Spices and the Age of Discovery 

It’s true that the Iberian Union weakened Portugal’s hold over its empire. However, the Casa Da India was already in dire financial condition even before the death of King Sebastian and the subsequent succession crisis. For all the money pouring into the Portuguese coffers, they failed to properly invest in the local infrastructure to build, man and maintain their fleets and instead outsourced much of the work to foreigners at huge expense. And on top of this, the cost of maintaining Portuguese holdings in Morocco was huge. The weakening caused the Iberian Union was a significant contributor, yes, but the writing was on the wall even before then for those with the vision to see it.

Right.

​@@Real_History That's not entirely true, and the best evidence of that can be perceived in the war of the League of the Indies. Shortly before King Sebastian's disastrous campaign in North Africa, the Portuguese had just come out victorious in what was perhaps their most costly naval war in history; the war of the League of the Indies, which was fought between 1570 - 1575, and was massively expensive for the Portuguese, where they had to fight off an Asian coalition consisting of 150.000 infantry, 2000 elephants, 70.000 cavalry, 400 cannons, and more than 100 ships, with only 5000 infantry and 20-30 galleons. It was in effect, a total war. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_League_of_the_Indies It was an extraordinary victory, a war which I personally rate as one of the most amazing Portuguese victories off all time, a war which is relatively unknown, and which was only possible due to the massive amounts of money and effort put into it, so the idea that Portugal's Asian Empire was somewhat already in decline is pretty much disproved by this war. The campaign itself that King Sebastian did in North Africa a few years later would have also been impossible had the Portuguese been suffering from severe financial difficulties, and let's not forget that he had a plan to build a navy of 800 vessels after the war. During the Iberian Union, which lasted from 1580 - 1640, a good part of the Portuguese ships, soldiers and treasury went to the Spanish war machine. For instance, half of the galleons (11) of the Spanish Armada were Portuguese, including the flagship itself. The defeat proved disastrous for Portugal too. King Philip II of Spain was actually bankrupt three times during his reign, which caused a further drainage of the Portuguese funds from its own colonies and empire. The Dutch traders, after being expelled from Lisbon, were very aware of the poorly defended Portuguese outposts in Asia, and realised that it was a great opportunity to attack the Portuguese colonial outposts in the area, because although the Portuguese brought the goods into Europe, the Dutch were the ones that spread it around Europe. Let's not also forget the importance that the Portuguese expelled Jews had in the Netherlands as well. After King Sebastian's flunder, and the consequent crowning of King Philip II of Spain, Portugal never again had the same capacity to finance its empire in Asia until the discovery of gold and diamonds in Brazil, more than 100 years later. It was this the main factor behind the Dutch and British successful incursions into Asia. If one is to analyse the many defeats the Portuguese held in the early 17th century, especially against the Dutch, one is to realize how poorly defended the colonial outposts were, a situation which would have never been so dire until 1578. It is no wonder that the Portuguese only started to score significant victories against the Dutch after the restoration in 1640, namely in Angola in 1648; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapture_of_Angola and in Brazil in 1649: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Guararapes I understand that it might be more convenient for the English and Dutch to put forward the idea that they simply "outsmarted" or "overtook" the Portuguese in Asia, but the truth is that the Iberian Union was probably the main factor in weakening Portugal, and the Dutch and the English took full advantage of that.

@@Omerath9 the War of the League of Indies was a spectacular success for the Portuguese, but it is important to note that it was a struggle fought almost entirely by the Portuguese already in Asia. It was a ‘total war’, not because all of Portugal was geared towards to the war effort, but because all of the Portuguese in Asia were geared towards the war effort. There were no significant reinforcements or funds coming from Portugal itself and thus the war effort is does not represent an outlay of cash that would have been impossible for a government in dire financial condition. In addition, King Sebastian’s expedition to Morocco was funded mostly by loans from the church. Indeed, throughout the second half of the 16th century, the proportion of the Casa da India’s funding that came from external, foreign sources grew rapidly. One of the problems was that the Casa da India was a royal monopoly. Positions of leadership were occupied almost exclusively by the aristocracy and it was they, along with the crown, who pocketed the lion’s share of the profits. The carriera da India became a means of enriching the nobility and the profits were rarely re-invested into the enterprise. Instead they were liberally spent. Merchants were not a significant contributor and thus the development of a middle class and a strong, sound, commercial backing of Portuguese activity was stunted and only belatedly pursued. Like I said, the Iberian Union was certainly a significant factor in the decline of Portuguese power in Asia, but to say that it the main or only factor ignores the Portuguese Asian enterprise, and the crown itself, was in severe financial distress well before.

