While the Portuguese nation was exhibiting these signs of rapid decadence, another factor of decline was added by the religious zeal of John III., who, from the moment of his accession, had striven to introduce the Inquisition into Portugal. The Church of Rome was not likely to hinder his pious desire, but for several years the “novães Christiãos” or neo-Christians, as the half-hearted converts made from the Jews, on condition that they might remain in Portugal, were called, managed to ward off the blow. But the king’s earnest wish was gratified at last, and in 1536 the tribunal of the Holy Office was established in Portugal, with Diogo da Silva, Bishop of Ceuta, as first Grand Inquisitor, who was soon succeeded by the king’s brother, the Cardinal Dom Henry. The Inquisition quickly destroyed all that was left of the old Portuguese spirit, and so effectually stamped out the revival of Portuguese literature that, while, towards the close of the sixteenth century, the rest of Europe was advancing in civilization under the influence of the Renaissance, Portugal fell back, and her literature became dumb. The establishment of the Inquisition was followed in 1540 by the introduction of the Jesuits, who speedily obtained control of the national education, and carefully checked intellectual development. The king received his reward from the Pope for these services to Catholicism; he was permitted to unite the Grand Mastership of the wealthy orders of Christ, Santiago, and Aviz, with the Crown, and to found the new bishoprics of Leiria, Miranda, and Porto Alegre, in Portugal, and the archbishopric of Goa, in India. It must not be thought that the reign of John III. seemed to his contemporaries the era of decline it certainly was; no king was richer, no people more loyal, and no man more honoured. His reign, like that of Emmanuel, is studded with great names and great events, and a casual observer could not observe the seeds of decay. Besides João de Castro, there lived then many great Indian heroes and warriors, such as Nuno da Cunha, Antonio de Silveira, João de Mascarenhas, and Luis de Athaide; it was during this reign that Francisco Coutinho, Count of Redondo, conquered Ceylon, and Fernão Mendes Pinto paid his famous visits to Japan, and the present Portuguese settlement of Macao was founded. Still greater are the literary glories of the reign of the supporter of the Inquisition, for in it Camoens wrote the “Lusiads,” Ferreira wrote his dramas, João de Barros his history, and Sà de Miranda his poems, all works which do not seem to mark a declining country. In art, and especially in architecture, the king showed no mean taste, and his palace at Thomar and the great convent at Belem show that he was in this respect a worthy successor of King Emmanuel, and that the Portuguese workmen had attained to no small degree of skill in decorative work.