Read Online Spain: A Unique History by Stanley G. Payne - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stanley G. Payne
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favoring oceanic projects, and the opening of enterprise beyond the Atlantic islands, all the way down the African coast and, eventually, to India itself. The main interest group of the military aristocracy, however, remained true to the classic (medieval) crusading ideal, the Reconquest now projected into the Maghrib, aimed at conquering as much territory as possible in Morocco for purposes of booty and the creation of new landed domains.
Both enterprises derived inspiration from the fifteenth-century religious revival, which affected Portugal about as much as Spain, and in the entire peninsular context (including also Valencia, so that it was not merely a matter of Castilian and Portuguese speakers) this assumed a pronounced apocalyptic tone, aimed at the crusade and ultimately the liberation of Jerusalem. It was also a major incentive for the Atlantic voyages. The famous Prince Henry was not a scientist but saw himself as a crusader; later, the court of King Manoel (who would be called "The Fortunate") lived in a kind of apocalyptic fervor, so that the dispatch of the expedition of Vasco da Gama represented not merely an opportunity to cut into the south Asian spice trade but also an effort strategically to flank the Islamic world, establish new geopolitical conditions, help to regain Jerusalem, and expedite the Second Coming. 3 Much the same set of motivations as in the case of Columbus.
Until the development of Brazil in the later sixteenth century, the original Portuguese empire was not a land empire but what historians have termed a "thalassocracy," that is, an ocean-going empire built around the possession of a long string of ports and coastal fortresses, rather than extensive territories. For most of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it remained a kind of schizophrenic empire, the Afro-Asian thalassocracy having to compete with the military crusade and territorial conquest in Morocco. For that matter, the thalassocracy itself was never a "commercial empire" of the kind later developed by the Dutch and English. Though commerce was important to it, this functioned within the broader "conquistador" ethos of early Portuguese expansion that emphasized force. By the midsixteenth century the cost was becoming greater than the benefits: although some income continued to be earned from the south Asian and African spice trade, the Portuguese crown was increasingly hard pressed for resources.
Once the romantic and crusade-minded Sebastian came of age and assumed power in 1568, the stage was set for complete domination of policy by the crusaders, leading to the large-scale invasion of Morocco ten years later and the dynastic and national disaster of Alcazarquivir. 4 During its final generations, crusading was supposed to help achieve apocalypse, and it certainly did for the Portuguese monarchy. There could have been no greater demonstration of the ubiquity of the crusade in the general Luso-Hispanic culture. In this the Portuguese proved the most "typically Spanish" of all the peninsular kingdoms. In no other European state was both a dynasty extinguished and independence lost as a result of an aggressive military crusade abroad. In Portugal the "guerra divinal" produced the most extreme consequences.
The claim of Felipe II to the Portuguese crown was contested, but no other claimant could boast clearly superior legitimacy. Even though temporary military occupation by the troops of the Duque de Alba enforced that claim, the accession of the Spanish ruler was generally accepted within Portugal. In 1580-81 the peninsula was at least reunited for the first time since 711, even if historians have difficulty defining exactly what kind of union it was.
It has sometimes been said that Portugal accepted the leadership of the Spanish crown when that was to its advantage, and rejected it in 1640 when this was no longer so. There is much to be said for such an interpretation. Portuguese attitudes were always somewhat divided. This
Both enterprises derived inspiration from the fifteenth-century religious revival, which affected Portugal about as much as Spain, and in the entire peninsular context (including also Valencia, so that it was not merely a matter of Castilian and Portuguese speakers) this assumed a pronounced apocalyptic tone, aimed at the crusade and ultimately the liberation of Jerusalem. It was also a major incentive for the Atlantic voyages. The famous Prince Henry was not a scientist but saw himself as a crusader; later, the court of King Manoel (who would be called "The Fortunate") lived in a kind of apocalyptic fervor, so that the dispatch of the expedition of Vasco da Gama represented not merely an opportunity to cut into the south Asian spice trade but also an effort strategically to flank the Islamic world, establish new geopolitical conditions, help to regain Jerusalem, and expedite the Second Coming. 3 Much the same set of motivations as in the case of Columbus.
Until the development of Brazil in the later sixteenth century, the original Portuguese empire was not a land empire but what historians have termed a "thalassocracy," that is, an ocean-going empire built around the possession of a long string of ports and coastal fortresses, rather than extensive territories. For most of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it remained a kind of schizophrenic empire, the Afro-Asian thalassocracy having to compete with the military crusade and territorial conquest in Morocco. For that matter, the thalassocracy itself was never a "commercial empire" of the kind later developed by the Dutch and English. Though commerce was important to it, this functioned within the broader "conquistador" ethos of early Portuguese expansion that emphasized force. By the midsixteenth century the cost was becoming greater than the benefits: although some income continued to be earned from the south Asian and African spice trade, the Portuguese crown was increasingly hard pressed for resources.
Once the romantic and crusade-minded Sebastian came of age and assumed power in 1568, the stage was set for complete domination of policy by the crusaders, leading to the large-scale invasion of Morocco ten years later and the dynastic and national disaster of Alcazarquivir. 4 During its final generations, crusading was supposed to help achieve apocalypse, and it certainly did for the Portuguese monarchy. There could have been no greater demonstration of the ubiquity of the crusade in the general Luso-Hispanic culture. In this the Portuguese proved the most "typically Spanish" of all the peninsular kingdoms. In no other European state was both a dynasty extinguished and independence lost as a result of an aggressive military crusade abroad. In Portugal the "guerra divinal" produced the most extreme consequences.
The claim of Felipe II to the Portuguese crown was contested, but no other claimant could boast clearly superior legitimacy. Even though temporary military occupation by the troops of the Duque de Alba enforced that claim, the accession of the Spanish ruler was generally accepted within Portugal. In 1580-81 the peninsula was at least reunited for the first time since 711, even if historians have difficulty defining exactly what kind of union it was.
It has sometimes been said that Portugal accepted the leadership of the Spanish crown when that was to its advantage, and rejected it in 1640 when this was no longer so. There is much to be said for such an interpretation. Portuguese attitudes were always somewhat divided. This
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