King+Manuel+I

=King Manuel I=

King Manuel I, the Fortunate, was the 14th king of Portugal. He was born to prince Ferdinand of Portugal, the duke of Viseu, & Beatrice of Aveiro, princess of Portugal on May 31st, 1469. In 1493, King John II named Manuel the heir to the Portuguese throne. During his ruling, he supported expeditions of the Portuguese of the Atlantic Ocean & more. In 1496, Manuel was destined to marry Isabel the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Yet the only way of marrying Isabel was to expel the Moors and Jews from Portugal. Since Manuel did not want to lose the communities that had contributed to learning and science in Portugal and had provided skillful artisans, he first tried to form a policy of the conversion of the Jews into Christians. Manuel was not successful in the conversion of Jews. Under King Manuel I, Vasco de Gama discovered a route to India in 1498 & Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil in 1500. What made him so important was off of his supporting of Portuguese expeditions, he turned Portugal rich on foreign trade. With the wealth he built royal buildings to attract scientists & artists to his court, & formed new alliances with other countries. Basically because of King Manuel I, Portugal now has a lot of historical buildings & a rich trading market. Manuel also was a religious man who sponsored a lot of Portuguese income to missionaries who journeyed to the new colonies. He improved the law system and strengthened the power of the king as well. The Fortunate had 3 wives & his rule ended in 1521 when he died. After he died, his son (John III) took over.