Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/95

 MOTIVES OF PRINCE HENRY'S EXPEDITIONS 55 It was with his revenues as Grand Master that he defrayed the cost of his expeditions. In 1454 King Affonso V of Portugal granted to the Order of Christ, in return for the discoveries thus made, the spiritual jurisdiction over Guinea, Nubia, and Ethi- opia. A tribute of one-twentieth on all merchandise from Guinea, whether slaves or gold or whatever it might be, was secured to the Order of Christ by Prince Henry in 1458. The Portuguese nation was still deeply imbued with the crusading spirit. In 1458, two years before Prince Henry's death, when the Pope summoned the sovereigns of Europe against the Infidels, into whose hands Constantinople had fallen, Portugal made the most effective response. Prince Henry with twenty- five thousand men captured Alcazar Seguer from the Moors, replying to their offer of surrender that " the king's object was the service of God, not to take their goods or force a ransom from them." The three motives of Prince Henry enmity to the Moslems, mercantile enterprise, and missionary zeal profoundly influenced the whole history of the Portu- guese in the East. As he aimed at outflanking the Moors in Africa by exploring down its western coast, so his greatest successors aimed at outflanking the Otto- man Empire by dominating the Red Sea. His com- mercial dealings on the African coast led to the slave- trade which poured an inexhaustible supply of cheap labour into Portugal, relieved the Portuguese from the tillage of the soil, and set free large numbers to carry Dut the royal policy of adventure beyond the sea. A