Great discoveries. Columbus. Vasco da Gama. Magellan. Valery A. Subbotin
Introduction
Introduction
Geographical discoveries of the 15th – 16th centuries. were committed in a short time. Only three decades lie between the first voyage of Columbus and the end of the circumnavigation begun by Magellan. Such a short period of time was marked for the Europeans by a revolution in their geographical representations, which since then included many newly discovered countries of the Old and New Worlds. But it took a lot of preparation to expand knowledge quickly. Europe has sent travelers by land and sea to the countries of the East and America since ancient times. There is evidence of such travels dating back to ancient times. In the Middle Ages, new knowledge came from sailors who went to the Arctic Circle, pilgrims heading to Palestine, merchants who mastered the "silk road" to China.
Judging by the data of geology, archeology, ethnography, intercontinental contacts of different times differed from each other in duration and intensity. Sometimes it was about mass migrations, about significant mutual enrichment, for example, thanks to the spread of domesticated plants and domestic animals. The proximity of Europe and Asia has always facilitated their ties. They are reliably confirmed by many archaeological monuments, testimonies of ancient authors, and linguistic data. In particular, most of the languages \ u200b \ u200bof Europe and many Asian languages go back to the common Indo-European basis, others to the Finno-Ugric and Turkic.
America was inhabited by immigrants from Asia many millennia BC. NS. Archaeological research is pushing the first waves of immigrants further into the depths of the centuries, and geologists believe that Alaska may have been once connected by an isthmus with Chukotka, from where people of the Mongoloid race went to the east. On the west coast of South and North America, archaeologists have found objects of presumably Japanese and Chinese origin. Even if their Asiatic origin were indisputable, they could only testify to the episodic contacts of East Asia with America, already inhabited by Indians. The sailors - Japanese or Chinese - could be carried eastward by typhoons. Regardless of whether they returned to their homeland or not, their influence on the culture of the Indians could not be traced. At the same time, a connection was established between the cultures of Polynesia and South America. Polynesia has grown and continues to grow yam, a sweet potato native to the South American Andes. In the Pacific Ocean, as well as in Peru and Bolivia, the sweet potato has one name - kumar. The ability of the Indonesians as navigators is evidenced by the fact that they settled in the distant past (at least in the 1st millennium AD) Madagascar. Malagasy speak one of the Indonesian languages. The physical appearance of the inhabitants of the central part of the island and their material culture indicate that they came from the islands of Southeast Asia through the Indian Ocean.
About the voyage of the Phoenicians around Africa around 600 BC NS. reported Herodotus. According to the Greek historian, the sailors, fulfilling the assignment of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, “left the Red Sea and then sailed along the South Sea. In the fall, they landed on the shore ... Two years later, on the third, the Phoenicians rounded the Pillars of Hercules and arrived in Egypt. According to their stories (I don’t believe this, let whoever wants to believe it), while sailing around Libya, the sun turned out to be on their right side ”. Herodotus' disbelief in the circumstances of the voyage around Libya, that is, Africa, concerns the essence of the matter. Indeed, in case the Phoenicians were south of the equator, sailing west, the sun should have been on their right.
The ancient world knew a number of regions of Asia, perhaps no worse than medieval travelers. During the time of Alexander the Great, the Greek phalanxes passed through Persia and Central Asia, Egypt and Northern India. The Carthaginians, immigrants from the Middle East, invaded Europe from Africa. Rome extended its rule to North Africa, Asia Minor and Syria. In the Middle Ages, Asian states invaded Europe more than once, and Europeans invaded Asia. The Arabs captured almost the entire Iberian Peninsula, and the European knights-crusaders fought in Palestine.
In the XIII century. under the rule of the Mongol conquerors were territories stretching from China to Asia Minor. The Pope was looking for contacts with the Mongols, hoping to baptize them, more than once sent embassies deep into Asia. European merchants traveled to the East by land, including Marco Polo, who spent a number of years in China and returned to Europe via the Indian Ocean. The sea route was long, and therefore European merchants preferred to get to China through the Crimea and the Golden Horde or through Persia. These were two branches of the "Silk Road", along which Chinese goods even BC. NS. reached Central Asia and the Middle East. Both branches were relatively safe, but nevertheless, merchants traveling through the Horde were advised to travel in caravans, which would number at least 60 people. "First of all," advised the Florentine FB Pegolotti, "you should let go of your beard and not shave." Presumably, the beard gave merchants the appearance that was appreciated in Asian countries.
Ancient authors wrote about connections with a number of countries of the East, but did not say anything, except for the legend about Atlantis, about the travels of Europeans to the West further than the meridian of the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, there were such trips. In the middle of the 18th century. on the island of Corvo (Azores), a treasure of Carthaginian coins was found, the authenticity of which was certified by famous numismatists. In the XX century. Roman coins were found on the Atlantic coast of Venezuela. In several regions of Mexico, during excavations, antique figurines were found, including one of Venus. When studying the frescoes of Pompeii and Herculaneum, images of plants of purely American origin were found, including pineapple.
Not without, however, literary fantasies, honest delusions, and sometimes deception. Plato's story of Atlantis inspired the philosopher F. Bacon (novel "New Atlantis"), such writers as G. Hauptmann and A. Conan-Doyle. Many times, somewhere in the USA or Brazil, stones were found with "truly Phoenician" inscriptions, pieces of rusty metal, which were mistaken for the remains of antique items, etc.
In medieval Europe, as in the rest of the world, where there was no authentic data, legends appeared. In the X century. was created an adventure story about the sea voyages of St. Brendan, who lived four hundred years earlier. An Irish saint went to the Atlantic Ocean in search of the Promised Land. He found her somewhere in the west at the equator. True, it turned out that there were devils, and, as you know, it is not easy to fight the enemy of the human race.
Vikings, immigrants from Norway, about 870 sailed to Iceland, where only Irish hermits lived before them. The history of the Icelandic Norman colony has come down to us largely thanks to the sagas, oral semi-literary narratives, recorded mainly in the 13th century. and published by the Danish philologist K.H. Rafnom in the middle of the 19th century. The sagas talked about the enmity between powerful Viking families who settled in Iceland, about how one of their leaders, Eric the Red, was expelled from the island for murder. With a group of his followers, he traveled further west in 982, where even earlier the Normans had discovered another large island, Greenland.
Eric's son, Leif Erickson, according to the same sagas, baptized the Greenland colony around 1000 AD, built churches there and tried to spread influence to the west and southwest. It is not known exactly where Leif visited. Sagi, the only source, speaks of various discoveries made by Eric's son. Either it was Stone-Tiled Land, now Lesistaya, now Grape (a rather controversial translation; Vinland - possibly Meadow Land, from the Scandinavian "wines" - "meadow"). It is possible that Stony Tiled Land was Labrador, and Woodland was Newfoundland or the Nova Scotia Peninsula. As for Vinland, absolutely nothing can be said about its location. Of course, there were authors willing to place it anywhere, from the Canadian border to the Potomac River, on which Washington stands.
The Norman discoveries in the New World were soon abandoned. Colonists from Greenland went to Vinland more than once, but only for hunting and for timber. About 1015 two parties of fishermen went there; in one of them was Freydis, Leif's sister. She was probably born into a father exiled from Iceland for murder. Freydis persuaded her people to seize the neighbors' ship and kill them all. She herself hacked to death with an ax five women accompanying the fishermen. Travel to Vinland soon ceased, as the Normans did not get along with the locals, apparently Indians.
European settlements in Greenland turned out to be more viable, although they also withered over time. In the XIII-XIV centuries. they still held out, selling seal skins and walrus tusks to Europe. Then the trade came to naught. The colonists were attacked several times by the Eskimos. In the 15th century, when a cold snap began in Greenland, the European population died out. Few fishermen who approached the island during the period of great geographical discoveries saw feral livestock on the coastal meadows, but did not meet people.
Geographical discoveries of the 15th – 16th centuries. were a consequence of the successful development of Western Europe. Changes in the economy and society, scientific achievements, colonial conquests and geographical discoveries were links in the same chain. Sea discoveries, it would seem, can be explained by just two conditions: successes in shipbuilding and weapons. But these successes did not come by themselves, and they would not have had an effect without the development of science. Mathematics, astronomy, cartography provided navigation beyond sight of the coast. And for armament, progress was required in the extraction and processing of metals, in the study of explosives and ballistics.
The superiority of Europe over the countries of the New World was obvious; the cultural gap was too great to be doubted. Most likely for this reason, the Spaniards, having discovered the Maya and Aztec cyclopean buildings in America, were ready to believe that they had found structures of other peoples, perhaps aliens from the Middle East. The question of the superiority of the West over the Asian countries with their centuries-old civilization was different. Moreover, the sea voyages themselves were prepared by experience that belonged not only to Europe. This experience, in particular, consisted of knowledge - in astronomy, navigation by compass, etc. - obtained from Asia. The military superiority of the West over the eastern countries also did not always look indisputable. The time of sea discoveries was marked, on the one hand, by the end of the reconquista, the capture of the Spaniards and Portuguese in the Old and New Worlds. On the other hand, during the same period, the Ottoman Empire subdued the Balkans, including the eastern coast of the Adriatic. At the end of the 15th century. the Turks devastated the approaches to Venice, and at the beginning of the 16th century. approached Vienna.
Nevertheless, the conquests of Europeans in the Old and New Worlds turned out to be broader and deeper in consequences than the successes of the Turks in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean. The West discovered the countries of the East, and they did not discover the West. The lagging behind of the East was expressed in the fact that it could not tug the scales in its favor either in the economy, or in the social order, or in military affairs.
This lag was given various explanations of a geographical and historical nature. It was noted that in the East, the developed regions were far from each other, their connections were limited, which prevented the enrichment of local cultures. In Asia, according to some researchers, the state played an increased role, constraining the initiative of its subjects. Perhaps those who were not looking for an unambiguous answer to the question of the lagging behind of the East were right, they were trying to find a set of reasons that determined the predominance of the West.
Europe juts out like a wedge into the oceans. The base of the wedge passes through the Urals and the Caspian Sea, its tip is the Iberian Peninsula. The closer to the Urals, the farther from the warm seas. In contrast to the coastal parts, the hinterland regions of Europe have less choice of means of transportation. In the past, their inhabitants could communicate with each other and with the outside world only by land and river routes. And regions with a long ice-free sea coast could successfully develop external relations. These were, in particular, the peninsular and island countries: Greece, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, England.
Semi-deserts, steppes, deep forests of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe were not inferior, if not superior, in size to the fertile and densely populated territories of China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. In vast areas, including Mongolia, Arabia, etc., there were favorable opportunities for nomadic life and hunting, and much less favorable for agriculture, for economic diversity, providing the best conditions for production and social progress. With the growth of the population, especially when there was abundant herbage on the pastures for a long time, the expansion of the nomads became widespread. The raids of nomads on sedentary neighbors meant for those not only the arrival of conquerors who established their dynasties and then assimilated. Nomads expanded their territories for their pastures, reproduced their usual way of life in new places. And this led to the desolation of the conquered countries, the decline of irrigation systems, the impoverishment of crops. Those who could hid behind the Chinese wall (Yellow River basin), used the island position (Japan), isolating their countries from both destructive contacts and desirable connections with the outside world.
The economic difficulties in the development of the East were matched by the backwardness of social conditions and ideology. In India, people from the lower strata found it difficult to improve their social status, change their occupation. The estate division was supplemented by caste, fixed for centuries, consecrated by religion. In Muslim countries, the political and spiritual leader was usually one and the same person, which increased the arbitrariness of the nobility, consolidated the dependence of the bulk of the population. The domination of the Muslim clergy in the East reduced the opportunities for secular education, led to the supremacy of religious norms in the field of law, and the degraded position of women even more than in the West reduced the intellectual potential of society.
Differences between the top and bottom in Europe were no less than in the East. On plantations near the Mediterranean Sea, slaves sometimes worked, wealthy families kept slaves and slaves as domestic servants. But the bulk of the peasants were personally free, they were associated with lords, most often, lease relations. Cities and individual districts received the rights of self-government, their taxes in favor of the state, secular nobility and the church were recorded. In a number of states, the search for escaped slaves was prohibited. The peasants who had the right to leave the lords, urban people who independently chose a profession - craft or trade - such was the majority of Western European society.
As already mentioned, geographical discoveries were inseparable from the economic, scientific, military-technical superiority of the Western countries. At the same time, none of the travels of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan aimed at abstract scientific discoveries. The tasks of the discoverers acquired a scientific coloring only to the extent that it corresponded to the expansionist policy of Spain and Portugal, long-range reconnaissance in future colonies. It was necessary to put under European control those countries where prices for gold and jewelry were low, while in the West there was a shortage of means of payment for expensive eastern goods. After the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire held in its hands the most convenient routes from the Mediterranean to the interior of Asia. High duties in ports that fell under the rule of the Turks forced to look for new lines of communication capable of providing access to the countries of South and Southeast Asia, the Far East.
It was, in particular, about access to areas of production of spices, which were especially appreciated in the Middle Ages as a seasoning for perishable food. In addition, Europe imported incense, pearls, precious stones from the East, for which it paid with metals, metal products, bread, timber and slaves (they were bought or captured in Africa, the Black Sea countries). The demand for slaves increased when cotton was grown on plantations in southern Europe and the Mediterranean islands, and sugarcane was grown on the Atlantic islands (Madeira, Canary Islands). Slaves were increasingly sought in Tropical Africa, as the Middle East trade declined, and the Turks turned the Black Sea into their lake, where shipping began to play an extremely limited role. Trade in the Black Sea fell into such a decline that after Russia reopened it, there were no maps or pilots. The first time I had to swim only from mid-May to mid-August, when bad weather was unlikely.
Europe owed its successes both to itself and. external borrowing. One conditioned the other, and without its own progress, Europe would not be receptive to the achievements of other continents.
Advances in agriculture include improvements in horse harness, which have expanded the use of the tax. An antique neck tape tightened the windpipe of a horse, and a collar, which apparently came from China and spread from the 10th century. n. e., did not interfere with breathing, leaning on the base of the shoulder blades. Significant changes have taken place in field cultivation and animal husbandry. The Dutch mastered polders - drained areas protected by dams from flooding. Their thoroughbred dairy cattle are depicted on the canvases of masters of landscape painting. In Spain, there was a growing livestock of merino sheep - fine-fleeced sheep brought in by the Moors. Rice has appeared among food crops. The production of citrus fruits increased, which came to Europe through the Middle East in the 1st millennium AD. NS. (orange - only in the 15th century) and began to serve as an antiscorbutic agent during sea voyages. The rotation of agricultural crops, especially vegetables, has become very important.
Crafts and trade were transformed. In mining, they began to use a horse drive and a water wheel to lift ore; drainage devices appeared, which made it possible to increase the depth of the mines. In the XIV century. the two-phase production of iron and steel began - blast furnace and processing, - in principle the same as that existed in the XX century. The specialization of artisans made it possible to significantly increase the production of woolen fabrics. The energy of water and wind has become widely used. Watermills, known since Roman times, were previously poorly distributed, since the muscles of slaves were cheaper. But now in agriculture the peasant has become the main figure with his allotment and instruments of labor. Watermills were more common, as were windmills borrowed from the Middle East around the 12th century. Mills were used in blacksmithing, felting cloth, grinding flour, sawing logs. The marine industry expanded (fishing and hunting for sea animals), trade grew, and shipbuilding developed. Northern Europe supplied the South with furs, timber and hemp, and received woolen goods and wine in return.
The Renaissance was marked by the achievements of science and culture. I. Gutenberg, Leonardo da Vinci, N. Copernicus were contemporaries of the great geographical discoveries. Long-distance travel was helped by the development of cartography, mathematics and astronomy, that is, the sciences related to navigation.
Sailors in European waters knew well the configuration of the coast, near which they sailed, well oriented by the stars. This was usually enough to get by without maps and navigation tools. But over time, sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes out of sight of the coast, demanded to improve the methods of navigation. At the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. began to use compasses, a little later - navigation maps with detailed instructions about ports (portolans), details of the coastline.
Much has been done to improve navigation in the countries of the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Castilian king Alfonso X (XIII century), the texts that accompanied the tables of the movement of the heavenly bodies were translated from the Hebrew and Arabic languages. Later, these tables were lost, but new ones appeared. Columbus used those compiled by Regiomontanus (I. Müller), a German mathematician and astronomer of the 15th century. A famous cartographer in the same century was Abraham Crescas, a Majorcan Jew who served at the Spanish court. The son of Abraham, Yaguda Crescas, collaborated with the Portuguese sailors, led by Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), son of João.
Prince Henry settled in the south of Portugal in Sagres, near Lagos, famous for its shipyards. Sagrish has become a kind of overseas travel center. By order of the prince, the captains, returning from distant wanderings, handed over their maps and logbooks here for general information. New expeditions were prepared on the basis of these materials. The navigation documentation was kept secret. But how could such a secret be kept for a long time? Goods brought from overseas had to be sold, and not only in Lisbon, but also in London and Antwerp. They were ready to pay for goods, for useful information, and for cards hidden somewhere in their bosom.
Noticeable changes took place in shipbuilding; there were new steering devices, new equipment. Archaeologists rarely find the remains of ships of those times on the seabed. But these ships can be seen on old drawings, coats of arms and seals, sometimes quite clearly. By 1180, the image of one ship with a rudder of a modern type is attributed, that is, hung on the sternpost - the stern part of the keel. In earlier periods, it seems that only steering oars were used, one or two placed at the stern. There are suggestions that the Normans took the lead in installing new steering devices that improved control. Ships with two or more masts began to spread. For the effective use of the wind, to go steeply to it, to maneuver, bulini began to be used - cables that regulate the tension of the sail, changing its geometry.
Since antiquity, maneuverable ships with an elongated hull were used for military operations, which made it possible to place a large number of rowers along the sides. Merchant ships with bulky cargo holds were rounded. During the Middle Ages, both types of ships persisted, but the importance of long battleships declined. Previously, their rowers, when entering the battle, took up arms, turned into soldiers. Now so many soldiers were not required, the fighting efficiency of the fleet grew due to weapons, primarily artillery. In the XV century. common types of ships had a ratio between length and width of 3: 1. These were rather large ships for those times, one hundred or more tons of displacement, round, with high sides and a small draft. The Italians simply called them nave (ships), the Spaniards - nao, the Portuguese - nau. Smaller ships were called caravels.
