True, and looks like the portuguese may only have been inspired to sink the initial R&D into disruption because the ottomans, having taken Constantinople, were

True, and looks like the portuguese may only have been inspired to sink the initial R&D into disruption because the ottomans, having taken Constantinople, were charging* too much as gatekeepers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_discovery_of_the_sea_route_to_India#/media/File:Silk_route.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_discovery_of_the_se... Lagniappe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_clausum#/media/File:IberianMareClausum.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_clausum#/media/File:Iberi... (can you spot Brazil in this projection?) EDIT: note also how the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479) drew a line across the Atlantic which is still largely conserved by the sea boundary between USEUCOM and USAFRICOM * EDIT2: could they have charged just enough to make the age of exploration look risky and too expensive, not risky but potentially cheaper?