John III of Portugal

John III (or João III, Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈɐ̃w̃]; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed o Piedoso ("the Pious"), is the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves.

Born in Lisbon, he is the son of King Manuel I and his queen consort, Maria of Aragon (the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile).

John succeeds his father in 1521, at the age of nineteen.

During his rule, Portuguese possessions are extended in Asia and in the New World through the Portuguese colonization of Brazil.

John III's policy of reinforcing Portugal's bases in India (such as Goa) secure Portugal's monopoly over the spice trade of cloves from the Moluccas and nutmeg from the Banda Islands, as a result of which John III has been called the "Grocer King".

On the eve of his death in 1557, the Portuguese empire spans almost 1 billion acres.

During his reign, the Portuguese become the first Europeans to make contact with both China, under the Ming Dynasty, and Japan, during the Muromachi period.

He abandons Muslim territories in North Africa in favor of trade with India and investment in Brazil.

In Europe, he improves relations with the Baltic region and the Rhineland, hoping that this will bolster Portuguese trade.

John is responsible for the evangelization of the Far East and Brazil, in part through the introduction of Jesuit missions there.

Both the Jesuits and the Portuguese Inquisition, introduced in 1536, are to become key institutions in Portugal and its Empire.

The Jesuits are particularly important for mediating Portuguese relations with native peoples and the Inquisition serves to spare Portugal the civil upheavals of religious warfare of the sort that occur in France and elsewhere in Europe during the 16th century.

In the final years of John's reign, Portugal's colony of Brazil is just beginning its rapid development as a producer of sugar that compensates for the gradual decline of revenues from Asia, a development that will continue during the reign of his grandson and successor, Sebastian, who becomes king upon John’s death, of apoplexy, in 1557.

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