A pioneering Portuguese explorer
Bartolomeu Dias (1451-1500) was a Portuguese nobleman and explorer. As the sailing master of the man-of-war São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher) in 1487-1488, he led a three-ship expedition that made the first recorded rounding of the southern tip of Africa. In an extended effort championed by Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese had been working for years to establish an alternate trade route to India and the Orient avoiding the Middle East, which was under the control of the Muslims. It had taken experimentation with the design of the caravel, as well as daring by numerous sailors, to slowly extend the exploration of the west coast of Africa and the building of trading posts. The voyage commissioned by King João II was the culmination of the effort to discover the furthest south point of Africa. The expedition stopped briefly at the trading post on the Gold Coast and then landed at Walvis Bay in what is now Namibia. The expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope (named by Dias as the Cape of Storms) in January 1488, but did not come ashore there until later. The ships entered Mossel Bay on February 3 and landed at Kwaaihoek on March 12, 1488. This marked the eastern extent of the voyage. The coastline clearly trended toward the north. While Dias wanted to continue, the assigned mission had been completed and the crew was most reluctant to continue. A stone monument was erected to mark the achievement. On the return, the ships stopped briefly at the Cape, before arriving back in Lisbon in May. In a display of good marketing, King João renamed the Cape of Storms as Cape of Good Hope. Dias later used experience gained on this voyage to assist in the design of the ships used by Vasco da Gama in the first Portuguese voyage to India. He was also one of the captains of the ships on the second voyage to India. Experiencing contrary winds and currents, they landed on the coast of Brazil, claiming it for Portugal. Turning east to continue the voyage, the expedition encountered a severe storm off the Cape of Good Hope. Dias’ ship was lost and he drowned.