Bartolomeu Dias Timeline

(c. 1450–1500)

Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese navigator and explorer whose pioneering voyage around the southern tip of Africa opened a sea route toward the Indian Ocean. More Less

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Origins and royal service

Dinis Dias explores the African coast

1445

One of Bartolomeu Dias's ancestors, Dinis Dias e Fernandes, explored the African coast in the 1440s and discovered the Cap-Vert peninsula in present-day Senegal in 1445.

Dias serves in the royal household

1486

By 1486, Dias appears to have been a cavalier of King John II's household and superintendent of the royal warehouses.

Image source: Bartolomeu Dias

Dias receives a royal annuity

Oct 10, 1486

King John II of Portugal granted Dias an annuity of 6,000 reis for “services to come,” recognizing his service and anticipated role in Portuguese expansion.

Image source: John II of Portugal

Dias becomes a royal squire

1494

By 1494, Dias served as a squire in the court of King John II of Portugal.

Dias supervises the royal warehouses

1494 - 1497

Dias served as superintendent of the royal warehouses from 1494 through 1497, continuing his administrative responsibilities at the Portuguese court.

African exploration

Dias joins the São Jorge da Mina expedition

1481

Bartolomeu Dias accompanied an expedition led by Diogo de Azambuja to construct São Jorge da Mina, a fortress and trading post in the Gulf of Guinea.

Possible participation in Diogo Cão's expedition

1482 - 1484

Indirect evidence suggests that Dias may have participated in Diogo Cão's first expedition down the African coast to the Congo River, conducted between 1482 and 1484.

Image source: Diogo Cão

Possible participation in Diogo Cão's expedition

Dias departs Lisbon for African exploration

Jul 1487 - Aug 1487

Sometime after July 1487, probably in July or August rather than the traditional date of July 1486, Dias left Lisbon with three ships to continue the African exploration advanced by Diogo Cão.

Dias's fleet leaves Lisbon

Jul 1487

The small fleet associated with Dias's expedition left Lisbon in or around July 1487, beginning the voyage that would reach Africa's southern waters.

Dias reaches Walvis Bay

Dec 8, 1487

On 8 December 1487, Dias arrived at the Golfo da Conceição, identified with modern-day Walvis Bay in Namibia.

Image source: Walvis Bay

Dias demonstrates the open-ocean route south

Feb 1488

In February 1488, Dias became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and demonstrated that the most effective southward route was a diagonal course southwest into the open ocean, well west of the African coast.

Dias reaches Africa's southern cape

Feb 4, 1488

After spending 30 days in the open ocean, Dias and his crews reached Africa's southern cape on 4 February 1488 and entered what would later be called Mossel Bay.

Dias reaches Kwaaihoek

Mar 12, 1488

Dias's expedition reached its furthest point on 12 March 1488, anchoring at Kwaaihoek near the mouth of the Boesmans River, where the crew erected the Padrão de São Gregório.

Dias encounters the Cape of Good Hope

May 1488

During the return voyage, Dias's fleet sailed close enough to Africa's southwestern coast to encounter the Cape of Good Hope for the first time in May 1488.

Image source: Cape of Good Hope

Dias returns to Lisbon

Dec 1488

Dias returned to Lisbon in December 1488 after an absence of 16 months, completing his historic expedition around the southern tip of Africa.

Indian expedition

Dias is asked to assist a new voyage

1497

In 1497, another voyage was commissioned and Dias was asked to assist with the expedition.

Dias accompanies Vasco da Gama to Cape Verde

1497

When the fleet sailed in 1497, Dias accompanied Vasco da Gama only as far as the Cape Verde Islands, after which he was ordered to proceed to São Jorge da Mina.

Image source: Vasco da Gama

Dias captains a ship in Cabral's expedition

1500

In 1500, Dias was one of the captains in the second Indian expedition, headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral.

Cabral's flotilla reaches Brazil

Apr 22, 1500

The flotilla commanded by Cabral was the first to reach Brazil, landing there on 22 April 1500 before continuing eastward toward India.

Image source: Pedro Álvares Cabral

Dias dies in a storm off the Cape

May 29, 1500

On 29 May 1500, four ships, including the ship captained by Dias, encountered a massive storm off the Cape of Good Hope and were lost. Dias perished in the disaster.

Legacy and sources

Paulo Dias de Novais founds São Paulo de Luanda

1576

Dias's grandson, Paulo Dias de Novais, became the first governor of Portuguese Angola and founded São Paulo de Luanda in 1576.

Image source: Paulo Dias de Novais

Paulo Dias de Novais founds São Paulo de Luanda

The Lisbon earthquake destroys maritime records

1755

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed almost all maritime records, leaving no surviving contemporary documentation detailing Dias's historic voyage.

Image source: 1755 Lisbon earthquake

Key Facts

Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer who sailed during the Age of Discovery.
In 1487, King John II of Portugal appointed Dias to lead an expedition in search of a sea route to India.
In 1488, Dias became the first known European to round the southern tip of Africa by sea.
Dias initially named the landmark the Cape of Storms, but King John II renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.
Dias died in 1500 when his ship sank near the Cape of Good Hope during Pedro Álvares Cabral’s expedition to India.

Source

This Bartolomeu Dias timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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