Part 8. Portuguese Discoveries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Canada, Asia, and Brazil, in what became known as the Age of Discovery.
1419 – W. African expeditions under the sponsorship of prince Henry the Navigator
1419 – Madeira claimed for Portugal, settled in 1420.
1427 – Azores discovered and claimed for Portugal, settled 6-9 years later.
1434 – Gil Eanes sailed pass Cape Bojador (“Bulging Cape”) in Morocco – violent seas
1445 – Senegal and Capo Verde reached
1446 – Alvaro Fernandes reaches Sierra Leone
1448 – Lanzarote sold to Henry the Navigator by Macio de Bethencourt, endorsed by Pope Nicholas V
1452 – Papal Bull of Nicholas V – Dum Diversas authorising Portugal under Afonso V to conquer Saracens and pagans, with full trading rights, after the fall of Constantinople 1453
1455 – Papal Bull of Nicholas V– Romanus Pointifex granting Portugal dominion over all lands south of Cape Bojador in Africa, with full trading rights.
1458 – Cape Verde islands settled by de Noli, Diogo Dias et al, settled 6 years later
1459 – Lanzarote reverts to Spain after revolts against Portuguese rule. Fra Mauro world map.
1471 – Sao Tome e Principe and Elimina (in Ghana) on the coast discovered
1478 – Battle near Elimina between Castile and Portugal – Portuguese victory gave control of Guinea trade in gold, slaves, ivory, pepper
1479 – Division of 1479 or Treaty of Alcacovas between the the Houses of Castile & Aragon and Afonso V & Prince Joao of Portugal, Portugal owned the world south of Azores, renounced claims to the Castilian throne. Canary Islands conceded/confirmed to Spain. Portugal confirmed ownership of Guinea, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, and the right to conquer Kingdom of Fez.
1481 – Papal Bull Aeternis Regis confirmed Divison of 1479
1482 – Elimina settled, becomes Portugal's West African headquarters for trade & exploration.
1482 – Diogo Cao discovers Congo River, erects stone pillar, then discovers Angola
1484 – Diogo Cao plants a cross in Angola at Cabo Negro, in Namibia at Cape Cross in 1485 where he died. Discovered Lelala Falls and Congo River in Congo
1486/7 – Bartolomeu Dias appointed to find a trade route to India and contact Prester John
1488 – Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean
1493 – Inter Caetera Line of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia of Valencia), 100 leagueswest of Azores
1493 – Sao Tome settled, populated by 2,000 Jewish children to grow sugar cane
1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal, 370 leagues west of Cape Verde
1496 – Ephermerides or Almanach Perpetuum of Zacuto, one of the first books published with a movable type and printing press in Portugal, revolutionised navigation & latitudes
1497 – Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, rounded Cape of Good Hope November. Coast past Eastern Cape was named Natal re Christmas. Mozambique discovered.
1498 – Vasco da Gama arrives in Mombassa, Kenya, then India, arriving in Calicut (“City of Spices”) then Goa, starting a maritime route from Portugal to India.
1499 – Zanzibar discovered
1500 – Nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral became the 1st. European to discover Brazil.
1500 – Pedro Álvares Cabral then establishes first European settlement in India at Cochin
1500 – Mozambique invaded and settled.
1503 – Fort Cochi established and ruled by Portugal until 1663 and Dutch rule.
1510 – Permanent settlement of Goa established, to last until annexation in 1961
1511 – Afonso de Alberquerque conquers Malacca, Malysia, diplomatic missions sent to Thailand
1511/25– Portuguese fort and factory in Calicut, Jorge Alvares reaches China in 1513
1517 – Trade opened to China through Canton
1521 – Antonio Correia conquers Bahrain, starts 80 years of Portuguese rule in Gulf
1524 – Vasco da Gama reaches Goa, died in Cochin
1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza, 142 degrees East, giving Portugal Asia and Spain the Pacific
1542 – Portuguese explorations of southeast Asia, reaching Japan in 1542
1543 – Vasco da Gama, Goa founded, named after the first Governor of Portuguese India.
1543 – Trading post established in Tanegashima, Japan, broking/selling banned Chinese goods
1557 – China allows Portuguese to settle and occupy Macau
1595 – Portuguese law banning the selling and buying of Chinese & Japanese slaves
Read other parts of this series HERE.
