King Joao III
Chapter 8: Colonization and Vassalage
On December 17, 1521 Joao III took the throne and vowed to continue the legacy of Portuguese greatness.
Kingdom of Portugal
Europe 1521
Joao’s first act as king, came on May 24, 1522. After long negotiation, he signed the Treaty of Friendship with Ternate, which made them a vassal to Portugal.
Merchants rejoiced, offering 200 ducats to trade investments to strengthen the deal. With a new home base, exploration in northeast Asia and south to Australia reached it’s height. Shortly afterwards, he arranged a royal marriage with Aragon to strengthen his position on the Iberian Peninsula.
Unfortunately, the first year of his reign did not end on a happy note. A diplomatic insult between Songhai and Portugal, the day after Christmas, would ruin the already weakened relations between the two countries.
The days after the birth of Christ would not be quiet in 1523 either. Peasants, spotting a meteor, sent stability down across the kingdom, as hysteria spread that the end of the world was near. Stability was restored three years later, when a peasant falsely accused of murder, prayed to Elizabeth of Portugal to restore his good name. Many say his prayers where answered and this soon to be canonized woman performed a miracle.
St. Elizabeth of Portugal
In 1525, Joao recruited Francois Xavier to explore the lands of India and Australia. He left from Mascate to explore the land of India where he discovered the province of Madras, owned by Bengal. Being unable to go any further, he began his journey south, to Australia, where he landed at Murumbidgee, in August of the following year. While in Murumbidgee, he oversaw the establishment of the first trading post on this new land. After that he headed to Northeast Asia to explore the lands discovered by da Gama.
Murrumbidgee Ranges
For the next year, Portugal focused on exploration and commerce as France made claims of discovering new land to the west. Joao saw them as no threat to his well-established colonies right away but he would not ignore the ambitions of Francis I, who had married Joao’s stepmother Eleanor of Habsburg.
1528 found Morocco declaring war, once again, on Tlemcen. As his father had done, Joao sent a personal gift to help finance Muhammad III quest to vanquish his sworn enemy.
Muhammad III of Morocco
On June 2, Portugal answered a call to battle, with England declaring war on Denmark. Castile, Ulster and Portugal honored their alliance while Lorraine and Berg did not. Joao was not interested in going to war against Denmark but sent the Portuguese fleet to protect Lothian and the Highlands should Denmark become interested in their territory. By the grace of God, the war was over as quickly as it began. On November 28, England agreed to pay 24 ducats and give Iceland to Denmark. Morocco faired better in their war, soundly defeating Tlemcen. Tlemcen found Orania annexed and themselves a subservient to Morocco.
Martim Afonso de Sousa
In 1530, Portugal gained the services of Martim de Sousa and he was sent to oversee the building of the Brazilian lands he would soon govern. After de Sousa landed in Recife, Joao made the decision that a home base of exploration in the tip of South America was a must and a colony was needed post haste. Martim de Sousa scouted out the lands and Aisen was selected to build this port colony. By November 1533, the colony was established and de Sousa made his way back to the Brazilian lands.
During this time period, Portugal entered into royal marriages with Naples and England. Soon afterwards, England broke the marriage and the military alliance when they embraced Protestantism. Joao then found himself leader of the military alliance between Portugal, Castile, Ulster and Sweden.
Events would not go his way after this though. A devastating fire wiped out the naval equipment factory in Algarve and natives captured the settlement at Iguata. The settlement was retaken very quickly but the factory could not be replaced. Joao instituted minting in the treasury to pay for a new factory in the Azores and colonies in the Americas.
Morocco feeling confident declared war on Algiers. Algiers had no standing army and no alliances so they fell within a year to annexation. Seeing that Morocco was sweeping across North Africa, Joao invited them into the military alliance, which they accepted.
Despite Joao being a very religious man, when asked to participate in the Holy Inquisitions of 1536, he declined raising innovativeness by one. From his decision, a good government policy was instituted, which raised stability and gave money to trade/infrastructure investments.
The following year, Joao received a letter from his sister, Maria, stating,
“My brother…... One day they call themselves Castile and for no other reason than can be explained but by God himself, they changed their name to Kingdom of Spain.” (Yes, after several more attempts, I got them to accept the name Spain)
The next few years saw the building of a refinery in the Azores, a rush of merchants, 10 warships donated by merchants in Al Kharam, and a new center of trade open in Aisen. Francois Xavier also accomplished a great deal during this time. Marching north he discovered the lands in and around Korfa. He then headed back south and west through the interior of the land. He reached the lands held by the Mongolian’s and found he could not move further. As he made his way back towards China to investigate the lands there, he received word from a passing ship of other plans for him.
On March 20, 1539, Joao, fed up with dealing with the warlords in Hyderabad, sent a formal demand for possession of Goa. Claiming, no usurper would ever take their lands, Hyderabad declared war.
Xavier who had been picked up by a passing fleet met up with 8,000 troops from Mascate. He invaded Bombay, taken it very easily within a year. A few thousand reinforcements joined him in his taking of Goa. Lanka also declared war on Hyderabad. By Dec 20, Portugal had captured Goa and then official took possession of the land on February 5, 1541. Portugal still had their sights set on more than just Goa; they wanted Bombay too. With more reinforcements, troops totaling 13,000 marched towards Hyderabad.
With a sizable gift to Bangalore they received military access to make a direct march on the capital province. The Portuguese meet 21,000 enemy troops but the troops lead by Xavier would prove too much for the infidels.
The capital of Hyderabad fell in 1542. Portugal now had the maps of all of India and planned to march on Bastar but rebellions in Recife, Mascate, Tago and Lothian cut short their plans to take this country. In 1543, Hyberbad accepted peace with Portugal, giving them Bombay.
During the war, Joao gained the services of Mem da Sa. He had heard reports of French activity in North America so he sent da Sa to investigate the northern lands.
For the next 10 years, Portugal focused on policies, colonization in Brazil and exploration, with a few notable events occurring as well.
- Lanka became vassals to Portugal
- Nobles feuded and Joao agreed to let them fight it out
- A royal marriage with Aragon
- Reformation of the army gaining 1000 ducats in land investments
- Cities demand old rights which Joao accepted
- Xavier walked all the provinces of Mainland China
- England and Lanka convert to Catholicism
- Portugal expanded their colonies from Recife to Itaimas into cities
In 1553, Portugal entered into a military alliance with Aragon, Naples and Scotland. By 1554, Aragon had declared war on Spain. Portugal saw an opening in Galicia, which Spain had left unguarded. Xavier who had lead the war in India was sent to lead the forces in this war but died within days of arriving in Portugal. Joao then sent for de Sousa to lead his troops. De Sousa met up with troops in Oporto and marched on Galicia.
Galicia fell within a year but Aragon was losing badly on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal seeing that Aragon would not be able to withstand much more accepted peace. Spain paid 139 ducats for the return of Galicia and Aragon accepted peace with Spain one year later. In their peace agreement, Aragon lost the provinces of Aragon and Castilla to Spain.
Unfortunately, Joao’s last full year of reign was met with tragedy as a fire swept through the Azores burning down the refinery. Portugal, not having the funds to replace it, debated on beginning minting again but Joao decided against it.
Joao III, the pious, died on June 13, 1557 in Lisbon having kept his word to continue Portuguese greatness throughout the world.
Which version are you playing? Whichever, your strategy is evolving very well... 