Artillery appeared in Europe in the 12th century, when the Arabs used it in battles with the Spaniards. The British are known to have used artillery at the start of the Hundred Years War at Crécy. True, they had only a few guns, and the battle was won primarily by their excellent archers.
According to some historians, the appearance of artillery did away with chivalry, which could not oppose anything to cannon fire. And together with chivalry, the Middle Ages have gone into the past, a new time has come. But is it? Can it be argued that medieval castles collapsed only under the cannonballs of siege weapons, burying the feudal system under their rubble? It may be more appropriate to say that these walls fell into decay without the help of artillery, simply because there was no one to fix them. And their owners turned out to be bankrupt, who were not able to maintain servants, pay debts to merchants and usurers. Of course, the monarchs were not averse to getting rid of restless barons and other noble persons, who now and then grabbed their swords. But the easiest way was to send them all somewhere on crusades, to conquer distant lands, and there the Saracens had to take care that the knights did not return home.
Cannons on European ships appeared in the 14th century, first among the Genoese and Venetians, then among the Spaniards, etc. Back at the end of the 14th century. the guns fired stone cannonballs, and it was enough to put an inclined blanket on the side of the ship for the cannonballs to fall into the sea. And in the middle of the XV century. artillery hit the target with heavy metal cannonballs a hundred meters away.
By the end of the 15th century. European ships were ready to sail much further than before. Their driving performance and armament gave an advantage over future opponents. Information was collected on the sailing conditions in the equatorial waters of the Atlantic, and prospects for penetration into the countries of South Asia opened up. Yet long journeys were fraught with dangers. The Indian Ocean was not surveyed, the Europeans did not suspect the existence of the Pacific. It took the courage, will and experience of sailors such as Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan to turn Europe's capabilities into reality.
The book offered to the reader has different goals. Perhaps it will not be devoid of interest for those who want to use self-education as a means of seeing the world from different points of view. But, first of all, the book is intended for students who study history, and - to a lesser extent - for those who study the history of culture, the interaction of different cultures.
Of course, the geographical discoveries were contradictory in their consequences, since they were followed by colonization, the subordination of some peoples to others. For backward peoples, geographical discoveries led, on the one hand, to cultural borrowing, on the other, to the rejection of their own civilization. These peoples were both enriched by the experience brought in from the outside, and impoverished (if not destroyed) due to the wars that accompanied the colonization. The history of geographical discoveries associated with the origins of colonization helps to better understand the historical process in general, helps to answer the question of why the developed West today, like 500 years ago, is still ahead of most of the countries of the East.
The reader will not find in this book the history of travelers, immigrants from the East - Arabs, Chinese, etc. - the predecessors and contemporaries of Columbus. These travelers included Ibn Fadlan, Ibn Battuta, Zheng He. The bibliography (to the section on literature), placed at the end of the book, will help the reader wishing to expand his knowledge. There you can find information about the authors, including Russian-speaking, who have dedicated their works to both Western and Eastern travelers.
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Annotation
Geographical discoveries of the 15th – 16th centuries. changed the Europeans' perception of the globe. Contacts were established with unknown or little-known civilizations, an impetus was given to the development of science, shipbuilding and trade, and colonial empires began to take shape. The life of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan is a part of world history, interest in which never fades away.
V. A. Subbotin
Introduction
Vasco da Gama
Magellan
Literature
V. A. Subbotin
Great discoveries
Columbus
Vasco da Gama
Magellan
University of the Russian Academy of Education
Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Introduction
Geographical discoveries of the 15th – 16th centuries. were committed in a short time. Only three decades lie between the first voyage of Columbus and the end of the circumnavigation begun by Magellan. Such a short period of time was marked for the Europeans by a revolution in their geographical representations, which since then included many newly discovered countries of the Old and New Worlds. But it took a lot of preparation to expand knowledge quickly. Europe has sent travelers by land and sea to the countries of the East and America since ancient times. There is evidence of such travels dating back to ancient times. In the Middle Ages, new knowledge came from sailors who went to the Arctic Circle, pilgrims heading to Palestine, merchants who mastered the "silk road" to China.
Judging by the data of geology, archeology, ethnography, intercontinental contacts of different times differed from each other in duration and intensity. Sometimes it was about mass migrations, about significant mutual enrichment, for example, thanks to the spread of domesticated plants and domestic animals. The proximity of Europe and Asia has always facilitated their ties. They are reliably confirmed by many archaeological monuments, testimonies of ancient authors, and linguistic data. In particular, most of the languages \ u200b \ u200bof Europe and many Asian languages go back to the common Indo-European basis, others to the Finno-Ugric and Turkic.
America was inhabited by immigrants from Asia many millennia BC. NS. Archaeological research is pushing the first waves of immigrants further into the depths of the centuries, and geologists believe that Alaska may have been once connected by an isthmus with Chukotka, from where people of the Mongoloid race went to the east. On the west coast of South and North America, archaeologists have found objects of presumably Japanese and Chinese origin. Even if their Asiatic origin were indisputable, they could only testify to the episodic contacts of East Asia with America, already inhabited by Indians. The sailors - Japanese or Chinese - could be carried eastward by typhoons. Regardless of whether they returned to their homeland or not, their influence on the culture of the Indians could not be traced. At the same time, a connection was established between the cultures of Polynesia and South America. Polynesia has grown and continues to grow yam, a sweet potato native to the South American Andes. In the Pacific Ocean, as well as in Peru and Bolivia, the sweet potato has one name - kumar. The ability of the Indonesians as navigators is evidenced by the fact that they settled in the distant past (at least in the 1st millennium AD) Madagascar. Malagasy speak one of the Indonesian languages. The physical appearance of the inhabitants of the central part of the island and their material culture indicate that they came from the islands of Southeast Asia through the Indian Ocean.
