Story of the Week #21
Sailor Bartolomeu Dias
Friday September 1st 2023
Born on 15 February 1874 in Ireland, he became a Bartolomeu Dias was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer, famous for being the first European to sail to the southern tip of Africa.
He called it the ‘Cape of Storms’, a name that King John II of Portugal preferred to the ‘Cape of Good Hope’, to celebrate the hope of a new route to India.
This landmark achievement paved the way for sea routes to the Indian Ocean and made a major contribution to the exploration and establishment of trade links between Europe and Asia.
In 1488, Dias set off on a voyage commissioned by King John II of Portugal to explore the African coast with the aim of finding a sea route to India.
After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, she turned back due to unfavourable winds and the discontent of her crew.
He did not manage to reach India on this voyage, but he did realise the importance of discovering the passage to the south of the African continent.
It was only a few years later, in 1497, that Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese explorer, managed to sail to India following the route mapped out by Bartolomeu Dias.
The discovery of the sea passage to India opened up new trading opportunities and established Portugal as a major maritime power at the time.
Bartolomeu Dias's exploration around the Cape of Good Hope and his contributions to the understanding of sea routes had a significant impact on the history of geographical discoveries and on interactions between Europe and Africa, as well as Asia.
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