ABSTRACT. First and last of all the European seaborne empires, the Portuguese was distinguished throughout by its flexibility and adaptability. Initially an Eastern empire, later centred on the South Atlantic and finally on southern Africa, it followed different models in different areas. Never backed by a powerful navy or even an adequate merchant fleet, it survived and at some periods flourished thanks to its capacity to adjust to circumstances.
RÉSUMÉ. Premier et dernier empire maritime européen, le Portugal s'est distingué par sa flexibilité et sa capacité d'adaptation. Au départ, l'empire s'étendait plutôt en Orient, avant de concentrer sa présence sur l'Atlantique sud puis au final sur l'Afrique du sud. Il suivit par conséquent différents modèles dans différentes régions. Bien qu'il n'ait jamais été doté d'une marine puissante ou même d'une flotte marchande adéquate, il réussit à subsister et, à certaines périodes, parvint à grandement prospérer grâce à son aptitude à s'adapter aux circonstances.
Between Ceuta in 1415 and Macao in 1999, the beginning and end of the empire, stretch six centuries, fifteen thousand nautical miles and two different models of colonisation. The last act of the Portuguese empire was in 1999 to hand over Macao to Chinese rule, after 450 years of a Portuguese presence marked by a way of life of mutual tolerance. Its rules changed over time, and many of them were scarcely written down; sometimes they were remote from official regulations, often they were shaped by local interests.
Ceuta was captured by King John I with an army of twenty thousand men carried in over two hundred ships. It was an enormous and formidable force for a country with a population of no more than a million: 2% of the population sailed to Ceuta. The expedition was for a long time explained as a crusade, or a means of glory for the princes Duarte and Pedro, and Henrique, Duke of Viseu(known to history as Henry the Navigator). The truth is that Ceuta was a trading centre in a strategic position to control the Strait of Gibraltar and communication between the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Its capture served the political interests of a new dynasty in need of international recognition, and opened opportunities of expansion for a small kingdom trapped between Castile and the sea.