Bartolomeu Dias

Portuguese explorer

• Born: c. 1450
• Birthplace: Probably near Lisbon, Portugal
• Died: May 29, 1500
• Place of death: At sea in the south Atlantic, near Cape of Good Hope

Dias was the first to command a sea expedition around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a feat that had been attempted for more than fifty years before his success and one that led to the opening of sea trade between Portugal and Asia.

Early Life

Bartolomeu Dias (bor-tew-lew-MAYOO DEE-uhsh), like many Portuguese explorers of his time, remains an enigma. Nothing is known about his life except for an incomplete account of his voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and two other references regarding one previous and one subsequent voyage. He may have been related to Dinis Dias, another Portuguese captain, who also explored the African coast in search of a sea route to Asia in 1445. Dias had at least one brother, Pedro, who accompanied him on the historic voyage around the cape. Dias was undoubtedly from a poor social class, since most seamen and explorers shared a similar humble upbringing, some of them even having criminal records.

The major reason for the lack of any solid information about Dias is that virtually all the early Portuguese explorations were conducted under strict secrecy. Portugal and Spain were in fierce competition at the time, both attempting to discover the most profitable trade route to Asia. Since land routes from Europe through the Middle East to Asia were nearly impossible to traverse because of the Muslim empire’s hostile monopoly of the area, a sea route around the uncharted seas of Africa seemed to be the only alternative.

More than fifty years before Dias’s historic voyage, the idea of sailing past Cape Bojador (the bulging cape) located off the coast of the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco, was unheard of. There was a great fear that just south of this barren cape was the end of the world, where the sea boiled and monsters thrived. The person most responsible for stimulating interest in exploring the African coast in the hope of finding a trade route to Asia was Prince Henry, third son of King John I and Queen Philippa of Portugal, later to be known as Prince Henry the Navigator .

Henry’s motivation for so fervently supporting sea exploration around Africa to Asia stemmed from his fierce hatred of the Muslims. He was a devout Christian and grand master of the militant Order of Christ, who believed that if he could locate the whereabouts of a legendary African empire ruled by a powerful Christian king called Prester John , Portugal could join forces with this influential king and overpower the Muslims, thus liberating the Holy Land and opening trade with Asia. By sending ships along the African coast, Henry planned to seek Prester John while simultaneously seeking a sea route to Asia.

In 1433, Henry sent his first captain, Gil Eanes, with the explicit order to sail past the desolate and feared Cape Bojador. This was at a time when no reliable maps existed of the African coast, navigational equipment was primitive, and sailing ships were experimental, still evolving from a traditional small Mediterranean sailing vessel to a larger and more rugged European caravel specifically designed for long voyages. Eanes failed to conquer Cape Bojador on his initial voyage, but the following year he tried again and this time sailed one hundred miles past the intimidating cape. What followed over the next five decades was a painfully gradual exploration of the African coast by dozens of Portuguese captains. Key outposts and fortresses were established along the coast and a lucrative though cruel slave trade began.

The earliest known reference to Dias is connected with the establishment of a major new fortress along the Guinea coast near Mina in 1481, twenty-one years after the death of Henry. Dias was one of the captains who sailed with the chief engineer of the project and who helped construct this key outpost. The principal explorer of this time, however, was Diogo Cão, who, in two long voyages, sailed as far south as Cape Cross, fifty miles north of Walvis Bay in Namibia. Along the way, and under direction of King John II , Cão erected huge seven-foot limestone markers called padrões, which he mounted on prominent points where they could be seen by passing ships. When Cão died during his final voyage back to Portugal in 1485, preparations were made for the most ambitious voyage yet attempted by Portugal.

Life’s Work

In August, 1487, John commissioned Dias to command another voyage, one of major importance. Secrecy surrounding the expedition was so intense that no official report exists of the voyage. The most up-to-date maps and navigational instruments of the time, as well as the best-equipped and most carefully prepared ships, were used. For the first time, a cargo ship, stocked with food and provisions, accompanied the two sailing ships.

Dias’s principal crew members were all distinguished sailors; Pedro de Alenquer, one of the best-known mariners of the period, was chief pilot of Dias’s ship, the São Cristovão. John Infante, a knight, captained the second ship, the São Pantaleão. Dias’s brother, Pedro, captained the supply ship with the pilot John de Santiago, who had sailed previously with Cão. Also on board, as a junior pilot, was Bartolomé Columbus, younger brother of Christopher Columbus. Along with the sixty crew members of the ships were six African captives, who carried precious metals and spices and were to be put ashore at various places along the coast to trade with the indigenous people and to try everything possible to locate the elusive Prester John. Dias also carried three padrões to mark his progress along the coast.

