How Portugal became the First Global Sea Power

“The Portuguese were the 1st Europeans after the dark ages to engage in transcultural & transoceanic warfare, equipped with a blend of nautical knowledge; superior technology; incredible courage; very few men & great swordsmanship that proved very efficient against the curved blades of the Turks & Moors. One must be aware that the Portuguese knew they were always outnumbered, a certainty that led them to employ all their courage & determination in the fights & battles they engaged. In many cases, just mentioning the Portuguese would distress an entire army or fleet, knowing the fierceness & bravery of the Portuguese warriors”
— Rainer Daehnhardt.

“In these years, when a Portuguese soldier disembarked from one of his nation’s ships to take up duty within a fort at Moçambique or at Malacca, on the straits near Java, he could expect during his tour of duty 3 sieges in which he would eat grass & drink urine. Some of the most courageous resistances in world history were contributed by these Portuguese defenders”
— James A. Michener.

“From a present-day viewpoint, the most impressive achievement of the Portuguese is perhaps their frequent & rapid success in arriving at a mutually satisfactory relationship with the many & various peoples they encountered on their way to the Far East. To ask how they managed this is to touch on the mystery of the Portuguese mentality. It is clear that the Portuguese were markedly superior to the Spaniards, & incomparably superior to the Dutch & English, in their capacity for an unprejudiced & adaptable response to influences from alien cultures. Though it is easy to recognize this as a historical fact, the tangle of interdependent causes makes it very hard to offer a final explanation”
— Urs Bitterli.