History of the Discoveries: A Fascinating Odyssey

The Portuguese Discoveries have a fascinating history from many perspectives, with such varied facets that the way of telling it can be done in many ways and according to many diverse aspects. The one we attempt in this work seeks to link the various events and their chronology to the era and personality of the decision-makers of the time, as it was their circumstances and personalities that gave rise to them and sustained their course.

It was no coincidence that from the western Lusitanian shore, across seas never before navigated, a handful of men, valiant in dangers and wars, added pages and pages of geography, anthropology, botany, zoology, etc., to human knowledge. And they created new navigation techniques and, while developing cartography and shipbuilding, they explored the Ocean, making known currents and winds that marked the routes by which they narrowed the World and brought civilizations closer.

Maritime activity in Portugal is known since the time of the first king, whose admiral, D. Fuas Roupinho, is said to have fought Moorish ships that plagued our coasts, but also maritime trade, which would extend to the Mediterranean and the Baltic. The interest of D. Dinis is documented; after the death of his admiral-major, Nuno Fernandes Cogominho, he summoned Manuel Pessanha and 20 other sailors from Genoa to reorganize the navy. And D. Fernando, who fostered shipbuilding, providing facilities in national forests for this purpose, and was a pioneer in marine insurance.