Portugal's Geographic Advances Through The Coinage

1996 two hundred escudos.



In May 1513 Jorge Álvares sailed under the Portuguese Malacca captain Rui de Brito Patalim in a fleet of junks from Pegu.

Álvares made first contact on Asian soil in Guangdong, Southern China in May 1513. Upon landing, he raised a Padrão (a large stone cross inscribed with the coat of arms of Portugal that was placed as part of a land claim by numerous Portuguese explorers during the Portuguese Age of Discovery) from the king of Portugal, where they landed on Lintin Island in the Pearl River estuary. Based on information from their captain, they were to hope to find trade.

Soon after this, Afonso de Albuquerque, the Viceroy of the Estado da India dispatched Rafael Perestrello, a cousin of Christopher Columbus, to seek trade relations with the Chinese. In a ship from Malacca, Rafael landed on the southern shores of Guangdong later that year in 1513, being the first to actually land on the coast of mainland China.

Álvares later joined the venture of establishing the settlements in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong around 1513 to 1514. This visit was followed by the establishment of a number of Portuguese trading centres in the area, which were eventually consolidated in Macau.

The first official visit of Fernão Pires de Andrade, a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat, to Guangzhou (1517--1518) was fairly successful, and the local Chinese authorities allowed the embassy led by Tomé Pires, brought by de Andrade's flotilla, to proceed to Beijing.

However, Fernão's brother Simão de Andrade, whose fleet came to Guangzhou in 1519, managed to quickly spoil the Sino-Portuguese relations, due to his disregard for the host country's laws and customs. Under the pretext of a threat from pirates, and without a permission from the local authorities, he built a fort in Tamão Island, behaving there as if it were Portuguese territory. (Particularly offensive to the Chinese sensibilities was his building a gallows there, and executing one of his own sailors there for some offense). He attacked a Chinese official who protested to the Portuguese captain's demands that his vessels should take precedence in trade with China before those from Asian countries. The worst, however, were his kidnappings of Chinese children and taking them abroad to be enslaved; (untrue) rumors spread that the disappearing children were cannibalized after being roasted by the Portuguese. (from Wikipedia)

1997 two hundred escudos.



Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta (1506 -- 1552) was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre (now part of Spain) and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534.

Francis devoted much of his life to missions in Asia, after being appointed by King John III of Portugal to take charge as Apostolic Nuncio in Portuguese India, where the king believed that Christian values were eroding among the Portuguese. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas, and other areas which had thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. In these areas, being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local languages in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. It was a goal of Xavier to one day reach China. However, the government in China disliked most missionaries and many were killed.

Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his missionary work, both as organizer and as pioneer. He is said to have converted more people than anyone else has done since Saint Paul.
Francis Xavier is a Catholic saint. He was beatified by Paul V in 1619, and was canonized by Gregory XV in 1622. He is considered to be a patron saint of Roman Catholic missionaries in foreign lands. (from Wikipedia)

1997 two hundred escudos.



José de Anchieta (1534 -- 1597), a Spanish Jesuit missionary to Brazil. A highly influential figure in Brazil's history in the 1st century after its discovery on April 22, 1500 by a Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, Anchieta was one of the founders of São Paulo, in 1554, and Rio de Janeiro, in 1565.

He was a writer and poet, and is considered the first Brazilian writer. Anchieta was also involved in the catechesis and conversion to the Catholic faith of the Indian population; his efforts at Indian pacification, together with another Jesuit missionary, Manuel da Nóbrega, were crucial to the establishment of stable colonial settlements in the country.