Bartolomeu Dias

Dias's family had a maritime background. One of his ancestors, Dinis Dias e Fernandes, explored the African coast in the 1440s and discovered the Cap-Vert peninsula in today's Senegal in 1445. Tracing his biography is complicated by the existence of several contemporary Portuguese seafarers with the same name. In 1481, Dias accompanied an expedition, led by Diogo de Azambuja, to construct a fortress and trading post called São Jorge da Mina in the Gulf of Guinea. Indirect evidence also points to his possible participation in Diogo Cão's first expedition (1482–1484), down the African coast to the Congo River. ==Voyage around Africa==

'' at the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 In 1486 he seems to have been a cavalier of the king's household and superintendent of the royal warehouses. On 10 October 1486, he received an annuity of 6,000 reis from King John II of Portugal for "services to come". Sometime after this, probably about July or August 1487, rather than July 1486, the traditional date, he left Lisbon with three ships to carry on the work of African exploration so significantly advanced by Diogo Cão. Dias was also charged with searching for Prester John, a legendary figure believed to be the powerful Christian ruler of a realm somewhere beyond Europe, possibly in the African interior. Dias was provided with two caravels of about 50 tons each, São Cristóvão and São Pantaleão, and a square-rigged supply ship captained by his brother Diogo. He recruited some of the leading pilots of the day, including Pero de Alenquer and João de Santiago, who had previously sailed with Cão. Historians have debated whether this happened because they were driven offshore by a storm, or because they were deliberately trying to find more favorable winds. Whatever its cause, the change of course brought them success: the ships traced a broad arc around the tip of Africa. On 4 February 1488, after 30 days on the open ocean, they reached Africa's southern cape and entered what would later become known as Mossel Bay. The Dias expedition had explored a thousand more miles of the African coastline than previous expeditions had reached. It had rounded the southern tip of the continent, and it had demonstrated that the most effective southward ship route lay in the open ocean, well to the west of the African coast - a route that generations of Portuguese sailors would follow. Despite these successes, Dias' reception at court was muted. There were no official proclamations, and, at the time, Dias received little in recognition of his accomplishments. No record has yet been found of any adequate reward for Dias. On the contrary, when the great Indian expedition was being prepared for Vasco da Gama's future leadership, Bartolomeu only superintended the building and outfit of the ships. When the fleet sailed in 1497, he only accompanied da Gama to the Cape Verde Islands, and after this was ordered to São Jorge da Mina. ==Later years and death==

( illustration). Dias was later ennobled for his accomplishments. By 1494, he served as a squire in King John II's court. He also served as superintendent of the royal warehouses from 1494 to 1497. Following Dias's return from his successful first voyage around Africa's southern cape, Portugal took a decade-long break from Indian Ocean exploration. King John was beset by numerous problems, including the death of his only son, a war in Morocco, and his failing health. In 1497, another voyage was commissioned, and Dias was asked to assist. Drawing on his experience with maritime exploration, Dias contributed to the design and construction of the São Gabriel and its sister ship, the São Rafael. These were two ships that Vasco da Gama used to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and continue to India. Dias participated in the first half of da Gama's voyage but stayed behind after reaching the Cape Verde Islands. In 1500, he was one of the captains of the second Indian expedition, headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral. This flotilla was the first to reach Brazil, landing there on 22 April 1500 before continuing east to India. Dias perished in May 1500 when captaining a ship near the Cape of Good Hope: four ships, including Dias's, encountered a massive storm off the cape and were lost on 29 May. ==Personal life==

Dias was married and had two sons, Simão Dias de Novais and António Dias de Novais. His grandson Paulo Dias de Novais became the first governor of Portuguese Angola and, in 1576, the founder of São Paulo de Luanda. == Legacy==

, Western Cape in Mossel Bay. The Portuguese government erected two navigational beacons, Dias Cross and da Gama Cross, to commemorate Dias and Vasco da Gama, who were the first modern European explorers to reach the Cape of Good Hope. When lined up, these crosses point to Whittle Rock, a large, permanently submerged shipping hazard in False Bay. The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex (also spelled "Bartholomeu"), located at Mossel Bay, features an exhibition displaying the history of early European sea voyagers who discovered sea routes. The local history of 19th-century artifacts and 20th-century photographs are also displayed in this building. The building houses a life-size replica of the ship Bartolomeu Dias and his crew used when they landed in Mossel Bay in 1488. ==See also==