PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL

Pedro Álvares Cabral, (born 1467/68, Belmonte, Portugal—died 1520, Santarém?), Portuguese navigator who
is generally credited as the first European to reach Brazil (April 22, 1500). (The Spanish explorer Vicente
Yáñez Pinzón, who had been on Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to America, may have reached Brazil
slightly earlier in 1500 than Cabral.) His expedition was also the second from Europe to reach India via the sea
route around the Cape of Good Hope ( Vasco da Gama had done so in 1498) .
The son of Fernão Cabral, a nobleman, and of Isabel de Gouveia, Pedro Cabral was heir to a long tradition of
service to the throne. He himself enjoyed the esteem of King Manuel I of Portugal, from whom he received
various privileges in 1497; these included a personal allowance, the title of counselor to his highness, and the
habit of the military Order of Christ. Following up on da Gama’s pioneering voyage, three years later the king
entrusted him with the command of the second major expedition to India, expressing “the great confidence we
have in Pedralvares de Gouveia, nobleman of our household.” Cabral was named admiral in supreme command
of 13 ships, which set out from Lisbon on March 9, 1500. He was to follow the route taken earlier by Vasco da
Gama, strengthen commercial ties, and further the conquest his predecessor had begun.
In accordance with da Gama’s instructions, based on his experiences during the first voyage, Cabral was to sail
southwest so as to bypass the becalmed waters of the Gulf of Guinea. This course, which later became known
as the “circle around Brazil,” had the added advantage of providing the Portuguese with opportunity to
reconnoitre along the coast of the lands to the west. They had previously sighted those lands, which belonged to
them in accordance with the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which divided the still almost completely unknown
New World between Spain and Portugal.
He sailed westward under favourable conditions, and on April 22 Cabral sighted the land he named Island of
the True Cross. Later renamed Holy Cross by King Manuel, the country ultimately took its modern name,
Brazil, from a kind of dyewood, pau-brasil, that is found there.
Cabral is reported to have made a special effort to treat the inhabitants kindly, receiving them on board his
caravel. Nonetheless, he took formal possession of the country and dispatched one of his ships to Portugal to
inform the king. Thenceforth, maps of the region showed Portugal as ruler of a great expanse of land with
vaguely defined boundaries that came to serve as a point of call on the long voyage from Europe to the Cape of
Good Hope and the Indian Ocean. After a stay of only 10 days in Brazil, Cabral sailed for India, in a voyage
that was plagued by a series of misfortunes. On May 29, while the fleet was rounding the Cape of Good Hope,
four ships were lost with all hands aboard. The remaining ships cast anchor on September 13, 1500, at Calicut
(now Kozhikode), India, where the zamorin (dynastic ruler) welcomed Cabral and allowed him to establish a
fortified trading post. Disputes with Muslim traders soon arose, however, and on December 17 a large Muslim
force attacked the trading post. Most of the Portuguese defenders were killed before reinforcements could arrive
from the Portuguese fleet lying at anchor in the harbour.
Cabral retaliated by bombarding the city and then by capturing 10 Muslim vessels and executing their crews.
He then sailed for the Indian port of Cochin (now Kochi), farther south, where he was affably received and
permitted to trade for precious spices, with which he loaded his six remaining ships. Cabral also made port at
Carangolos and Cananor (Cannanore; now Kannur) on the same coast, completed his cargo, and on January 16,
1501, began the return voyage to Portugal. On his way, however, two ships foundered, and it was with only four
vessels that Cabral finally reached the mouth of the Tagus River in Portugal on June 23, 1501.
King Manuel was pleased at the outcome of the undertaking, in spite of the misfortunes that had beset it. He is
said to have at first favoured making Cabral head of a new and more powerful expedition, but in the end it was
Vasco da Gama and not Cabral who was appointed to that command. Accounts differ as to the reason for the
king’s change of heart. One chronicler attributes it to disagreement over division of authority within the new
fleet; another offers the explanation that da Gama opposed the appointment of Cabral on the grounds that da
Gama himself already held the title of admiral of all the fleets that might leave Portugal for India and that the
disasters of Cabral’s expedition should disqualify him for the new mission.
Whatever the true explanation, Cabral held no further position of authority at the Portuguese court. He retired to
his estate in the Beira Baixa province of Portugal and spent his remaining years there. His tomb at Santarém
was identified in 1848 by the Brazilian historian Francisco Adolfo Varnhagen.