About the voyage of the Phoenicians around Africa around 600 BC NS. reported Herodotus. According to the Greek historian, the sailors, fulfilling the assignment of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, “left the Red Sea and then sailed along the South Sea. In the fall, they landed on the shore ... Two years later, on the third, the Phoenicians rounded the Pillars of Hercules and arrived in Egypt. According to their stories (I don’t believe this, let whoever wants to believe it), while sailing around Libya, the sun turned out to be on their right side ”. Herodotus' disbelief in the circumstances of the voyage around Libya, that is, Africa, concerns the essence of the matter. Indeed, in case the Phoenicians were south of the equator, sailing west, the sun should have been on their right.
The ancient world knew a number of regions of Asia, perhaps no worse than medieval travelers. During the time of Alexander the Great, the Greek phalanxes passed through Persia and Central Asia, Egypt and Northern India. The Carthaginians, immigrants from the Middle East, invaded Europe from Africa. Rome extended its rule to North Africa, Asia Minor and Syria. In the Middle Ages, Asian states invaded Europe more than once, and Europeans invaded Asia. The Arabs captured almost the entire Iberian Peninsula, and the European knights-crusaders fought in Palestine.
In the XIII century. under the rule of the Mongol conquerors were territories stretching from China to Asia Minor. The Pope was looking for contacts with the Mongols, hoping to baptize them, more than once sent embassies deep into Asia. European merchants traveled to the East by land, including Marco Polo, who spent a number of years in China and returned to Europe via the Indian Ocean. The sea route was long, and therefore European merchants preferred to get to China through the Crimea and the Golden Horde or through Persia. These were two branches of the "Silk Road", along which Chinese goods even BC. NS. reached Central Asia and the Middle East. Both branches were relatively safe, but nevertheless, merchants traveling through the Horde were advised to travel in caravans, which would number at least 60 people. "First of all," advised the Florentine FB Pegolotti, "you should let go of your beard and not shave." Presumably, the beard gave merchants the appearance that was appreciated in Asian countries.
Ancient authors wrote about connections with a number of countries of the East, but did not say anything, except for the legend about Atlantis, about the travels of Europeans to the West further than the meridian of the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, there were such trips. In the middle of the 18th century. on the island of Corvo (Azores), a treasure of Carthaginian coins was found, the authenticity of which was certified by famous numismatists. In the XX century. Roman coins were found on the Atlantic coast of Venezuela. In several regions of Mexico, during excavations, antique figurines were found, including one of Venus. When studying the frescoes of Pompeii and Herculaneum, images of plants of purely American origin were found, including pineapple.
Not without, however, literary fantasies, honest delusions, and sometimes deception. Plato's story of Atlantis inspired the philosopher F. Bacon (novel "New Atlantis"), such writers as G. Hauptmann and A. Conan-Doyle. Many times, somewhere in the USA or Brazil, stones were found with "truly Phoenician" inscriptions, pieces of rusty metal, which were mistaken for the remains of antique items, etc.
In medieval Europe, as in the rest of the world, where there was no authentic data, legends appeared. In the X century. was created an adventure story about the sea voyages of St. Brendan, who lived four hundred years earlier. An Irish saint went to the Atlantic Ocean in search of the Promised Land. He found her somewhere in the west at the equator. True, it turned out that there were devils, and, as you know, it is not easy to fight the enemy of the human race.
Vikings, immigrants from Norway, about 870 sailed to Iceland, where only Irish hermits lived before them. The history of the Icelandic Norman colony has come down to us largely thanks to the sagas, oral semi-literary narratives, recorded mainly in the 13th century. and published by the Danish philologist K.H. Rafnom in the middle of the 19th century. The sagas talked about the enmity between powerful Viking families who settled in Iceland, about how one of their leaders, Eric the Red, was expelled from the island for murder. With a group of his followers, he traveled further west in 982, where even earlier the Normans had discovered another large island, Greenland.
Eric's son, Leif Erickson, according to the same sagas, baptized the Greenland colony around 1000, built churches there and tried to spread influence to the west and south ...
The bravest of the brave are the people who sailed in the uncharted waters of the world's oceans in search of new lands. Great travelers were people from Portugal, Italy, Spain and England on their incredibly daring sea voyages. Here are some of the discoverers of new worlds and new peoples who have explored the planet with the wind in sails, in pursuit of wealth.
Magellan led the first round the world expedition, crossing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. A feat that was considered impossible, which was the main testament to his fortitude and leadership.
One of the most famous British explorers was Captain James Cook, an excellent navigator and cartographer. On his expeditions, he drew up a map of a portion of the coast of Australia that was so accurate that it was used in the 20th century. His expeditions were attended by many scientists who discovered thousands of new plants and animals. He also had artists aboard the ships who made numerous drawings depicting exotic locations discovered and visited.
Marco Polo, the great traveler who has explored over 15,000 miles in his 24 years of travel. Traveling mainly in Asia, he understood the culture of China more than anyone else than served as an authority on Asian countries for Europeans. Marco Polo inspired Christopher Columbus to visit China, a fact that most historians keep silent when teaching about the explorer of the New World.
Vasco da Gama was definitely a determined man who knew how to survive and get things done for his country. His first expedition discovered a direct sea trade route to India. With his second expedition, he promoted Portugal as a country that no one can intimidate by defending its rights and faith in a rather brutal way. Either way, Vasco da Gama did enough to establish Portugal as the leading country in the world emerging from the Middle Ages.
Christopher Columbus was a great traveler and a wonderful sailor, but also very calculating. He convinced the rulers of that time that he could quickly cross the Atlantic, get to India and return with spices, which were very prized at that time. He estimated the trip to be 3,000 nautical miles, when in fact, it was 12,000. Columbus was an excellent sailor and only using the monsoon winds and currents of the Atlantic Ocean returned home with a crew suffering from hunger and thirst.
Amerigo Vespucci was the first to sail along the coast of South America, and the first to communicate with the Native Americans. Amerigo was the great Italian explorer, navigator and cartographer who paved the way for expeditions to the New World.
Vasco da Gama's journey
Brave, cruel, skilled sailor and navigator, Portuguese the traveler Vasco da Gama(c. 1460-1524) opened the first sea route from Western Europe to India.
Born in southwestern Portugal to a noble family, serving as a naval commander, da Gama, at the age of 32, led a successful siege of French ships off the coast of the Algarve province of Portugal. In 1490, the Portuguese decided to find a way to India by ocean - in order to end the monopoly of Muslim trade with the East - and turned to the da Gama family. Ironically, Vasco's father died before the trip, so he himself had to lead the journey.
