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CLASS SET - don’t take from the class!
European Exploration Charts – Information Packet
[Unit 3 – Age of Navigation]
1. Bartolomeu Dias (1487-88)
Bartolomeu Dias (1457-1500) was to continue the work of previous Portuguese explorers
and to conduct advance reconnaissance [investigation] about the African coast, but to him
goes the credit of circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope. Sailing from Tagus in 1487,
Dias coasted south and placed a pillar at a
Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias
headland now known as Dias Point. When
the voyage resumed, a favoring wind turned
Initial trip
into a gale [storm]. For thirteen days, the
gale blew from the north and carried the
Return trip
Portuguese ships far beyond the Cape of
Good Hope into the South Atlantic where no
previous European had been. As the wind
finally died down, Dias steered east and
north until he found land again at Mossel
Bay. Unaware that he had passed beyond
the southern tip of Africa, Dias continued
his voyage past Algo Bay. It was at this
point where the coastline changes from east
to north-east that it became clear that the
southernmost point of the continent had
been passed. This was uncharted territory
for European sailors and rather than risk
certain mutiny, Dias yielded to the demands
of his crew and charted a course back to
Europe. As they rounded the tip again, Dias
Cape of Good Hope
named the location the Cape of Good Hope.
The name "Good Hope" was designed as an
optimistic reminder that the overall
objective was to find a sea-route to Asia.
Dias returned home having traveled a
remarkable 11,000 kilometers south.
2. Christopher Columbus (1492-93)
When the Turks
captured
Constantinople in
1453, the price of
Asian trade goods
had gone sky-high in
Europe. There was a
fortune to be made if
a route to "the
Indies" -- China,
India, and Japan, the
great civilizations of
East Asia -- could be
found, a route that
bypassed the Muslim-controlled territories of the Middle East. Columbus devised a scheme
to do just that: he would sail west across the "Ocean Sea", going the long way around the
world, and arrive at China from the east. He tried to interest King John of Portugal in his
plan, but the Portuguese were working on their own exploration route going down the coast
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CLASS SET - don’t take from the class!
European Exploration Charts – Information Packet
[Unit 3 – Age of Navigation]
of Africa, and weren't interested. So, Columbus was able to interest the Spanish court in his
"Enterprise of the Indies."
The little fleet of three ships left on
August 3, 1492. The admiral's
navigational genius showed itself
immediately, for they sailed
southward to the Canary Islands, off
the northwest African mainland,
rather than sailing due west to the
islands of the Azores. The westerlies
[winds blowing from west to east]
prevailing in the Azores had
defeated previous attempts to sail to
the west, but in the Canaries the
three ships could pick up the
northeast trade winds; supposedly,
they could trust the westerlies for
their return. On several occasions
during their voyage sailors spotted
floating vegetation and various types of birds—all taken as signs that land was nearby. But
by October 10 the crew had begun to lose patience, complaining that with their failure to
make landfall, contrary winds and a shortage of provisions would keep them from returning
home. Luckily for Columbus, land was sighted from the Pinta on October 12 (though
Columbus, on the Niña, later claimed the privilege for himself). The land Columbus found
was not nearly so rich in gold and other luxuries as he expected, though he did gather
enough to save him from ridicule when he returned to Spain – and to encourage further
voyages and exploration to the “New World”.
3. Vasco da Gama (1497-98)
Da Gama set sail from Lisbon [capital of
Portugal] and then stopped at the Cape
Verde Islands. Because da Gama was
familiar with the wind patterns of the
Atlantic, he worked his ships on a south
by south-east course before making a
wide sweep westwards to reach the
currents and winds he would need to
round the Cape of Good Hope - or so he
thought. Unfortunately, da Gama
miscalculated and after traveling over
6,000 kilometers in ninety-three days all of which occurred out of the sight of
land - his ships barely reached the Cape
of Good Hope. The sheer distance
covered by da Gama was three times
the distance traveled by Christopher
Columbus during his first voyage to
Hispaniola in 1492. There were
numerous disappointments on this
voyage: da Gama's progress up the
south-eastern coast of Africa was
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CLASS SET - don’t take from the class!
