Portuguese Empire

Lore & Background

Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires under the leadership of Henry the Navigator. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories distributed across the globe (especially at one time in the 16th century) that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states. Portugal would eventually control Brazil, territories such as what is now Uruguay and some fishing ports in the north, in the Americas; Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe in Africa; cities, forts or territories in all the Asian subcontinents, such as Muscat, Ormus and Bahrain in the Persian Gulf; Goa, Bombay and Daman and Diu in India; Portuguese Ceylon; Malacca, bases in Southeast Asia and Oceania, such as Makassar, Solor, Banda, Ambon and others in the Moluccas, Portuguese Timor; and the granted entrepôt-base of Macau and the entrepôt-enclave of Dejima (Nagasaki) in East Asia, amongst other smaller or short-lived possessions. From 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire were conjoined in a personal union of its Habsburg monarchs during the period of the Iberian Union, but beneath the highest level of government, their separate administrations were maintained.

Reader's Guide

The Portuguese Empire is significant as the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires. It was established under Henry the Navigator and driven by trade, new ideas, and capitalism from the European Renaissance. The empire's territories were distributed across the globe, especially in the 16th century, and are now parts of 60 different sovereign states. The empire included Brazil, territories in Africa, and numerous cities, forts, and territories across Asia. From 1580 to 1640, the Portuguese and Spanish empires were united under the Iberian Union, but their separate administrations were maintained. The initial impulse behind the empire was trade, driven by competition between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims, the latter of which rose up quickly in the 14th century and forced the Spaniards and Portuguese to seek new trade routes to India and China.

Did You Know?

• Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires under the leadership of Henry the Navigator.
• The empire spread throughout territories that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states.
• From 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire were conjoined in a personal union of its Habsburg monarchs during the period of the Iberian Union.
• The initial impulse behind the empire was trade, driven by the new ideas and the capitalism that grew out of the European Renaissance.
• European imperialism was born out of competition between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims, the latter of which rose up quickly in the 14th century.

Origins and the Maritime Impulse

Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires under the leadership of Henry the Navigator. The initial impulse behind these dispersed maritime empires and those that followed was trade, driven by the new ideas and the capitalism that grew out of the European Renaissance. Agreements were also made to divide the world up between them in 1479, 1493, and 1494. European imperialism was born out of competition between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims, the latter of which rose up quickly in the 14th century and forced the Spaniards and Portuguese to seek new trade routes to India, and to a lesser extent, China.

A Scattered Global Footprint

The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories distributed across the globe (especially at one time in the 16th century) that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states. Portugal would eventually control Brazil, territories such as what is now Uruguay and some fishing ports in the north, in the Americas; Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe (among other territories and bases) in the North and the Subsaharan Africa; cities, forts or territories in all the Asian subcontinents, as Muscat, Ormus and Bahrain (amongst other bases) in the Persian Gulf; Goa, Bombay and Daman and Diu (amongst other coastal cities) in India; Portuguese Ceylon; Malacca, bases in Southeast Asia and Oceania, as Makassar, Solor, Banda, Ambon and others in the Moluccas, Portuguese Timor; and the granted entrepôt-base of Macau and the entrepôt-enclave of Dejima (Nagasaki) in East Asia, amongst other smaller or short-lived possessions.

The Iberian Union and Shared Sovereignty

From 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire were conjoined in a personal union of its Habsburg monarchs during the period of the Iberian Union, but beneath the highest level of government, their separate administrations were maintained. During its Siglo de Oro, the Spanish Empire had possession of Mexico, South America, the Philippines, all of southern Italy, a stretch of territories from the Duchy of Milan to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, parts of Burgundy, and many colonial settlements in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Possessions in Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and East Asia qualified the Spanish Empire as attaining a global presence.

Pioneers of the Modern Colonial Paradigm

Before the expansion of early modern European powers, other empires had conquered and colonized territories, such as the Roman Empire in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Modern colonial empires first emerged with a race of exploration between the then most advanced European maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, during the 15th century. Although colonies existed in classical antiquity, especially amongst the Phoenicians and the ancient Greeks who settled many islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, these colonies were politically independent from the city-states they originated from, and thus did not constitute a colonial empire. This paradigm shifted by the time of the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Roman Empires. The European countries of the modern era that are most remembered as colonial empires are the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, France, Germany, and Belgium.