ARMAS E EQUIPAMENTOS DE GUERRA PORTUGUESES NO ORIENTE NAS PRIMEIRAS DÉCADAS DE QUINHENTOS十六世紀初葡萄牙在東方的戰爭武器裝備
The article argues that the rapid Portuguese military assertion in the East during the first decades of the sixteenth century is explained not only by the alleged technical superiority of European pyroballistic weaponry ("cannons and sails"), but above all by the integration of this material capacit...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
April 2008
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40026/3656 |
| Summary: | The article argues that the rapid Portuguese military assertion in the East during the first decades of the sixteenth century is explained not only by the alleged technical superiority of European pyroballistic weaponry ("cannons and sails"), but above all by the integration of this material capacity into a distinct tactical and logistical system. Based on a critical reading of legal-administrative and regimental sources (notably naval orders and dispositions), combined with operational evidence cited in historiography and contemporary accounts of campaigns, the text reconstructs how the Portuguese Crown developed, in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, a more effective artillery park, supported by institutional reorganization and the hiring/importation of specialists (bombardiers and founders), as well as by experimentation and the production of bronze pieces.
The main analytical contribution is to demonstrate that, in the eastern seas, the decisive advantage resulted from the adoption of line-ahead combat using artillery, replacing the traditional boarding assault. This doctrine, already present in regulations of 1501, made the outcome of battles dependent on the balance between maneuverability and firepower, allowing the Portuguese to face adversaries who were many times better manned. Illustrating the impact with examples such as the bombardments of Calicut, it is concluded that Portuguese effectiveness rested on the alignment of equipment, training, and tactics, producing an offensive and systematic naval warfare in the Indian Ocean. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |