ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the diversity of experiences lived by Asians under Iberian rule through a legal lens. In Portugal, Asian slaves lived in Lisbon and elsewhere, while free natives from Asia were found studying at the University of Coimbra. The Portuguese sphere is divided into two sub-sections: one on the legal framework that covered Asians living under Portuguese rule; and another that is a case study regarding Asian attitudes towards the Portuguese. By virtue of a number of papal bulls, the papacy granted the Portuguese king royal patronage and political dominion over Africa and Asia, as well as jurisdiction over the souls of Asian peoples. The Portuguese and Spanish Empires wielded varying degrees of political sovereignty in their Asian strongholds; and their power on the ground, as a generality, remained much more circumscribed in this part of the world than in the Americas. Asians travelled to Portugal and elsewhere for transitory periods, such as commercial agents and diplomats.