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On July 8, 1497, da Gama and a crew of 170 people left the harbor of Lisbon with four three-masted ships. They sailed south to the Cape Verde Islands, and in November rounded the Cape of Good Hope to uncharted waters (for European sailors). Ten months after leaving Portugal, in May 1498, Vasco da Gama's ships reached Calicut, a trading center on the southwest coast of India, where they found an abundance of spices, gems and silk.
Da Gama's first visit lasted three months, establishing relations with the rulers of the Hindus. The journey back to Lisbon was long, with the crew losing more than half of their crew from scurvy. But when he returned in September 1498, the Portuguese king was pleased - da Gama received money and land, as well as a title and a house - but a new expedition soon followed. In 1502, da Gama returned to India, this time with 20 ships and the order to capture Calicut by the Portuguese colony. The resistance of the Hindus was suppressed with particular cruelty.
By the new Portuguese monarch, in 1524, da Gama was appointed Viceroy of Portugal in India and soon made his third and final voyage to the East.
Magellan's journey.
Portuguese traveler Ferdinand Magellan(1480-1521) was the first European to make an expedition around the world. He traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, across the southern tip of South America, through canals and mountain bays, and then across the Pacific Ocean. And in the end he returned to Spain, having made the first round the world trip in the world.
Magellan was born into a noble Portuguese family, and at a young age, was a royal courtier. When he was 25, he enlisted in the Portuguese navy and spent the next six years participating in military battles. In 1513, during a battle with the Moors in Morocco, Magellan received a serious spear wound in his left knee, which led him to a lifelong limp. And when he returned to Portugal in 1514, he learned that he was accused of illegal livestock trade with the Moors. The King of Portugal dismissed Magellan from the navy, and Magellan in his hearts announced the end of his allegiance to Portugal. In 1517, he offered his services to Portugal's main rival, the Spanish king Charles I, and began a new phase in his career as a Spanish explorer.
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On September 20, 1519, 39-year-old Magellan and about 270 people sailed from Spain, on five ships: Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago. Their goal was to reach the Moluccas by a western route - which avoided the Portuguese-controlled Cape of Good Hope. The ships were sailing southwestward, crossing the Atlantic and ending up in South America, in Rio de Janeiro, three months later. They continued south along the coast, exploring all the bays and estuaries in what is now Uruguay and Argentina, trying to find a strait into the Pacific Ocean. On March 31st, a tired and disgruntled crew aboard three ships mutinied against their commanders. Magellan quickly regained control of his crew, with the result that one of the captains was killed in close combat, and the rioters landed alone ashore. Finally, in October 1520, a passage was found - now known as the Strait of Magellan - this did indeed lead to the Pacific Ocean.
The second half of the journey was as difficult as the first. Only three ships remained after one sank and the other deserted; there was very little food and people were dying of scurvy. Reaching the island of Guam in 1521, Magellan engaged in robberies of villages in revenge on the natives for theft. In the same year, in the Philippine Islands, Magellan was killed in a skirmish with the natives on the island of Mactan. Two of his ships continued their voyage, reaching the Spice Maluku Islands in November 1521. On September 8, 1522, only one ship, Victoria, whose captain was the Spaniard Juan Sebastian de Elcano, reached Spain, with 17 remaining crew members.
Columbus's journey
Christopher Columbus(1451-1506) was Italian traveler who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a way to India (for the spice trade). He made a total of four expeditions to the Caribbean and South America in 1492-1504.
First trip. King Ferdinand II of Spain and Queen Isabella of Spain equipped the first expedition led by Columbus. On his first voyage, Columbus led an expedition of three ships, the Nina (whose captain was Vicente Janes Pinzon), the Pinta (the owner and captain was Martin Alonso Pinzon) and the Santa Maria (whose captain was Columbus himself) and about 90 crew members. They sailed on August 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain, and on October 11, 1492, discovered islands southeast of North America. They landed on the island, calling it Guanahani, but later Columbus renamed it San Salvador. They were met by the local Taino Indians, many of whom were captured by Columbus's people and then sold into slavery. Columbus thought that he got to Asia, to some region of India, and called its inhabitants Indians.
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While exploring the islands in the area and in search of gold, Columbus's people traveled to the island of Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba, and many other smaller islands. On the way back, "Santa Maria" crashed, Columbus returned to Spain on "Nina", arriving on March 15, 1493.
Second journey. The second time, a larger expedition was assembled (September 25, 1493 - June 11, 1496), leaving with 17 ships and about 1,500 men to find gold and capture the Indians as slaves. Columbus established a base at Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the southern coast of Cuba. He discovered and named the island Dominica on November 3, 1493.
Three people - Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Fernand Magellan - have made an invaluable contribution to the study of the Earth. Thanks to them, it became clear that it has a spherical shape. They were very different people, but if Columbus and Magellan are first of all researchers, then Vasco da Gama is a money-grubber. And of course, it was he who achieved the greatest success. Maybe this is a sad pattern? Or is it the case?
Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 in Portugal, in the small seaside village of Sines, south of Lisbon. Now these regions have become fertile thanks to land reclamation, but in those days they suffered from drought, and the population lived there very poor.
Father - Estevan da Gama, a former simple warrior, rose to the position of commandant of one of the castles of the Order of Santiago, the most respected in Portugal. Mother - Isabel Sodre, the daughter of an official. The family had five children. Vasco and his older brother Paulo were apparently bastards. They were born before their parents were legally married. During the late Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, this circumstance was important. In many of Shakespeare's plays, it is shown what painful passions are bubbling in the soul of a bastard.
Estevan da Gama was well acquainted with maritime affairs, he was going on an expedition to the East, but during the preparation of the expedition he died. In 1480 Vasco and Paulo were tonsured monks. Perhaps this was due to the illegality of their birth. They were not entitled to inheritance, and tonsure gave them the opportunity to receive a decent education. Moreover, a layman became a monk only after the third tonsure. And the first meant only one of the possible paths of life.
