He was the first European to circumnavigate Africa from the south, discover the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Indian Ocean. Reached one of southern capes Africa, which was called the Cape of Storms.
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ABOUT early life Almost nothing is known about Dias. For a long time he was considered the son of one of the captains of Enrique the Navigator, but even this has not been proven. The commonly added qualifier "de Novais" to his surname was first documented in 1571, when King Sebastian I appointed Dias' grandson, Paulo Dias de Novais, as governor of Angola.
In his youth he studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Lisbon. There are references to the fact that for some time Dias served as manager of the royal warehouses in Lisbon, and in 1481-82. participated as captain of one of the caravels in the expedition of Diogo de Azambuja, sent to build Fort Elmina (São Jorge da Mina) on the coast of Ghana.
After Kan died during another expedition (according to another version, he fell into disgrace), the king instructed Dias to take his place and go in search of a route to India around Africa. Dias' expedition consisted of three ships, one of which was commanded by his brother Diogo. Under the command of Dias were excellent sailors who had previously sailed under the command of Kahn and knew the coastal waters better than others, and the outstanding navigator of Peru di Alenquer. Total number The crew was about 60 people.
Dias sailed from Portugal in August 1487, on December 4 he advanced south of Caen and in the last days of December dropped anchor in the Gulf of St. Stephen's (now Elizabeth Bay) in southern Namibia. After January 6, storms began that forced Dias to go out to sea. A few days later he tried to return to the bay, but there was no land in sight. The wanderings continued until February 3, 1488, when, turning north, the Portuguese saw the coast of Africa east of the Cape Good Hope.
Having landed on the shore, Dias discovered a Hottentot settlement and, since it was St. Blasius, named the bay after this saint. The blacks accompanying the squadron could not find common language with the natives, who first retreated and then tried to attack the European camp. During the conflict, Dias shot one of the natives with a crossbow, but this did not stop the rest, and the Portuguese immediately had to set sail. Dias wanted to sail further east, but upon reaching Algoa Bay (near modern city Port Elizabeth) all the officers under his command were in favor of returning to Europe. The sailors also wanted to return home, to otherwise threatening a riot. The only concession they agreed to was three more days of travel to the northeast.
The limit of Dias' eastward advance was the mouth of the Great Fish, where the padran he had established was discovered in 1938. He turned back, convinced that the mission of the expedition had been completed and, if necessary, by rounding the southern tip of Africa, he could reach India by sea. All that remains is to find this southern tip. In May 1488, Dias landed on the treasured cape and, it is believed, named it the Cape of Storms in memory of the storm that almost destroyed it. Subsequently, the king, who relied on the sea route to Asia opened by Dias big hopes, renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.
Dias returned to Europe in December 1488, having spent 16 months and 17 days at sea, and apparently received instructions to keep his discoveries secret. Information about the circumstances of his reception at court has not survived. The king was waiting for news from Presbyter John, to whom Peru and Covilha was sent by land, and hesitated in financing new voyages. Only after the death of John II, 9 years after the return of Dias, did the Portuguese finally equip an expedition to India. Vasco da Gama was placed at its head. Dias was entrusted with supervising the construction of ships, since he personal experience knew what vessel design was needed to navigate South African waters. According to his orders, the slanting sails were replaced with rectangular ones, and the hulls of the ships were built with shallow draft and greater stability in mind. Also, in all likelihood, it was Dias who gave Vasco da Gama advice when sailing south, after Sierra Leone, to move away from the coast and make a detour across the Atlantic, because he knew that this was how he could bypass the strip of unfavorable winds. Dias accompanied him to the Gold Coast (Guinea), and then went to the fortress of São Jorge da Mina, of which he was appointed commandant.
When Vasco da Gama returned and confirmed the correctness of Dias' guesses, more powerful fleet led by Pedro Cabral. On this journey, Dias commanded one of the ships. He participated in the discovery of Brazil, but during the passage towards Africa a storm broke out and his ship was irretrievably lost. Thus, he died in the very waters that brought him fame. The grandson of Bartolomeu Dias, Paulo Dias de Novais, became the first governor of Angola and founded the first European settlement there -
What discoveries were made by the expedition of Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese navigator, you will learn from this article.