BARTOLOMEO DIAZ

In 1488, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450-1500) became the first European mariner to round the
southern tip of Africa, opening the way for a sea route from Europe to Asia. Dias’ ships rounded the perilous
Cape of Good Hope and then sailed around Africa’s southernmost point, Cabo das Agulhas, to enter the waters
of the Indian Ocean. Portugal and other European nations already had long-established trade ties to Asia, but
the arduous overland route had been closed in the 1450s due to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of the remnants
of the Byzantine Empire. A major maritime victory for Portugal, Dias’ breakthrough opened the door to
increased trade with India and other Asian powers. It also prompted Genoan explorer Christopher Columbus
(1451-1506), then living in Portugal, to seek a new royal patron for a mission to establish his own sea route to
the Far East.
An Ambitious Plan - Almost nothing is known about the life of Bartolomeu de Novaes Dias before 1487, except
that he was at the court of João II, king of Portugal (1455-1495), and was a superintendent of the royal
warehouses. He likely had much more sailing experience than his one recorded stint aboard the warship São
Cristóvão. Dias was probably in his mid- to late 30s in 1486 when João appointed him to head an expedition in
search of a sea route to India.
João was entranced by the legend of Prester John, a mysterious and probably apocryphal 12th-century leader of
a nation of Christians somewhere in Africa. João sent out a pair of explorers, Afonso de Paiva (c. 1460-c. 1490)
and Pêro da Covilhã (c. 1450-c. 1526), to search overland for the Christian kingdom in Ethiopia. João also
wanted to find a way around the southernmost point of Africa’s coastline, so just a few months after dispatching
the overland explorers, he sponsored Dias in an African expedition.
In August 1487, Dias’ trio of ships departed from the port of Lisbon, Portugal. Dias followed the route of 15th-
century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão (c. 1450-c. 1486), who had followed the coast of Africa as far as
present-day Cape Cross, Namibia. Dias’ cargo included the standard “padrões,” the limestone markers used to
stake Portuguese claims on the continent. Padrões were planted at the shoreline and served as guideposts to
previous Portuguese explorations of the coast.
Dias’ expedition party included six Africans who had been brought to Portugal by earlier explorers. Dias
dropped off the Africans at different ports along the coastline of Africa with supplies of gold and silver and
messages of goodwill from the Portuguese to the indigenous people. The last two Africans were left at a place
the Portuguese sailors called Angra do Salto, probably in modern Angola, and the expedition’s supply ship was
left there under guard of nine men.
The Expedition Around South Africa - In early January 1488, as Dias’ two ships sailed off the coast of South
Africa, storms blew them away from the coast. Dias is thought to have ordered a turn to the south of about 28
degrees, probably because he had prior knowledge of southeasterly winds that would take him around the tip of
Africa and keep his ships from being dashed on the notoriously rocky shoreline. João and his predecessors had
obtained navigational intelligence, including a 1460 map from Venice that showed the Indian Ocean on the
other side of Africa.
Dias’ decision was risky, but it worked. The crew spotted landfall on February 3, 1488, about 300 miles east of
present-day Cape of Good Hope. They found a bay they called São Bras (present-day Mossel Bay) and the
much warmer waters of the Indian Ocean. From the shoreline, indigenous Khoikhoi pelted Dias’ ships with
stones until an arrow fired by either Dias or one of his men felled a tribesman. Dias ventured further along the
coastline, but his crew was nervous about the dwindling food supplies and urged him to turn back. As mutiny
loomed, Dias appointed a council to decide the matter. The members came to the agreement that they would
permit him to sail another three days, then turn back. At Kwaaihoek, in present-day Eastern Cape province, they
planted a padrão on March 12, 1488, which marked the easternmost point of Portuguese exploration.
On the journey back, Dias observed the southernmost point of Africa, later called Cabo das Agulhas, or Cape of
Needles. Dias named the rocky second cape Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms) for the tempestuous storms
and strong Atlantic-Antarctic currents that made ship travel so perilous.
Back in Angra do Salto, Dias and his crew were aghast to find that only three of the nine men left guarding the
food ship had survived repeated attacks by locals; a seventh man died on the journey home. In Lisbon, after 15
months at sea and a journey of nearly 16,000 miles, the returning mariners were met by triumphant crowds. In a
private meeting with the king, however, Dias was forced to explain his failure to meet up with Paiva and
Covilhã. Despite his immense achievement, Dias was never again put in a position of authority. João ordered
that henceforth, maps would show the new name for Cabo das Tormentas–Cabo da Boa Esperança, or Cape of
Good Hope.
