The Portuguese: Prince Henry, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama
Last Updated      12/26/2007      11/12/2007      11/11/2007      11/10/2007     11/9/2007

The Portuguese were among the first to travel beyond the Mediterranean Sea.  The compass and the astrolab aided European explorers.  The compass, which always pointed north, was invented by the Chinesea and came to Europe over the Old Silk Road.  The astrolab allowed sailors to find latitude by measuring the angle of the stars. 


Prince Henry
Henry was the son of the King of Portugal.
1415, successfully attacked the Moslem port of Ceutha in north Morocco.
Henry wanted Portugese sailors to explore the west coast of Africa.
African merchants told him of gold discoveries there.
Spices of ginger, cloves, and pepper, of Africa were also in demand.
1 oz. of pepper sold for 10,000 times its original cost.

School for Navigators
1400's, Henry set up a school for navigators.
Gtahered sailing, navigation, and astronomical information.
Created better charts, improved navigational instruments, and astronomical tables.



Caravel
Henry helped design and build better ships like the caravel.
It combined the best of the European and Arab ships.

Exploration of the African Coasts
Prince Henry sent explorers to explore the west coast of Africa.
Discovered the Gold Coast, Cape Verde, and the Azores, Maderia, and the Canary Islands.
Found gold dust, ivory, and enslaved people.
Explorers soon turned from exploring to trading.
Trading forts were set up along the coast.
Contacts with African leaders was established.
Portugal became wealthy and powerful.
1460, Prince Henry died. Only part of African coast had been explored.




Bartolomeu Dias
c.1450 Bartolomeu Dias is born.
1481, he commanded one of the vessels sent by King John to the Gold Coast.
1486, he is a cavalier of the king's household, and superintendent of the royal warehouses.
1487, Dias readies ships for a long voyage.
Dias touched several west coast African locations.
Storms blew him south,
He rounded the southern tip of Africa, named the Cape of Good Hope.
Originally called "Cape of Storms."
Diaz had ordered his sick and starving men to sail on to India.
They had refused to obey him, and he had reluctantly agreed to turn back.
Diaz proved that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were not landlocked
In the 1500, Dias sailed again with captain was Pedro Cabral.
When they reached the Cape of Good Hope, they were hit by a storm.
Four ships were lost, and Dias's ship was on one of them.
The great explorer died at sea.

         
Vasco da Gama
In 1469, Vasco Da Gama was born to a wealthy Portuguese family in Sines, Portugal.

Family
Father: Estêvão da Gama
Mother: Isabel Sodr
Brother: Paulo da Gama (d., scurvy)
Wife: Caterina de Ataíde (m. 1500, 6 children)

Early Life
His mother was of English ancestry.
His father, Estevao da Gama, was head of one of Portugal's most noble families. Estevao had a distinguished military history, and was the provincial governor.
When Vasco grew up he joined the navy.
He learned navigational skills and served with distinction in the war against Castille.



1st Expedition
Da Gama choosen by King Manuel II of Portugal to make 1st expedition to India.
The King wanted Dias, but he had proved incapable of suppressing a mutiny.
1497 July 8, da Gama leaves Lisbon.
Bartholomew Diaz acted as pilot to the Canary Islands,
He had a total crew of about 170 men, ten who were criminals.
The crew of included three experienced pilots.
Pedro de Alemquer, the pilot who had sailed with Diaz in 1487, Joao de Coimbra and Pero de Escolar.
Goncalo Alvares commanded the flagship Sao (Saint) Gabriel. 
Paulo, da Gama's brother, commanded the Sao Rafael. 
The other two ships were the Berrio and the Starship.

Cape of Good Hope
1497 November 22, sailed four ships around the Cape of Good Hope.

Mozambique
Stopped at Mozambique, a Muslim trading center.
When da Gama tried to trade with the ruling Sultan his paltry gifts were scorned.
Forced to leave when they were found to be Christians.
King of Malindi gave them a famous Arab pilot, Ahmad Ibn Majid, to helpfind India.

India
1498 May 20, da Gama's ships land at Calicut.
Arab and Persian merchants tried to kill da Gama.
He was told to pay a heavy tax and to leave the goods he traded for.
Da Gama refused to leave the goods, and only left India after taking Indian hostages.
Many of his crew die of scurvey.
Only 50 crew memvers survived.

Return to Lisbon
1499 September 18, da Gama reaches Lisbon.
1500, da Gama marries Catherina de Ataide.
Lisbon becomes a major trading city.
1501, appointed Admiral of the Indies.

2nd Expedition
1502, da Gama sets sail with 20 well-armed ships.
This time the Portuguese were better prepared and brought lavish goods to trade.
He hopes to force his way into the market and to get revenge on the Muslims for the opposition in 1498.
The Muslim merchants were outraged at this attempt to steal their trade.
They killed 50 of Cabral's men. 
Da Gama killed many innocent Indians and Muslims.
Cabral retaliated by burning ten Muslim cargo vessels and killing nearly 600 on board.
Da Gama fires cannons setting the wooden houses of Calicut on fire in revenge.
He then moved on to Cochin, where he established the first Portuguese trading post in India.

Return to Lisbon
He returned home in the summer of 1501.
Only seven ships and half his men survived the journey.
Their cargo of spices was sufficient to break the trade monopoly held by Arab and Venetian merchants.

3rd Expedition
1502, He set out with a fleet of 20 ships.
Ten of the ships were his own and five each under the command of his uncle and nephew.
Da Gama began a campaign of terror against Muslim shipping off the Malabar Coast.
Da Gama waited for a ship, Meri, to return from Mecca, a Muslim trading and religious center. 
The Portuguese overtook the ship and seized all the merchandise. 
Then they locked the 380 passengers in the hold and set the ship on fire. 
It took four days for the ship to sink, killing all men, women, and children.
In Calicut he captured and dismembered 30 fishermen.
He beheaded them, and cut off their hands and feet.
He let their bodies float in with the tide for their families to find.
1503 September, da Gama returned to Lisbon with richly laden ships.

Later Life
1519, the Admiral was granted the coveted title of Count of Vidigueira
King John III sent da Gama to India in 1524 as viceroy.
1524 December 24, died at Cochin, India.
He was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Cochin.

Kilwa Chronicle
The written history of Kilwa mentions da Gama's voyage.
There came news from the island of Mozambique that men had come from the land of the Franks.  After a few days there came word that the ships had passed Kilwa and had gone to Mafia.  The lord of Mafia rejoiced, for they thought that they were good and honest men.  But those who knew the truth confirmed that tehy were corrupt and dishonest persons who had only come to spy out the land in order to seize it.

Portuguese Raid & Trade Voyages Along the  African Coast to India

Bibliography
"Dias Bartholomeu" 3 Nov. 2005. 10 Nov. 2007. www.newadvent.org

Greenblatt, Miriam, and Lemmo, Peter. Human Heritage A World History. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

"Historic Figures: Vasco da Gama"  BBC. 11 Nov. 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gama_vasco_da.shtml

Masih, Archana. "Explorer or Exploiter?" 1997. 11 Nov. 2007 http://www.rediff.com/news/jun/09gama.htm

"Vasco da Gama."  The Great Explorers. 11 Nov. 2007  http://www.iol.ie/~jomerps/HomePage/Projects/World_Explorers/Vasco_Da_Gama.html

"Vasco da Gama." 11 Nov. 2007.  http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/vasco-da-gama.htm

Winser, Shane. "Vasco da Gama." 9 Sept. 2002. 10 Nov. 10, 2007 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/vasco_da_gama_02.shtml