Figure 1.--THis is a panel from an altarpiece. Dom Alfonso V is pictured here nealing before St. Vincent. He is surronded by his wife (Isabel of Coimbra), son (Prince Dom João), and the court. It was painted in the 1450s, although there is diagreemnent about this. While it is a religious scene, the court includes secular officials. Isabella by this time had died, but Alfonso had her painted in the piece as testament to his devotion. The Prince can be seen as the youth at the extreme right. This was one of six Saint Vincent Panels attributed to Nuno Gonçalves. Click on the image to see the entire six pannels. Thesepanels areimportant, not because they illustrate the court of a minor European power, but because these are the people along with Prince Henry the Navigator who launched the European maritime expansion.

Prince João was born in 1455. His parents were Dom (King) Afonso V and Princess Isabel of Coimbra. Prince João accompanied his father in Portuguese north Africa campaigns. The King knighted him after the victory in Arzila (1471). Prince João married Leonor of Viseu, Infanta of Portugal, his first cousin (1473). As a prince, João was not popular with the nobility. He was reported as immune to external influence and despised court intrigue. He briefly acted as king when his father retired to a monastary (1471). He became fully invested as king still as a young man (1481). It was at this that tiny Portugal began the European voyages of discovery. He faced upon becoming king, an aristocracy attepting to exert its perogatives even further. He ordered the execution of the duke of Bragança for secretuve contacts with Castile (1483). He personally murdered the young Duke of Viseu claiming conspiracy. supported expeditions leading to important discoveries. He sponsored Diaz's expedition which rounded the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) (1488). This led to enormously valuable trade with the East, making tiny Portugal for a time an important European naval power. João as a result became known as "The Perfect Prince". A resulting maritime rivalry led to disputes between Portugal and Castilen which was soon to be united with Aragon forming Spain. This rivalry became serious with Columbus' discovery of the Americas (1492). It was their claims were adjudicated by the papacy in the treaty of Tordesillas (1494). João II died (1495). He left no male heir. He was thus suceeded by his brother-in-law Manuel I.

Created: 6:40 AM 7/14/2008
Last updated: 11:01 PM 1/27/2019