The Portuguese Empire
Over time, the Kingdom of Portugal built what was known as the Portuguese Empire. Starting with the Conquest of Ceuta in 1415, the empire expanded with the addition of many colonies, the largest of which was Brazil (established in 1500 and dissolved in 1822). After the republican revolution in 1910, the remaining colonies of the empire became overseas provinces of the Portuguese Republic until the late 20th century, when the last overseas territories of Portugal were handed over (most notably Portuguese Africa which included the overseas provinces of Angola and Mozambique in 1975, and finally Macao in 1999).
After centuries of Portuguese dominion in Angola, the Kingdom of Kongo was made a vassal state of the Portuguese kingdom, its king pledging alliegance to the King of Portugal.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Portugal
Famous quotes containing the word empire:
“Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch
Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike
Feeds beast as man. The nobleness of life
Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair
And such a twain can do ‘t, in which I bind,
On pain of punishment, the world to weet
We stand up peerless.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)