Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai was a higher-castled Portuguese carrack with 140 cannons, launched down in 1520 (800t, length 38 m, width 13 m, draft 4-4,5 м). Built in Kochi, India around 1512 it had two square rig masts and is depicted on a painting attributed to Joachim Patinir. In 1524, it was the flagship […]
Marranos were originally Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity, some of whom may have continued to practice Judaism in secret. The term came into later use in 1492 with the Castilian Alhambra Decree, reversing protections originally in theTreaty of Granada (1491). The converts were also known […]
WHY BE A MARRANO? Preface to : The Mezzuzah in the Maddonah’s Foot’ , Trudi Alexy, 1994 ‘Marrano’ is a pejorative name meaning ‘swine’ given to secret Jews by suspicious Christians during the Spanish Inquisition. I have used it in the book reluctantly—only because it is a historical term with which most people are […]
Last year England celebrated the 350th anniversary of the re-admission of Jews after their expulsion in 1290. In 1656, Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, born Manuel Dias Soeiro in Lisbon, the son of a New Christian nail vendor, convinced Oliver Cromwell it would be just and profitable to allow Jews to return to England. […]
Portugal is Europe’s southwestern extremity, washed by the Atlantic, and warmed by the Mediterranean sun. Alone among Iberia’s ancient kingdoms, in it’s independence from Spain, it is a nation about half the size of Florida, with two -thirds the population. Yet over centuries, it has influenced the lives of the rest of us far more […]
THE PORTUGUESE NAVY The Oldest Navy in the world existing today from the XII century In the XVI century Portugal had the most powerful navy in the world and the ninth largest empire on the history until today . In the XV and XVI century spices were as valuable as gold and only nobles could buy […]
1589 Portuguese Nau(Carrack) “Madre de Deus” Portuguese trade ship. 32 guns, crew 700men , 1600ton , 50m length, 14,5 m width, 7 floors. Was the biggest ship in the world. This super structure was three times larger than the largest English ship. The proportions of the ship, between Length and high difficult to see the grandiosity of […]
Despite being relatively restricted to an Atlantic sustenance, Portuguese cuisine has many Mediterranean influences. The influence of Portugal’s former colonial possessionsis also notable, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These spices include piri piri (small, fiery chilli peppers) and black pepper, as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. Olive oil is one of the […]
Persian–Portuguese war took place between 1507 and 1622 and involved the Portuguese Empire and its vassal, the Kingdom of Ormus, on one side, and the Safavid Empirewith the help of the Kingdom of England on the other side. During this era, Portugal established its rule for about eighty years in Ormuz and Bahrain, capturing some […]