Notable Explorers

Unit 1 technically

Marco Polo

Traveled to China; fueled oriental fantasy in Europe

Henry The Navigator

Started Portugal’s exploration phase; sponsored voyages

Bartholomew Diaz

Portuguese; failed to round the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s Southern tip

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese; rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached India

Christopher Columbus

Genoese sponsored by Spain; goal was to find a direct trade route to Asia; “discovered” the Americas, specifically the Caribbean  

Amerigo Vespucci

Florentine; wrote about his “discoveries” in Venezuela, calling it the “New World”; the Americas named after him

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese sponsored by Charles V of Spain; goal was to find a sea route to spices in Asia; voyage was the first to circumnavigate the world

John Cabot

Genoese sponsored by England; “discovered” Newfoundland (Canada); also scoped out the New England coast

Martin Frobisher

English; 3 voyages in/around the Canadian Bay and brought back ores hoping it would be as valuable as minerals in Peru and Mexico; they were not

Jacques Cartier

French; explored Canada in search for route to wealth in Asia; failed so France turned to trading with natives

Hernando Cortes

Spaniard; killed Montezuma (Tenochtitlan’s leader) and Atahualpa (Inca’s leader), causing Mexica and Inca empire collapse

Samuel de Champlain

French; founded 1st permanent French settlement in Quebec

Rene-Robert Cavelier La Selle

French; descended the Mississippi to Gulf of Mexico, opening the Louisiana Territory for France