Bartolomeu Dias
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: Renaissance
- Categories: Discovery, Exploration
- Subcategories: Ships, Naval History, Explorers
- Curriculum: Renaissance History, Spanish/Portuguese History
Article abstract: Dias was the first to command a sea expedition around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a feat that had been attempted for more than fifty years before his success and one that led to the opening of sea trade between Portugal and the Orient.
Early Life
Bartolomeu Dias, like many Portuguese explorers of his time, remains an enigma. Nothing is known about his life except for an incomplete account of his voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and two other references regarding one previous and one subsequent voyage. He may have been...
[The entire page is 2544 words long]
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