![]() In August 1487, Dias' trio of ships departed from the port of Lisbon, Portugal. João also wanted to find a way around the southernmost point of Africa's coastline, so just a few months after dispatching the overland explorers, he sponsored Dias in an African expedition. ![]() João sent out a pair of explorers, Afonso de Paiva and Pêro da Covilhã, to search overland for the Christian kingdom in Ethiopia. João was entranced by the legend of Prester John, a mysterious and probably apocryphal 12th-century leader of a nation of Christians somewhere in Africa. Dias was probably in his mid- to late 30s in 1486 when João appointed him to head an expedition in search of a sea route to India. He likely had much more sailing experience than his one recorded stint aboard the warship São Cristóvão. Early Life and African ExpeditionĪlmost nothing is known about the life of Bartolomeu de Novaes Dias before 1487, except that he was at the court of João II, king of Portugal (1455-1495), and was a superintendent of the royal warehouses. Dias was lost at sea during another expedition around the Cape in 1500. The Portuguese (possibly Dias himself) named this point of land the Cape of Good Hope. Dias departed circa August 1487, rounding the southernmost tip of Africa in January 1488. Born in 1450, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was sent by Portuguese King John II to explore the coast of Africa and find a way to the Indian Ocean.
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