The Kingdom of Portugal emerged in the 12th century connected with the process concerning the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time that all the territories occupied by the Moors were conquered southwards Portugal, originally a county and a part of one of the most ancient Christian kingdoms of the Peninsula – […]
Source: “Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580, by Bailey Wallys Diffie, Boyd C. Shafer, George Davison Winius” Portuguese soldier in Benin, British Museum “The Portuguese had fought Muslims on and off during all their national history, but it was not until the conquest of Ceuta that they carried this rivalry into the islamic home territory in […]
Infante Dom Henrique de Avis, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Henry the Navigator was an important figure in 15th-century Portuguese politics and in the early days of the Portuguese Empire. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as […]
The Portuguese era marked the end of medieval Sri Lanka and the beginning of modern Sri Lanka. It changed the island’s orientation away from India and gave it a unique identity moulded by almost 450 years of Western influence due to the presence of three successive European powers : the Portuguese (1505-1658), the Dutch (1658-1796) […]
As early as 1540, João de Barros, the Portuguese chronicler predicted that… « The Portuguese arms and pillars placed in Africa and Asia, and in countless isles beyond the bounds of three continents, are material things, and time may destroy them. But time will not destroy the religion, customs and language which the Portuguese […]