Navigations : The Portuguese Discoveries and the Renaissance

Author: Malyn Newitt

Modern period, c 1500 onwards

Published on 27 July 2026 by REAKTION BOOKS in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 368 pages, 57 illustrations
198 x 129 | 0g

Now available in paperback, Navigations re-examines the Portuguese voyages of discovery by placing them in their medieval and Renaissance settings. It shows how these voyages grew out of a crusading ethos, as well as long-distance trade with Asia and Africa and developments in map-making and ship design. The slave trade, the diaspora of the Sephardic Jews and the intercontinental spread of plants and animals gave these voyages long-term global significance.

The voyages of discovery are narrated within the context of Portuguese politics, and this book describes the role of the Portuguese ruling dynasty – including its female members – in the flowering of the Portuguese Renaissance and the distinctive ideology of the Renaissance state, and in the cultural changes that took place within a wider European context.