European Exploration Charts – Information Packet
[Unit 3 – Age of Navigation]
tediously slow and encounters with indigenous populations revealed that conversion to
Christianity would not be as easy as hoped. Finally, however, the Portuguese captain
reached the tip of the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese were finally on the edge of the Asian
markets they had searched many years to find. Thus began, as the historian K.M. Panikar
noted, the “Vasco da Gama epoch” of Asian history. That is, the era of history when
European nations alone controlled the seas - until the emergence of Japan and the United
States as major naval powers at the end of the nineteenth century.
4. Amerigo Vespucci (1497-1504)
Amerigo Vespucci is important because he was one of the early explorers of the New
World, and also because the continents of North and South America were named in his
honor. (He was also known by the name of Americus Vespucci.)
Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, Italy in 1454. He was well-educated by his
uncle, and became a businessman involved in trading goods. That is how he became
familiar with ships. He moved to Seville, Spain in 1491 to work in the trading business
there. He was probably there when Christopher Columbus returned from his first
journey to the New World. He then helped Columbus get ships ready for his second
and third voyages to the New World.
Vespucci was a skilled
navigator. As a trader, he was
very interested in finding a
quicker way to sail to Asia. He
went on at least two, and
possibly four, voyages to
Central and South America
between 1497 and 1504 for
Spain and Portugal. He went to
many places, including
Venezuela and Brazil.
After his explorations in 15011502, he was one of the first
explorers to come up with the
idea that these places he had
visited were not part of Asia (as
Columbus thought) but rather
were part of a "New World." In
1507, a pamphlet was published called "The Four Voyages of Amerigo" and the author
suggested that the new land that Amerigo had explored be named in his honor. At
first, the name of America was only meant to apply to South America, but later on,
both continents of America became known by his name.
5. Ferdinand Magellan (1519-22)
This Portuguese-born navigator was one of the great explorers of his era - the first
European to cross the Pacific Ocean, he also played a crucial role in the first
circumnavigation of the world.
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CLASS SET - don’t take from the class!
European Exploration Charts – Information Packet
[Unit 3 – Age of Navigation]
Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 into a noble Portuguese family. In 1505, he enlisted in
the fleet of the Portuguese viceroy [governor] to the Indies, and spent the following years
involved in a series of Portuguese expeditions in India and Africa. In 1511, he was with the
fleet that conquered Malacca (on the Malay Peninsula), thus gaining control of the most
important trade routes in the region. He also explored the islands of present-day Indonesia
as far east as the Moluccas (also known as the Spice Islands).
In 1512, Magellan returned to Lisbon, and the following year, he was wounded during an
expedition to Morocco, which left him with a permanent limp. After a disagreement with the
Portuguese king, in 1517 Magellan went to Spain to try and enlist the Spanish king's
support for an expedition to reach the Moluccas by sailing westwards. The Spanish wanted a
share in the valuable spice trade from the Moluccas, but the Portuguese controlled the
eastwards route round southern Africa. Magellan was successful and in September 1519 set
out with a fleet of five vessels. In spite of a mutinous crew, rough weather, scurvy, a
desperate lack of provisions and unknown waters, Magellan managed to cross the Atlantic
and navigate through the straits at the southern point of South America which were later
named after him.
Now with only three ships, Magellan sailed on into the Pacific with rapidly diminishing
supplies, which led to many of the crew dying of starvation and scurvy. After around 14
weeks they reached an island, probably Guam, in the western Pacific. They then sailed on to
the Philippines. On 27 April 1521, Magellan was killed there after becoming involved in a
battle between two rival local chieftains.
One ship from the fleet eventually reached Spain in September 1522, having completed a
circumnavigation of the globe.
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