Your country's greatest achievment

[Valmy]

Easy one

Launching the Age of Exploration.

Portugal is, without a doubt, the most inexplicable world empire in history. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Easy one

Launching the Age of Exploration.

Portugal is, without a doubt, the most inexplicable world empire in history.

Quite an achievement indeed 

[Caliga]

Portugal is, without a doubt, the most inexplicable world empire in history.

Moreso than the Dutch colonial empire, even?

[Viking]

I've read/heard that the Norse in Greenland had a fairly thriving colony, were able to grow food and raise livestock. The climate there was warmer at the time which enabled the colonists to do well enough (a warmer period in the Earth's climate?). But as the climate turned colder the colony was eventually abandoned.

The word "abandoned" suggests that anybody survived, nobody did to the best of our knowledge. They were probably wiped out by the weather and the Inuit which moved into Greenland from the canadian arctic in the 1200s

[Valmy]

Moreso than the Dutch colonial empire, even?

Um how is that even remotely comparable?  The lowcountries were one of the richest parts of Euroland for centuries and by the time the Dutch came around the idea of a European Colonial Empire was already well established along with how to do it.

The Portuguese were an impoverished nobody with a population of under 1 million and did something nobody had ever done before in world history.

[Ed Anger]

The Portuguese were an impoverished nobody

Still are.

[Caliga]

The word "abandoned" suggests that anybody survived, nobody did to the best of our knowledge. They were probably wiped out by the weather and the Inuit which moved into Greenland from the canadian arctic in the 1200s

I think the most prevalent theories today are that the Inuit enslaved/killed them, or possibly Portuguese/Basques/other early seafarers enslaved/killed them.  Or it might be something as random and depressing as the remaining Greenlanders decided to evacuate Greenland due to the deteriorating conditions, and piled into one ship which sank before it reached Iceland or wherever they tried to get to.

[Valmy]

What is probably the weirdest thing about the Portuguese Empire is despite the fact it was massive, powerful, and unprecented in world history, Portugal itself remained an impoverished nobody.  The Dutch, quite predictably, became a Great Power for centuries to come.

[Caliga]

Um how is that even remotely comparable?  The lowcountries were one of the richest parts of Euroland for centuries and by the time the Dutch came around the idea of a European Colonial Empire was already well established along with how to do it.

The Portuguese were an impoverished nobody with a population of under 1 million and did something nobody had ever done before in world history.

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't the Low Countries continually assraped by their neighbors and various Habsburg dynasties throughout the middle ages and well into the Renaissance?

Also, what exactly do you mean by "did something nobody had ever done before in world history"?

[Duque de Bragança]

Moreso than the Dutch colonial empire, even?

Um how is that even remotely comparable?  The lowcountries were one of the richest parts of Euroland for centuries and by the time the Dutch came around the idea of a European Colonial Empire was already well established along with how to do it.

The Portuguese were an impoverished nobody with a population of under 1 million and did something nobody had ever done before in world history.

In the 15th century, the economic was not that bad actually and the unification was precocious unlike most other countries but you are right about the demographics.

The Empire went through different phases but the loss of relevance only came with the independence of Brazil which amounted to a Bragança family quarrel anyways.

[Valmy]

Also, what exactly do you mean by "did something nobody had ever done before in world history"?

Nobody before had ever even thought of creating a world spanning sea based empire.  Nobody had ever conceived of something so ridiculous as a European Kingdom ruling Islands in the Pacific.

[Duque de Bragança]

The word "abandoned" suggests that anybody survived, nobody did to the best of our knowledge. They were probably wiped out by the weather and the Inuit which moved into Greenland from the canadian arctic in the 1200s

I think the most prevalent theories today are that the Inuit enslaved/killed them, or possibly Portuguese/Basques/other early seafarers enslaved/killed them.  Or it might be something as random and depressing as the remaining Greenlanders decided to evacuate Greenland due to the deteriorating conditions, and piled into one ship which sank before it reached Iceland or wherever they tried to get to.

The Portuguese theory hasn't been disproven yet? I thought this was only Thor Heyerdahl's fantasies

[Caliga]

Nobody before had ever even thought of creating a world spanning sea based empire.  Nobody had ever conceived of something so ridiculous as a European Kingdom ruling Islands in the Pacific.

Well I'm sure Alexander, Genghis Khan, etc. would have "thought of it" had they the means to actually pursue it.

[Valmy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't the Low Countries continually assraped by their neighbors and various Habsburg dynasties throughout the middle ages and well into the Renaissance?

Um...I guess it depends on what you mean by assraped.  The Netherlands were the richest and most important part of all the Habsburg's European domains and they made Burgundy a major power before the unfortunate death of it's duke.  In no way was the Netherlands hurt by its status as jewel in the Habsburg crown until...well...the Spanish got a little greedy.  The fact that the Spanish were so hard pressed to defeat the Dutch speaks volumes about its power and wealth.  The Spanish just sorta walked into Portugal and took over.

[Caliga]

The Portuguese theory hasn't been disproven yet? I thought this was only Thor Heyerdahl's fantasies

How could it be disproven?  There are virtually no late-period Norse remains in Greenland.  Until such remains are found, I don't see how you could disprove any theory about their ultimate fate.  I read The Frozen Echo a few years back about this very topic but I can't recall what her own theory on their disappearance is.