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😉 Hello history, geography and travel lovers! In the article “Great navigators and their discoveries” information about the geographical discoveries of the period XV-XVIII centuries.
Great geographical discoveries cover the period from the beginning of the 1492th century. until the XNUMXth century, when European ships travel the world in search of new trade routes. The understanding that the world is in general accessibility appears after the discovery of the New World (XNUMX).
Previously, the historical scene of the Old World (Eurasia) existed almost unchanged. The trend towards exploration leads to the discovery of previously unknown lands. The most famous travelers of this period are without doubt the Spaniards, Portuguese and Genoese.
Great geographical discoveries
Marco Polo (1254-1324)
Marco Polo is a famous Venetian traveler. In 1271-1275. made a trip to China and in 1292-1295. returned by sea to Italy. He described this journey in his “Book on the diversity of the world.” This book had a significant impact on navigators, cartographers, writers of the XIV-XVI centuries.
Marco Polo’s book was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India; Columbus made 70 notes on it.
1445 year
The Portuguese discovered Cape Verde. It was Dinish Dias’ expedition. The cape was named “Green” because many palm trees grew here along the entire coast. This is one of the events that caused new geographical discoveries and the Portuguese expansion of the seas of the world.
1471-1473 years.
In West Africa, in the Gold Coast (Guinea), the Portuguese built a strong military fort.
1487-1488 years.
Portuguese sailor and discoverer Bartolomeu Dias (1450 – 1500) explores the southwest coast of Africa. The first European to circumnavigate the continent from the south. Opened m. Good Hope.
Christopher Columbus
1492-1504 years.
Christopher Columbus, a Spanish sailor and traveler, travels to India and finds one of the islands of the Bahamas in the Caribbean – Guanacani (called San Salvador). Soon Columbus discovered the nearby large islands – Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti).
Christopher Columbus, 1451-1506
During his next voyages (the second 1493 – 1496, the third – 1498 – 1500, and the fourth – 1502 – 1504) he reached the shores of Central and South America (up to the Orinoco River). Towards the end of his life, Columbus was convinced that he had discovered India and reached the shores of East Asia.
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci. Lived: 1454-1512.
Florentine traveler after whom America was named. Sailing to the shores of Brazil and the West Indies in 1501-1502, he proved that these territories are not eastern the outskirts of Asia, but a separate continent, described as the “New World”. Was familiar with Christopher Columbus.
November 1494, XNUMX
The contract between Spain and Portugal, concluded in Tordesillas (Spain), separates the spheres of colonial expansion of the two countries. The border passes through both poles and crosses the Atlantic Ocean 370 leagues (2053 km) from the Cape Verde Islands. To the west of this line, the land belongs to Spain and to the east – to Portugal.
By virtue of the treaty, almost all of America (excluding Brazil) remains in the Spanish sphere. The contract was canceled in 1777 in San Ildefonso (Spain).
1497-1498 years.
Genoese Giovanni Caboto was an Italian and French navigator and merchant in the English service, who first explored the coast of Canada. He made two expeditions to find a way to India. In the first (1497) he reached Cape Breton off the coast of Nova Scotia (Canada). In the second (1498) – he arrived in Labrador.
Vasco da Gama
1497-1498 years.
The Portuguese traveler Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route from Europe to India. At the head of a small fleet of four ships, he leaves Lisbon for India. Reaches the western coast of India and disembarks at the port of Calicut (May 1498). In August 1499 the expedition returned with a cargo of gold and Indian spices.
1505-1515 years.
Portuguese admirals Francisco de Almeida (the first Portuguese governor in India) and Alfonso d’Albuquerque conquered part of the western and eastern coasts of India and the island of Malacca. Goa (north of Calicut) becomes the capital residence of the Portuguese governor.
November 1529, XNUMX
The treaty between Spain and Portugal, concluded in the city of Zaragoza, defining the spheres of colonial possessions in the Eastern Hemisphere. It supplements the Treaty of 1491. The King of Spain renounced his claims to the Moluccas. The demarcation line has been moved 17 ° east of the islands.
1532-1535 years.
The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (1470-75-1541) conquered Peru, taking advantage of the strife in the Inca Empire. The victors destroy the culture of the Incas, destroy their cities, plunder the treasures accumulated over the centuries.
1534-1535 years.
Jacques Cartier, a Breton navigator, initiated the French colonization of North America, reaching Canada.
November 1535, XNUMX
The Spaniard Thomas de Berlanga discovers the Galapagos Islands by crossing the Pacific Ocean.
1536-1538 years.
The Spanish conquered Chile and new Grenada (Colombia).
November 1542, XNUMX
The Portuguese arrived in Japan.
November 1568, XNUMX
Spanish sailors of Sarmiento. Mendanha and Gallego were discovered by the Solomon Islands (Pacific Ocean).
1577-1580 years.
English sailor Francis Drake (1540-1596) travels westward for the second time after Magellan. Along the way, he creates Spanish ports along the coasts of Chile, Peru and Mexico.
Willem Barents
1594-1597 years.
Dutch sailor Willem Barentsz explores what would later be called the Barents Sea. The island of Novaya Zemlya opens, as a result of the search for a northern route to China and India.
November 1595, XNUMX
Spanish sailor Alvaro Mendanha discovers Santa Cruz.
November 1606, XNUMX
The Spanish explorer Luis de Torres discovered, later named after him, the strait separating Australia from New Guinea.
Dutchman W. Janson left during an expedition to the northern coast of Australia.
Henry Hudson
November 1610, XNUMX
English sailor Hudson (Henry Hudson) discovers a strait and bay in North America. Later the strait will be named after him.
November 1616, XNUMX
The Dutch reach Cape Horn.
1642-1643 years.
Dutchman Abel Janszon Tasman discovered the island named after him – Tasmania. The Tasman Expedition is essential for exploring the Australian coastline and confirms that Australia is a continent of its own.
British explorers reached Australia much later (on one of Captain Cook’s voyages in 1770).
James Cook, 1728-1779
November 1648, XNUMX
Russian sailors F. Alekseev-Popov and S. Deinos discovered the strait between Asia and North America (Bering Strait).
November 1668, XNUMX
The Spanish captured the Marshall Islands.
1668-1695 years.
The Spaniards took over the Mariana Islands.
November 1686, XNUMX
The Spaniards took over the Carolina Islands.
1721-1722 years.
Dutch navigator J. Roggen discovered the islands of Samoa and Easter.
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