He thought that if he could secure a sea route to Asia, he could become rich by trading spices in Europe.īy this time, an explorer named Bartolomeu Dias had discovered the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost tip of Africa. So instead, King Manuel wanted to find a way to get to India by sea, a method of travel that was much cheaper. At the time, the only way to travel to India from Europe was over land, which took a long time, and was very expensive. This was because spices from India were very popular in Europe. Later, in 1495, under the rule of King Manuel, a previously abandoned project was revived: to send a Portuguese fleet to India in order to open a sea route to Asia. Little is known of his younger years, but as a young adult, he began working for the Crown, gaining favour by accomplishing his tasks quickly and effectively. He was the third son of a minor provincial nobleman who was the commander of the fortress of Sines on the coast of Alentejo province in south-western Portugal. Vasco da Gama was born in Sines, Portugal in 1460. One such explorer was Vasco da Gama, who led the first expedition that travelled from Europe to India by sailing around Africa. However, as many of the existing sea routes were controlled by other countries, Explorers from European nations had to find their own sea routes in order to access lands in other continents, like Asia. This led to the race to explore new lands through sea routes. During this time, European nations began to compete with each other over wealth and land.
In the 1400s and 1500s, Europe was swept up in a cultural and scientific revolution called the Renaissance.
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