![city from which vasco da gama sailed city from which vasco da gama sailed](https://en.24smi.org/public/media/2019/9/4/03-flvotxy.jpg)
However, suspicion soon appeared and the sultan began to suspect that Vasco da Gama had deceived him about his religion. At first the ploy worked, as the sultan of Mozambique received them very well, and even offered them guides to continue their journey to India. For this reason, Vasco da Gama decided to pretend to be a Muslim. The port of Mozambique was controlled by the Arabs, who monopolized trade in the region. With much of the crew sick with scurvy, the expedition halted to rest at the mouth of the Quelimane River, after which they sailed to the port of Mozambique. In mid-November 1497, Vasco da Gama’s fleet crossed the Cape of Good Hope and sailed north along the eastern coast of Africa. In November they arrived at the southern end of the African continent, called by Bartolomé Diaz, the Cape of the Storms, in reference to the continuous state of agitation of those waters where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are found, and renamed by John II with the suggestive and prophetic name of Cape of Good Hope. The expedition did not border the West African coast (as was customary), but it entered the Atlantic sailing south from Cape Verde and then turning east to reach southern Africa. On July 8, 1497, Vasco da Gama left Lisbon at the head of 200 men and three ships, the San Gabriel, Bernio and San Rafael. The name of the Range was shuffled from the beginning among those best suited to lead the difficult journey In 1496, Esteban da Gama was chosen to do so, but his sudden death caused his two sons to assume “the honor and the danger” of leading the difficult enterprise. This was also intended to balance the advantage that the discovery of America had provided to Spain. The spice trade was at stake, as the routes, at that time, were controlled by the Arabs. At that time it seemed clear that it was possible to cross the southern tip of Africa and reach the Indian Ocean, as Bartholomew Diaz had shown ten years before. Collecting an ambitious project from his predecessor, the new monarch organized an expedition that was to go to India outlining Africa. In 1495, death surprised John II and the throne passed to his heir, Manuel I the Lucky One. Pressed so effectively, the French king Charles VII resigned himself to return the captured boat without missing an iota of its cargo.įrom that moment, Vasco especially attracted official attention. Vasco, commissioned by the sovereign to seize as reprisal the French ships anchored in their dominions, carried out his mission with remarkable speed and success, and seized ten of these ships only in the port of Lisbon.
![city from which vasco da gama sailed city from which vasco da gama sailed](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/aerial-view-vasco-da-gama-bridge-high-car-traffic-lisbon-city-portugal-107298244.jpg)
In 1493, the French seized a Portuguese ship loaded with gold from one of the Portuguese possessions on the African coast, Costa da Mina. In this way, the acquired experience and fame were enough to make him, after studying mathematics and cosmography, become captain.Ī risky episode came to accentuate his prestige as a navigator.
#City from which vasco da gama sailed full#
įrom an early age, Vasco da Gama was able to devote himself full to the sea life, participating in several expeditions to the African coast and giving in them proof of a great capacity. His mother, Dona Isabel Sodre, wanted the second of his sons, Vasco, to prepare for the ecclesiastical career, but despite his maternal intentions, the young man decided, together with his brother Paulo, to link his life to the business of the sea. His father, named Esteban, was of noble lineage and enjoyed an excellent reputation in court. Vasco da Gama was born in Sines, a small village located in the Lower Alentejo. Children:- Cristóvão da Gama, Estêvão da Gama.Parents:- Estêvão da Gama, Isabel Sodré.Buried:- Jeronimos Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal.During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The figure of this great Portuguese seaman, immortalized by the poet Luis Vaz de Camoens (Camoes) in his epic Os Lusíadas, is comparable to that of Christopher Columbus or Magellan, and is fundamental to understand the commercial transformations that took place in the West. Biography of Vasco Da Gama:- A navigator and explorer who opened for the Portuguese the so-called spice route, which surrounded the African continent until reaching India.