Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal, in a miniature from the frontispiece of the Livro 1 de Além Douro of the Leitura Nova (penned 15??-1521).
King of Portugal and the Algarves
Reign	25 October 1495 – 13 December 1521
Acclamation	27 October 1495
Predecessor	John II
Successor	John III
Born	(1469-05-31)31 May 1469 Alcochete, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	13 December 1521(1521-12-13) (aged 52) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial	Jerónimos Monastery
Consort	Isabella, Princess of Asturias Maria of Aragon Eleanor of Austria
Issue Detail	Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal John III, King of Portugal Isabella, Holy Roman Empress Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy Infante Louis, Duke of Beja Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Guarda and Trancoso Cardinal-Infante Afonso Henry, King of Portugal Infante Edward, Duke of Guimarães Infanta Maria, Duchess of Viseu
House	House of Aviz
Father	Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu
Mother	Infanta Beatrice of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Manuel I^{[lower-alpha 1]} (English: Emmanuel I; 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), the Fortunate (Port. o Afortunado), King of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu (1433–70) by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal. His name is associated with a period of Portuguese civilization distinguished by significant achievements both in political affairs and the arts. In spite of its small size and population in comparison to the great land powers of Europe, it was able to acquire an overseas empire of vast proportions and with a global dimension, for the first time in history, during Manuel's reign.

Early life

Saint Aleixo's Wedding of Manuel and Maria; Garcia Fernandes, 1541.

Manuel's mother was the granddaughter of King John I of Portugal; his father, Infante Fernando, was the second surviving son of King Edward of Portugal and the younger brother of King Afonso V of Portugal. Manuel succeeded in 1495 his first cousin, King John II of Portugal, who was also his brother-in-law, being married to Manuel's sister, Leonor.

Manuel grew up amidst conspiracies of the Portuguese upper nobility against King John II. He was aware of many people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself.

Manuel thus had every reason to worry when he received a royal order in 1493 to present himself to the king, but his fears were groundless: John II wanted to name him heir to the throne, after the death of his son, Prince Afonso, and the failed attempts to legitimise Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, his illegitimate son. As a result of this stroke of luck he was nicknamed the Fortunate.

Reign

Imperial Growth

Manuel would prove a worthy successor to his cousin John II, supporting the Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and the development of Portuguese commerce. During his reign, the following was achieved:
1498 — Discovery of a maritime route to India by Vasco da Gama
1500 — Discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral
1505 — Appointment of Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of India
1503–1515 — Establishment of monopolies on maritime trade routes to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf by Afonso de Albuquerque, an admiral, for the benefit of Portugal

All these events made Portugal rich on foreign trade while it formally established a vast overseas empire. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings (in the Manueline style) and to attract scientists and artists to his court. Commercial treaties and diplomatic alliances were forged with China and the Persian Empire. The Pope received a monumental embassy from Portugal during his reign designed to draw attention to Portugal's newly acquired riches to all of Europe.

The Family of King D. Manuel I at the Fons Vitae; Colijn de Coter, 1518.

Manueline Ordinations

In Manuel's reign, royal absolutism was the method of government. The Portuguese Cortes (the assembly of the kingdom) only met thrice during his reign, always in Lisbon, the king's seat. He reformed the courts of justice and the municipal charters with the crown, modernizing taxes and the concepts of tributes and rights. During his reign, the laws in force in the Kingdom of Portugal were recodified with the publication of the Manueline Ordinations.

Religious policy

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

His relationship with the Portuguese Jews started out well. At the outset of his reign, he released all the Jews who had been made captive during the reign of John II. Unfortunately for the Jews, he decided that he wanted to marry Infanta Isabella of Aragon, then heiress of the future united crown of Spain (widow of his nephew Prince Afonso). Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled the Jews in 1492, and would never marry their daughter to the king of a country that still tolerated their presence. In the marriage contract, Manuel I agreed to persecute the Jews of Portugal.

Inquisition

The Interment of D. Manuel from the Book of hours of D. Manuel; 1517-1551.

In December 1496, it was decreed that all Jews either convert to Christianity or leave the country without their children.^[1] However, those expelled could only leave the country in ships specified by the king. When those who chose expulsion arrived at the port in Lisbon, they were met by clerics and soldiers who used force, coercion, and promises in order to baptize them and prevent them from leaving the country.

This 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 they were given a grace period of thirty years in which no inquiries into their faith would be allowed; this was later extended to end in 1534.^[2]

In a popular riot in Lisbon in 1506, people invaded the Jewish Quarter and murdered thousands of accused Jews; the leaders of the riot were executed by Manuel.

Later life

Isabella died in childbirth in 1498, 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 was for a period the heir apparent of Castile and Aragon, but his death in 1500 ended these ambitions.

Manuel's next wife, Maria of Aragon, was his first wife's sister, but not the oldest surviving one. That was rather Joanna of Castile, who had issue.

In 1506 the Pope Julius II gave Manuel I a Golden Rose. Later in 1514 Pope Leo X also gave Manuel I a second Golden Rose. Manuel I became the first individual to receive more than one Golden Rose.

The Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon houses Manuel's tomb. His son João succeeded him as king.

Marriages and descendants

Negotiations for a marriage between Manuel and Elizabeth of York in 1485 were halted by the death of Richard III of England. He went on to marry three times. His first wife was Isabella of Aragon, princess of Spain and widow of the previous Prince of Portugal Afonso. Next he married another princess of Spain, Maria of Aragon (his first wife's sister), then Eleanor of Austria, a niece of his first two wives who married Francis I of France after Manuel's death.

Ancestry

See also

• Manueline, an architectural style
• Descendants of Manuel I of Portugal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Manuel I of Portugal.

Notes

References

External links

Monarchs of Portugal House of Burgundy (1139–1383) Afonso I Sancho I Afonso II Sancho II Afonso III Dinis I Afonso IV Pedro I Fernando I House of Aviz (1385–1580) João I Duarte I Afonso V João II Manuel I João III Sebastião I Henrique I House of Habsburg (1581–1640) Filipe I Filipe II Filipe III House of Braganza (1640–1853) João IV Afonso VI Pedro II João V José I Maria I with Pedro III João VI Pedro IV Maria II Miguel I Maria II with Fernando II House of Braganza-Coburg (1853–1910) Pedro V Luís I Carlos I Manuel II