portugese explorer who may have been blown off course in a storm and ‘discovered’ brazi

by Modesta Metz 5 min read

Who was the driving force behind Portuguese maritime exploration?

Prince Henry the Navigator, generally credited as the driving force behind Portuguese maritime exploration.

Who was the first European to discover Brazil?

In 1500, the Portuguese nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral became the first European to discover Brazil. Vasco da Gama lands in Calicut on May 20th 1498. In 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from León, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso Henriques .

What are Portuguese discoveries?

Portuguese discoveries ( Portuguese: Descobrimentos portugueses) are the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Who were the famous Portuguese explorers?

Territories such as Greenland, Newfoundland and Australia were discovered by the Portuguese and colonized by other peoples. Even small islands or archipelagos were left to abandon after discovered, such as the Maldives or Vanuatu. These are some of the most famous Portuguese explorers. 1. Vasco da Gama

Why did the Portuguese explorers not make official discoveries?

Who was the Portuguese navigator of the XV century?

Why was Bartolomeu Dias important?

Why were many of these discoveries not made official?

What did Ferdinand Magellan discover?

When did Gaspar Corte Real leave Lisbon?

Who led the Caravels that recognized the island of Porto Santo?

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Who was the famous Portuguese explorer?

Ferdinand Magellan is best known for being an explorer for Portugal, and later Spain, who discovered the Strait of Magellan while leading the first expedition to successfully circumnavigate the globe. He died en route and Juan Sebastián del Cano completed it.

Who was the first European explorer to discover Brazil?

Pedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares 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).

Who was blown off course enroute around Africa and accidentally discovered Brazil?

Almost nothing is known about the life of Bartolomeu de Novaes Dias before 1487, except that he was at the court of João II, or King John II 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.

Who discovered Brazil in South America?

Pedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares Cabral (European Portuguese: [ˈpeðɾu ˈaɫvɐr(ɨ)ʃ kɐˈβɾaɫ] or Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈpedɾu ˈawvɐɾis kaˈbɾaw]; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil.

Who discovered Brazil for Portugal?

explorer Pedro Alvares CabralIn the same year, Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal, arguing that the territory fell into the Portuguese sphere of exploration as defined by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.

Who explored Brazil?

diplomat Pedro Álvares CabralBrazil was officially "discovered" in 1500, when a fleet commanded by Portuguese diplomat Pedro Álvares Cabral, on its way to India, landed in Porto Seguro, between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.

Who was the first explorer from Portugal?

1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea....Vasco da GamaBorn1460 or 1469 Sines, Alentejo, Kingdom of PortugalDied24 December 1524 (aged approximately 55–65) Cochin, Kingdom of Cochin16 more rows

What did da Gama discover?

He is often credited for discovering the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope. On May 20, 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stepped foot in India.

Who was the navigator that travel around South Africa Portugal to reach India it was around the same time of the discovery of the Americas?

Vasco da GamaVasco da Gama was best known for being the first to sail from Europe to India by rounding Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Over the course of two voyages, beginning in 1497 and 1502, da Gama landed and traded in locales along the coast of southern Africa before reaching India on May 20, 1498.

Who first discovered Brazil?

diplomat Pedro Álvares CabralBrazil was officially "discovered" in 1500, when a fleet commanded by Portuguese diplomat Pedro Álvares Cabral, on its way to India, landed in Porto Seguro, between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.

What did Amerigo Vespucci discover?

On May 10, 1497, explorer Amerigo Vespucci embarked on his first voyage. On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Believing he had discovered a new continent, he called South America the New World. In 1507, America was named after him.

Was Brazil discovered accidentally?

Apparently carried further west than intended, Cabral's ships crossed the Atlantic at its narrowest point and bumped accidentally into Brazil.

Who discovered the African coast?

Dinis laid the groundwork, but it was not until the reign of Afonso IV that Portugal began to explore the African coast. The first discovery was the Canary Islands and after a short dispute with Portugal’s rival Castile, Portugal controlled them.

Who discovered the Cape Verde?

Cape Verde would be discovered by Diogo Gomes in 1456. Multiple Portuguese explorers explored the Gulf of Guinea and discovered a lucrative gold trade. The next major breakthrough came with Bartolomeu Dias. Dias would sail to the southern tip of Africa and discover a way around the continent.

What did Henry the Navigator do?

This gave rise to Henry the Navigator who began to send explorers off the coast of Portugal to expand Portuguese influence. Henry’s ideas were based on superstition and ambition. He believed, like many in his day, of the legend of the Christian Kingdom, Prester John, and sought to explore and find the legendary kingdom.

What happened after the fall of the Visigothic Kingdom?

After the fall of the Visigothic Kingdom in 711, most of the Iberian Peninsula was in Muslim hands. This would lead to the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula that would begin in 722 A.D and end in 1492 A.D when Ferdinand of Aragon drove the remaining Muslims out of Granada. Afonso Henriques would lead a crusade to drive the Moors out ...

What was Dias' discovery?

Dias’s discovery was built upon decades of exploration by the Portuguese. This proved that there was access to the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic.

What was the impact of the fall of Constantinople?

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was a devastating blow to Europe both politically and economically. With Constantinople under Ottoman control, the spice trade that Marco Polo wrote about was blocked. European nations began to look for alternatives.

What are Portuguese discoveries?

Portuguese discoveries ( Portuguese: Descobrimentos portugueses) are the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuri es. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia, ...

What was the Portuguese exploration of?

Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia, then known as the East Indies, and Canada and Brazil (the West Indies ), in what came to be known as the Age of Discovery.

What was the name of the Spanish colony that led to the discovery of the New World?

In 1492 Christopher Columbus 's discovery for Spain of the New World, which he believed to be Asia, led to disputes between the Spanish and Portuguese. These were eventually settled by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 which divided the world outside of Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the Portuguese and the Spanish, along a north–south meridian 370 leagues, or 970 miles (1,560 km), west of the Cape Verde islands. However, as it was not possible at the time to correctly measure longitude, the exact boundary was disputed by the two countries until 1777.

What was the role of Henry the Navigator in the Portuguese maritime exploration?

This helped them become wealthier. Henry the Navigator took the lead role in encouraging Portuguese maritime exploration until his death in 1460.

What was the Portuguese goal in 1415?

In 1415, the Portuguese occupied Ceuta, aiming to control navigation along the African coast, moved also by the goal of expanding Christianity with the help of the Pope, and by a desire of the unemployed nobility for epic acts of war after the Reconquista.

Where did the first feitorias start?

The first feitoria trade post overseas was established then under Henry's direction, in 1445 on the island of Arguin off the coast of Mauritania, to attract Muslim traders and monopolize the business in the routes traveled in North Africa, starting the chain of Portuguese feitorias along the coast.

When were the Azores discovered?

Although the exact details are uncertain, cartographic evidence suggests the Azores were probably discovered in 1427 by Portuguese ships sailing under Henry's direction, and settled in 1432, suggesting that the Portuguese were able to navigate at least 745 miles (1,200 km) from the Portuguese coast.

Who discovered the Azores?

A chart drawn by the Catalan cartographer, Gabriel de Vallseca of Mallorca, has been interpreted to indicate that the Azores were first discovered by Diogo de Silves in 1427. In 1431, Gonçalo Velho was dispatched with orders to determine the location of "islands" first identified by de Silves.

What did the Portuguese discover?

During Prince Henry's time and after, the Portuguese navigators discovered and perfected the North Atlantic Volta do Mar (the "turn of the sea" or "return from the sea"): the dependable pattern of trade winds blowing largely from the east near the equator and the returning westerlies in the mid-Atlantic.

What was the most southerly point in the world?

Until Henry's time, Cape Bojador remained the most southerly point known to Europeans on the desert coast of Africa. Superstitious seafarers held that beyond the cape lay sea monsters and the edge of the world. In 1434, Gil Eanes, the commander of one of Henry's expeditions, became the first European known to pass Cape Bojador.

Who was the cartographer who came to Portugal to make maps for the Infante?

Jehuda Cresques, a noted cartographer, has been said to have accepted an invitation to come to Portugal to make maps for the infante. Prestage makes the argument that the presence of the latter at the Prince's court "probably accounts for the legend of the School of Sagres, which is now discredited.".

Who introduced sugar cane to Brazil?

J.B. Von Spix and Dr. C.F.P. Von Martius, published 1824, refers to the introduction of sugar cane to Brazil by "the Infant Don Henrique Navegador".

Who coined the nickname Henry the Navigator?

The term was coined by two nineteenth-century German historians: Heinrich Schaefer and Gustave de Veer.

Who was the first person to explore Madeira?

Henry was interested in locating the source of the caravans that brought gold to the city. During the reign of his father, John I, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira were sent to explore along the African coast.

Who was the first European to explore the North American continent?

Updated July 30, 2019. Leif Erikson, sometimes spelled Eriksson, is believed to have been the first European to discover and explore the North American continent. A Norse adventurer, Erikson made his way to Vinland, on the coast of what is now Newfoundland, and may have gone even further into the North American interior.

Was Erik the Red blown off course?

According to The Saga of Erik the Red, which is the only real source material for Erikson's journeys, during his travel from Norway to Greenland, Erikson may have again been blown off course in a storm.

Why did the Portuguese explorers not make official discoveries?

Many of these discoveries were not made official because Portugal was too small to be able to dominate, ...

Who was the Portuguese navigator of the XV century?

Portuguese navigator of the XV century, was born in Silves, Algarve, and rendered services to the Infante D. Henrique, as pilot, in the time of the Discoveries. It is thought that it was thanks to a deviation that occurred during a habitual trip in the Atlantic Ocean that this sailor discovered the Azorean islands of the central and eastern groups in 1427. The first island to be sighted and contributed was that of Santa Maria. The feat of Diogo de Silves is known thanks to the allusion made to him by Gabriel de Valsequa, a Catalan cartographer, in 1439.

Why was Bartolomeu Dias important?

