Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Emanuel I.

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For works with similar titles, see Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Emanuel.

EMANUEL (Portuguese, Manoel) I. (14691521), king of Portugal, surnamed the Happy, was the son or Duke Ferdinand of Yiseu and cousin of John II. of Portugal, and was born May 3, 1469. The care of his early education was confided to a Sicilian named Cataldo, under whom he made rapid progress, especially in the classical languages. He succeeded to the throne on the death of John II., 27th October 1495. In 1497 he married Donna Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. She died in 1498, and two years after her death he married her sister Donna Maria. As soon as he mounted the throne Emanuel devoted himself with great ardour to the maritime enterprises begun by his predecessor. He dispatched Vasco da Gama to sail round the Cape of Good Hope in order to discover a new passage to India, and on his return he sent Pedro Alvarez de Cabral to complete his discoveries. Cabral discovered Brazil and the Moluccas, and established commercial relations with the Indian and African coasts. Through these expeditions and others under Albuquerque, the influence of Portugal was rendered predominant on the coasts of South Africa and the Indian archipelago, and an inexhaustible field for commerce and Colonization was opened up to the Portu- guese. Emanuel also entered into commercial relations with Persia, Ethiopia, and China. His whole foreign policy, with the exception of an attempt to conquer Morocco, was a brilliant success; and at the close of his reign Por- tugal had attained a degree of prosperity, both external and internal, until then unexampled in her history. He was also no less anxious for the individual welfare of his subjects than for the outward prosperity of his kingdom. He made personal visits to all his provinces to inquire into the administration of justice, and he is the author of a code of laws which bears his name. At certain stated hours he was accessible to any of his subjects without distinction who desired redress of grievances, or had any request of importance to make, and so great was his courtesy and patience in listening to their statements that when necessary he sacrificed to them hours that he usually devoted to en- joyment or repose. His persecutions of the Jews, cruel as they were, can scarcely be blamed when we remember the bigotry of his time and country ; and it says much for his impartial administration of justice that he caused the ring- leaders of a popular insurrection against that people to be executed with the usual marks of opprobrium. He died at Lisbon, December 13, 1521.