Dias sailed without serious problems to Mina, the port he had helped establish six years earlier. He restocked his ships and then sailed as far as Port Alexander in Southern Angola, where he landed two of the African captives. Farther south near Cape Cross, Dias anchored the supply ship, and the two remaining ships sailed on, passing Cão’s southermost padrõe on December 1. One week later, the ships anchored in Walvis Bay, where they found protection from huge South Atlantic swells. Villages could be seen nearby with the inhabitants herding cattle and sheep.

Two weeks later, they had sailed as far as Luderitz in southern Namibia, three hundred miles farther than any previous expedition. Because of continued foul weather, they anchored there for five days, while Dias put ashore another African emissary. When the winds became more favorable, they embarked again, only to encounter even more fierce weather. On January 6, 1488, Dias decided to sail into deeper waters, hoping to escape from the horrendous winds that had been battering them for a month. Dias and his crew had not been prepared for such harsh conditions, and they suffered horribly as the icy swells bashed their ships for thirteen days.

Finally, Dias gave the command to sail east in search of land. Yet no land was sighted on the eastern horizon. Dias swung from east to north in search of land, his crew becoming more and more frightened that they would never see land again. Finally, on February 3, land was sighted. Now, however, by their calculations, they were sailing east along the coast instead of south. Stunned and hardly believing the truth, Dias realized that during the thirteen days at sea fighting the storms, he and his crew had accomplished what so many before had attempted but failed to do. He had rounded the southernmost cape of Africa.

The weary mariners landed near Mossel Bay in South Africa and attempted to find provisions but were beaten back by hostile Africans. They sailed to Algoa Bay and at last found refuge. Dias was elated with his achievement and erected his first padrõe. He was eager to continue on even farther and determined now to sail all the way to India. His crew, however, objected strongly. Many had died during the wicked storms and many more were sick. Provisions were nearly gone, and the ships were tattered and badly leaking. Still, Dias wanted to continue, but the crew threatened to mutiny. Dias pleaded with his men, promising them great wealth if they would continue the great expedition. Second-in-command Infante, a knight with an aristocratic heritage and jealous of the low-born Dias, led the opposition.

In the end, Dias was able only to persuade his men to proceed for three more days before turning back. To avoid dishonor, Dias made his officers and principal seamen sign a document that explained what had occurred. As the two ships turned back and passed the padrõe at Algoa Bay, Dias, according to a historian writing twenty years after the voyage, sadly bade farewell to the historic marker, “with as much pain and sentiment as if he were leaving a beloved son in eternal exile.”

Six weeks later in April, they encountered the worst weather of the expedition and were forced to anchor for three weeks in South Africa’s Cape Agulhas, where they overhauled their battered vessels. By the end of May, they were crawling once again along the coast. On June 6, they sighted the southernmost cape, the one they had passed in the terrible February storm. Because of the difficulties they had encountered in reaching this elusive location, Dias named it the Cape of Storms. Later, King John renamed it the Cape of Good Hope because of the promise it offered in the discovery of a sea route to India. Dias erected his second padrõe there and then retraced his course to Luderitz, where he placed the third and last padrõe.

After recovering and then burning his supply ship, Dias crawled up the African coast. He made several stops along the way and at one point rescued the shipwrecked crew of a previous Portuguese expedition. Finally, in December, 1488, after fifteen months and sixteen thousand miles, Dias and his crew sailed into Lisbon.

John was ecstatic. He was also determined to keep the success of the voyage a secret, however, and for the next eight years was able to suppress any information about the voyage as well as all other Portuguese voyages. One witness to Dias’s historic return, the brother of one of the junior pilots, did make a notation in the margin of one of his books.

Note: that in December of this year 1488, Bartolomeu Dias, commandant of three caravels which the king of Portugal had sent out to Guinea to seek out the land, landed in Lisbon. He reported that he had reached a promontory which he called Cape of Good Hope. . . . He had described his voyage and plotted it league by league on a marine chart in order to place it under the eyes of the said king. I was present in all of this.

The chronicler was Christopher Columbus, one of many who benefited from Dias’s monumental achievement.

