. ▁ ▁Origin ally ▁created ▁to ▁pun ish ▁religious ▁dev iance , ▁the ▁In quisition ▁came ▁to ▁have ▁influence ▁in ▁almost ▁every ▁aspect ▁of ▁Portuguese ▁society : ▁politics , ▁culture ▁and ▁social ▁custom s . ▁It ▁did ▁serve ▁to ▁spare ▁Portugal ▁the ▁civil ▁up he av als ▁of ▁religious ▁war fare ▁of ▁the ▁sort ▁that ▁occurred ▁in ▁France ▁and ▁elsewhere ▁in ▁Europe ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 6 th ▁century . ▁ ▁Imperial ▁management ▁ ▁L uso - A fr ican ▁relations ▁In ▁John ▁III ' s ▁time , ▁trade ▁between ▁the ▁Portuguese ▁and ▁Afr icans ▁was ▁extremely ▁inten se ▁in ▁fe itor ias ▁such ▁Ar gu im , ▁M ina , ▁M omb asa , ▁Sof ala ▁or ▁Moz amb ique . ▁Under ▁John ▁III , ▁several ▁exped itions ▁started ▁in ▁coast al ▁Africa ▁and ▁advanced ▁to ▁the ▁interior ▁of ▁the ▁continent . ▁These ▁exped itions ▁were ▁formed ▁by ▁groups ▁of ▁navig ators , ▁mer ch ants , ▁advent ur ers ▁and ▁mission aries . ▁Miss ions ▁in ▁Africa ▁were ▁established ▁by ▁the ▁College ▁of ▁Arts ▁of ▁Co im bra . ▁The ▁objective ▁was ▁to ▁increase ▁the ▁king ' s ▁domin ion , ▁develop ▁peace ful ▁relations ▁and ▁to ▁Christian ize ▁the ▁ind igen ous ▁pe op les . ▁Rel ations ▁with ▁local ▁r ul ers ▁were ▁often ▁complicated ▁by ▁trade ▁in ▁slaves , ▁as ▁shown ▁by ▁John ' s ▁correspond ence ▁with ▁them . ▁ ▁John ▁III ▁refused ▁to ▁abandon ▁all ▁of ▁the ▁Portuguese ▁North ▁African ▁strong holds , ▁but ▁he ▁had