Questions tagged [portuguese-empire]
The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire. It existed for almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Portuguese Macau to China in 1999.
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Why didn't Portugal found universities in its colonies like Spain?
Imperial Spain and Portugal conquered and developed huge empires. Both monarchies were Catholic and seized huge amounts of land in the 1500s.
Both European motherlands had numerous universities, but ...
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When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
The Ptolemy map shows the Indian Ocean as an enclosed sea separated from the Atlantic by land extending from Africa to Malaya. Therefore, it suggests it is impossible to reach the Indian Ocean from ...
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Why did the Spanish take the island of Annobon in the Treaty of El Pardo in 1778?
The conditions of the Treaty of El Pardo (1778) have always been a mystery to me. From Wikipedia:
The Treaty of El Pardo was signed on March 11, 1778 between Queen Maria I of Portugal and King ...
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What is the first recorded contact with Taiwan by Europeans?
Apparently every book and website on or accessible through the internet repeats the exact same "they say..." "everyone knows..." story about the first European contact with Taiwan.¹...
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Was the British Empire bigger than the combined empires of the Iberian Union in terms of claimed land area?
The Iberian Empire (1580-1640 AD), under Phillip II, a Habsburg, was a period when there was only one crown in the Iberian Peninsula. The 16th Century had been an Age of Discovery and Exploration for ...
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Did the Portuguese get anything in return when they handed back Macau?
In 1999, Portugal fully returned Macau to China. However, did they get something for giving Macau back to China, or was it just a sign of good faith and decolonization in general?
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Do maps dating back to 1489/90 show Ascension and St Helena even though these islands were supposedly only discovered in 1501 and 1502 respectively?
The 1504 Vesconte Maggiolo Map appears to be the first map to name and accurately locate the islands of St Helena and Ascension as single isloated islands.
Ascension was shown in a similar location ...
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Who was Ribeiro Pacheco, Portuguese journalist in colonial Mozambique during the 1960s/70s?
I am stuck in the search for information about Portuguese journalists in colonial Mozambique and would like to ask for help. I've asked the question already on /Historiaemportugues/ on Reddit, and was ...
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Why did the Portuguese permit an Italian commercial agent to accompany Vasco da Gama on the 4th Portuguese India Armada?
From Conquerors by Roger Crowley,
A second detachment of five ships under Estevao de Gama followed on April 1. The amplified expedition included a number of observers who would write eyewitness ...
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Spain's tributary empire vs. Portugal's seaborne empire
While the Spanish built a huge colonial empire in the Americas, why didn't Portugal colonize the South Asian coast and only aimed at controlling trade?
Why did these empires pursue such different ...
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In WW2, why didn't Japan invade Macau?
Macau was a Portuguese Colony right next door to Hong Kong. Why didn't Japan invade it during WW2?
Japan did invade Hong Kong, and they did invade Portuguese Timor too. Yet I am not even sure if ...
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How can a diamond shape be a reference to Napoleon?
The green and yellow on the Brazilian flag are references to the Houses of Bragança and Lorraine (of Francis I and II of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine), respectively. It seems that the diamond shape ...
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Why did the Portuguese colonies stay united whereas the Spanish ones split up? [duplicate]
Why did the South-American Portuguese colonies unite into one country, Brazil, whereas the South-American Spanish colonies split into many different countries, i.e. Argentina, Peru, Chile, etc?
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When did the Portuguese decide to extend their West African exploration to finding a sea passage to India?
In 1421, when the Portuguese began the southwards exploration of the West African coast under Prince Henry the Navigator, their primary aim (there were several) was to find the source of wealthy goods ...
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Did the Portuguese Crown sponsor Brazilian gold-seeking expeditions (bandeiras) in the 17th century?
The end of the 17th century is the beginning of the gold rush in Brazil. Shortly before there were expeditions (bandeiras) of explorers (later called bandeirantes) who were seeking precious minerals ...
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