Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I (Dom Manuel I), called "the Happy " ( born May 31, 1469 Alcochete, † December 13, 1521 in Lisbon ), is considered one of the greatest kings of Portugal. He came from the house of Avis and reigned from 1495 to 1521. During his reign, Portugal experienced an economic and cultural prosperity, succeeded the discovery of the sea route to India and the establishment of the first colonial empire in the Indian Ocean. The magnificent architectural style of Manueline is named after him.
Biography
The question of succession
Manuel I was a son of Ferdinand of Portugal, Viseu and Beatrix of Portugal. He was thus a paternal grandson of King Edward I and both paternal and maternal great-grandson of King John I, the first ruler of the house Avis.
But since he both paternal and maternal descended from a younger branch of the house, he was not destined from birth to the throne. However, in 1491, died the heir to the throne, Alfonso, before his father. Since it was no longer possible King John II to produce an heir, and since the king attempts failed to have to explain his illegitimate favorite son heir to the throne, the throne eventually fell to Manuel as the closest male relative of John II. The fact that Manuel could ascend the throne, he also owed the Queen Eleanor, wife of John II This was Manuel's sister and fought vigorously for Manuel's claim to the throne and against the illegitimate son of her husband.
Even before he was appointed as his successor, Manuel has held high office. He was Duke of Viseu and Beja and Grand Master of the Order of Christ. 1495, he ascended after the death of John II himself to the Portuguese throne.
Establishment of the colonial empire
Just three years later in 1498 Vasco da Gama discovered this since the days of Henry the Navigator sea route to India. Portugal rose to world power and Manuel became the richest rulers of Europe.
The explorers followed the Conqueror: First Francisco de Almeida, who was appointed by the King to the Viceroy of India, after Afonso de Albuquerque, who possessed extensive powers as governor. They established a number of bases, both commercial establishments as well as military bases, and penetrated beyond India to the east before. 1510 occupied Afonso de Albuquerque Goa, which quickly became the most important Portuguese trading post in India. 1511 he conquered Malacca (now in Malaysia), which the Straits of Malacca, paving the way to the Spice Islands, the Moluccas controlled. There, the Portuguese built also the first bases. Portugal had thus brought the extremely lucrative spice trade under his control, the previous monopoly of the Arabs with spices was broken. Lisbon has developed into an important trading center for spices and other goods from the East.
In addition, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered on the second trip to India in 1500 randomly Brazil and took it for Portugal in possession. The Portuguese arrived as the first European colonial power, the Chinese Empire, where with Macao in 1557 a trading post was established. Timor, founded in 1513 in Portuguese. Hormuz in Oman today followed 1515 Manuel I conquered 1513 -. 1515 a large part of Morocco by the Arabs. The title of king Manuel shows the global claim that the Portuguese monarchy arose at this time: Rei de Portugal e dos Algarves e Senhor da conquista, navegação, e comércio da India, Etiópia, Arábia e Persia (Eng. King of Portugal and the Algarve Lord of the conquests of seafaring and trade with India, Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia ). The claim to be the master of the trade with India, Manuel gave expression to the fact that he allowed himself to accompany in Lisbon regularly imported from several Asian elephants to the Cathedral, of which he sent a named Hanno as a gift to Pope Leo X. to Rome.
Portugal under Manuel I experienced an unprecedented cultural boom, known as the Golden Age. The overseas activities of the country began to bear fruit from the colonies incorporated large quantities of valuable goods, gold and silver to the mother country. Since the overseas trade was a royal monopoly and the new colonies were declared crown land, mainly benefited the king himself of this wealth. Manuel built so fantastic buildings in the Manueline style by named him. Also, the law, education and health were reformed under his rule.
Persecution of Jews and marriage policy
Domestically, Manuel I. finally sat through against the landed gentry. The control system has been perfected, the more internal politics, however, affected by the expulsion of the Jews. Jews had been living since late antiquity, even before the Christian era and before the establishment of the kingdom of Portugal, in the country. From 1490, however, were in the Cortes, the Portuguese parliament of nobles, reinforced complaints about the Jews as moneylenders loud. 1492 expelled the Catholic Monarchs, the Jews from their territories, 60,000 of them fled to Portugal. In the negotiations with the Catholic Monarchs, which led to a marriage of the king with her daughter Isabella of Aragon and Castile in 1497, they demanded that Portugal should expel its Jews. This happened 1496th However, those Jews should be allowed to remain, were baptized. 1504 and 1506 took place in Lisbon, however, to anti- Jewish pogroms against the so-called " New Christians" ( Cristãos - Novos ).
With the Catholic Monarchs had also been agreed, the three major Iberian kingdoms (ie Portugal, Castile and Aragon ) to unite through a targeted marriage policy. Once in Spain in 1497 the heir to the throne died, Isabella was designated heir to the Catholic Monarchs. However, she died two years after her marriage to Manuel I of complications after the birth of their first son, Michael ( Miguel). And this died already in his second year of life also.
Although Manuel married after the death of Isabella again a daughter of the Catholic Kings, the Infanta Maria. But not her, but her older sister Johanna ( " the Mad " ), inherited the Spanish crown, which the Fair finally fell to the Habsburgs on her marriage to Philip. Also with the new dynasty tied Manuel I to even family relationships. After the death of Mary he married recently married Eleanor, a sister of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ( Charles I as King of Spain ).
Dynastic connections
Manuel I was married three times.
- In his first marriage he married in 1497 Isabella of Aragon and Castile ( 1470-1498 ) from the House Trastámara y Trastámara. With her he had a son: Michael ( Miguel), Crown Prince of Portugal, Castile and Aragon ( August 24, 1498, † June 20, 1500 )
- His second wife he married in 1500 Maria Aragon and Castile ( 1482-1517 ) from the House of Trastámara y Trastámara: Johann III. (1502-1557) King of Portugal
- Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), ∞ Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire ( = King Charles I of Spain )
- Beatriz of Portugal (1504-1538), ∞ 1521 Charles III. Duke of Savoy
- Ludwig ( Luis ) of Portugal ( 1506-1555 ), Duke of Beja Antonio of Crato
- In his third wife he married Eleanor of Castile in 1519 finally ( 1498-1558 ) from the House of Habsburg. With this niece of his first two wives he had two children: Charles of Portugal ( Carlos ) ( 1520-1521 )
- Maria of Portugal (1521-1577), Duchess of Viseu