The Rise and Fall of Portugal's Maritime Empire, a Cautionary Tale?: Forgotten Pioneers of the Age of Expansion, Discoverers of Two-Thirds of the World for Europe, Ambassadors of the West, Interpreters of the East, Who for a Century and a Half Governed the Lands and controlled the Riches Flowing into Europe from Africa, Persia, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Oceania, and Half of South America, Then Lost Much of Their Empire to Britain, France, and Holland; with Some Comments about Columbus and the Spread of Christianity

Authors

Frederick G. Williams

Keywords

Mormon studies, Portugal, expansion, spread of Christianity

Abstract

In the United States, we automatically think of England as the great maritime nation on whose overseas possessions the sun never set. We also identify Spain as a great maritime power, whose American colonies, especially Mexico and Peru, produced immense wealth for the kingdom. However, we forget, or more likely never knew (because we were never taught), that it was Portugal that invented the ship and developed the maritime technology that allowed for the first open-sea travel during the European Age of Exploration, begun by Portugal in 1415 (fig. 1). It was Portugal that discovered more than two-thirds of the world for Europe. It was Portugal that established fortresses and warehouses, communities and cities, on every continent. It was Portugal, that in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and portions of the seventeenth centuries, controlled the European commerce of Africa, India, Arabia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Oceania, and half of South America. And it was Portugal that first took the gospel of Jesus Christ to a majority of the peoples of the world through faithful, fearless, and dedicated brothers of the Roman Catholic Church.

Recommended Citation

Williams, Frederick G. (2018) "The Rise and Fall of Portugal's Maritime Empire, a Cautionary Tale?: Forgotten Pioneers of the Age of Expansion, Discoverers of Two-Thirds of the World for Europe, Ambassadors of the West, Interpreters of the East, Who for a Century and a Half Governed the Lands and controlled the Riches Flowing into Europe from Africa, Persia, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Oceania, and Half of South America, Then Lost Much of Their Empire to Britain, France, and Holland; with Some Comments about Columbus and the Spread of Christianity," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 57: Iss. 2, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol57/iss2/7