592 years ago today, on August 14, 1433 (July 29, 1433), King Joao I of Portugal died. Joao I (April 11, 1357 - August 14, 1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve (1385-1433). He was Prometheus who stole a torch from ancient Greek civilization to illuminate the Atlantic coast; he was the leader of an early colonial enterprise armed with science, and the hero of an expedition that dared to challenge the mysteries of the world - "Five Thousand Years of the World" evaluates the navigator Henry Joao I, the founder of the Aviche dynasty of Portugal, known as "Joao the Great", probably the greatest king in Portuguese history. During his reign, Portugal established a national policy of development towards the sea and sounded the prelude to the arrival of the age of great navigation. Joao I's birth to the Portuguese throne is composed of a series of romantic and bloody stories. His father, King Pedro I of Portugal, was a passionate and somewhat cruel man. In 1340, Pedro, who was then a prince, married Constance, the princess of Custer, but he fell in love with Constance's maid-in-waiting, lived openly with Innes, and had four children, including Joao, the protagonist of this article. However, their love aroused the hostility of the stubborn forces, and some ministers of the DPRK and China believed that Innes was a disaster that would endanger the stability of the Portuguese royal rule. Later, with the acquiescence of Pedro's father, the then King Alfonso IV, several ministers rushed into Innes's residence and killed Innes and his children while Pedro was away. Prince Pedro rebelled angrily, and finally tolerated it under the mediation of the queen. In 1357, as soon as Pedro succeeded to the throne, he brutally killed the nosy ministers and anointed Innes as queen. To this day, Lisbon still has "Fountain of Tears", "Tears Hall" and other evidence to commemorate this swan song of love through the ages. Young Joao escaped the disaster and was loved by his father from an early age. At the age of 6, he was appointed chief of the Knights of Avish and received a systematic religious and military education. But his illegitimate status hindered his desire for the throne. In 1367, Pedro I died and Joao's half-brother Ferdinand I succeeded him to the throne. In 1383, Ferdinand died without a son and was succeeded by his daughter Beatrice, who was regent by his queen Leonore. But on the one hand, because Ferdinand I was a poor soldier and unpopular during his reign, the regency of Leonor meant the continuation of his policies. On the other hand, Queen Beatrice was already married to King Custer (one of the predecessors of Spain), and her succession seriously endangered the sovereignty and independence of the Portuguese state. As a result, under the instigation of some nobles, the Portuguese people launched an uprising in 1383. Joao took advantage of this opportunity and became the leader of the uprising with the support of the young generals Alvarez and the Knights of Avez. Leonor was overthrown and fled to her mother country, Custer. Joao I took the throne from his niece and was elected king of Portugal by the parliament in 1385. In the same year, he defeated the invading Custer army in the Battle of Arjoubarrota, defending the country's independence and consolidating his throne. (In the 2004 European Cup of Nations football match held in Portugal, the major Portuguese media compared the life-and-death battle between the Spanish and Portuguese teams to the "Battle of Arjoubarrota", which shows the importance of this battle in the eyes of Portuguese people.) Because he was the leader of the Knights of Avish, the dynasty he established was named the Avish Dynasty (according to Western concepts, the succession of an illegitimate son means a change of dynasty). The above event was called the Revolution of 1383-1385, which was a decisive turning point in Portuguese history. The old aristocracy's monopoly on high officials was broken, and a group of lower-born but experienced jurists and bureaucrats rallied around the new king, bringing a fresh wind to Portuguese politics. However, as a weak country in a remote corner of southwestern Europe, Portugal did not have the strength and space to develop on the mainland, and advancing to the ocean was the only way for it to become a strong country. After consolidating the throne, Joao set his sights on the vast ocean. Portugal can be regarded as the vanguard of the era of great navigation, and Joao I and his son "Henry the Voyager" were the vanguard forces. In 1415, King Joao I and Prince Henry personally led a huge army of 19,000 troops, 1,700 navies, and 200 warships, and captured the important city of Ceuta (now Sabte) in the northwest corner of Africa. This event is considered to be the official starting point of Portugal's maritime expansion policy. With the support and encouragement of King Joao I, Prince Henry founded a nautical school, which recruited nautical talents from all over Europe (most of them in Italy), trained a large number of skilled navigators for Portugal, and built seaports, improved sea ships, and resolutely carried on the cause of nautical exploration. On the simple sea ships of the time, brave sailors carried the expectations of the nation, risked their lives, and sailed again and again to the unknown "sea of demons". In 1420, the Portuguese discovered (or "discovered" for Europeans) Madeira, and in 1431, the Azores became an important supply base for Atlantic navigation. By the time Joao died in 1433, Portuguese navigation was flourishing and had seen the dawn of the age of sea power. His successors continued to work hard, resulting in a series of feats such as Diaz's arrival at the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and Da Gama's arrival in India in 1498. Joao I's influence on history was also that he strengthened the power of the king. As the Portuguese historian Saraiva said, "In the time of Joao I, the will of the king was the greatest power of the state, and nothing could limit it." And he concluded the "Treaty of Windsor" with England in 1386, establishing the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance. After that, the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance has been maintained in various forms for hundreds of years, becoming a rare long-term and effective alliance of nations in world history. Joao I obviously deserves a prominent place in this list, but he should be ranked lower than Queen Isabella I of Spain, who made an important contribution to the great age of navigation. This is first and foremost because the Portuguese seafaring industry has been continuously advanced through the accumulation of many generations, while the process of Columbus's arrival in the Americas under the patronage of Isabella was more straightforward, and the latter caused fundamental changes in the race and culture of the Americas, which was more significant than the arrival of Da Gama in India. Moreover, Isabella's influence on Spanish history is greater than Joao's influence on Portuguese history, and Spain's influence on the historical pattern of the world is also much greater than that of Portugal. Joao the Great ranks 49th in this list of important emperors. Comments: Portugal's geographical location and environment determine that it must enter the ocean to have a way out, but Portuguese rulers before Joao I have always been fascinated by the struggle for power on the Iberian Peninsula or the cannibalism at home. Joao I was not the first Portuguese politician to recognize the need to develop towards the sea, but he was the first to establish it as a policy, and since then Portugal has been transformed.