Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period

Inhabitants. "Lisbon itself had a population of about 65,000 in 1527 and 100,000 by mid-century, by which time it was the largest city in the whole Iberian peninsula." [Disney 2009]

People.
De Matos [De_Matos_Jarnagin 2011] provides an estimate of 1,681,744 for the entire empire for 1580 CE (1,300,000 in Portugal, 381,744 in the colonies).
"The first-ever Portuguese census was conducted under Joao III in 1527–32 and revealed a total population of between about 1.25 and 1.5million. This was slightly below the peak reached before the Black Death, when Portugal had an estimated 1.5 million inhabitants; but it did show a marked improvement since 1450, when numbers had slumped to less than a million. Moreover, the upward trend seemed firmly set and continued for the rest of the sixteenth century. Most of the growth occurred in urban areas, and a steady influx of people from the countryside into the towns took place. Between the accession of King Manuel and the middle years of João III’s reign seventeen new vilas were created inPortugal. Many existing towns expanded as well, with growth especially strong in Lisbon and the northwest." [Disney 2009]

levels.
1. Lisbon
__in Portugal__
2. Provincial centers administered by royal government
2. Provincial centers administered by local grandes
2. Judicially privileged municipalities
(inferred from information on administrative hierarchy)"The kingdom was also divided up into six judicial circuits, each corresponding to a province (comarca) and presided over by a superior magistrate known as a corregedor. In addition, Lisbon and sometimes Santarém had their own corregedores. These magistrates exercised administrative and judicial authority in the king’s name – though their right to enter and hold court in the seigneuries of the great lay and ecclesiastical magnates, and in the territories of the judicially privileged municipalities, was long resisted." [Disney 2009] 3. Smaller centers (inferred)
4. Villages (inferred)
__in the colonies (pre-16th century)__
2. Colonial settlements
__in the colonies (post-16th century)__
2. Goa"In 1530 Goa became the permanent seat of the viceroy rather than Cochin, which had been the only possible alternative. In theory the viceroy’s jurisdiction was vast, including all Portuguese possessions and interests east of the Cape of Good Hope and even extending to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. However, the huge distances involved and the gradual emergence ofa parallel far-flung network of informal settlements and possessions meant that viceroys in practice controlled only a relatively small core area." [Disney 2009] __in the Estado da India (African and Asian colonies)__
3. Other colonies4. Pre-existing towns, largely indigenous population (inferred from below quote)5. Pre-existing villages, largely indigenous population (inferred from below quote)"One of the most immediately striking characteristics of the formal Estadoda India was that it was largely urban. At the end of the sixteenth century only five of its twenty-four significant components – Goa, Damão, Bassein, Chaul and Colombo – possessed associated territories and rural populations of any significance. The Estado da India’s urban character was largely a product of function, for its raison d'être was to provide protected havens from whichIndian Ocean maritime trade and communications could be dominated and as far as possible controlled. Such a focus provided little room or incentive to accumulate territory for its own sake, or to seek dominion over large subject populations. One consequence was that the Estado da Indiawas unable to feed itself from its own resources; instead, its widely-scattered port-cities had to rely on foodstuffs imported by sea. This helps to explain why for so long thePortuguese authorities considered their coastal fortresses in Kanara, a rice surplus region south of Goa, to be so vital." [Disney 2009] __in Brazil__
3. Other colonial administrative centers4. Ports5. Farms and plantations
E.g.: "For most of the colonial period Portuguese settlement in Brazil remained heavily concentrated along the coastal fringe. [...] Therefore ports played a major role in every captaincy. In most cases, the administrative capital was a port; otherwise a port was invariably sited nearby. Salvador, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Vitória, Santos and Ilhéus all conformed to this pattern. [...] Clustered round the ports of the principal captaincies, and along nearby rivers and coast, was a steadily widening zone of farms and plantations." [Disney 2009]

