A quick way to lose said mastery of the seas is literally turn those traders and polities that are already there violent before you have a chance to surprise them with your violence first, which is what happened OTL.While the Portuguese and the Spaniards were still undeniable islamophobes within their own borders, the age of crusades is over. They would get no rewards in attacking the holy cities other than the fiery wrath of the muslim world.
A more-or-less plausible PoD for such a scenario would be Don Sebastian being an even bigger islamophobe and attempting to start a crusade through the sea instead of through land, which he attempted to do in Morocco. But we all know how it played out in the end. I highly doubt it would be possible since the portuguese commerciant bourgueoisie wouldn't be so interested in ceasing trade with the islamic world.You know, this might be an interesting timeline....
I figured that the portuguese probably care more about the economic interests of their kingdom rather than any religious motive.A more-or-less plausible PoD for such a scenario would be Don Sebastian being an even bigger islamophobe and attempting to start a crusade through the sea instead of through land, which he attempted to do in Morocco. But we all know how it played out in the end. I highly doubt it would be possible since the portuguese commerciant bourgueoisie wouldn't be so interested in ceasing trade with the islamic world.
Well a lot of trading regions were not Muslim (China, South India, Ceylan, Burma...) and the Muslims already hated them with the strength of a burning sun, at least the Arabs and Ottomans.I figured that the portuguese probably care more about the economic interests of their kingdom rather than any religious motive.
I'm just thinking maybe some stray spanish pirates (who pruport to love the king and hate muslims) end up getting mistaken for some kind of advance guard of a crusade, and send the Islamic World ballistic. Kind of like administering an electric shock.
Now this may be wrong, but was the religion of the Venetians absolutely centered on these two places? Given that Jerusalem had been out of christian hands for a very long time, and Constantinople was both irrevocably bound to the identity of the Byzantine empire and to the Eastern Orthodox church as opposed to the Roman Catholic one, why would the chosen example care? Eastern Orthodox Christians were greatly incensed at the fall of Constantinople, the trouble is either they were Russia or they were too weak to take on the Ottomans regardless. And furthermore, weren't the Venetians actually enemies of the Byzantines? Would a more fitting analogue for the Venetians not be the fall of Rome? Even then, even single given major sects of Christianity do not have just one city of paramount, central importance like Islam does.It could hurt with Persia of course, but even Venice continued trade with Muslims after Jerusalem and Constantinople fell.
Hey there,
The Portuguese had full mastery of the seas until the 1540's at leas.
They considered muslims as THE enemy. So why didn't they attack Mecca? It was basically defenseless from the sea, no?
Hey there,
The Portuguese had full mastery of the seas until the 1540's at leas.
They considered muslims as THE enemy. So why didn't they attack Mecca? It was basically defenseless from the sea, no?
Why bother?
Mecca may not be well defended, but it's not on the sea, it's 80 km inland, in a desert full of hostile natives. There's nothing much to loot there. It's a long way the wrong direction, anyway. To get to Jiddah (the port of Mecca), the Portuguese have to sail 2,000 km up the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, which is a barren dead end as far as trade is concerned.
They did know where it was. However you're right, they thought it was important because it was the tomb of Mahommet.Mecca is not and never was a Christian place. I doubt if they even understood what it really meant to Moslems. Or exactly where it was.
Good point, nothing systematic. Thanks for the answer!I'd also note that elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese did not make any systematic attacks on Islam, such as demolishing mosques. They were a modest force, operating a long long long way from home; their ambitions were appropriate.