Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I of Portugal

King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521

Manuel I (European Portuguese: [mɐnuˈɛl]; 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (Portuguese: O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Manuel I of Portugal (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jun 9, 1469, died Dec 23, 1521.1

About

Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.

Manuel established the Casa da Índia, a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion. He financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral (who discovered Brazil), Afonso de Albuquerque (who established Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean), among numerous others. The income from Portuguese trade monopolies and colonized lands made Manuel the wealthiest monarch in Europe, allowing him to be one of the great patrons of the Portuguese Renaissance, which produced many significant artistic and literary achievements. Manuel patronized numerous Portuguese intellectuals, including playwright Gil Vicente (called the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre). The Manueline style, considered Portugal's national architecture, is named for the king.

From Wikipedia’s article on Manuel I of Portugal, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Manuel was born in Alcochete on 31 May 1469, the ninth child of Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and Beatriz of Portugal. His father, Ferdinand, was the son of Edward, King of Portugal and the brother of Afonso V of Portugal, while his mother, Beatriz, was granddaughter of King John I of Portugal. In addition, his sister Eleanor of Viseu was the wife of King John II of Portugal.

Manuel grew up amidst strife between the Portuguese noble families and King John II. In 1483, Fernando II, Duke of Braganza, leader of Portugal's most powerful feudal house, was executed for treason. Later, Manuel's older brother, Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was accused of leading a conspiracy against the crown and was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself.

After the death of his son Prince Afonso and failed attempts to legitimise his illegitimate son, Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra, John II named Manuel heir to the throne. Manuel succeeded John as king of Portugal in 1495.

From Wikipedia’s article on Manuel I of Portugal (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: sovereign.5

  • 1495 to 1521Monarch of Portugal4
  • Date not recordedFounded CTT Correios de Portugal3
  • Date not recordedGrand Master of the Order of the Tower and Sword4

Personal life

  • BornJun 9, 1469, Lisbon6
  • DiedDec 23, 1521, Lisbon7
  • CitizenshipKingdom of Portugal8
  • SpousesIsabel of Aragon 1497 to 14989; Maria of Aragon 1500 to 15179; Eleanor of Austria 1518 to 15219

Religious policy

Manuel was a very religious man and invested a large amount of Portuguese income to send missionaries to the new colonies, among them Francisco Álvares, and sponsor the construction of religious buildings, such as the Monastery of Jerónimos. Manuel also endeavoured to promote another crusade against the Turks.

At the outset of his reign, Manuel relaxed conditions that had kept Jews in virtual slavery under John II. However, in 1496, while seeking to marry Infanta Isabella of Aragon, he relented to pressure from her parents, Ferdinand and Isabella, and decreed that Jews who refused baptism must leave the country. Then, before the deadline for their expulsion he converted all Jews to Christianity by royal decree.

That period of time technically ended the presence of Jews in Portugal. Afterwards, all converted Jews and their descendants would be referred to as "New Christians" and were given a grace period of thirty years in which no inquiries into their faith would be allowed, which was later extended to end in 1534.

During the Lisbon massacre of 1506, people murdered thousands of accused Jews. The leaders of the riot were executed by Manuel.

In addition, Manuel also ordered the expulsion of Muslims from Portugal, and he is known to have pressured Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to end the toleration of Islam in their own kingdom.

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Isabella died in childbirth, thus putting a damper on Portuguese ambitions to rule in Spain, which various rulers had harbored since the reign of King Ferdinand I (1367–1383). Manuel and Isabella's young son, Miguel da Paz, was named Prince of Asturias, Prince of Portugal, and Prince of Girona, making him heir apparent of Castile, Portugal, and Aragon until his death in 1500, at the age of two years, ended the ambitions of the Catholic Monarchs and Manuel.

Manuel's next wife, Maria of Aragon, was his first wife's younger sister. Two of their sons later became kings of Portugal. Maria died in 1517 but the two sisters were survived by two other sisters, Joanna of Castile, who was born in 1479 and had married Archduke Philip (Maximilian I's son) and had a son, Charles V who would eventually inherit Spain and the Habsburg possessions, and Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII. After Maria's death, Manuel married her niece, Eleanor of Austria.

Marriages and Issue

Manuel was married three times, to two daughters and one granddaughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain:

Isabella, married from 30 September 1497 – 23 August 1498, died in childbirth

Maria, married from 30 October 1500 – 7 March 1517, died from complications of pregnancy

Eleanor, married from 16 July 1518 – 13 December 1521, outlived Manuel, later Queen Consort of France.

From Wikipedia’s article on Manuel I of Portugal (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1510Knight of the Garter10
  • Date not recordedGolden Rose10
  • Date not recordedKnight of the Order of the Golden Fleece10

Sources

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