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= Slavery in Portugal =

Black Slaves
African slaves prior to 1441 were predominately Berbers and Arabs from the North African Barbary coast, known as ‘Moors” to the Iberian. They were typically enslaved during wars and conquests between Christian and Islamic kingdoms. The first expeditions of Sub-Saharan Africa were sent out by Prince Infante D. Henrique, known commonly today as Henry the Navigator, with the intent to probe how far the kingdoms of the Moors and their power reached. The expeditions sent by Henry came back with African slaves as a way to compensate for the expenses of their voyages. The enslavement of Africans was seen as a military campaign because the people that the Portuguese encountered were identified as Moorish and thus associated with Islam. The royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara was never decided on the “Moorishness” of the slaves brought back from Africa, due to a seeming lack of contact with Islam. Slavery in Portugal and the number of slaves expanded after the Portuguese began exploration of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Slave raids in Sub-Saharan Africa began in the 1430s and 1440s as war campaigns, but this period was short-live. The Portuguese quickly transitioned into a trade network with African nobility and slavers. Prince Infante D. Henrique began selling African slaves in Lagos in the 1444. In 1455, Pope Nicholas V gave Portugal the rights to continue the slave trade in West Africa, under the provision that they convert all people who are enslaved. The Portuguese soon expanded their trade along the whole west coast of Africa. Infante D Henrique held the monopoly on all expeditions to Africa granted by the crown until his death in 1460. Afterward, any ship sailing for Africa required authorization from the crown. All slaves and goods brought back to Portugal were subject to duties and tariffs. Slaves were baptized before shipment. Their process of enslavement, which was viewed by critics as cruel, was justified by the conversion of the enslaved to Christianity.

The demand for slaves was due to a shortage of laborers in Portugal. Black slaves were in higher demand than Moorish slaves because they were much easier to convert to Christianity and less likely to escape. Although it was more expensive to purchase a slave than it was to employ a freeman, the sparse population and the lack of free labor made the purchase of a slave a favorable capital investment. The number of black slaves in Portugal given by contemporary accounts argue that Lisbon and its colonies averaged a maximum of 10% of the population between the 16th and 18th centuries, but these numbers are impossible to verify. Most slaves in Portugal were concentrated in Lisbon and to the south in the Algarve. The number of black slaves brought to Lisbon and sold cannot be known. This is because the records of both royal institutions responsible for the sale of black slaves, the Casa de Guiné and the Casa dos Escravos were damaged during the earthquake of 1755 in Lisbon, and the fiscal records containing the numbers and sales of these companies were destroyed. The records of the royal chronicler Zurara claim that 927 African slaves were brought to Portugal between 1441 and 1448, and an estimated 1000 black slaves arrived in Portugal each year afterward. A common estimate is that around 2000 black slaves arrive in Lisbon annually after 1490.

Because of Portugal’s small population, Portuguese colonization was only possible with the large number of slaves they had acquired. In the late 15th and into the 16th centuries, the Portuguese economic reliance on slaves was less in question than the sheer number of slaves found in Portugal. People wishing to purchase slaves in Portugal had two sources, the royal slaving company, the Casa da Guiné, or from slave merchants who had purchased there slaves through the Casa de Guiné. There were up to 70 slave merchants in Lisbon in the 1550s. Slave auctions occurred in the town or market square, or in the streets of central Lisbon. The sale of slaves was compared by observers as similar to the sale of horses or livestock. The laws of commerce regarding slavery addresses them as merchandise or objects. There was a period of time set upon purchase for the buyer to decide if he is happy with the slave he had purchased.

The occupations of slaves varied widely. Some slaves in Lisbon could find themselves working in domestic settings, but most worked hard labor in the mines and metal forges, while others worked at the docks loading and maintaining ships. Some slaves worked peddling cheap goods at the markets and returning the profits to their masters. Opportunities for slaves to become free were scarce, however there were many instances in which slaves had either elevated their status or obtained their freedom. Slaves were able to buy their freedom by saving any earnings, so long as their masters allow them to keep their earnings, or purchase a slave to replace them. Women slaves could be freed if their masters chose to marry them, but this was more common among the colonies. When Lisbon was on the verge of being invaded in 1580, slaves were promised their freedom in exchange for their military service. 440 slaves took the offer and most, after being freed, left Portugal. Black female slaves were desired for sexual purposes, resulting in many mixed-race offspring. This prompted the Council of Trent in 1563 to denounce the widespread immorality. Mulattoes had the ability to integrate into society, some would even command whole fleets of ships. Slavery did little to alter society in Portugal, due to the slight ease of enslaved people’s integration, those who did not assimilate were treated similar to the poor.