-ton carracks of the Car-

reira da India.The voyage around the tip of Africa took

months and the mortality among crews was dreadful,

but profit to the crown made it all seem worthwhile. To

discourage smuggling, everything had to be shipped to

and from a central point—the Guinea Mines House at

Lagos, near Sagres—where royal officials could inspect

the cargoes of spice and silks and assess the one-third

share owed to the king. In return, the monarchy pro-

vided military and naval protection for the colonies and

for the convoys that served them. Colonial governors,

though appointed by the crown, enjoyed the freedom

Ocean

Pacific

Ocean

Pacific

Ocean

Indian

Ocean

Atlantic

CUBA

NEW

SPAIN

PERU

BRAZIL

SPAIN

PORTUGAL

AFRICA

ANGOLA

PERSIA CHINA

JAPAN

PHILIPPINES

CEYLON IN

DON

ESIA

GOLD

COAST

I

E

E

F

F

G G

G

C

H C

H

B

A

C

H

D

D

D

D

H

INDIA

Tenochtitlán

(Mexico City)

Porto Bello

Bahia

Lisbon Cádiz

Ceuta

Elmina

Zanzibar

Mozambique

Ormuz

Diu

CalicutGoa

Colombo

Canton

Macao

Nagasaki

Manila

Malacca

Timor

Potosí

Bakongo

Lima

Bristol

CanaryIslands

VerdeCape

Azores

0 2000 4000 Miles

0 2000 4000 6000 Kilometers

A Portuguese expeditions 1430s–1480s

B Diaz 1487– 1488

C Da Gama 1497– 1499

D Portuguese voyages to the Far East 1509–1514

E Columbus's first voyage 1492

F Columbus's three successive voyages 1493– 1504

G Voyages attended by Vespucci 1499– 1502

H Magellan—Del Cano 1519– 1522

I Cabot 1497

Principal Voyages of Discovery

Areas under Spanish control

Areas under Portuguese control

Line of Demarcation, Treaty of Tordesillas 1492

Spanish trading cities

Portuguese trading cities

Independent trading cities

Spanish routes

Portuguese routes

Other routes

MAP 15.1

European Voyages and Conquests in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries