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Prologue | Portugal in the Middle Ages | Conditions at the Start | Voyages of Discovery

Cartography and Nautics | New Worlds – Old Empires | Portugal Overseas | Art and Curiosity Cabinets

Portugal in the 16th Century | International Conflicts | Foreign Images

 

 

1. Prologue

“We come seeking Christians and spices.”

 

On 20 May 1498 the first Portuguese fleet under the command of Vasco da Gama reached the city of Calicut on the western coast of India. The long-sought sea route from Europe to Asia had been found. Álvaro Velho’s famous answer, cited above, to the question of what the Portuguese were really looking for in India was recorded in the diary he kept during the voyage. “Christians and spices” were the leitmotifs of the voyages of  discovery. The spread of the Christian faith served both as a moral legitimation and a politico-religious mission. From a commercial standpoint, Portugal hoped to secure a trade monopoly for the profitable goods from Asia.

The aim of the Portuguese nautical expeditions was above all to circumvent by sea the established, slow-moving trade routes and to discover new routes for the transport of goods needed in Europe.