levels. Considering the historical conservatism of the Portuguese church, it seems reasonable to infer that the following description largely applies to succeeding periods as well: "In the early fourteenth century the first order – the clero – comprised about 10,000 persons divided almost equally between the secular clergy and the regulars. There was a tiny elite made up of nine archbishops and bishops, the abbots and priors of the leading monasteries and the masters of the military orders. These were great men in their own right who enjoyed generous incomes, kept court, dispensed patronage and often lived in as much opulence as powerful lay magnates. Usually they were well born; but sometimes their social origins were quite modest, for it was not impossible for men to attain prominence in the fourteenth-century church through a combination of luck, ability and good connections. There was a large gap between this elite and the middle-ranking secular clergy, which comprised cathedral canons, chaplains and the like. Finally, there were the lower secular clergy, the great bulk of whom, especially in rural areas, lived material lives that differed little from the common people around them." [Disney 2009] Note, too, that, judging by Disney's description of the church reform that King Manuel implemented in the 16th century, the fundamental hierarchy was left untouched.
1. Archbishop of Lisbon
"Not until 1393 was the bishop of Lisbon raised to archiepiscopal status and the Portuguese dioceses previously attached to Compostela transferred to his authority." [Disney 2009] 2. Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Masters of Military Orders
3. Middle-ranking secular clergy, e.g. cathedral canons, chaplains
4. Lower secular clergy
Note that a parallel hierarchy seems to have existed in the colonies: "In 1514 a bishopric was created at Funchal in Madeira, initially with jurisdiction over all Portuguese Asia, Africa and Brazil. This diocese of impossible dimensions clearly could not last, and in 1534 new bishoprics were established for Angra (Açores), the Cape Verdes, Sâo Tomaè and Goa. More followed later in both the East and Brazil, with Goa raised to metropolitan status in 1551. The hierarchy of this colonial church functioned quite separately from that of Portugal, and little interchange of senior personnel occurred between the two systems. A high proportion of the overseas bishops, and most missionary priests, were recruited from the religious orders." [Disney 2009]

levels. According to Da Silva: [Da_Silva 2002] ___1495 CE-1570 CE___
1. Capitão General
2. Coronel
3. Capitão-Mor
4. Capitão-Mor de Ginetes
5. Sargento-Mor
6. Anadel-Mor de espingardeiros
6. Capitão
6. Alferes
7. Individual soldier
___1571 CE-1579 CE___
1. Capitão General
2. Coronel
3. Capitão-Mor
4. Sargento-Mor
5. Capitão de Ordenanças
6. Alferes
7. Sargento
8. Meirinho (assistant to the Sargento)
8. Escrivão (assistant to the Sargento)
8. Cabos de esquadras (assistants to the Sargento)
__Cavalry__
6. Mestre de Campo
7. General de Cavalaria
8. Sargento-Mor
9. Comandante das Companhias
10. Individual cavalryman