@@Real_History The victory in the war of the League of the Indies was obviously only possible due to the good management of the Portuguese Empire in Asia, which was in almost constant expansion until the very last moment of the Avis dynasty. Hardly indicators of an impeding decline. And although there was no longer an armada of 15 - 20 warships going to Asia on a yearly basis, as it had happened during the reigns of King Manuel I and King John III, there was still a much higher contingent of Portuguese forces in that region than during the Philippine dynasty, where the tendency followed King John III's expansion of Brazil. As for your comments on the Casa da India, although it is true that it reached its peak early on during the reign of King Manuel I, its decline did not affect the expansion of the Portuguese Empire throughout the reigns of King John III and King Sebastian. The only significant difference was that more effort began being put into the expansion of Brazil, and as such less men were sent into Asia, given Portugal's limited population of only about 1 million. This would also be a decisive factor in Portugal defeating the Dutch in Brazil and losing in Asia, and you mentioned nothing about it. Another thing you forgot to mention in your video, and which was crucial for the Dutch expansion into Asia, was the terms of the 12 years truce between Spain and the Netherlands, where the Spanish allowed the Dutch to take hold of Portuguese possessions in Asia for compensation, something which was seen as an outrage by the Portuguese nobility which had previously supported Philip III's father's claim to the throne, and which eventually would lead to the restoration war and the Bragança dynasty being put in power. And after 1640, as I previously mentioned, the Portuguese colonials in Brazil went about defeating the Dutch West India company and reclaiming their western colonial possessions, which led to the ruin of the company, effectively disproving the notion that all capitalist ventures were inherently superior to royal monopolies. The reality was far more complex, and as you know, the war ultimately ended in a stalemate after 60 years, with the Dutch winning in Asia and the Portuguese winning in Brazil and parts of Africa. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch%E2%80%93Portuguese_War Finally, to make a video on the subject and somehow to try and pass off Dutch and English successful incursions into Asia as a mere consequence of a Dutch spy leaking information about the Portuguese, and the supposed theoretical "better nature" of their private companies over royal monopolies, without even slightly mentioning how much the Iberian Union weakened Portugal's grip on its overseas empire is intellectually dishonest, to say the least.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

@@Real_History I forgot to say - it also made me laugh a lot. Keep making videos! :- )

i guess I'm quite randomly asking but do anyone know a good website to stream newly released movies online?

Best video on this subject. However it should be called "Age of European Discovery" because it is European explorers who were doing discovery for European nations after Ottoman empire ad Genoese blocked far East Trade from European nations.

@@CmonNowTellme Ha, way to be pedantic! Though, sure, if you're trying to make a point about Eurocentrism... fair enough.

Amazing! Glad it helped.

Portugal is very underrated. However, while Christopher Columbus’ origins are somewhat unclear, there is overwhelming evidence that he was Genoese. For starters, every contemporary Spanish or Portuguese source that wrote about him refers to him as Genoese.

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You can’t discover lands where people inhabit and have culture, religion, art, astrology, architecture, agriculture, sciences, medicine, art, you name it they had it. what do you mean to say is that the Portuguese went out to explore and found lands with kingdoms and culture and then the Europeans invaded and colonized.

Magellan- real name Magalhães was also portuguese

Discover synonim with find

Thanks! Did I get the pronunciation right? Haha

My country Philippines was colonized for three hundred years the Spain

Greetings from Portugal to the people of Timor Lorosae

Thanks Igor ☺️

barbarianland no thank YOU! I’m so happy that you enjoyed it.

I feel like something like oil might be a slightly better comparison. Everyone wants it, but it’s only available from certain places. If you can manage to get a virtual monopoly on it, it’s cash money baby

@@Real_History I wish I coulda seen how it went down back them. But true

@@letsgomets07 how what went down?

The person speaking is me. Just me. In truth, I never anticipated that this video (or any other) would be used in actual educational contexts, as seems to be the case. I’m not sure how I feel about that kind of pressure haha I’m glad you enjoyed it though.

@@Real_History Personally I think you did a really good job. I'm picky and I don't just use stuff without first taking a scrub brush to it. My concern with this one was the "What the Hell?" comment. Outside of that, it was good and on point. Kids should get a good bit from it. I used to not worry so much but I once years ago showed a Haitian Revolution video/documentary and it was awesome. I watched it and was really excited about it. I then showed it to my class. 3 months went by and I was out of the state with my family for vacation and I get a call from the principal. She asked if I remembered showing it. I said of course it was awesome. She said yet it is, but go to the 10:39 mark (or something like that) and watch it again. Well while watching I had been grading and at that mark is music with actors not talking. So I had looked away for maybe 30 seconds. Sure enough, while showing it to 4 classes I was also working on other stuff and never saw that part. 3 other teachers showed it because I told them how good it was and they didn't catch it. What was it? Let's just say it was very authentic of what might happen to some of the women and yes there was a struggle and a flash of nudity. I was devastated and thought I would lose my job. The principle still thought it might be OK for HS but knowing my personality she knew that there is no way I had a clue that was in it. The parent who was after me backed down because I came to them humbly and apologized with complete embarrassment. Anyhow so now I watch close but when someone makes a great video it should be used... never know what kid is going to learn from it and as long as it is factual I'm good with it... just as long as it is age-appropriate and in the world right night nobody can agree to what that is.

