Overview

Following recent historiographical appeals on the need to study knowledge exchanges between European maritime rivals and their impact on overseas expansionist processes, this book makes this study for the Portuguese overseas empire between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. As the first European maritime power to systematically launch long-distance voyages, Portugal became a model worth emulation when Spain, France, England and the Dutch Republic started their own overseas enterprises. In different chapters that each adopt a case study relation (Portugal-Spain, Portugal-England, Portugal-France and Portugal-Dutch Republic), this book documents how Portuguese maritime knowledge was outsourced by its maritime rivals. The impact that Portuguese nautical knowledge had is evaluated, resorting particularly to a wide range of diplomatic and espionage documents. Finally, the book discusses the alleged Iberian secrecy policies regarding maritime knowledge, explaining why there is no serious reason to consider their success.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nuno Luís Vila-Santa Braga Campos
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.700kg
ISBN:  

9781041181835

ISBN 10:   1041181833
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   01 December 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments, Introduction: Maritime History and History of Knowledge for the 16th Century European History, 1. The First Global Exchange and Dispute Over the Globe: The Portuguese-Spanish Nautical Interchange (1415-1580), 2. Unexpected or Predictable Espionage and Diplomacy? Portuguese Nautical Knowledge and the English Voyages to West Africa (1551-59), 3. Spying Ambassadors for a French Overseas Empire? Michel de Seure and Jean Nicot's Maritime and Cosmographical Espionage in Portugal (1557-61), 4. Mare Clausum and Secret Science: João Pereira Dantas and the Portuguese Strategies to Control French and English Overseas Plans (1557-68), 5. A Spy or a Go-Between? Jan Huygen van Linschoten, the Itinerario, and the Rise of Dutch Overseas Expansion (1583-1611), Conclusion: Five Connected Histories of Knowledge? Portugal, Spain, France, England, the Dutch Republic, and the Attempted Secrecy Policies, Illustrations, Quoted Bibliography and Sources, Index.

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Author Information

Nuno Vila-Santa is a post-doctoral fellow from the RUTTER project founded by the European Research Council. His main works deal with the history of the Portuguese overseas empire in Asia and with Portuguese connections to Europe in the 16th century

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