How did portugal empire grew so big in 1500s #history

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Date: August 31, 2025
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43 thoughts on “How did portugal empire grew so big in 1500s #history”

  8. Good summary on the events that occurred. More emphasis really should be placed on the ottomans as a catalyst to Portugal seeking a route around Africa.

    In short, the main catalysts were for a route around Africa were: insanely high Ottoman tariffs on Christian merchants following the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire and its satellite states, Portuguese royalty thirst for exotic goods, already existing development of advanced sailing technology in Portugal (Portugal already had colonies in North Africa and the Atlantic before Constantinople fell), Portugal’s focus on naval protection for border security (land border secured due to Castile/Spain as very close allies as mentioned in the short), and the renaissance and Eastern Roman immigration, bringing maps, literature and knowledge of Asia and lands beyond the Persian Region to the rest of Europe – feeding the European fantasy and fascination with the rich giants of East Asia.

    Sailing beyond coastal waters with European sailing technology was both suicidal and outrageously expensive until the 1700s (imagine what it was in the 1450s). But from the perspective of Portuguese royalty and nobility, the price became worth it as a reaction to Ottoman tariffs. The Portuguese Monarch felt insulted paying those price hikes, so instead was willing to fund expeditions around Africa with promise of riches and glory. Monarchs were really the only ones with enough wealth to fund these expeditions so they were the only choice as investors until the first stock exchange in the mid 1600s in the Netherlands.

    It’s important to note colonisation and exploration in Europe was a long and drawn out process. Until the Spanish colonisation of South America in the mid 1500s large European colonies were non-existent, and sustainable European colonies which didn’t really solely on exploitation and resource extraction were non-existent until the mid 1600s. Again the reason comes down to risk of your ridiculous investment ending up at the sea floor – it was all or nothing. Also why most colonies started with prisoners and slaves, because making it to the colony was a bloody miracle.

    Until the 1550s to 1650s most European colonies were just outposts. The Portuguese were famous for these small coastal enclaves with their feitoria (essentially small fortified trading outposts), as early colonisation relied on getting to East Asia and back, and eventually beginning the African slave trade later on.

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