Albuquerque was intelligent, fearless, incorruptible and strategically brilliant – in all senses the king’s most loyal servant, but Manuel would prove too obtuse to fully appreciate him. His aloof, arrogant, obsessive and somewhat egocentric character alienated many. In the second half of 1508, the desertion from Ormuz split opinion across the Portuguese ocean, as it has divided the subsequent judgements of history, and it led to factional infighting. As a leader of men, the episode had revealed him often to be maladroit and isolated. As a conqueror he had already proved himself formidable,
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