Talk:History of Portugal (1415–1578)

Freedom
Can someone justify the phrase "the south-western most of the free peoples of Europe"? I mean, pretty much no one was really any freer than anyone else back then. And, regardless of the political liberties enjoyed by the Portugal of the past, it is the south-western most part of Europe, period.

WikiAward for Greatest Sea Explorer
Just to state that this list article is part of the paralel goal of the WikiAward for Greatest Sea Explorer of the period of the discoveries.

If you do not know what are the WikiAwards just find out here. If you already know register as participant and chose a category to vote. This Awards is part of the History category. Have fun, see the results, watch Wikipedia grow...--Gameiro Pais 04:36, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Improvement drive
The article on John III of Portugal is currently nominated to be improved by This week's improvement drive. Support the article with your vote or comment on the nomination.--Fenice 09:12, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Discoveries
i dont see how you can discover china when people have lived there for thousands of years and had civlisation that was 100 years more advanced than yours. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KEITHALVA (talk • contribs) 03:27, 12 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Similarly the word discovery is odd when applied to Brazil which had been populated thousands of years earlier and similarly other South American countries. I appreciate that this is an article with Portugese focus, but given Portugal's long history and global presence it is perhaps even more important to add a global perspective to countries that Portugal "discovered"


 * Icarusgeek (talk) 15:55, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Australia
The Discovery of the Southern - Austral "Island of Gold", the "Land of Gold" by the Expedition of Diogo Pacheco in 1519-1520 AD is also described by the historian and chronicler Manuel de Faria e Sousa (1590-1649, as previously by João de Barros, chronicler and historian (1496-1570). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.113.163.75 (talk) 11:59, 4 August 2010 (UTC)


 * How is the "discovery of Australia" justified as its described in this article (while not being shown on the map?). The problem with lists of dates such as this is that they cite no evidence and make no connection with other articles that are extensively sourced - such as the theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia. Lots of work needed!Nickm57 (talk) 13:12, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I have removed the reference to discovery of Australia, as these are highly contentious theories. Any encyclopeadic reference here would need to be so qualified it would hardly be worth making. Unless someone is particularly skilled in making qualified statements?!Nickm57 (talk) 23:02, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Navigation Instruments
The section on the development of Portuguese exploration mentions a number of navigational tools including the astrolabe and quadrant. However, I am not certain that the astrolabe was available as an applicable navigational apparatus during the period specified. The first publication that included a detailed manual on the construction and use of the astrolabe was the Arte of Navigation written by the Spaniard cosmographer Martin Cortes de Albacar in 1551. --Casini1 (talk) 18:50, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

Plethora?
A plethora is more than you want. It's an undesirably large amount. Unless the editor in this case is a serial-movie villain, describing any number of creative people as a "plethora" is not the right word.2602:30A:2CFA:6360:D1E7:B239:E576:528 (talk) 23:46, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

Prince Henry the Navigator
This section says the first consignment of slaves (should be enslaved people) arrived in 1434. This is false. First contact between Portuguese expeditions and African people below Cape Bojador happened in 1436 (Cronica dos feitos de Guine, Zurara, 38). This did not result in any African people being captured or enslaved.

The Portuguese first captured and enslaved Africans south of Bojador in 1441 (Cronica dos feitos de Guine, Zurara, 40-43) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 154.160.14.45 (talk) 08:32, 28 July 2020 (UTC)