Bartolomeu Dias(1450 - 1500) was the first to circumnavigate southern part African continent And opened the Cape of Good Hope to the world. It is noteworthy that he was able to see India with his own eyes, but, like Moses, he never entered its territory. Before it starts famous journey Historians have no information about his life. And even more - the real motives and paths that the navigator took, hidden under seven locks. But, nevertheless, Bartolomeu Dias made a breakthrough in the geographical discoveries of that time.
Bartolomeu Dias opening
Bartolomeu Dias was like noble family and at one time worked as a manager in Lisbon warehouses. But, at the same time, he became famous as an experienced sailor. It is known that in 1481, under the command of Diogo Azambuja, he sailed to the African coast. After this expedition Portuguese king Juan had already appointed him commander of 2 flotillas. The official purpose of Bartolomeu Dias's journey was to explore the shores of Africa and find a sea route to India.
The flotillas solemnly set out to sea in August 1487 after a thorough year of preparation for the expedition. Each flotilla included 3 caravels. Bartolomeu's journey Dias started at the mouth of the Congo River, carefully heading along unknown lands South. He was the first Portuguese to place padranas (crosses from stones) on the open shores, announcing that this territory belongs to Portugal.
Having passed the Tropic of Capricorn, the expedition encountered a storm and was blown south. For more than a month, the sailors did not encounter land on their route. And finally, on February 3, 1488, Bartolomeu Dias was the first to see the shore in the distance with high mountains. The happy crew found a convenient bay and landed on the shore. They were very surprised to see black shepherds with cows. Local residents were afraid of strange, white people and began to throw stones at them. Dias fired a crossbow in order to rein in the natives. This was the first European aggression in South Africa. The captain named the bay Bahia dos Vaqueiros, that is, the harbor of the Shepherds. They were close to the yet undiscovered Cape of Good Hope.
Bartolomeu Dias headed east from the harbor and sailed to Algoa Bay and small island. A padran was also staged here. The exhausted sailors did small break, and reached the mouth of a previously unknown river, which was named after one of the commanders of the flotilla - Rio di Infanti.
From the mouth of the open river they turned back. On the way back, Dias saw a beautiful cape and Table Mountain. At first he called it the Cape of Storms, but in a December report of 1488, King John suggested that it be renamed the Cape of Good Hope. The commander of the expedition was confident that he had managed to find a sea route to India. Having gone ashore, Bartolomeu Dias recorded everything on sea map and in the captain's log. He named the land San Gregorio. In December 1488, the remains of the flotilla landed in the port of Lisbon.
Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 - 1500) - Portuguese navigator. He was the first to circumnavigate the southern tip of Africa and discover the Cape of Good Hope. In 1487, an expedition was sent along the coast of Africa under the leadership of one of the best sailors in Europe, Bartolomeu Dias (Diash). There is no direct evidence that the main purpose of this small flotilla, consisting of two small ships that were so unstable that it was impossible even to mount heavy guns on them, was to reach India. Probably their main task was to collect intelligence data. In 1488, their ships reached the southern tip of Africa, called the Cape of Storms by Bartolomeo Diaz, but renamed the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese King Joan II. This voyage strengthened the hope that it was possible to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean by circumnavigating Africa from the south.
Dias's discovery had great value. In addition to opening the way to the Indian Ocean for Portuguese and later other European ships, his journey dealt a crushing blow to Ptolemy’s theory of an uninhabited hot zone. Perhaps it also played a role in the organization of Columbus's expedition, since the latter's brother, Bartolomeu, who accompanied Dias during the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, a year after its end, went to England to visit the king Henry VII asking for help for his brother's expedition. In addition, during Dias's report to the king, Christopher Columbus himself was at court, on whom Bartolomeu's journey made a strong impression.