Fair enough. Any other topics you’d especially like to see covered?

@@Real_History Personally I would like maybe something on the Enlightenment philosophers and their connection to the US Declaration of Independence/Constitution, maybe something that helps people with the difference in the US as the Democratic Republic vs being a democracy as so many believe, or maybe something like helping others understand the 3 branches of government what their powers are and are not. There are thousands of others but these stand out when teaching US history. This year I am stuck teaching World History which is OK but not my favorite and our standards are about to completely change to World Geography next year.

Brian Herring some very American topics indeed haha. I will add them to my list, but, in all honesty, they are unlikely to be made in the near future. I do, however, have some other US-related topics in the line up for the next few months, the first being the Native American city of Cahokia.

Haha it’s all part of my master plan. What year level?

Oof I feel ya brotha

How did the Portuguese already know about the existence of the Americas? Cristopher Columbus was never in Portuguese service. Besides, da Gama’s voyage departed several years after Columbus had already returned from the Americas. The assertion that the Portuguese conducted themselves as good and honest traders in India is directly contradicted by contemporary Portuguese sources. Thomé Lopez was a clerk aboard Vasco da Gama’s ship during his second voyage. He witnessed the destruction of an unarmed ship filled with 400 Muslim pilgrim. He witnessed the Portuguese bombardment of ports and the naval engagement near Calicut. And this is to say nothing of the ruthlessness of Francisco de Almeida and Afonso de Alberquerque.

A few people have asked/commented so I think I will make a separate video just for the teachers out there. I am assuming its just the "What the Hell" part that's problematic?

A correction here, 1:00 cloves actually native to Banda Islands

I never said it did. In fact, I explicitly say that Castile and Portugal were already exploring down the west coast of Africa by the 15th century. The fall of Constantinople just added fresh impetus to that contest.

What do you mean?

@@Real_History Used to think the British were to blame for all our modern day political problems, turns out the Dutch might be more culpable than I had imagine 😅

@@lazerbud I mean if you reeeeaally want to go down that impossibly reductive road, would not the Spanish and Portuguese be more deserving of your ire?

It’s a river island.

Indian mariners were trading along the East African coast, you are quite right. However, I would not say that constitutes “most African countries”. In any case, the reason I did not include them is because this video was not intended to cover every single detail. Only those that served to contribute to an effective summary. Otherwise the video would be hours long. I did however, mention that the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean were already home to a centuries old mercantile ecosystem, which the Portuguese subsequently shattered. There is no malicious intent here.

@@Real_History When you explaining how they succeeded isn't it important how they did that. It's the most important turning point in the history of the world. B'cse of that success we are witnessing a different kind of world now.

Incorrect colonisation occured before that, eg moorish colonisation of Iberia.

Spices had always been a commodity, a luxury item. It seems strange to us because spices are now commonplace, but this is the opposite to how it has been for Europeans for most of history. The appreciation for spices was for largely the same reasons that we use them today. So it’s less that they were so ‘into’ spices, and more that this was an astoundingly lucrative trade because the selling prices were so exorbitant, largely due to a virtual Italian monopoly on the trade and the comparative scarcity of many of the spices themselves. And the slowly growing prosperity of Europe meant a growing demand for luxury goods.

Templars helped the Portuguese on this quest and the interest was 50/50 Spice flow/ Christianity flow

Like the turning of a clock’s hands, but in the opposite direction. So 11 would be first instead of 1.

A common phrase, americans tend to say counter-clockwise, and brits often say anti-clockwise. In either case, opposite of clockwise, which is to the right, when looking at a clock. Or as some people might call say, clockwise is the direction your fingers point, if you place your left hand over a clock.

...Did you delete your original comment and repost it so that my replies were not visible?

"Spain are the Heroes of the Sea" but you need Portuguese and Italian captains to build an empire ;) Spain had no control over any ocean, you where always depended on crossing Portuguese waters, you're welcome.

Ahahahahahah, está a correr- te mal, a raiva ??? E a inveja??? Ahahahah

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