ABSTRACT
History has often witnessed the sudden rise of a country to an extraordinary level of national vitality and expansion, and it is not always easy to account for the phenomenon. In the case of Portugal, however, several factors are obvious. After freeing themselves from Moorish domination in the thirteenth century and defending their national sovereignty against the claims of Castile in the following century, the united Portuguese were free to turn their attention abroad. Cut off from the rest of Europe by the geographical barrier of Spain, the Portuguese could expand their activities only by sea. North Africa was in the hands of the Moors, who effectively controlled the lucrative spice trade, and so the Portuguese sailed down the west coast of Africa, attempting to break the Moorish monopoly of spice and seeking the legendary Christian king Prester John. The chief geographical barrier was the southernmost tip of Africa, but once this obstacle had been circumvented by Bartholomeu Días in 1488, the Asian continent lay open to Portuguese explorers, merchants, and missionaries. 1