Henry the Navigator, “who himself never sailed the sea,” as evil tongues said about him, nevertheless did more to explore the planet than many travelers. He was the initiator of systematic research expeditions, the main goal of which was the discovery sea route to India. In the year of the death of Henry the Navigator (1460), Vasco da Gama was born, who subsequently made this journey. When preparations began for a new expedition to India, Dias was appointed head of ship construction. Naturally, he had to be the candidate to lead the expedition. But Vasco da Gama was appointed head of the expedition. The first expedition, which decided to set off along a new route from Portugal to India, left the harbor of Lisbon in the summer of 1497. A small flotilla of 4 ships was led by Vasco da Gama. After the Portuguese ships passed Mozambique, they found themselves on the busy trade route between Africa and India. In the spring of 1498, sailors reached the western tip of India, landing in the city of Calicut, as the Europeans then called it (in the Middle Ages, the city became famous for the production of calico, or calico, which is where the name of the city came from). The Portuguese were perceived in Calcutta as trading competitors. And they hardly got the opportunity to trade in another Indian city - Cannanore. More than two years later, having lost half of his team from difficulties and hardships, Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal with a cargo of gold and spices
The golden idol alone, intended as a gift to the king, weighed about 30 kg, had emerald eyes, and on its chest were rubies the size of walnuts. The opening of the route to India was of such great importance that the Portuguese king Manuel I adopted the nickname “Happy” and the title “Lord of the conquest, navigation and trade of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India” on this occasion.
Bartolomeu Dias - one of the most authoritative Portuguese navigators of the era of the great geographical discoveries. His contribution to the creation of the Portuguese colonial empire truly enormous - he took part in the expeditions of Diogo Cana, which opened the way along the coast of Africa to modern Namibia, had a hand in the construction of the first European fortress Elmina on the African coast, later was its commandant, the flotilla under his leadership rounded the southern tip of the black continent and opened the way to The Indian Ocean, together with Pedro Alvares Cabral, he found Brazil, he prepared an expedition and equipped ships for Vasco da Gama before his trip to India.
Information about this great traveler and discoverer is extremely scarce. He was born presumably in 1450, studied exact sciences, mathematics and astronomy, at the University of Lisbon, studied at the navigator school in Sagris, in the south of Portugal, created by Henry the Navigator. It is known that Dias also excelled in administrative positions, in particular, for a number of years he served as manager of the royal warehouses.
In 1487, the king commissioned Dias to lead an expedition to open the route to India. By that time, the Portuguese had advanced significantly south along west coast Africa, but no one knew whether there was a passage to the Indian Ocean or whether Africa stretches endlessly to the south.
The flotilla left Lisbon in August 1487. Six months later, the ships retraced the path of previous expeditions, and in February 1488, the sailors finally discovered South coast Africa. This traditionally happened by accident - because of a storm, the travelers passed through the south of Africa, oddly enough, but to the south the air temperature turned out to be much colder; it would be funny if the Portuguese reached the ice of Antarctica.
But they turned north-northeast and saw the coast going away rising sun. Exhausted and exhausted sailors and officers demanded that Dias return home; they were tired of sailing into the unknown, and besides, each of them already had substantial booty in the form of slaves and African gold. The crews of the ships rebelled, Dias could only obey and turn the ships home.
On the way back, the expedition installed a padran, a stone pillar with the coat of arms of Portugal, on the very southern point Africa, Cape of Good Hope. The squadron returned to Lisbon in December 1488.
Dias's report on the results of the expedition apparently did not please the king; he still hoped to achieve ultimate goal. The explanation of the reasons why the squadron turned back did not satisfy the monarch; in his opinion, it was necessary to suppress the rebellion and continue sailing. It is no coincidence that Dias was subsequently not entrusted with the functions of leading major voyages; he was relegated to the background.
After what the king considered a relative failure, an inexplicable nine years of lull in exploration followed as the Portuguese continued to exploit their African colonies, but no new attempts were made to find a route to India. It can be assumed that João II had a hard time with the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, because everything was in his hands, Columbus had an audience with him and outlined his idea, but the king showed offensive short-sightedness.
The Portuguese made the next, this time successful, attempt to discover India in 1497. The king entrusted the more decisive and tough Vasco da Gama with command of the squadron, and Dias was appointed responsible for preparing the ships for the expedition, taking into account his experience of sailing along the treacherous route.
The result is known - India was discovered in 1488. Dias traveled part of the way with Vasco da Gama's squadron and remained in Elmina, where he was appointed commandant of the fortress.
At 1500 Bartolomeu Dias set off on his last voyage with the expedition of Pedro Alvares Cabral, which discovered the largest colony for Portugal - Brazil. Continuing to sail from the shores South America towards the Cape of Good Hope discovered by Dias, the ship of the brave but disgraced sailor was caught in a storm. In the waters of the Atlantic, not far from the route he had discovered to the Indian Ocean, Captain Dias ended his glorious life.