levels.
1. King
__Central government__
2. Secretário de estado"Even before the Golden Age the king’s secretary of state (secretário de estado) was also developing into a figure of major importance, effectively superseding the old escrivão da puridade. Successive secretaries of state provided a strong element of administrative continuity and were the real instigators behind much royal policy." [Disney 2009] 3. Royal advisors (informal until 1569)"In practice, the Golden Age kings relied for advice on a small, informal circle of intimates that consisted partly of royal princes and illustrious nobles, and partly of lawyers and bureaucrats. [...] Eventually in 1569, the king’s de facto inner circle of advisers was institutionalised and became formally known as the council of state (conselho de estado)." [Disney 2009] 4. Mesa da consciência e ordens"As royal power and responsibilities increased, the ethical dimensions of government became more complex – or so it seemed to the troubled conscience of João III. This concern contributed to one of the most unusual institutional innovations of the period – the creation of the board of conscience and orders (mesa da consciência e ordens). Comprising five canon lawyers, this body was instituted by João in 1532. It was concerned on the one hand with the moral and religious implications of decision-making, in which capacity it advised the king on such matters as the legitimacy of embarking on particular overseas conquests. On the other hand, the board also exercised various ecclesiastical responsibilities, including control of clerical appointments in Portugal and overseas, administration of Catholic missions and supervision of the military orders. It was therefore much more than just a policy watchdog, for it effectively functioned as an instrument of the royal supremacy." [Disney 2009] 5. Cortes" The cortes, which had seemed earlier to be developing into a more significant national institution and which represented the bourgeoisie as well as the nobility, gradually lost much of its importance. It retained certain reserve powers that could be crucial in rare, special circumstances – particularly selecting a regent in a minority or even choosing a king if there were no obvious heir. But in this period it failed to extend or even maintain its role as part of the normal apparatus of state, instead receding into the background and meeting ever less frequently." [Disney 2009] 6. Corregedores
7. Assistants to the corregedores
"The kingdom was also divided up into six judicial circuits, each corresponding to a province (comarca) and presided over by a superior magistrate known as a corregedor. In addition, Lisbon and sometimes Santarém had their own corregedores. These magistrates exercised administrative and judicial authority in the king’s name – though their right to enter and hold court in the seigneuries of the great lay and ecclesiastical magnates, and in the territories of the judicially privileged municipalities, was long resisted. [...] By the final years of the fifteenth century the corregedor was a formidable figure. He progressed round his circuit accompanied by an entourage of assistants ranging from advocates to executioners, not to mention chained prisoners and innumerable dependents." [Disney 2009] __Seigneurial governments__
3. Grandes
4. Ouvidores
5. Municipal officeholders
"[R]oyal corregidores were effectively excluded from the seigneuries of certain illustrious grandes, including the dukes of Bragança and Aveiro, the marquis of Vila Real, the baron of Alvito and several counts.Within these privileged jurisdictions it was the seigneur himself, or more likely his ouvidor, who performed the corregidor’s functions. Moreover in many secular lordships the seigneur had the right to appoint or confirm local municipal office-holders." [Disney 2009] "In practice, the vast majority of office-holders in Portugal worked for concelhos or municipalities, and it was these persons who performed most on-the-spot judicial, police and general administrative functions. Such officials, thoroughly embedded in their local power structures and often remote from court, could not be controlled from Lisbon. Moreover, their remuneration came from community-generated emoluments, not state salaries." [Disney 2009] __Colonial government (from 1504 CE)__
2. Governor or Viceroy"From 1504 therefore it was standard practice for the Estado da India to be administered by a governor. If the appointee was a ranking noblemen with the title of dom or higher, he was usually also given the designation of viceroy. [...] Viceroys of Goa normally concentrated on five areas of administrative responsibility: military and naval affairs, diplomacy, finance, trade and personnel management. They were also expected to ensure that the reputation of the crown was at all times upheld and that the interests of the Roman Catholic church were supported." [Disney 2009] 3. Conselho de estado and Conselho da fazenda"Before leaving Portugal each viceroy was given a set of standing orders (regimento) that constituted the guidelines for his administration. Beyond that he was instructed to consult regularly with his viceregal council (conselho de estado), a body comprised mainly of service fidalgos, while for advice on economic affairs he was to rely on his treasury council (conselho da fazenda)." [Disney 2009] 4. Fortress captains and other local authorities"[T]he Estado da India quickly became much more decentralised in practice than in theory. Except on the central west coast of India, de facto power was in the hands of virtually autonomous fortress captains, small groups of on-the-spot officials and local câmaras. Sometimes control was exercised by no more than a clique of prominent casados or moradores. [...] Each Portuguese fortress had its own captain who acted as both the military commander and chief administrative officer." [Disney 2009] 5. Vedor da fazena and Ouvidor"To make captains less autocratic the crown did try to institutionalise a division of powers within atleast the more important captaincies. Responsibility for financial affairs was formally vested in a vedor da fazenda, and judicial authority was given to a resident ouvidor, or, in lesser possessions, to a simple magistrate. Yet remoteness once again increased the likelihood that these officials would form a collusive triumvirate – if they did not on the contrary become hopelessly divided." [Disney 2009] 6. Camaras"An indispensable role in the administration of the Estado da India was also played by the câmaras.Most Portuguese overseas possessions of any importance were sooner or later granted a câmara, usually with the same responsibilities, rights and privileges as equivalent bodies in Portugal. In the Estado da India the câmaras generally came to represent the views of the casados–or at least the most influential among them. In fact, câmaras were the only institutions through which settler opinion could be expressed. Câmaras were responsible for local government, raised municipal taxes and acted as courts of first instance. Viceroys sometimes found them exasperating to deal with, but invariably needed the grants and loans that often only they could provide. Câmaras also existed in many informal settlements where they sometimes received official recognition. In such settlements they would constitute by default the principal decision-making authority and the de facto government." [Disney 2009] 7. Indigenous administrators"Where native subjects or protected populations were nevertheless acquired, the Portuguese practice was to leave the existing administrative structures as far as possible intact and to rule indirectly through traditional officials and institutions. After annexing Goa Albuquerque quickly confirmed the Hindu population in possession of its lands. Revenue collection was also left to various Hindu collaborators, particularly Timoja and later the long-serving Krishna Rao. The pre-conquest system of land ownership and administration was codified and the village communes (comunidades) recognised. The entrenched rights of the ganvkars– the mostly Brahmin and Kshatriya share-holders who composed the communes – were likewise upheld. Similar policies were followed in other Portuguese possessions such as Bassein and Damão. [...] However, from about the mid-sixteenth century less tolerant attitudes began to infect the Portuguese administration, in line with developments in Portugal itself." [Disney 2009]

