page_title: Manuel I of Portugal
hierarchical_section_title: Manuel I of Portugal
caption_attribution_description: English: On the center right is Maria of Aragon, followed by Isabella of Portugal, and then Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy and the center left is Manuel I of Portugal, followed by his sons in descending order of age. Português: No centro-direita está Maria de Aragão, seguida de Isabel de Portugal e Beatriz de Portugal, Duquesa de Saboia. No centro-esquerdo está D. Manuel I de Portugal, seguido dos seus filhos em ordem decrescente de idade.
context_page_description: Manuel I, known as the Fortunate, was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.
  Manuel established the Casa da Índia, a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion, and he financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral, Afonso de Albuquerque, and João Vaz Corte-Real, among numerous others.
context_section_description: Manuel I (European Portuguese: [mɐnuˈɛɫ]; 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (Portuguese: O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.
  Manuel established the Casa da Índia, a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion, and he financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral (who discovered Brazil), Afonso de Albuquerque (who established Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean), and João Vaz Corte-Real (who discovered Newfoundland in Canada), among numerous others. The income from Portuguese trade monopolies and colonized lands made Manuel the richest monarch in Europe, allowing him to be one of the great patrons of the Portuguese Renaissance, which produced many significant artistic and literary achievements. Manuel patronized numerous Portuguese intellectuals, including playwright Gil Vicente (called the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre), physician Garcia de Orta (who pioneered tropical medicine), and mathematician Pedro Nunes (who developed the nonius and the rhumb line). The Manueline style, considered Portugal's national architecture, is named for the king.
caption: Contemporary depiction in Fons Vitae,
   by Colijn de Coter, c. 1515-17.
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