Page 196 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

portuguese empire 1497

When and Where
World Religions Began

4000–2500 bce Hinduism South Asia
methods (modeled on Jingdezhen’s), and being attentive 1300–1200 bce Judaism West Asia
to the latest fashion styles and promotion techniques, 500–400 bce Buddhism South Asia
Wedgwood aggressively sold his pottery, driving Chinese Confucianism China
porcelain from markets around the world. Just as vener-
Zoroastrianism West Asia
ation for China in Western intellectual and ruling circles
Jainism South Asia
began declining precipitously after 1750, so too Chinese
porcelain fell from its age-old pedestal. 400–221 bce Daoism China
1st century ce Christianity West Asia,
Robert Finlay
Europe
See also Art—East Asia
3rd century ce Manichaeism West Asia
6th century ce Shinto Japan
Further Reading 7th century ce Islam West Asia
Atterbury, P. (Ed.). (1982). The history of porcelain. London: Orbis.
11th century Orthodoxy West Asia
Carswell, J. (1985). Blue and white Chinese porcelain and its impact on
the Western world. Chicago: David and Alfred Smart Gallery. 15th–16th Sikhism South Asia
Emerson, J., Chen, J., & Gardner-Gates, M. (2000). Porcelain stories:
century
From China to Europe. Seattle,WA: Seattle Art Museum.
Finlay, R. (1998).The pilgrim art: The culture of porcelain in world his- 16th century Protestantism Europe
tory. Journal of World History, 9(2), 141–187.
Vainker, S. J. (1991). Chinese pottery and porcelain. London: British 19th century Latter-day Saints North
Museum Press. America
Babi and Baha’i West Asia
19th–20th Pentecostalism North
Portuguese century America

Empire ized by a triangular sail extended by a long spar slung to

a low mast), which could sail closer to the wind than
he Portuguese empire was the first and longest last- ever before. By 1435 West African gold was used to rein-
Ting of all the empires that western Europeans cre- troduce a gold currency in Portugal, and bases were
ated. For centuries it created a forum for an unprece- established on the Gold Coast at Mina (1482) and Axim
dented variety of cross-cultural interaction. (1503). In 1498 the explorer Vasco da Gama discovered
an all-sea route to India, around the Cape of Good
1415–1505: Expansion Hope.Two years later the navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral
After Portuguese king Afonso III (reigned 1248–1279) improved the route, avoiding the calm waters of the Gulf
expelled the Muslims from Portugal, the wars against of Guinea by skirting the coast of Brazil, which the Por-
Islam moved overseas when in 1415 an expedition of tuguese also claimed from Spain under the terms of the
glory-hungry Portuguese knights captured—and held— Treaty of Tordesillas (1494).
Ceuta, now a Spanish enclave in modern Morocco. Commercial and missionary expansion, along with a
Long-standing royal support of maritime activities cul- desire for Guinea gold and an alliance with Prester John
minated in Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator’s (a legendary Christian king and priest of the Middle
promotion of the exploration of the African coast in the Ages) against the Muslims, motivated these explorations.
new caravel sailing ships rigged with lateens (character- As a member of da Gama’s crew explained in Calicut (a