35 (p. 19). St. Mary of Belem ... Pombal ... Soure ... Chair of Theology ... St. Mary of Victory ... yearly revenue (and see next sentence of text).—This is the locus classicus on the benefactions of the Prince (see Introduction to vol. ii, pp. cvi-cix).
St. Mary of Belem, "near the sea at Restello," a chapel where the Infant's mariners could pay their devotions the last thing before putting out to sea from Lisbon, or return thanks after a voyage, was superseded by the more sumptuous edifice of Kings Emanuel and John III, known as the Jeronymos, and named "the Lusiads in stone," which, with the exception of Batalha, is the noblest of Portuguese buildings. Da Gama, however, when starting for and returning from India, had only Prince Henry's little chapel available.
Pombal, in Estremadura, and Soure, in Beira, are both a little S.W. of Coimbra: Pombal being further in the direction of Leiria.
36 (p. 20). Ready to go to Ceuta ... desisted.—This abortive African expedition belongs to the reign of Affonso V, and apparently to the years immediately subsequent to the Tangier disaster of 1437 (see Introduction to vol. ii. pp. xvi-xvii).
37 (p. 21). The Infant's town ... So named ... by writing.—The settlement at Sagres. On this Santarem has the following notes:—
[α. We see by our author's account what was the state in 1453 of the town of which the Infant had laid the foundations in 1416, and to which at first was given the name of "Tercena Naval" (Naval Arsenal), from the Venetian word "Darcena," an arsenal for the construction and docking of galleys; it afterwards received the name of Villa do Infante (the Infant's town), and later on that of Sagres—derived from Sagro, Sacrum, the famous Promontorium Sacrum of the ancients, according to D. Francisco Manoel, Epanaphoras, p. 310. It should be noted that the celebrated Cadamosto, who had speech with the Infant in 1455, at Cape St. Vincent, does not give the name of the town, though he speaks of the interview which he had with him (Henry) at Rapozeira].
[β. In writing "Callez" for "Cadiz" in this paragraph, our author follows the corrupt nomenclature of the authors and MSS. of the Middle Ages, which altered the name of that city from the Gades of Pliny (v, 19), Macrobius, Silius Italicus (xvi, 468), Columella (viii, ch. xvi), a form more like the primitive Gadir (a hedge) in the Phœnician or Punic language. The corrupt terms Calles, Callis, etc., are, however, met with even in documents of the sixteenth century. See the letters of Vespucci in the edition of Gruninger (1509)].
[γ. As to this reference to the Genoese (desiring to buy Sagres from Portugal), the meaning must be that they offered great sums of money for the concession of a place in the new town for the establishment there of a factory, and perhaps of a colony, similar to those they possessed in the Black Sea, as especially Caffa (now Theodosia, in the Crimea), or Smyrna in the Archipelago. It is, however, improbable that they proposed to the Infant the cession of a town of which he did not hold the sovereignty. The Republic of Genoa had preserved very close relations with Portugal from the commencement of the monarchy, and could not be ignorant that even the Sovereigns of the country were not able to alienate any portion of the land without the consent of the Cortes (on this subject see Part iii of our Memorias sobre as Cortes). Howsoever the case may have been, the detail referred to by our author illustrates the prudence of the Portuguese Government of that time in having resisted such a proposal, in view of the fact that the Republic of Genoa had by its immense naval power obtained from the Moorish and African princes the concession of various important points in Asia and Africa; and had also procured from the Greek Emperors the cession of the suburbs of Pera and Galata in Constantinople, and the isles of Scios, Mitylene (Lesbos), and Tenedos in the Archipelago. The reader will find it worth his attention that Portugal refused to accede to a similar offer when the Emperors of the East and of Germany, the Kings of Sicily, Castile, Aragon, and the Sultans of Egypt constantly sought the alliance of that Republic and the protection of its powerful marine. True it is that the power of Genoa had already then begun to decline and to become enfeebled, but none the less important are the details given by Azurara and the observations which we have offered for the consideration of the reader].
As to the connections of Genoa with Spain, we may add the following:—
Genoese relations with Barcelona became active in the twelfth century. In 1127 the Republic concluded a commercial treaty with Count Raymond Berenger III, and formed an offensive and defensive alliance with the same Prince in 1147. As a result, the allies took Almeria and Tortosa. In this conquest two-thirds went to the Count, one-third to the Genoese. In 1153 they sold their new possessions to Count Raymond for money and trading rights; but in 1149 they concluded a treaty of peace and commerce with the Moorish King of Valencia, and in 1181 a similar treaty with the King of Majorca. As early as 1315 the Genoese had begun a direct trade by sea with the Low Countries, passing round the Spanish coast. After the conquest of Seville by Ferdinand III they also obtained important trade privileges in that city, especially those enjoyed by a grant of May 22nd, 1251. By this time they had ousted all their Italian rivals in the trade of the Western Mediterranean, and there held a position analogous almost to that of Venice under the Latin empire of Constantinople. In 1267 all the Genoese consuls in Spain were put under a Consul-General at Ceuta. In 1278 Genoa concluded a treaty of peace and commerce with Granada. In 1317 the Genoese, Emmanuel Pessanha (Pezagno), became Lord High Admiral of Portugal: Genoese captains and pilots were employed in the Spanish exploring voyage to the Canaries in 1341; and a regular contingent of Genoese pilots and captains was maintained in the Spanish service. See Introduction to vol. ii, p. lxxx.