In the 15th and 16th century an idea
was born to find new trading routes to the Far East. This made European
Adventurers sail beyond their knowledge. They risk their lives, ships and
crews. At the end with suffering of loss of ships and lives they managed
eventually to find it. It brought them and their rulers great wealth.
At that age the knowledge of oceans and countries were more
than limited. From a start it was still believed that the world was flat.
Therefore, if they sail far enough they would fall off. It was also believed
that the ocean were full of deadly sea creatures. The foreign land was
populated with gruesome cannibals.
In view of the background of ignorance and fear made the
bravery and vision of Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan even more to
be admired. To start with they had to persuade their monarch to finance their
voyage which couldn’t have been easy by any means. When they achieve it they
had to stop the sailors being scared of sailing into the unknown.
The reason of discovering a new trade route to the Far East
was the desperate need for spices. In those days meat was preserved by salt.
Spices were used to cover the salt or many times more the taste of bad
meat. For centuries spices were brought
from the Far East overland to Constantinople (Istanbul). From there they were
shipped to all the countries in Europe.
When in 1453 the Muslin Turks conquered Constantinople and
they closed the traditional routes. This had a devastating impact on England,
Holland and Spain. It was now necessary to find a sea route to the Far East to
obtain the necessary spices and other most important goods.
The following two centuries the Portuguese, English, French,
Spanish and Dutch were determined to find that sea route. They were successful and started to establish
settlements in the spice producing countries to make they receive regular products.
Spain and Portugal were the first successful colonial masters in the last 15th
and early 16th centuries. Then came the English and Dutch and slowly
took over.
BARTHOLOMEU DIAZ
He was born in 1450 in Portugal. Diaz was the first European
who found the route round the southern tip of Africa. – The Cape of Good
Hope. It is well named because it is the
most treacherous waters in the world. It
is even feared today. In 1487 King John ordered Diaz to explore the Africa
coast as far south as possible.
In 1488 Diaz’s three were rounding the cape. Diaz had reached a new ocean. He wanted to
follow it further but the crew mutinied. They had enough of long voyages and
its hardship. Diaz had no other choice but to return to Portugal.
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| DIAZ'S VOYAGE 1487-1488 |
In 1500 Diaz drowned off the coast of Africa.
Bartholomeu Diaz named the southern most point of Africa
Cabo Tormentosa (Cape of Storms) because he nearly lost his ships and all their
lives. However, King John III was determined for sailors to sail further and
reach the Far East. He renamed as Cape of Good Hope (Cabo da Bona Esperanca).
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Born in Italy 1451, Christopher Columbus’ real name was Cristoforo
Colombo. When he was 14 Christopher ran away to sea. He was shipwrecked off Portugal in 1478. He
decided to stay in Portugal and trained as master mariner.
Columbus believed that the world was round and not like
everybody thought at that time the world was flat. He had to spend many
years to find a monarch to finance his theory. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
paid for his expedition and Columbus sailed on 3 August 1492. Three ships, the
Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina he went westwards.
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| COLUMBUS' MAP |
After a long voyage Columbus saw land on 12 October 1492. He
was convinced he set foot in India but it was the Watling Island now San
Salvador, in the Bahamas. On that voyage he also discovered Cuba and Hispaniola
and he claimed it for Spain.
After that Columbus made three more voyages. He found Puerto
Rico, the Leeward Islands and Jamaica. He set up a colony in Hispaniola. 1948
brought him to Trinidad and was the first European landing in South America, in
Venezuela. From 1502 till 1504 Columbus was still hoping to find a passage
straight to the Indian Ocean. He explored Nicaragua and Honduras.
When Columbus died in 1506 he was sure that he found a route
to India. He died in poverty.
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| COLUMBUS DISCOVERED -- THE AMERICAS -- 12 OCTOBER 1492 |
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