John III

King of Portugal (r. 1521-1557)

• Born: June 6, 1502
• Birthplace: Lisbon, Portugal
• Died: June 11, 1557
• Place of death: Lisbon, Portugal

Heir to the Portuguese empire at its zenith, John III turned his attention to formalizing Portuguese settlement and government in Brazil. Known for his piety and religious devotion, he sought and received from the pope permission to establish a Portuguese inquisition in order to preserve orthodoxy in his vast domains, and he entrusted to the Jesuits missions to India, the Far East, and Brazil.

Early Life

Young Prince John witnessed dramatic transformations in Portugal as successful voyages of exploration increased Portuguese presence and influence abroad. African slaves and spices from the Far East sailed into Lisbon, and from there were sold throughout Europe. After 1500, a number of the indigenous peoples of Brazil were also brought to Portugal, as well as exotic birds and animals from the Americas.

John’s father, King Manuel I , impressed on him the importance of maintaining solid diplomatic ties with neighboring Spain. The Portuguese royal House of Aviz tightened ties with the Habsburg rulers of Spain through marriage. After the death of his first two wives (both daughters of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain), Manuel I married Eleanor of Austria, sister of King Charles I of Spain (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). John later married his new stepmother’s sister, Catherine, and Charles, in turn, married John’s sister Isabel. Thus, the rulers of Spain and Portugal solidified their alliance.

When John was a teenager, Catholicism was attacked by Martin Luther . During the first year of John’s reign, the schism within Christendom became irrevocable, as Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther. Many of John’s policies as king focused on preserving Christian orthodoxy within the lands he ruled.

Life’s Work

John III inherited the difficult task of managing an empire that was increasingly unwieldy. Earlier Portuguese conquests in Morocco had become difficult and expensive to sustain. King John therefore chose to forgo Portuguese claims to the North African towns of Safi, Azamor, Alcácer, and Arzila. He focused, instead, on Portuguese interests in the Far East and in Brazil.

He strengthened the Portuguese position in Goa, thereby enlarging the Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean, while at the same time encouraging Portuguese sea captains to continue exploring the Chinese coast to Japan.

For years, French pirates had been disrupting Portuguese trade routes in the South Atlantic. The French, furthermore, were poaching on the profitable brazilwood trade and making dangerous alliances with the indigenous peoples of Brazil against Portuguese traders. To curb the threat of permanent French claims to Brazil, John instituted a new system of settlement for that Portuguese colony. He divided the region into fifteen captaincies that were parceled out to Portuguese noblemen, who then became responsible for settling the land. Only two of these captaincies succeeded, however; in 1549, John reclaimed for the Crown the captaincies that had failed and sent a governor-general to rule Brazil in his stead. The arrival of the first governor, Tomé de Sousa, marked the beginning of significant Portuguese settlement in Brazil, where the trade in brazilwood came to be eclipsed by the planting and processing of sugarcane with the labor of slaves from Africa.

In Portugal, however, the king faced serious financial difficulties. Earlier profits from the spice trade dwindled as supply increased and prices fell. Losses to shipwrecks and piracy also cut into expected revenues from the India trade. Furthermore, Portugal had paid a large dowry when John’s sister married Charles V and became empress. The Portuguese, in addition, had provided Spain with monetary compensation for recognizing Portuguese claims to the Moluccas, the Spice Islands in the Far East (which both Portugal and Spain had claimed under the provisions of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494). John thus ruled an empire facing ever-deeper financial troubles.

Concerned with the threat posed to Christian orthodoxy by converted Jews and Lutheran heretics, John petitioned Pope Clement VII to establish a Portuguese inquisition. The request was granted and the inquisition was instituted in 1536. Three years later, the king’s brother Henrique became inquisitor general and moved with vigor to root out heresy. The first auto-da-fé, the burning of a heretic, occurred in Lisbon in 1541. Also in the 1530’s, a new religious order, the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), had been created. Impressed by the zeal of the Jesuits, John invited them to establish a university in Coimbra and to aid the Portuguese in conversion efforts in the Far East and in Brazil. From its earliest days, then, the Society of Jesus became an important force for religious orthodoxy in Portugal and in Portuguese possessions around the globe. Saint Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Jesuits, went to India, China, and Japan in the service of God and of the Portuguese king. Jesuits also sailed to Brazil with Tomé de Sousa, where they became responsible for taking the Christian message to the indigenous peoples, for staffing schools, and for providing spiritual support for Portuguese settlers.

During the reign of John, Portugal witnessed a significant shift of population from the countryside to the cities, drawn in large part by hopes of participating in the boom generated from the transoceanic trade. Many peasant farmers moved to Lisbon, while others left for the colonies or to pursue new opportunities in the flourishing Spanish port of Seville. This migration led to food shortages and to rising costs for city dwellers, and discontent grew within the kingdom.

Despite a rising number of internal and external problems, John did succeed in keeping Portugal out of costly European wars. While his brother-in-law, Charles V, embarked on expensive military campaigns in Italy and in France, and the Wars of Religion exploded throughout the Holy Roman Empire, John refused to be drawn into the fray.

Significance

Heir to an empire that had reached its prime, John III made important decisions to streamline costs and preserve at least some of Portugal’s new possessions. He strengthened the Portuguese presence in Brazil and assured that the line drawn by the Treaty of Tordesillas would be extended around the globe to guarantee Portuguese rights in the Spice Islands.

Concerned with the threats facing Christendom, John brought the inquisition to Portugal, where it would have a lasting influence. He admired the work of the Jesuits, and invited them to participate in revamping the Portuguese educational system and in spearheading conversion efforts in Portugal’s colonies.

The problems of ruling an overextended empire, however, were compounded by the early death of all ten of his children. His grandson, Sebastian, who inherited the crown, shared his grandfather’s enthusiasm for preserving the Christian faith. Shortly after Sebastian died, leading a campaign against the Moors in North Africa, Philip II of Spain made good on his claim to the throne of Portugal, thereby ending the rule of the House of Aviz.

Bibliography

Anderson, James. The History of Portugal. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Succinct description of politics in the age of exploration, with a focus on the rise and fall of Portuguese dynasties.

Livermore, H. V. A New History of Portugal. 2d ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1976. Short but valuable descriptions of the accomplishments of Portuguese kings and the particular challenges each faced.

Oliveira Marques, A. H. de. History of Portugal. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972. Sets the politics of the period into a cultural and demographic context, with an emphasis on broad changes in science and in population size.

O’Malley, John W. The First Jesuits. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993. This outstanding work on the early years of the Society of Jesus provides an excellent account of the role of the Jesuits in Portugal and its territories during the reign of John.

Russell-Wood, A. J. R. Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. A history of the expansion of the Portuguese empire, with particular attention to the individuals who traveled from Portugal to the Far East and to Brazil. Less emphasis on dynastic policy and more on cultural exchange.

Saraiva, Joé Hermano. Portugal: A Companion History. Manchester, England: Carcanet Press, 1997. Focuses on the significance of the Portuguese inquisition and the Jesuits for the reign of John.