Bartolomeu Dias Rounds the Cape of Good Hope
Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa in early 1488, proving that the Atlantic and Indian oceans connect and that Asia could be reached by sea. Portugal had been working down the African coast for half a century under Prince Henry and then under John II, in expeditions that were as much about gold, slaves and Guinea pepper as about any route to India. Diogo Cão had reached the mouth of the Congo and then Cape Cross without finding an end to the continent. Dias left Lisbon in August 1487 with two caravels and a supply ship. Beating south against the Benguela current, he stood far out to sea to look for better winds and was carried by a storm for thirteen days out of sight of land. When he turned east he found no coast, and turning north instead brought him to shore at Mossel Bay — east of the cape, which he had passed without seeing it. He continued to the Great Fish River, and there his crews refused to go further. Provisions were low, the ships were worn, and the men had been at sea for months; he took their views in writing and turned back. He saw the cape on the return and called it the Cape of Storms. John II renamed it Good Hope. He was not given the India command, which went to Vasco da Gama, though he sailed part of the way with him and helped design the ships. He drowned off the same cape in 1500.
- Year: 1488 CE
- Category: Political
