THE FIRST GLOBAL VILLAGE - HOW PORTUGAL CHANGED THE WORLD
Martin Page
A pensar nos tempos penosos que vivemos em Portugal e em todos quantos seguem este porta-aviões "GLOBAL VILLAGE" fora.
When Jonah was swallowed by the big fish, he was trying to escape to what is now Portugal. Here, Hannibal discovered the warriors, weapons and gold, to march on Rome;and Julius Caesar found the fortune, that paid the way to his conquests of Gaul and England.
During the Dark Ages further north, Portugal´s Arab rulers made it part of the world´s most advanced civilisation.After the Norman conquest of Lisbon, the new Portugal bankrupted Venice, and became the wealthiest nation in Europe.
Before he became Pope John XXI, Joao Hispano of Lisbon wrote one of the first modern medical text-books, consulted through much of Europe more than a century later.Portuguese Jews introduced tulips, chocolate and diamonds to Holland.
The Portuguese gave the English afternoon tea, and Bombay, the key to empire.They brought to Africa protection from malaria, and slave-shipments to America;to India, higher education, curry and samosas;to Japan, tempura and firearms.
Portugal entered the 21st century as the first european nation to have freed itself from communism, returned to democracy and set about rebuilding itself, as a vital part of the new Europe.
