* List of the stories he appears in : - D 2001-024 : "The Crown of the Crusader Kings", from 2001, by Don Rosa (by name only).

 

* His biography :
     John Avis (also spelt João), was born in 1455, son and successor of King Alfonso V of Portugal.
   In August 1481, he succeeded his father and became King of Portugal in 1481He was an astute politician and statesman and a patron of Renaissance art and learning.
   He reduced the power of aristocracy and, in 1483, had his chief opponent, the duke of Braganza, executed for treason. He also mudered the duke of Viseu for conspiracy.
   Supporting Portuguese exploration, he sent land expeditions to India and Ethiopia in search of Prester John's. John refused to help Columbus, whom he thought a dreamer, but he encouraged the search for an eastern sea route to India. In 1484, Diogo Cão discovered the Congo, and in 1488, Bartholomeu Diaz discovered the Cape of Good Hope.
   John maintained peace with Spain and in 1494, he signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, setting bounds for Spanish and Portuguese colonial expansion.
   In October 1495,  he died, without leaving male issue (his son Alfonso predeceased him), so he was succeeded by his cousin and brother-in-law Emmanuel / Manoel I.
 

* His place in the Barks/Rosa stories universe :
    In "The Crown of the Crusader Kings", it's said that the kings Ferdinand of Spain and John II of Portugal had links with the Templars, and that they made a deal with the Spanish bank of the Templars which told the Templar will receive a large part of the commercial treaties made with Cathay in exchange with the Crown of Baldwin I the two kings wanted to offer to the Great Khan. We also learn that Colombus' trip was sponsored by the Templars and that its purpose was to bring the crown in Cathay.
 

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