Portuguese Empire: The role of Jews and new Christians in the dynamization of Lusitanian global history

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to identify and discuss the consequences of political, strategic and diplomatic measures of the Ventureful King towards the Portuguese Jews, who after 1497 - through forced conversion - became "his" New-Christians, some of whom rendered services to the Portuguese Crown, dynamising the global history in the expansion cycles of the Portuguese empires in North Africa and Brazil, achieved by the integration accomplished by the Mediterranean and Atlantic crossings. Whether through their activities in overseas trade, or their functions as interpreters, physicists, astronomers or astrologers, they collaborated with the Manueline reign under its protection. Although, later, they fell in the meshes of the Portuguese Inquisition (1536-1540), or had their descendants as defendants of this highly organised and widespread Institution. For that, methodologically, we opted for the interpretation of chronistic, legislative and Portuguese administrative sources, as well as for the analysis and interpretation of bibliographies pertinent to the approach theme.