Explorers during the Age of Exploration

Prince Henry the Navigator

Never actually navigated the ocean

sponsored explorations that helped map Africa

opened a school of navigation

Bartolomeu Dias

Rounded the southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good hope)

Portugal finds a route to Asia that cuts out Italy

Christopher Columbus

First person to “discover” the Americas

Vasco de Gama

Found an all-water route to India that goes around the southern tip of africa

brought back merchandise worth millions

viewed as both a hero and a villain

Amerigo Vespucci

Claims Brazil is part of a continent new to Europeans

Defines the Americas as the “New World”

Americas are named after Amerigo

Ferdinand Magellan

Sails around the whole globe

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador

conquered the Aztec empire

Francisco Pizzaro

Spanish conquistador

conquered the Inca empire