Advisor to Vasco da Gama - Following his expedition, Dias settled for a time in Guinea in West Africa, where
Portugal had established a gold-trading site. João’s successor, Manuel I (1469-1521), ordered Dias to serve as a
shipbuilding consultant for the expedition of Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524). Dias sailed with the da Gama
expedition as far as the Cape Verde Islands, then returned to Guinea. Da Gama’s ships reached their goal of
India in May 1498, nearly a decade after Dias’ historic trip around the tip of Africa. Afterward, Manuel sent out
a massive fleet to India under Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-c. 1520), and Dias captained four of the ships.
They reached Brazil in March 1500, then headed across the Atlantic toward South Africa and, further ahead, the
Indian subcontinent. At the feared Cabo das Tormentas, storms struck the fleet of 13 ships. In May 1500, four of
the ships were wrecked, including Dias’, with all crew lost at sea.
FERNANDO MAGELLAN

Magellan (în unele surse, Ferdinand Magellan) a rămas cunoscut în istorie ca fiind primul explorator european
care condus o expediție în jurul lumii, primul care a descoperit o cale de acces din Atlantic către „Marea
Sudului a lui Balboa” (Pacificul) prin periculoasa strâmtoare din Țara de Foc și primul care s-a încumetat să
traverseze imensa și pustia întindere de apă a oceanului Pacific.
În secolul al XVI-lea, până ce europenii începeau să dezlege tainele din afara continentului lor, toate călătoriile
peste oceane aveau o semnificație deosebită, dar au existat și unele care nu doar că s-au soldat cu descoperiri
foarte importante, dar povestea lor pare desprinsă din romanele de aventuri – călătoria lui Magellan în jurul
lumii este una dintre acestea.
Detaliile biografice care țin de cariera de explorator fac din Fernando Magellan probabil unul dintre cei mai
mari aventurieri ai vremii sale. În zilele noastre, a călători pe tot cuprinsul planetei și să vezi tot ceea ce îți
propui nu este deloc o dificultate și aproape că nici nu mai e ceva ce impresionează, dar în secolul al XVI-lea,
când cel mai rapid mijloc de transport, dar și cel mai periculos era velierul (corabia cu pânze), realizăm că
descoperirea unei simple insule aflată la capătul lumii cunoscute era o faptă ce nu trebuia uitată.
O viață de aventurier
Încă de la începtul carierei sale, în 1504, Magellan a fost un aventurier:s-a înrolat ca voluntar într-o călătorie
spre India, în 1509 a fost rănit în bătălia de la Diu, dar aceasta nu l-a împiedicat să se îmbarce în același an
pentru o altă călătorie spre Insulele Mirodeniilor (Insulele Moluce), numai că expediția a fost atacată și oprită la
Malacca. În 1510 s-a remarcat în mod deosebit prin serviciile aduse Coroanei Regale portugheze, iar meritele i-
au fost recunoscute oferindu-i-se rangul de căpitan. De asemenea, a contribuit și s-a distins din nou în cucerirea
Malaccăi, dându-i-se sarcina de a aduce rapoarte despre mirodeniile găsite în Insulele Moluce.
Imediat după sosirea în Portugalia, în 1512, a participat la o expediție de cucerire a orașului Azamor din Maroc,
dar aici a fost rănit grav, rămânând șchiop pe viață. Fiind acuzat că ar fi făcut comerț cu maurii, Magellan a
căzut în dizgrația regelui portughez, dându-i de înțeles că țara nu mai avea nevoie de serviciile lui. Acest lucru
n-a făcut decât să rănească orgoliul exploratorului, determinându-l să renunțe la cetățenia portugheză și să-și
ofere serviciile Curții Regale a Spaniei care a primit cu brațele deschise un om cu o asemenea experiență pe
mare.
Un plan îndrăzneț
Luând exemplul predecesorului său, Columb, Magellan i-a prezentat regelui Spaniei, Carol al V-lea, zis Carol
Quintul, un plan prin care dorea să ajungă în Insulele Mirodeniilor prin vest. Exista însă o problemă mult mai
mare decât în timpul lui Cristofor Columb în sensul că acum se știa că există un Ocean Atlantic și o intindere
imensă de uscat dincolo de acesta, uscat care se preconiza că s-ar întinde de la nord la sud blocând orice cale de
acces, în special în sud – pentru multți era și mai improbabil să se poată ajunge în Indiile Orientale prin vest,
dar nu și pentru Magellan. El credea cu certitudine că există o trecătoare prin America de Sud, chiar dacă nu
fusese descoperită încă vreuna – chiar declarase cu fermitate că era dispus să navigheze până la 75º latitudine
sudică dacă va fi nevoie, până ce va găsi calea de acces.