"Systematic recruitment and training of crossbowmen (besteiros) probably began in Portugal during the first half of the fourteenth century, but progressed slowly. The process required complex organisation on a national scale, but was an essential step towards the creation of a permanent royal army. Units of crossbowmen were raised on a quota basis by the Portuguese municipalities. The archers were recruited primarily from the sons of tradesmen, not members of the nobility or their retainers, and they were equipped with their weapons directly by the crown." [Disney 2009]

Full-time specialists

The following quote shows that, as late as the 18th century, Portugal still lacked professional military officers. "João V’s government did pay some attention during the early years of his reign [i.e. late 1600s/early 1700s] to military re-organisation. [...] [S]uch reforms as were carried out did little in practice to enhance the power of the monarchy, either internally or externally. As in the past, senior military commands were filled by prominent nobles – and there is no indication that much was done in Joanine Portugal to bring about officer professionalisation." [Disney 2009]

"Lisbon urban regulations and urban planning dating back to King Manuel I’s reign (1495-1521) were the earliest Portuguese attempt to impose order and regularity on a town that had been growing in size and population since the 15th century. [...] Royal urban planning took material shape mainly in reforms in the city center: the opening of Rua Nova d’El Rey (Th e King’s New Street), as a part of the connection between Rossio Square and the business district further south, and the construction of a new royal palace and administration buildings in Praça da Ribeira (Riverine Square), giving the square approximately a U-shape facing the river." [Barreiros 2008]

The following quote suggests that professional bureaucrats would have existed prior to João III's accession to the throne in 1502 CE, as they are mentioned rather casually. "For regular advice on affairs of state João III relied on an inner group of his councillors made up of prominent noblemen, churchmen, professional bureaucrats and members of his own family." [Disney 2009]

"Printing made possible the issuing of the Ordenações Manuelinas, a new, five-volume compendium of statute law compiled by a commission of legal experts. First published during 1512–14 with a revised edition appearing in 1521, it replaced the Ordenações Afonsinas of fifty years earlier." [Disney 2009]

"Long before the reign of João II the basic institutions of the Portuguese judicial system had also been put in place. By the mid-fourteenth century the court of appeal for criminal cases (Casa da Suplicação) had been separated from the superior court, which dealt mostly with civil cases (Casa do Cível). There was also a third superior court that heard matters relating to the state finances, Jews and Muslims." [Disney 2009]

"Let us listen to the well-informed report to the Venetian government by two Venetian ambassadors to the new Portuguese king, Philip II of Spain, during his sojourn in Lisbon between 1581 and 1583: 'The trade in the market of Lisbon is a very considerable one because of the connection Lisbon has with all the other European markets and with the New World ones. Th e volume of the commercial exchanges is enormous, and the traders are very wealthy; they make huge amounts of money, lost by the Venetians, merely with the spices and drugs that are brought to Lisbon since the trade of Syria and Alexandria through the Red Sea expired around 1504 (. . .)'." [Barreiros 2008]

The following quote suggests that the earliest public granaries administered by the Crown date to the 16th century CE, but that local authorities administered public granaries at least as early as the late 15th century CE. "A primeira tentativa conhecida para a organização de um celeiro com géneros disponíveis para a realização de créditos aos lavradores em Portugal foi realizada pelos procuradores de Santarém nos anos de 1481 e 1482, com a proposta de constituição de um fundo '…com um parte do pão colhido para acudir aos lavradores', de forma a garantir a obtenção de semente para a lavoura. Em 1523, no concelho de Beja, o infante D. Luís tentou organizar um celeiro com as mesmas características.//"Nas Cortes de Outubro de 1562, durante a regência da Rainha D. Catarina, os povos apresentaram petição para que '…onde houver rendas do Concelho se fação celleiros de pão para os tempos de necessidade.' No entanto, o primeiro celeiro comum do Reino só viria a ser instituído em Évora, pelo regimento de 20 de Julho de 1576, de D. Sebastião, e o segundo foi criado em Beja, por provisão régia de 1579, do Cardeal D. Henrique. Estes foram os únicos celeiros comuns fundados nesta centúria." (De Sousa 2010: 17) Translation: "The first known attempt to organize a granary with food available for credit to farmers in Portugal was carried out by the Santarém prosecutors in the years 1481 and 1482, with the proposal of setting up a fund '… with a part of the bread harvested to assist the farmers', in order to guarantee the obtainment of seed for the crop. In 1523, in the municipality of Beja, the Infante D. Luís tried to organize a granary with the same characteristics.//"In the October 1562 Courts, during the regency of Queen D. Catarina, the people petitioned that '... where rents are paid in the County, there should be bread dough for times of need'. However, the first common granary of the Kingdom would only be instituted in Évora, by the regiment of 20 of July of 1576, of D. Sebastião, and the second was created in Beja, by royal provision of 1579, of Cardinal D. Henrique. These were the only common granaries founded in this century."

