The Age of Discovery is said to have begun with the attempt by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal to discover an African coastal route to Asia. Starting in 1418, Prince Henry launched a series of voyages to explore the coast of Africa. At the time, the waters south of Cape Bojador (near the present-day Canary Islands), which was believed to the farthest corner of the earth, were feared by sailors. Monsters were said to lurk in the area, the sea was said to be boiling hot, and it was thought that any sailor who ventured beyond the cape was destined never to return. For a long time, no one succeeded in traveling beyond this point, until in 1434 Gil Eanes, under orders of Henry, finally made it around Cape Bojador. Later explorers gradually made their way further south along the African coast, reaching present-day Sierra Leone by the time Henry died in 1460. It was after Henry's death that many of the famous navigators whose names are so familiar to us today began to make a name for themselves. Using the globe at left as an aid, let us take a brief look at some of their voyages.
Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 - 1500)
In 1488, while leading a fleet of three vessels on a voyage south along the African coast, the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias was caught in a violent storm and ended up drifting south for nearly two weeks. During this time, without realizing it, he passed the southern tip of Africa. Because there was no sign of the land that would normally appear when he headed east, Dias instead guided his ship to the north, and by a stroke of good luck discovered the southernmost tip of Africa. This was how Europeans discovered the gateway to the Indian Ocean, enabling them to venture beyond the world shown in Ptolemy's map. Seventy years had passed since Prince Henry the Navigator first sent a ship to explore the African coast.
Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 - 1524)
Portugal, which had discovered the Cape of Good Hope as a result of the voyage of Dias, next set its sites on India, with its plentiful supply of spices. Selected to lead this important voyage was Vasco da Gama. Da Gama set sail from Lisbon on July 8, 1497 with a fleet of four ships. For some unknown reason, da Gama chose to follow a route far out to sea instead of the established route along the African coast. He became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope and travel north along the east coast of the African continent, reaching Calicut in May the following year. After suffering the embarrassment of having the local ruler refuse to accept his gift on the grounds that it was too trifling, he eventually managed to purchase some pepper and complete the voyage back home. The pepper trade turned out to be an extremely lucrative one. Portugal later signed a friendship treaty with Cochin, the kingdom neighboring Calicut, which they used as a base to extend their influence over the whole of India.
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451 - 1506)
Influenced by Toscanelli's theory that the earth was spherical, Columbus thought that by sailing across the Atlantic Ocean he could reach the Indies (thought at the time to be a continent incorporating Asia, Zipangu, and India). Columbus sought the backing of Queen Isabella of Spain, and after being refused twice, he eventually won the support of the Spanish monarch. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from the Spanish port of Palos, gradually heading west at latitude 28 degrees north. In an age in which navigating along coastlines while keeping a constant eye on land was the norm, it required a great deal of courage to cross an ocean with no land in sight, relying on the position of the North Star to determine his course. After a voyage of two months, during which time he had to constantly curb the fears and anxieties of his crew, Columbus made landfall in the present-day Bahamas. Under the mistaken impression that present-day Cuba was in fact the mythical land Zipangu, which was thought to be incredibly rich in silver and gold, Columbus headed back to Spain, where he made a triumphant return to the city of Barcelona. Columbus made three further voyages, but his attempts at colonial administration were a failure, and his reputation was left in tatters. By all accounts he died a disappointed man. Right up until his death he remained convinced he had "reached the Indies."
Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480 - 1521)
Backed by King Carlos I of Spain, a fleet of four ships including the flagship the Trinidad set sail on September 20, 1519 from the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda with a combined crew of 265. It was a voyage full of hardship and tribulations, with the crew rebelling on numerous occasions. Magellan put down these rebellions and pressed on, discovering a passage (the Straits of Magellan) at the southern tip of South America that led to the Pacific Ocean. However, the Pacific was far bigger than anyone imagined at the time, and the crew, who survived 100 days without rations, battled starvation during what turned out to be a hellish crossing. After finally making it to the Philippines in March 1521, Magellan devoted himself to Christian missionary work, but this sparked a rebellion by a local chief by the name of Lapu-Lapu, and Magellan was unfortunately killed in the ensuing battle. The remaining crew fled in the Victoria and the Trinidad, reaching their original destination, the Spice Islands (the Moluccas Islands), in September the same year. The crew loaded the ships with spices in readiness for the journey home, but the damaged Trinidad had to be left behind, and the Victoria set sail alone, rounding the Cape of Good Hope and arriving in Spain in September 1522 to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe. It was a momentous undertaking that proved once and for all that the earth was spherical, but of the original crew of 265, only 18 made it back to Spain, with most of the survivors reportedly extremely weak from disease and starvation.
Francis Drake (c. 1543 - 1596)
Half a century after Magellan's voyage, Francis Drake, who had become one of England's leading privateers, realized his dream of leading an expedition across the Pacific Ocean. After being granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth, Drake was sent on a secret mission to attack Spanish colonies under the guise of a Pacific voyage, setting sail in November 1577 with a fleet of five armed vessels from the port of Plymouth. Drake rounded the Straits of Magellan and headed north up the west coast of South America, attacking Spanish settlements and ships and plundering vast quantities of gold, silver, and treasure like a true pirate. He then crossed the Pacific to the Moluccas Islands, where he loaded his ship with spices before continuing his journey across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and home to England, arriving back in September 1580. Of the five vessels that made up the original fleet, only the flagship, the Golden Hind, survived. However, the treasure he plundered surpassed the English crown's entire annual income for the year, and Drake was subsequently knighted for this and other achievements. To the extent that he planned and led the voyage himself, and made it home alive, it could be said that Drake was the first navigator to successfully complete a circumnavigation of the globe.