Significance

In addition to Columbus’s note, only two other contemporary references to Bartolomeu Dias exist. First, he was influential in designing the ships that in July, 1497, carried Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope to India. Second, in March, 1500, less than a year after da Gama’s historic return from India, Dias captained one of thirteen ships under the command of Pedro Álvars Cabral and sailed in search of an alternate route to Asia. The result of this voyage was the exploration of the Brazilian coast of South America. On setting sail from Brazil to Africa, once again in search of the Cape of Good Hope and India, the expedition encountered a ghastly storm in late May, 1500. Four ships were lost with all crewmen. Dias was one of the casualties.

There is no underestimating the importance of Dias’s greatest triumph. He had boldly attained the goal set by Prince Henry the Navigator in the early 1430’s, to prove that there was a route around Africa to India that could be used to skirt the land routes monopolized by the Muslims. During his voyage, he accumulated valuable data that were used by John to plan the voyage that would ultimately result in Vasco da Gama’s reaching India. He not only paved the way to Asia but also inspired Christopher Columbus and later Ferdinand Magellan to seek their own routes to the Indies.

Dias, however, never reached Asia himself. Another chronicler, writing sixty years after Dias’s death, summarized Dias’s achievement: “It may be said that he saw the land of India, but, like Moses and the Promised Land, he did not enter in.” Ultimately, it was Dias, more than anyone before him, who made it possible for Portugal to dominate the Indian Ocean and secure the vast treasures of Asia.

Bibliography

Axelson, Eric, ed. Dias and His Successors. Cape Town, South Africa: Saayman & Weber, 1988. Compendium of primary sources written by Portuguese explorers together with secondary commentaries by three noted scholars. Includes João de Barros’s narrative of Dias’s 1487-1488 voyage, as well as illustrations, maps, a bibliography and an index.

Buehr, Walter. The Portuguese Explorers. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1966. This book for young readers gives a detailed history of Prince Henry the Navigator, who was instrumental in igniting interest and financing the first voyages along the African coast. There is also a chapter on the development of the ships used by the Portuguese explorers and a chronicle of the most influential Portuguese captains with an account of Dias’s voyage.

Hanson, Carl. Atlantic Emporium Portugal and the Wider World, 1147-1497. New Orleans, La.: University Press of the South, 2001. Survey of the Portuguese sphere of influence from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, covering political, economic, and cultural history. Emphasizes Portugal’s contribution to the creation, for the first time, of a global economy, and Dias’s role in making that possible. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index.

Hart, Henry H. Sea Road to the Indies. New York: Macmillan, 1950. Although the majority of the book chronicles the life and achievement of Vasco da Gama, the first part of the book is a detailed account of the Portuguese explorers who preceded him. Chapter 5 is dedicated to Dias and quotes from early Portuguese historians who later pieced together the long-suppressed details of Dias’s voyage. Extensive bibliography of both English and foreign references.

Humble, Richard. The Explorers. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1978. Good overview of the most influential early explorers: Dias, Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan, the latter three all inspired by and benefiting from Dias’s achievement. Excellent early maps, plus illustrations and text on the development of the ships and navigational equipment used for all the major voyages. Dias’s voyage is described in chapter 1, “The First Giant Stride on the Route to India.” Profusely illustrated; contains a selected bibliography.

Parr, Charles McKew. So Noble a Captain. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1953. This biography on the life of Magellan contains a detailed description of Dias’s voyage in chapter 1, plus information on Dias’s influence on John and the building of the ships that da Gama used to sail to India. Extensive bibliography includes books on the history of Portuguese exploration, navigation, and sailing-ship construction.

Prestage, Edgar. The Portuguese Pioneers. New York: Macmillan, 1933. Reprint. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1967. Covers in detail the history of Portuguese exploration from the late fourteenth century to the major expeditions of Dias, da Gama, and Cabral through the early sixteenth century.

Russell, P. E., ed. Portugal, Spain, and the African Atlantic, 1343-1490: Chivalry and Crusade from John of Gaunt to Henry the Navigator. Brookfield, Vt.: Variorum, 1995. Anthology of essays detailing the expansion of Portugal’s exploration and influence across the African Atlantic in search of a route to India. Includes illustrations, maps, bibliographic references, and index.

Winius, George D., ed. Portugal, the Pathfinder: Journeys from the Medieval Toward the Modern World, 1300-ca. 1600. Madison, Wis.: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1995. Anthology of essays in Portuguese exploration, including several on the discovery of the sea route to India and Portugal’s subsequent activities in South Asia. Includes a bibliographic essay by the editor surveying all major sources pertaining to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.