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Portuguese discoveries (Portuguese: ''Descobrimentos portugueses'') are the numerous territories and maritime routes discovered by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. 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. Methodical expeditions started in 1419 along West Africa's coast under the sponsorship of prince Henry the Navigator, with Bartolomeu Dias reaching the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Indian Ocean in 1488. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut and starting a maritime route from Portugal to India. Soon, after reaching Brazil, explorations proceed to southeast Asia, having reached Japan in 1542. ==Origins== In 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from León, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso Henriques. In 1297 king Denis of Portugal took personal interest in the development of exports, having organized the export of surplus production to European countries. On May 10, 1293 he instituted a maritime insurance fund for Portuguese traders living in the County of Flanders, which were to pay certain sums according to tonnage, accrued to them when necessary. Wine and dried fruits from Algarve were sold in Flanders and England, salt from Setúbal and Aveiro was a profitable export to northern Europe, and leather and kermes, a scarlet dye, were also exported. Portuguese imported armors and munitions, fine clothes and several manufactured products from Flanders and Italy.〔A. R. de Oliveira Marques, Vitor Andre, ("Daily Life in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages" ), p.9, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1971, ISBN 0-299-05584-1〕 In 1317 king Denis made an agreement with Genoese merchant sailor Manuel Pessanha (Pesagno), appointing him first Admiral with trade privileges with his homeland in return for twenty war ships and crews, with the goal of defending the country against Muslim pirate raids, thus laying the basis for the Portuguese Navy and establishment of a Genoese merchant community in Portugal.〔Diffie, Bailey (1977), (Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580 ), p. 210, University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0782-6〕 Forced to reduce their activities in the Black Sea, the Republic of Genoa had turned to north African trade of wheat, olive oil (valued also as energy source) and a search for gold – navigating also into the ports of Bruges (Flanders) and England. Genoese and Florentine communities established since then in Portugal, who profited from the enterprise and financial experience of these rivals of the Republic of Venice. In the second half of the fourteenth century outbreaks of bubonic plague led to severe depopulation: the economy was extremely localized in a few towns, and migration from the country led to land being abandoned to agriculture and resulting in village unemployment rise. Only the sea offered alternatives, with most people settling in fishing and trading coastal areas.〔M. D. D. Newitt, ("A history of Portuguese overseas expansion, 1400–1668" ), p.9, Routledge, 2005, ISBN 0-415-23979-6〕 Between 1325–1357 Afonso IV of Portugal granted public funding to raise a proper commercial fleet and ordered the first maritime explorations, with the help of Genoese, under command of admiral Manuel Pessanha. In 1341 the Canary Islands, already known to Genoese, were officially discovered under the patronage of the Portuguese king, but in 1344 Castile disputed them, further propelling the Portuguese navy efforts.〔Butel, Paul, ("The Atlantic" ), p. 36, Seas in history, Routledge, 1999 ISBN 0-415-10690-7〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Portuguese discoveries」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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