Portuguese Renaissance in the context of "Sintra"

Manuel I (European Portuguese: [mɐnuˈɛl]; 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (Portuguese: O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.

Manuel established the Casa da Índia, a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion. He financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral (who discovered Brazil), Afonso de Albuquerque (who established Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean), among numerous others. The income from Portuguese trade monopolies and colonized lands made Manuel the wealthiest monarch in Europe, allowing him to be one of the great patrons of the Portuguese Renaissance, which produced many significant artistic and literary achievements. Manuel patronized numerous Portuguese intellectuals, including playwright Gil Vicente (called the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre). The Manueline style, considered Portugal's national architecture, is named for the king.

The House of Aviz (Portuguese: Casa de Avis [ɐˈviʃ]), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (Dinastia Joanina), was a dynasty of Portuguese origin which flourished during the Renaissance and the period of the Portuguese discoveries, when Portugal expanded its power globally.

The house was founded by King John I of Portugal, Grand-Master of the Order of Aviz and illegitimate son of King Pedro I (of the Portuguese House of Burgundy), who ascended to the throne after successfully pressing his claim during the 1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum. Aviz monarchs would rule Portugal through the Age of Discovery, establishing Portugal as a global power following the creation of the Portuguese Empire. In 1494, Pope Alexander VI divided the world under the dominion of Portugal and Spain with the Treaty of Tordesillas.

The Most Serene House of Braganza (Portuguese: Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (dinastia Brigantina), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas.

The house was founded by Afonso I, 1st Duke of Braganza, illegitimate son of King John I of Portugal of the House of Aviz, and would eventually grow into one of the wealthiest and most powerful noble houses of Iberia during the Renaissance period. The Braganzas came to rule the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves after successfully deposing the Philippine Dynasty in the Restoration War, resulting in the Duke of Braganza becoming King John IV of Portugal, in 1640. The Braganzas ruled Portugal and the Portuguese Empire from 1640 and with the creation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, in 1815, and the subsequent independence of the Empire of Brazil, in 1822, the Braganzas came to rule as the monarchs of Brazil.

The Manueline (Portuguese: estilo manuelino, IPA: [ɨʃˈtilu mɐnweˈlinu]), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture incorporates maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral. This innovative style synthesizes aspects of Late Gothic Flamboyant architecture with original motifs and influences of the Plateresque, Mudéjar, Italian, and Flemish architecture. It marks the transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance. The construction of churches and monasteries in Manueline was largely financed by proceeds of the lucrative spice trade with Africa and India.

The style was given its name, many years later, by Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Viscount of Porto Seguro, in his 1842 book Noticia historica e descriptiva do Mosteiro de Belem, com um glossario de varios termos respectivos principalmente a architectura gothica, in his description of the Jerónimos Monastery. Varnhagen named the style after King Manuel I, whose reign (1495–1521) coincided with its development. The style was much influenced by the astonishing successes of the voyages of discovery of Portuguese navigators, from the coastal areas of Africa to the discovery of Brazil and the ocean routes to the Far East.