Bartolomeu Dias was entrusted with this important mission above all because he was a man of a level of training who guaranteed to the Portuguese monarch a very large percentage of possible success.

Why were many of these discoveries not made official?

Many of these discoveries were not made official because Portugal was too small to be able to dominate, colonize and defend all territories against the other European powers. Territories such as Greenland, Newfoundland and Australia were discovered by the Portuguese and colonized by other peoples.

What did Ferdinand Magellan discover?

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out from Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. The voyage was long and dangerous, and only one ship returned home three years later. Although it was laden with valuable spices from the East, only 18 of the fleet’s original crew of 270 returned with the ship. Magellan himself was killed in battle on the voyage, but his ambitious expedition proved that the globe could be circled by sea and that the world was much larger than had previously been imagined.

When did Gaspar Corte Real leave Lisbon?

Gaspar seized the opportunity to obtain royal permission to undertake his own exploratory expedition in May 1500. Gaspar Corte Real left Lisbon in the summer of 1500 in a fleet of three ships, financed by his family. He sailed first to Greenland and spent several months exploring its shoreline.

Who led the Caravels that recognized the island of Porto Santo?

In his service at an early age, Zarco commanded the caravels guarding the coast of Algarve from the incursions of the Moors, was at the conquest of Ceuta, and later led the caravels that recognized the island of Porto Santo in 1418 to 1419 and afterward, the island of Madeira 1419 to 1420.

Overview

Portuguese discoveries (Portuguese: Descobrimentos portugueses) are the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia, then known as the East Indies, and …

History

In 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from León, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso Henriques.
In 1297, King Denis of Portugal took personal interest in the development of exports, having organized the export of surplus production to European countries. On May 10, 1293, he instituted a maritime insurance fund for Portug…

Portuguese nautical science

The successive expeditions and experience of the pilots led to a fairly rapid evolution in Portuguese nautical science, creating an elite of astronomers, navigators, mathematicians and cartographers. Among them stood Pedro Nunes with studies on how to determine latitude by the stars, and João de Castro, who made important observations of magnetic declination over the entire route aro…

Chronology

• 1147—Voyage of the Adventurers. Just before the siege of Lisbon by Afonso I of Portugal, a Muslim expedition left in search of legendary islands offshore. They were never heard from again.
• 1336—Possibly the first expedition to the Canary Islands with additional expeditions in 1340 and 1341, though this is disputed.

Further reading

• Abernethy, David (2000). The Dynamics of Global Dominance, European Overseas Empires 1415–1980. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09314-4.
• Anderson, James Maxwell (2000). The History of Portugal. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31106-4.
• Boxer, Charles Ralph (1969). The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415–1825. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-131071-7.

Overview

Dom Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (Portuguese: Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15th-century European maritime discoveries and maritime expansion. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the main initiator of wh…

Life

Henry was the third surviving son of King John I and his wife Philippa, sister of King Henry IV of England. He was baptized in Porto, and may have been born there, probably when the royal couple was living in the city's old mint, now called Casa do Infante (Prince's House), or in the region nearby. Another possibility is that he was born at the Monastery of Leça do Balio, in Leça da Palmeira, durin…

Resources and income

On 25 May 1420, Henry gained appointment as the Grand Master of the Military Order of Christ, the Portuguese successor to the Knights Templar, which had its headquarters at Tomar in central Portugal. Henry held this position for the remainder of his life, and the Order was an important source of funds for Henry's ambitious plans, especially his persistent attempts to conquer the Canary Islands, which the Portuguese had claimed to have discovered before the year 1346.

Vila do Infante and Portuguese exploration

According to João de Barros, in Algarve, Prince Henry the Navigator repopulated a village that he called Terçanabal (from terça nabal or tercena nabal). This village was situated in a strategic position for his maritime enterprises and was later called Vila do Infante ("Estate or Town of the Prince").
It is traditionally suggested that Henry gathered at his villa on the Sagres penin…

Henry's explorations

Henry sponsored voyages, collecting a 20% tax (o quinto) on profits, the usual practice in the Iberian states at the time. The nearby port of Lagos provided a convenient home port for these expeditions. The voyages were made in very small ships, mostly the caravel, a light and maneuverable vessel equipped by lateen sails. Most of the voyages sent out by Henry consisted of one or two shi…

Origin of the "Navigator" nickname

No one used the nickname "Henry the Navigator" to refer to prince Henry during his lifetime or in the following three centuries. The term was coined by two nineteenth-century German historians: Heinrich Schaefer and Gustave de Veer. Later on it was made popular by two British authors who included it in the titles of their biographies of the prince: Henry Major in 1868 and Raymond Beazley in 1895. In Portuguese, even in modern times, it is uncommon to call him by this epithet…

Fiction

• Arkan Simaan, L'Écuyer d'Henri le Navigateur, Éditions l'Harmattan, Paris. Historical novel based on Zurara's chronicles, written in French. ISBN 978-2-296-03687-1

See also

• Prince Henry the Navigator Park
• Hermitage of Our Lady of Guadalupe