The “sea route to the Indes” was opened after Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 and his fellow countryman, Vasco da Gama, crossed the Indian Ocean to reach Calicut, a rich trading city on the Indian coast.

Aggressive and heavily armed, the Portuguese established a chain of coastal trading posts extending from East Africa to Japan and effectively gained control over the lucrative spice trade.

Following the first voyage of Columbus, who was looking for a route to the East Indies, Spain controlled vast areas of the New World of the Americas. By 1600 the Spanish were bringing huge quantities of South American silver into Europe.