ABSTRACT
The cape verde islands were uninhabited when they were first reached by the Portuguese in the 1450s. The expulsion of the Moors in 1139 and the replacement of the Burgundian dynasty of Portugal in 1389 by the House of Avis sweetened Portuguese dreams of maritime expansion. As in the Portuguese case, the European presence in Africa had historically been limited to offshore islands, riverbanks, and coastal enclaves for the most part. At the dawn of the discovery of the Cape Verde Islands, the relations between Christian Portugal and the Muslim world of northwest Africa were founded on deep religious, economic, and political rivalries. Prince Henry's death in 1462 marked a turning point, as the age of Portuguese exploration of the African coast and Cape Verde gave way to the new age of Portuguese colonization, which quickly began in earnest.
