Portugal: Did you mean...?

In the 13th century, astonishing quantities of spices and silk passed from the Far East to Europe. Exact amounts are not known, but spice popularity in both cuisine and medicine reached its historical peak during the Middle Ages in Europe...

The first plantations in the Americas of sugar cane, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were maintained and harvested by African slaves controlled by European masters. When African slavery was largely abolished in the mid-1800s, the center of plantation...

European explorers began to probe the Western Hemisphere in the early 1500s, and they found to their utter amazement not only a huge landmass but also a world filled with several diverse and populous indigenous cultures. Among their most...

As the 15th century ended, Europeans were still mostly in the dark about the Eastern world. Early travelers like Marco Polo had given the West tidbits of information, but these accounts were too highly colored and fragmentary to provide a...

Professor Emeritus David Gitlitz is one of the world’s leading experts on Jewish-Catholic interactions in Iberia and the Americas. While initially drawn to the literature of the Spanish Golden Age as a student at Oberlin and Harvard, the...

The Chicken’s Wedding panel (1660-1667 CE) is an azulejo (glazed ceramic tile) from the 17th century CE. A chicken is conveyed in a carriage that is escorted by a cortege of monkeys playing musical instruments. Singerie (French for “Monkey...

Sculptures of the twelve apostles at Evora Cathedral, Portugal - attributed to Pero and Telo de Garcia (Spanish sculptors of the 14th century CE). Photo take 2006 CE.

The great (main) door of Evora Cathedral, Evora, Portugal. Photo taken 2006 CE.

The Baroque (c. 1600-1750 CE) and Rococo (c. 1700-1800) movements led to a style of azulejos (glazed ceramic tile) that is unique to Portugal – figuras de convite or invitation figures. These were ornate life-size figures, usually a finely...

Retábulo de Nossa Senhora da Vida (1580 CE) or Our Lady of Life is Portugal’s oldest azulejo (glazed ceramic tile) and is an important piece of 16th century CE Portuguese tile production. It is on display at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon...