What were the main features of the Portuguese trading post empire?

Today, some people might struggle to find Portugal on a map (it's that tiny little country to Spain's left on the Iberian Peninsula). Still, less than 500 years ago, the Portuguese had an expansive empire of upstarting colonies and trading posts across the world. The Portuguese maritime empire's explorers were traveling the globe (circumnavigating it, in some instances), heralding in imperial fleets and European trading posts that would come to take over trade in the Indian Ocean and East Asia. Portugal became a real contender with the other European maritime empires through its early and bold imperial efforts.

Portuguese Maritime Empire History

Portugal, like Spain, was one of the first European empires. Even before the age of maritime empires (1450-1750), Portugal was expanding into foreign lands. In 1415, Portuguese King John I invaded and captured the North-African city of Ceuta. Among the Portuguese invaders was Prince Henry the Navigator, son of John I, who would later play an important role in Portuguese maritime expansion. Although Ceuta did not provide much value for the Portuguese, it symbolized a readiness for growth in the coming age.

Fig. 1- Map depicting the territorial holdings of the Portuguese Empire across its history.

The Portuguese Maritime Empire's Search for India

But in 1453, the fall of Constantinople symbolized a new threat to Portugal and the European powers: the Ottoman Empire. Controlling much of the land trade between the west (Europe) and east (Asia), the Ottomans became a serious threat to European economies. Europe searched for new, more profitable paths to India and East Asia.

Fig. 2- Drawing of a Portuguese Caravel.

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus proposed traveling across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new route to India, but the Portuguese denied him. Columbus discovered land on his voyage in 1492, but no European had yet found a maritime passage to the Indian Ocean. In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama accomplished that very task by sailing down and around the southern tip of Africa.

Caravel:

15th-century Portuguese sailing ship that utilized highly effective lateen sails (set of triangular sails).

Almost immediately, the Portuguese began sending fleets of maneuverable caravels around Africa and into India, charting maps and establishing trading posts along the way. In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led a Spanish fleet in the first circumnavigation of the globe, bringing greater Portuguese interest to Indonesia. In a handful of years, Portuguese explorers had changed European navigation and trade forever.

The Portuguese Maritime Empire's Division of the New World

While the Portuguese maritime empire rejected Columbus's plan to travel across the Atlantic, the empire fully intended to capitalize on the Italian explorer's discovery. In negotiating with Spain under the supervision of the Catholic Church, Portugal and Spain signed the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing territories of the new world between them. Portugal claimed modern-day Brazil as though it were free for the taking.

Portuguese Maritime Empire Culture:

The Portuguese maritime empire experienced great wealth in its early days. Portugal's historical and current capital, a city named Lisbon, became an illustrious beacon of western European success through its blooming art and architecture. The Iberian homeland of the Portuguese maritime empire was largely ethnically and linguistically homogenous, its citizens sharing a rich Portuguese culture. Portugal's trading ports in Africa and Asia saw little interaction with the native cultures except in Brazil, where Portuguese culture and language became ingrained in the South American country.

Portuguese Maritime Empire Social Structure

The Portuguese maritime empire was well prepared for the age of maritime empires. The aforementioned Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) gathered engineers, navigators, and traders in anticipation of funding exploratory voyages along the African coastline. Henry the Navigator wished to create a Christian maritime empire that could challenge the Islamic Ottoman Empire and its influence in Africa. Against common belief, Henry the Navigator did not establish a navigation school in Portugal. Instead, he gathered assets, invested in expeditions, and created a culture of maritime exploration in Portugal.

Fig. 3- Portrait of Henry the Navigator.

It was through Henry the Navigator that explorers like Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco Da Gama came to prominence within Portugal, spreading the small European empire's influence throughout the world. Large social castes of sailors and maritime craftsmen formed in the Portuguese maritime empire, as well as a new level of wealthy merchant nobles (like Henry the Navigator) who profited from the riches of Portugal's Trading Post Empire.

Trading Post Empire:

Mainly in reference to Portugal, an empire characterized not by its dominance over large and contiguous swathes of land, but by its many trading posts that dominate trade and exhibit power in foreign regions.

Portuguese Maritime Empire Political Structure

The Portuguese maritime empire operated under a monarchal system, but the merchant noble class acquired new levels of power through funding foreign explorations. Unlike the four other European maritime empires, Portugal was unique in that it was structured as a trading post empire. In the 1500s, Portugal built over fifty trading posts along the African coast and in Asian waters. Feitorias in Goa, Malacca, and Macau were especially important in establishing Portuguese supremacy.

Feitoria:

A typically fortified Portuguese trading post built on an island or coastline.

Fig. 4- Portuguese maritime empire's coat of arms.

Portuguese Maritime Empire Political Control of Foreign Lands

The Portuguese maritime empire was cunning and brutal in its implementation of foreign policy. As a maritime empire does so well, Portugal used military force from mighty Carrack ships to batter their enemies when a trade agreement went awry. Additionally, the Portuguese enacted the Cartaz System in 1502 in the Indian Ocean.

Fig. 5- Portuguese ships battling Ottoman soldiers on land.

The Cartaz System offered low-cost protection to sanctioned trading vessels within the Indian Ocean. Portuguese ships policed the ocean, enforcing the payment of taxes to Portuguese feitorias. Those who did not accede to taxation and Portuguese shipping laws, as well as those vessels who were not sanctioned under the Cartaz System (often Islamic competitors in the Indian Ocean), were attacked by Portuguese vessels. By the early 16th century, Portugal had formally established a monopoly over Indian Ocean trade.

Portuguese Maritime Empire Political Ties to Spain

Portuguese King Sebastian suddenly died in battle in 1578, leaving the Portuguese maritime empire in the hands of his great-uncle. But when his great-uncle died, Portugal was left without an heir. Wars for succession began, leading to the Spanish King Phillip II taking power. Spain and Portugal united in the Iberian Union, a devastating alliance for the Portuguese maritime empire.

Spain dragged Portugal into many European conflicts, draining Portugal of its acquired wealth and resources. The Portuguese maritime empire's power diminished greatly during this time. In 1640, the Portuguese Restoration War finally broke Portugal from its unwanted alliance with Spain.

The Beginning and End of the Portuguese Maritime Empire:

The Portuguese maritime empire was one of the first European empires to dominate the Indian Ocean. The empire acquired great wealth through its many trading posts, but Portugal's inability to ingrain its influence in foreign lands (instead, they policed foreign trade from their feitorias) led in part to the end of the empire. Without lasting influence in places such as the Indian Ocean, Portugal was easily replaced by other, more enterprising European powers.

Portugal managed to bounce back into power during the early 18th century through its newly discovered and flourishing gold mines in Brazil. But Portugal would continue to face adversity. In 1755, Portugal's capital of Lisbon was struck by a devastating earthquake and resulting tsunami. Gradually, Portugal's territorial holdings in the Indian Ocean and East Asia fell into obscurity as the British Empire rose to the top of the European maritime empire hierarchy.

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