After that, a period began, which can be tentatively called "12 mysterious years." Vasco disappeared from sight of sources until 1492. According to the assumption of professor A.M. Khazanov, he could carry out some secret missions at sea, where Portugal competed with Spain. Maybe he even visited the New World. The famous chronicler Las Casas recorded that, according to the Indians who lived in the Antilles, white bearded people landed there before the Spaniards.
In 1492, Columbus discovered America on behalf of Spain. At the same time, Vasco da Gama appeared at the court of King João II of Portugal. In the documents, the young da Gama is characterized as "a good knight", "a loyal vassal." Where did he manage to demonstrate these qualities?
In the Portuguese court, the idea of sea voyages was already very popular. Back in the first half of the 15th century, Prince Enrique the Navigator, the uncle of King Alfonso V of Portugal, who inspired the Portuguese expansion in Africa, became famous. Enrique was enthusiastically engaged in the development of the fleet, although he himself never went to sea. Apparently, he had motion sickness. But he was extremely interested in the wealth that was delivered by ship. His image was idealized by his contemporaries: a noble prince who dreams of distant countries, but cannot get there. The documents retained reports on the number of slaves brought from the Senegal River basin, and on the amount of gold mined.
Portugal during this period aspired to the role of world leader. It only became a kingdom in the XII century. In ancient times, this territory was the Roman province of Lusitania; at the beginning of the Middle Ages, the German kingdoms of the Suevi, then the Visigoths, were formed in its place. In the VIII century. on the site of the future Portugal, the Cordoba Caliphate of the Arab conquerors was formed. From the 10th to the 12th century there was a struggle with the Arabs - the Reconquista, and at the end of the Middle Ages, in the 15th – 16th centuries, the country began to turn into a colonial empire.
Portugal's contribution to the development of maritime affairs was very large. Enrique the Navigator knew how to attract the most talented people to work in the shipyards. It was the Portuguese who built the caravel and set the so-called Latin sail, which allowed the ships to sail against the wind. Funds for the development of the fleet the Portuguese kings obtained simply - mainly through the confiscation of the property of the Jews expelled from the country.
Since 1495, Vasco da Gama was fascinated by the idea of an expedition to India. He intended to get there not by the western route, as Columbus intended, but by the eastern route, skirting Africa. The fact is that earlier another Portuguese - Bartolomeu Dias - had already circled Africa, opening a cape in the south of the continent, which he himself called the Cape of Storms. But the Portuguese king did not like the name, and it was replaced by the Cape of Good Hope.
Dias was preparing a second expedition. But the case was entrusted to Vasco da Gama - a clever, immensely persistent man who knew how to show flexibility at the court of King João II. It is significant that once in his youth, together with his brother, they came into conflict with the judge, it came to a fight, the guilty were to be punished. But Vasco managed to beg forgiveness from the king himself, demonstrating the remarkable talent of the courtier. In the future, he again achieved his goal, showing unprecedented perseverance. For example, he could wander after the court if the king was leaving somewhere. Vasco managed to catch his eye all the time and remind him of his request.
This time, his target was India. Sailing to India was undertaken for the sake of gold, jewelry and spices. This amazing country has already been visited by the Italian traveler Marco Polo at the end of the 13th century and the Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin in the 60s – 70s of the 15th century. The most fantastic rumors circulated about India. It seemed worth getting there - and untold riches would pour into the hands of the navigator.
The preparation for the voyage vividly illustrates the period at the turn of the Middle Ages and the New Age. Although the desire to discover distant lands in search of wealth is characteristic of the modern era, much was done in medieval traditions. The court astrologer Abraham Ben Samuel Zakutu, from among the Jews expelled from Spain, told the new king Manuel I that it was he who would conquer India, and two brothers would fulfill the prediction. Perhaps Vasco paid the astrologer in advance to lead the expedition with Paulo? At first, it was assumed that Paulo would be in charge, as an older brother. But he refused. In character, the brother was very different from Vasco: he was softer, he treated the sailors who loved him very much.
Before sailing, the king received Vasco da Gama, who took the oath of allegiance to him and received the banner of the Order of Jesus Christ. Solemn services were held in churches. All who went to distant lands were forgiven in advance.
The ships "Saint Gabriel", "Saint Raphael" and another ship with supplies were equipped at the expense of the Jews expelled from Portugal. The team consisted of 140 to 170 people. Dias was initially in the role of a subordinate, but then he was dropped off in Senegal.
The voyage lasted two years - from 1497 to 1499 - and proved to be difficult. The Cape of Good Hope has proven itself as the Cape of Storms. The sailors wanted to return home. Then Vasco da Gama threw navigation instruments into the sea to make the return impossible. True, he still had some instruments and allowed him to continue the journey.
Later, da Gama's personal secretary wrote: “Vasco da Gama was a man of medium height, solid build, knightly appearance. He boldly went to any feat, gave harsh orders, largely biased and fearful. He was hardy in labor, severely punished the guilty in the name of justice. " Regarding da Gama's influence on sailors during storms near the Cape of Good Hope, the secretary says: “He gave them strength of mind, although he did not sleep or rest at all. He always worked with them, obeying, like everyone else, the boatswain's whistle. "
Off the coast of Africa, Vasco da Gama had to deal with the local population, who did not want the appearance of trade competitors. The Europeans used artillery and hit the coast with direct fire. Da Gama did not hesitate to take hostages and torture. In general, he was very cruel.
When the expedition arrived in the Indian city of Calcutta, there was a misunderstanding. The Europeans decided to treat the locals like Indians and offered to exchange glass trinkets. But the Indian nobleman explained to them that only gold can be brought to the leader. However, then relations improved, and one of the local rulers said that he was ready to consider the Portuguese king his brother.
However, sailing, Vasco da Gama refused to pay customs duties. When they tried to take away his goods, he resolved the issue by taking hostages, five of whom he took to Portugal.
The return in 1499 was difficult. Famine, riots on ships, the death of his brother, whom Vasco buried in the Azores. Out of more than one and a half hundred people, fifty-five returned to Portugal.
Having reached his native shores, da Gama showed how significantly he differs from Magellan and Columbus, who were not very successful after their travels. He achieved the organization of large celebrations in his own honor, received a royal pension, such that it was enough for a prosperous life.