Totuși, Magellan nu era un visător;el își planificase bine călătoria și se consultase în prealabil cu astronomul
Faleiro și se asigurase că va fi finanțat de Christopher de Haro (care de altfel și el îi purta pică regelui
portughez). Prin semnarea unei convenții cu regele Carol Quintul, Magellan și Faleiro, amândoi sub funcția de
căpitan general, urmau să primească 5% din profiturile expediției, iar teritoriile cucerite intrau sub propria lor
guvernare, urmând să le rămână și moștenitorilor lor.
Pornind într-o expediție istorică
Magellan a pornit în călătorie pe 10 august 1519 din Sevilla, cu cinci corăbii și 270 de oameni în total, dar fără
Faleiro care s-a hotărât să nu mai meargă după ce își făcuse horoscopul și aflase că această expediție i-ar putea
fi fatală;presupunerile sale se vor dovedi destul de aproape de adevăr – din cele cinci nave, doar una singură,
„Vittoria”, se va mai întoarce din călătorie. 
Magellan a navigat spre sud de-a lungul coastei Argentinei, unde a întâlnit grupuri de băștinași pe care i-a numit
„patagonezi”, adică „picioare mari” – întreaga regiune o va numi de altfel Patagonia. Desigur, călătoria nu a
fost lipsită de tot felul de pericole, printre care revolta echipajelor, cea mai grea provocare pentru un căpitan
aflat în mijlocul unei călătorii importante. Surprinzător, acesta a găsit mult așteptata trecătoare care i-a oferit
calea de acces către o provocare mult mai mare – trecătoarea îi poartă și astăzi numele:Strâmtoarea Magellan, o
zonă înșelătoare, deosebit de periculoasă pentru nave;avea să rămână spaima navigatorilor multe sute de ani de
aici înainte. Strâmtoarea desparte masa continentală a Americii de Sud de Țara de Foc;mult timp s-a crezut că
aceasta din urmă era de fapt promontoriul cel mai nordic al unui continent sudic uriaș;ulterior s-a dovedit că nu
este decât o insulă. 
Pierduți în mijlocul oceanului necunoscut
Mica flotă începea deja să se destrame foarte rapid:prima avea să fie distrusă, a doua s-a întors în Spania, iar
cea de-a treia a trebuit să fie incendiată și scufundată deoarece muriseră atât de mulți oameni încât mai
rămăsese echipaj suficient doar pentru două corăbii. În final și acestea se vor despărți, una dintre ele fiind
capturată de portughezi. 
Când au ieșit în cele din urmă în imensa Mare a Sudului a lui Balboa, Magellan a numit-o, parcă o dată pentru
totdeauna, Oceanul Pacific. Acesta s-a dovedit însă ultima și cea mai mare provocare a expediției deoarce nu se
așteptase nimeni ca gigantica masă de apă care se afla în fața lor să fie atât de vastă, o întindere pustie de apă
sărată care te farmecă prin frumusețea ei, dar care te ucide lent odată ce rămâi fără provizii (sau rapid dacă ai
„noroc”). Magellan a avut nevoie de 98 de zile pentru a traversa Oceanul Pacific iar în toată călătoria sa nu a
întâlnit decât două mici insule, sterpe și pustii (cel puțin pe ruta pe care a urmat-o el). Echipajul rămas a suferit
cumplit din cauza lipsei de alimente proaspete, de apă potabilă proaspătă și a scorbutului, oamenii fiind nevoiți
să mănânce talaș, piei de vită și șobolani.
