Bartolomeu Dias

Bartolomeu Dias(or Bartholomew Dias, 1450 - May 29, 1500) was a Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail past the Cape of Good Hope now Cape Town.^[1]

Voyage to Africa

In 1487, King John II of Portugal asked Dias to find a new route for the spice trade and to find a legendary Christian king named Prester John in the east. In 1488 Bartholomew and his sailors sailed along the western coast of Africa. They got caught in a storm and landed at a cape in southern Africa and they could not sail beyond that point. They named it "Cape of Storms" and later returned to Portugal. The king of Portugal considered it as a victory gained by the Portuguese adventurers and named it as "Cape of Good Hope". Because Prester John did not really exist, they did not find his country but the route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean leading to Asia turned out to be valuable.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Death and legacy

Commanding a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabral's later expedition to Brazil and India, he died at sea in 1500 during a storm. There was a statue made for him later in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bartolomeu Dias Media

Dias erecting a padrão at the Cape of Good Hope in 1488
An illustration of the two caravels used by Dias (São Cristóvão and São Pantaleão) to cross the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
Dias perished in May 1500 when his ship was lost in a storm near the Cape of Good Hope (circa 1568 illustration).
The Dias Cross at Cape Point, Western Cape
A replica of Bartolomeu Dias ship displayed in the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex
Bartolomeu Dias statue at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex in Mossel Bay.

References

↑ "Bartolomeu Dias - Life, Legacy & Expeditions". History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
↑ Oakley, Robert (2003). "Dias, Bartolomeu". In Gerli, E. Michael (ed.). Medieval Iberia : an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93918-6.
↑ Crowley, Roger (2015). Conquerors : How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-8129-9400-1. OCLC 904967943, p. 17-19.
↑ Ravenstein, Ernst Georg (2010). Bartolomeu Dias. William Brooks Greenlee, Pero Vaz de Caminha. England: Viartis. ISBN 978-1-906421-03-8. OCLC 501399584

[1] "Bartolomeu Dias - Life, Legacy & Expeditions". History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-29.

[2] Oakley, Robert (2003). "Dias, Bartolomeu". In Gerli, E. Michael (ed.). Medieval Iberia : an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93918-6.

[3] Crowley, Roger (2015). Conquerors : How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-8129-9400-1. OCLC 904967943, p. 17-19.

[4] Ravenstein, Ernst Georg (2010). Bartolomeu Dias. William Brooks Greenlee, Pero Vaz de Caminha. England: Viartis. ISBN 978-1-906421-03-8. OCLC 501399584

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