Manuel I of Portugal

He was born in Alcochete[?] to Beatrice of Beja and Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu. He was the grandson of Duarte I[?] and succeeded his cousin João II. Manuel was active in continuing the expansion of the Portuguese trading empire. He funded the voyages of Vasco da Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral, Gaspar Corte-Real, Francisco da Almeida[?] and Alfonso d'Albuquerque. The sea route to India was discovered and Portugal grew rich on foreign trade as the empire began to be formally established. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings (in the manueline style) and to attract scientists and artists to his court. He also issued a number of new laws to enhance the power of the king and the nobility. Strongly religious he sponsored missionaries, such as Francisco Alvarez, and the construction of religious buidings. He also persecuted the Jews of Portugal, driving them from the country or forcibly converting them, notably in the period 1496-98, although there was a massacre of the Jews in Lisbon in 1506.

Manuel was married three times. All to Spanish princesses including Isabel and Mary, both of them daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella.

He is buried in the Monastery of Jerónimos[?] in Lisbon and was succeeded by his son João.