If the capital did not have a drinking water supply system, it seems reasonable to infer that such a thing was absent elsewhere in the polity as well. "It was also under the 'dual monarchy' that the pressing water supply issue became an urban topic—'Now, if Lisbon has the presumption of being the greatest and noblest city in the world, how come she does not have drinking water for the people of the world?', asked the architect Francisco de Holanda back in 1571. Growing know-how from the Philippine period on eventually produced the Aqueduto das Águas Livres (Free Water Aqueduct, 1728-1744) under João V (r.1707-1750)." [Barreiros 2008]

Markets.

"Roads were few and ill-maintained, and there were no coaches before the 1580s, so that people had to move by horse, mule, donkey or on foot." [Disney 2009]

"Customs duties were collected at Portuguese ports at customs houses (alfân-degas) and at frontier crossings through the so-called portos secos." [Disney 2009] The most impressive/costly building(s)

"Portuguese ocean voyaging of the fifteenth and sixteenth century involved extensive reconnaissance and information-gathering. The desire to describe what had been found, partly for reasons of practical utility and partly out of sheer intellectual curiosity, was strongly felt. [...] Literature in the Empirical Humanist tradition reached its peak during the 1530s with the treatises of Dom João de Castro on how to sail a ship between Lisbon and Goa, along the west coast of India, and through the Red Sea. These were arguably the most rigorous scientific writings on nautical astronomy, navigation and voyaging of the whole European Renaissance. " [Disney 2009]

"The first known printing press in Portugal, introduced during the same king’s reign, was operating by 1487. Initially Portuguese printing was confined to brief official documents; but soon more ambitious works were produced – religious and legal texts, then the Latin classics, commentaries, grammars, historical chronicles and Portuguese poetry and drama." [Disney 2009]

"The first known printing press in Portugal, introduced during the same king’s reign, was operating by 1487. Initially Portuguese printing was confined to brief official documents; but soon more ambitious works were produced – religious and legal texts, then the Latin classics, commentaries, grammars, historical chronicles and Portuguese poetry and drama." [Disney 2009]

"Portuguese ocean voyaging of the fifteenth and sixteenth century involved extensive reconnaissance and information-gathering. The desire to describe what had been found, partly for reasons of practical utility and partly out of sheer intellectual curiosity, was strongly felt. [...] Literature in the Empirical Humanist tradition reached its peak during the 1530s with the treatises of Dom João de Castro on how to sail a ship between Lisbon and Goa, along the west coast of India, and through the Red Sea. These were arguably the most rigorous scientific writings on nautical astronomy, navigation and voyaging of the whole European Renaissance." [Disney 2009]

"The first known printing press in Portugal, introduced during the same king’s reign, was operating by 1487. Initially Portuguese printing was confined to brief official documents; but soon more ambitious works were produced – religious and legal texts, then the Latin classics, commentaries, grammars, historical chronicles and Portuguese poetry and drama." [Disney 2009]

"The first known printing press in Portugal, introduced during the same king’s reign, was operating by 1487. Initially Portuguese printing was confined to brief official documents; but soon more ambitious works were produced – religious and legal texts, then the Latin classics, commentaries, grammars, historical chronicles and Portuguese poetry and drama." [Disney 2009]

"Notes were first issued in Portugal in 1797 because of poor economic conditions brought about by the war between Spain and France." [Cuhaj 2014]

"Cruzado" is the "name of a succession of gold coins minted in Portugal from 1457; from late sixteenth century a unit of account worth 400 reais". [Disney 2009]

