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European explorers

European explorers: why they sailed, Dias and Da Gama, their instruments and the consequences. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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At sea

Instrument or wordWhat it does or is
CompassShows direction
AstrolabeWorks out the latitude (how far north or south)
HourglassMeasures time on board
NavigatorPlans the route; sailors learnt to use winds and currents
Ship’s logThe captain’s notes: a primary source
PadrãoA stone pillar topped with a cross, put up by Portuguese explorers to mark places and claim them for Portugal (Dias put one up at Kwaaihoek in 1488)

Sailors got scurvy from a lack of fresh fruit. Portugal kept its sea maps secret so rivals could not use the route. The Post Office Tree at Mossel Bay was used to leave letters for other ships. Christopher Columbus sailed west from Spain in 1492 and reached the Americas.

A caravel at the Cape.
A caravel at the Cape.
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Consequences

1488Bartolomeu Dias lands atMossel Bay and rounds theCape1492Columbus sails west andreaches the Americas1497Vasco da Gama leaves Lisbon1498Da Gama reaches Calicut inIndia1652The Dutch settle at the Cape
Dias 1488, Da Gama 1498, the Dutch 1652.

Indigenous people’s land and way of life were disrupted. We use the word “discover” carefully, because people already lived there.

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Dias and the Khoikhoi, 1488

Dias left Lisbon in 1487. In a storm his ships sailed around the southern tip of Africa without seeing land. In February 1488 they landed at Mossel Bay to get fresh water, and met Khoikhoi herders with their cattle there. Nobody understood the other’s language. When the sailors took water from the spring without asking, the Khoikhoi tried to chase them away, and the meeting ended in a fight.

Dias sailed to near the Great Fish River before his tired crew forced him to turn back. On the way back he saw the Cape and called it the Cape of Storms; the king of Portugal later named it the Cape of Good Hope.

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Why Europe could now explore

ReasonWhat it means
ReligionPortugal wanted to spread the Christian faith to new lands
Trade and profitBuying spices, silk and gold without middlemen
Fame and powerKings wanted to make their countries great and rich
CuriosityPeople wanted to know what lay beyond the lands and seas they knew
Costly land routesSpices came overland through many middlemen: Arab and Venetian merchants, and after 1453 also the Ottoman Turks, who had taken Constantinople. Each one pushed up the price. A sea route around Africa would let Portugal buy directly
New knowledgeMaps, mathematics and astronomy; much of it came from the Arab world, such as the numerals 0 to 9 (first from India) and better astrolabes
InventionsGunpowder and the magnetic compass were invented in China and reached Europe along trade routes
The caravelA small, fast ship; its triangular sail was borrowed from the Arab dhow, so it could sail at an angle into the wind
Rule

The Renaissance brought new ideas, and many of them came from elsewhere.

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Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary
  • Europe wanted a sea route to the East for spices and silk, without middlemen.
  • Portugal was first; Prince Henry the Navigator paid for voyages; they used the caravel.
  • Bartolomeu Dias landed at Mossel Bay in 1488, met Khoikhoi herders and called the Cape the “Cape of Storms”.
  • Vasco da Gama completed the sea route to India.
  • Later, in 1652, the Dutch (VOC) started a refreshment station at the Cape, where passing ships could get fresh water, vegetables and meat. The Portuguese did not settle at the Cape.

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

Dias = Did it first: sailed round the Cape (1488). Gama = Got to India (1498).

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

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