Grand Master of the Order of Christ

E85012

The Grand Master of the Order of Christ was the head of a powerful Portuguese military and religious order that played a central role in financing and directing the country’s maritime explorations during the Age of Discovery.

Observed surface forms (1)


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ecclesiastical office
head of military order
office
appliesToJurisdiction Portuguese Empire
country Kingdom of Portugal
hasRole administrator of order’s properties
allocator of resources to navigators and explorers
allocator of stipends to pilots, captains, and cosmographers
approver of new members and knights
central figure in financing the Portuguese Age of Discovery
coordinator of missionary activity in newly discovered lands
custodian of the order’s archives and seals
director of strategic planning for maritime exploration
director of the order’s economic enterprises
dispenser of pensions and benefices from the order’s income
distributor of revenues of the Order of Christ
enforcer of papal bulls related to Portuguese discoveries
financier of voyages of discovery
grantor of commanderies
guardian of the cross of the Order of Christ used on Portuguese sails
guardian of the order’s rule
guardian of the order’s spiritual and temporal privileges
head of a military order
head of a religious order
issuer of charters and privileges to settlers in overseas territories
issuer of instructions to captains sailing under the order’s flag
judge in internal disputes of the order
manager of overseas revenues
manager of sugar and spice revenues assigned to the order
negotiator of privileges with the Holy See
organizer of fleets for exploration and war
overseer of fortresses and houses of the order
overseer of spiritual life within the order
overseer of the order’s estates in Portugal and overseas
patron of churches and convents under the order
patron of maritime expeditions
promoter of crusading and missionary ideals
protector of Portuguese interests overseas
protector of Portuguese trading posts in Africa and Asia
protector of missionaries
protector of the order’s legal immunities and exemptions
representative of the order before the papacy
sponsor of shipbuilding programs
supervisor of discipline among members of the order
supporter of cartographic and nautical studies
supreme authority over knights of the Order of Christ
symbol of royal and religious authority in Portuguese expansion
partOf Order of Christ (Portugal)
religion Roman Catholicism
surface form: Roman Catholic Church

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Henry the Navigator positionHeld Grand Master of the Order of Christ