At the age of 30, Vasco da Gama married Catarina da Ataida - the daughter of the commandant of one of the cities of southern Portugal - and received a land plot as a dowry. The couple had seven children - six sons and a daughter. Over time, the father of the family received the title of Don, and a little later - Admiral. But that was not enough for him. Maybe the bastard complex made him want more. He had an obsessive thought - to get the title of count, to rotate in court circles.
Vasco da Gama began to prepare for the second voyage of 1502-1503. Then rumors spread throughout Europe about the huge incomes of the Spaniards in the New World. India retained its former attractiveness, but the land roads there were blocked at the end of the XIV century by Tamerlane, who destroyed the transshipment points in Central Asia. The sea voyage remained. And the Portuguese king made a bet on Vasco da Gama, who once already brought wealth, proving that he knows the way and is able to return.
15 ships embarked on a new voyage. This time, Admiral da Gama especially clearly showed the bad qualities of his nature. He committed an openly pirate act - he hijacked a ship with Muslim pilgrims. There were more than 200 of them, unarmed. They surrendered peacefully, believing that they would pay off. For two days the Portuguese were loading goods from their ship. Then they took away their personal belongings. And in the end they drove the prisoners into the hold and set the ship on fire. When the unfortunates began to extinguish the fire, Vasco da Gama sent a bribed man to the ship, whom he promised life if he again fanned the flame. Those who burst out of the fire were drowned and chopped down. It was senseless cruelty. Only 20 children of pilgrims da Gama then took to Portugal and gave them to the monks.
Another striking event of the second voyage was the bombing of Calcutta. The navigator generally developed a manner of responding with artillery fire to everything that bothered him on the coast. The method was very effective, especially when you consider that the Indians did not have firearms. On the way back, overwhelmed by greed, da Gama ordered the bombards to be dropped from the ships to make way for Indian goods.
When Vasco da Gama returned from the second voyage, he had enormous authority and colossal wealth. But he still could not begin to enjoy life, because he dreamed of the count's title. Manuel I was in thought. And then the stubborn da Gama threatened him that he would leave Portugal. The government, which had already lost Columbus and Magellan, could not agree to this. A letter from King Manuel has survived, who answered very diplomatically: how can you leave just at the moment when you are awarded the title of count! Everything was settled. From now on, Vasco da Gama was called Count Vidigueira.
The time has come for relative peace. Da Gama left for his estate and, apparently, was not very eager for the third voyage. But the courtyard pushed him to this. On the west coast of India, in Goa, the Portuguese administration already ruled. From there, spy reports began to come in about the appalling scale of bribery and theft. The king decided to send a lucky man who was not too picky in means to fight against abuses and strengthen his power. Sending da Gama on an expedition, Manuel I appointed him Viceroy of India. On such a nature, the title of the position, which includes the word "king", could not fail to impress. Vasco da Gama, who was already 55 years old, could not resist the new appointment, and in 1524 he set sail. He again led 15 ships. There were 3 thousand people with him.
Despite not feeling very well, Vasco da Gama made it to Goa, Portugal's main stronghold, and set about putting things in order.
While sailing, da Gama discovered several women hidden on ships, despite the strictest prohibition. He took advantage of this to give everyone an object lesson. By order of the Viceroy of India, the Portuguese publicly scourged these women in the streets of Goa. The impression was made. Panic broke out among the local rulers.
Da Gama checked payments in favor of the Portuguese crown, fired officials, forced the guilty to pay fines. In response to the slightest objection, he took repressive measures. In the midst of this activity, he felt very ill and realized that the end was approaching. He would never return to Portugal. Before the start of the expedition, he admitted this thought and therefore left a will, and also took care of the family crypt of the Counts of Vidigueira.
Interestingly, Columbus also strove to preserve and transfer to his son the title of Viceroy of all open lands. But Columbus did not succeed. And Vasco da Gama succeeded.
He died in India in 1524. And after that, his posthumous life began. There was no rest in his ashes. First, in 1539, it was transferred to the same crypt of Vidigueira. But in the 30s of the XIX century in Portugal, the protection was removed from the family crypts. Vasco da Gama's crypt was immediately plundered, the bones of the deceased were scattered. Apparently, there was a hope among the people that there should certainly be values in the grave of the one who brought so much gold.
And in 1898, when the 400th anniversary of the opening of the sea route to India was celebrated, the Portuguese realized it: it was decided to transfer the ashes of the famous compatriot to Lisbon. Transferred with all solemnity. But it soon became clear that they had confused, reburied other people's bones. The procedure was repeated. How not to think about the death penalty for sins!
But there was and is a completely different posthumous life of Vasco da Gama. He became the protagonist of the main literary epic of the Portuguese people - the poem by Luis Camões "Lusiada". Camões was born in the very days of December 1524, when Vasco da Gama was dying in India. In the poem, da Gama's voyage is presented not as a predatory campaign, but as a heroic deed, during which the Portuguese nation is born, and the country becomes great. Camões, living in the 16th century, had no doubt that Portugal, which included East Africa, territories in Southeast Asia, part of India and Brazil, would remain among the world powers.
In the era of early colonialism, plundered wealth seemed to guarantee eternal prosperity. But the time was approaching when the main thing was not gold in its pure form, but working money, not jewelry and spices, but raw materials for growing industrial production. Capitalism was knocking on the door, for which the preservation of wealth in chests is unacceptable. Industrial England and merchant Holland were to rise above the others. And Spain and Portugal continued to accumulate gold and pride themselves on their past achievements. Constantly looking into the past, these countries of the Iberian Peninsula almost turned into a backward region of Western Europe.
This did not happen. But they had to endure a painful time of parting with their archaic pride. Miguel Cervantes wrote about this in his brilliant Don Quixote.
Amazingly, Goa remained a Portuguese colony until 1961, when Indian troops entered it. The question of the status of Goa, the reunification of this Portuguese colony with India was discussed in the UN Security Council, and the world community supported India, which gained independence in 1947.
As you know, when a country loses its leadership position, it even more appreciates what it has. That is why Vasco da Gama is so popular in Portugal. His current admirers try not to notice his cruelty, not to remember how the executed were hung on masts, and their bodies were fired at from bows. They tend to explain this by the peculiarities of the era. After all, the most important thing is to emphasize the huge contribution of Portugal to the development of new lands.
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