Portugal perpetuated the memory of its national hero, on the monument - caravel to the discoverers in Belem, the seven-meter figure of Bartolomeu Dias is installed on the left side, together with Diogo Can he establishes the Portuguese padran on the lands he discovered.
Yuri Trifonov
Barto Lomeu Dias (1450-1500) - Portuguese explorer who led the first European expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
Bartolomeu was born in 1450. Little is known about his life. In 1487, King John II commissioned him to explore the coast of Africa to find a route leading to Indian Ocean. In January 1488, Dias circumnavigated South Africa. The Portuguese called this area the Cape of Good Hope. During the next expedition in 1500, Dias died.
Superintendent of the Royal Warehouse
Dias served at the court of John II, King of Portugal (1455-1495). He was superintendent of the royal warehouse. According to one version, Bartolomeu previously passed military service on board the ship São Cristóvão, where he learned a lot and performed well. This happened in the mid-30s. It was for this reason that John II chose him to lead an expedition in search of a sea route to India.
John was fascinated by the legend of Prester John, a mysterious apocryphal Christian ruler of the 12th century (Africa). John sent Alfonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilha, promising Portuguese explorers, to search for Christian settlements in Ethiopia. Among other things, John II wanted to find a passage from the southernmost part of Africa to the Indian Ocean. After sending Paiva and Covilha on a foot expedition, John decided to send Dias to explore the sea route.
In August 1487, three ships of the Dias expedition left the port of Lisbon. Dias followed the course set by the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cao, who advanced along the African coast to Cape Cross (Nambia). Dias' ships carried a load of special markers, which were planned to be installed along coastline so that they serve as a guide for subsequent researchers.
The Dias expedition included six Africans brought to Portugal by previous navigators. Bartolomeu landed them at various ports along the African coast with gifts and good wishes from the Portuguese to the indigenous peoples of Africa.
At the beginning of January 1488, two of Dias' ships sailed from the coast of South Africa, from Angro do Salto, and were caught in a storm. The ships began to drift out to sea. Dias ordered to take 28 degrees south so that the southeast wind would not blow the ships to the rocks. Dias' decision was risky, but it worked. The ship avoided the wreck and secretly rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
There, researchers discovered a bay, which they gave the name San Bras. The indigenous people, seeing Dias' ships in the bay, threw stones at them. The crew had to shoot back from the aborigines. Dias was determined to move further along the coastline, but the crew did not approve of his idea. Food supplies were running low. Dias appointed a council to decide what to do next. The ship's crew decided to sail along the coast for three more days and then turn back. On March 12, 1488, in Cape Town, they erected a marker that marked the easternmost point ever reached by Portuguese explorers. On the way back, Dias discovered Cabo das Agulas (Cape Eagle), located at the southernmost point of Africa. Dias noted that the cape is ideal for sheltering ships from violent storms and strong Atlantic currents, which made navigation in this region so dangerous.
Dias crash
Returning to Angro do Salto, Dias and his crew were horrified by what happened to the abandoned third ship. He was attacked local residents and of its crew only three survived, one of whom died on the way home.
"Diash" returned to Lisbon after 15 months of travel and having covered 26,000 kilometers. The sailors were greeted by a cheering crowd. Dias was invited to an audience with the king, where he explained that he had never been able to meet with Paiva and Covilha. Despite his triumphant journey, Dias made no further discoveries.
After the voyage, Bartolomeu Dias settled in Guinea, in West Africa, where he worked as a shipbuilding consultant. He participated in the design of ships for Vasco Da Gama's expedition and later became a member of it. Together with Da Gama, Dias sailed to the island of Cape Verde and then returned to Guinea. Da Gama's ships reached India in May 1498, almost ten years after historical discovery Diasha.
Later, Manuel sent a huge flotilla to India under the leadership of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, and Dias sent four of his ships. They reached Brazil in March 1500 and then headed to South Africa across the Atlantic. Next, their path lay to India. In Cabo das Tormentas, a severe storm hit the flotilla. Four of Dias' ships were wrecked. The entire crew, including Bartolomeu, died at sea.