PortCities Bristol

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1441: Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sends a trading expedition to Africa.
1444: 235 African slaves, mainly from what is now Mauritania, land in Lagos, Portugal
1447: Portuguese crew is killed by local people at Gorée: negotiated slave trading treaties with African rulers becomes the normal practice, rather than kidnapping
1460: Sugar is cultivated by African slaves in Madeira (Portuguese island) and sold in England and Flanders
1462: Pope Pius II declares that baptised Africans should not be enslaved
1480: Spanish Queen of Castille recognises the Portuguese monopoly in slave trade with African coast.
1481: Portuguese build the first slave fortress at Elmina (Ghana)
1484: Portuguese build the first slave fortress at Elmina (Ghana)
1486: Portuguese first visit 'the great city of Benin' (now in Nigeria)
1492: Columbus's voyage to the 'New World', landing in the Bahamas
1494: Columbus' 2nd voyage, landing in Jamaica
1497: John Cabot sails from Bristol to the North American mainland