Sfârșitul odiseei
Abia într-un final au ajuns pe arhipelagul Guam, în niște insule locuite de băștinași sălbatici, periculoși –
exploratorul a numit aceste insule Ladrones. Cu toate că Magellan avea să își găsească sfârșitul într-o luptă cu
niște băștinași din Filipine, corabia comandată de ultimul căpitan supraviețuitor, Juan del Cano a reușit să se
întoarcă în Spania cu o mare încărcătură de cuișoare pe 6 septembrie 1522, devenind astfel primul om care a
călătorit în mod efectiv în jurul lumii într-o singură expediție. Din cei 270 de oameni, doar opt au mai revenit în
viață în Spania;Magellan nu a mai apucat să se întoarcă, dar a murit la Mactan, aflat puțin mai la vest de
longitudinea celui mai îndepărtat punct din est la care ajunsese cu câșiva ani în urmă, adică în Insulele Moluce
– astfel, am putea spune că Magellan a realizat ocolul Pământului. Călătoria sa se înscrie alături de cele mai
importante expediții din istorie, demonstrându-se pentru prima dată că Pământul este sferic și totodată
descoperindu-se Patagonia, Strâmtoarea Magellan și revelându-se imensitatea Oceanului Pacific, denumire dată
tot în cadrul acestei călătorii.
VASCO DA GAMA
The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India
and open a sea route from Europe to the East. After sailing down the western coast of Africa and rounding the
Cape of Good Hope, his expedition made numerous stops in Africa before reaching the trading post of Calicut,
India, in May 1498. Da Gama received a hero’s welcome back in Portugal, and was sent on a second expedition
to India in 1502, during which he brutally clashed with Muslim traders in the region. Two decades later, da
Gama again returned to India, this time as Portuguese viceroy; he died there of an illness in late 1524.
Vasco da Gama’s Early Life and First Voyage to India - Born circa 1460, Vasco da Gama was the son of a minor
nobleman who commanded the fortress at Sines, located on the coast of the Alentejo province in
southwestern Portugal. Little else is known about his early life, but in 1492 King John II sent da Gama to
the port city of Setubal (south of Lisbon) and to the Algarve region to seize French ships in retaliation for
French attacks on Portuguese shipping interests.
Did you know? By the time Vasco da Gama returned from his first voyage to India in 1499, he had spent more
than two years away from home, including 300 days at sea, and had traveled some 24,000 miles. Only 54 of his
original crew of 170 men returned with him; the majority (including da Gama's brother Paolo) had died of
illnesses such as scurvy.
In 1497, John’s successor, King Manuel I (crowned in 1495), chose da Gama to lead a Portuguese fleet to India
in search of a maritime route from Western Europe to the East. At the time, the Muslims held a monopoly of
trade with India and other Eastern nations, thanks to their geographical position. Da Gama sailed from Lisbon
that July with four vessels, traveling south along the coast of Africa before veering far off into the southern
Atlantic in order to avoid unfavorable currents. The fleet was finally able to round the Cape of Good Hope at
Africa’s southern tip in late November, and headed north along Africa’s eastern coast, making stops at what is
now Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi (both now in Kenya). With the help of a local navigator, da Gama
was able to cross the Indian Ocean and reach the coast of India at Calicut (now Kozhikode) in May 1498.

Relations with Local Population & Rival Traders - Though the local Hindu population of Calicut initially
welcomed the arrival of the Portuguese sailors (who mistook them for Christians), tensions quickly flared
after da Gama offered their ruler a collection of relatively cheap goods as an arrival gift. This conflict,
along with hostility from Muslim traders, led Da Gama to leave without concluding a treaty and return to
Portugal. A much larger fleet, commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral, was dispatched to capitalize on da
Gama’s discoveries and secure a trading post at Calicut.
After Muslim traders killed 50 of his men, Cabral retaliated by burning 10 Muslim cargo vessels and killing the
nearly 600 sailors aboard. He then moved on to Cochin, where he established the first Portuguese trading post
in India. In 1502, King Manuel put da Gama in charge of another Indian expedition, which sailed that February.
On this voyage, da Gama attacked Arab shipping interests in the region and used force to reach an agreement
with Calicut’s ruler. For these brutal demonstrations of power, da Gama was vilified throughout India and the
region. Upon his return to Portugal, by contrast, he was richly rewarded for another successful voyage.

Da Gama’s Later Life and Last Voyage to India - Da Gama had married a well-born woman sometime after
returning from his first voyage to India; the couple would have six sons. For the next 20 years, da Gama
continued to advise the Portuguese ruler on Indian affairs, but he was not sent back to the region until
1524, when King John III appointed him as Portuguese viceroy in India.
Da Gama arrived in Goa with the task of combating the growing corruption that had tainted the Portuguese
government in India. He soon fell ill, and in December 1524 he died in Cochin. His body was later taken back
to Portugal for burial there.