In the original 1520 royal letter that established the Portuguese postal service, "foi explicitada a necessidade de ordem régia específica para se estabelecerem os locais das estações necessárias ao funcionamento do serviço". Translation: the letter "clarified that a specific royal order would be required for the establishment of each of the stations necessary for the service to function". [Valle_Salvino 2018]

According to Valle Salvino [Valle_Salvino 2018] , the Portuguese postal service was founded in 1520, and he points to the royal letter that established it as evidence that, from the start, this postal service was intended for the wider public. "O serviço postal português começou em 1520, como uma mercê concedida pelo rei D. Manuel a Luís Homem, cavaleiro da Casa Real, filho de um antigo estribeiro-mor, oficial cuja função era justamente administrar os moços do estribo, que, entre outras tarefas, atuavam como correios privados do rei. [...] Apesar de sua extensão, transcrevo aqui, na íntegra, a carta régia de criação do correiomor, intercalando os trechos com comentários, haja vista a riqueza dos pormenores, úteis ao bom entendimento da trajetória do serviço que ali se iniciava [...]. O destaque dado ao trecho “no ofício de correio-mor de nossos reinos nos saberá bem servir e assim a todos os mercadores e pessoas que quiserem enviar cartas de umas partes para outras” é, no entanto, uma novidade, pois traz praticamente para a abertura do documento o fato de o novo serviço ser, ao mesmo tempo, da casa e do povo."

"[P]odem-se encontrar testemunhos da existência de mensageiros profissionais tanto no Portugal de 1520 quanto no Brasil de 1725." [Valle_Salvino 2018] Translation: "[T]here are texts testifying to the existence of the existence of professional couriers in Portugal in 1520 as in Brazil in 1725."

"Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), no âmbito da reforma das ordenações e dos forais, empreenderá também uma reforma dos pesos e medidas tão importante que se manterá em vigor até ao século XIX." ^[1] Translation: "Finally, Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), as part of his reform of ordinances and charters, also implemented a reform of weights and measures so important that it remain in force until the 19th century." Seabra Lopes then goes on to describe, in detail, how this reform affected measurements of length, volume, and weight.

[1]: Seabra Lopes, L. 2005. A cultura da medição em Portugal ao longo da história. Educação e Matemática: 42-48 (45).

"Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), no âmbito da reforma das ordenações e dos forais, empreenderá também uma reforma dos pesos e medidas tão importante que se manterá em vigor até ao século XIX." ^[1] Translation: "Finally, Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), as part of his reform of ordinances and charters, also implemented a reform of weights and measures so important that it remain in force until the 19th century." Seabra Lopes then goes on to describe, in detail, how this reform affected measurements of length, volume, and weight.

[1]: Seabra Lopes, L. 2005. A cultura da medição em Portugal ao longo da história. Educação e Matemática: 42-48 (45).

"Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), no âmbito da reforma das ordenações e dos forais, empreenderá também uma reforma dos pesos e medidas tão importante que se manterá em vigor até ao século XIX." ^[1] Translation: "Finally, Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), as part of his reform of ordinances and charters, also implemented a reform of weights and measures so important that it remain in force until the 19th century." Seabra Lopes then goes on to describe, in detail, how this reform affected measurements of length, volume, and weight.

[1]: Seabra Lopes, L. 2005. A cultura da medição em Portugal ao longo da história. Educação e Matemática: 42-48 (45).

"The fifteenth century saw the beginning of the development of mathematics in Portugal. The first work on astronomy published in Portugal, Almanach Perpetuum (1496) by Abraão Zacuto (1450-1510), King D. João II’s astronomer and cosmographer, as well as the migration of young Portuguese men to foreign universities, reveal the growing importance of mathematical and geometric education [Henriques 2005: 181-198]." ^[1]

[1]: Rebelo Paio, A. C. 2009. Geometry, the Measure of the World. Nexus Network Journal 11(1): 63-76 (66).

"Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), no âmbito da reforma das ordenações e dos forais, empreenderá também uma reforma dos pesos e medidas tão importante que se manterá em vigor até ao século XIX." ^[1] Translation: "Finally, Dom Manuel I (1495-1521), as part of his reform of ordinances and charters, also implemented a reform of weights and measures so important that it remain in force until the 19th century." Seabra Lopes then goes on to describe, in detail, how this reform affected measurements of length, volume, and weight.

[1]: Seabra Lopes, L. 2005. A cultura da medição em Portugal ao longo da história. Educação e Matemática: 42-48 (45).