Age of Discovery

==Atlantic Ocean (1419–1507)==
{{see also|Maritime history of Europe#The European Age of Discovery (1400–1600)}}
[[File:Republik Venedig Handelswege01.png|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] (red) and [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] (green) maritime trade routes in the Mediterranean and [[Black Sea]]]]

From the 8th until the 15th century, the [[Republic of Venice]] and neighboring [[maritime republics]] held the monopoly of European trade with the Middle East. The [[Silk Road|silk]] and [[spice trade]], involving spices, [[incense]], herbs, drugs and [[opium]], made these Mediterranean city-states phenomenally rich. Spices were among the most expensive and demanded products of the Middle Ages, as they were used in [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|medieval medicine]],<ref>Spice importance for medieval [[humorism]] principles of medicine was such that shortly after entering the trade, apothecaries and physicians like [[Tomé Pires]] and [[Garcia de Orta|Garcia da Orta]] (see [[#Burns 2001|Burns 2001]], p. 14) were sent to India having studied spices in works like ''Suma Oriental'' (see [[#Pires 1512|Pires 1512]], p. lxii) and ''[[Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India]]'' ("Conversations on the simples, drugs and materia medica of India)</ref> religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery, as well as food additives and preservatives.<ref>[[#ScienceDaily 1998|ScienceDaily 1998]], news.</ref> They were all imported from Asia and Africa.

Muslim traders dominated maritime routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East and shipping for trading emporiums in India, mainly [[Kozhikode]], westward to [[Ormus]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] and [[Jeddah]] in the [[Red Sea]]. From there, overland routes led to the Mediterranean coasts. Venetian merchants distributed the goods through Europe until the rise of the [[Ottoman Empire]], that eventually led to the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, barring Europeans from important combined-land-sea routes in areas around the Aegean, Bosporus, and Black Sea.<ref name=GT-DEX-1453-09>{{cite web|title=Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Fall of Constantinople and spurring "age of discovery"|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars14011600/p/Byzantine-Ottoman-Wars-Fall-Of-Constantinople.htm|access-date=18 August 2012|archive-date=4 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604120350/http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars14011600/p/Byzantine-Ottoman-Wars-Fall-Of-Constantinople.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=GT-DEX-1453-10>{{cite web|title=Overview of Age of Exploration |url=http://www.learnerator.com/ap-european-history/study-center/summaries/age-of-exploration/overview |access-date=18 August 2012  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709074111/http://www.learnerator.com/ap-european-history/study-center/summaries/age-of-exploration/overview |archive-date=July 9, 2012 }}</ref> The Venetians and other maritime republics maintained more limited access to Asian goods, via south-eastern Mediterranean trade, in such ports as Antioch, Acre, and Alexandria.

Forced to reduce their activities in the Black Sea, and at war with Venice, the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] had turned to North African trade of wheat, olive oil and a search for silver and gold. Europeans had a constant [[Commercial Revolution#Monetary factors|deficit in silver and gold]],<ref>[[#Spufford 1989|Spufford 1989]], pp. 339–49.</ref> as it only went out, spent on eastern trade now cut off. Several European mines were exhausted,<ref>[[#Spufford 1989|Spufford 1989]], p. 343.</ref> the lack of [[bullion]] leading to the development of a complex banking system to manage the risks in trade (the first state bank, ''[[Bank of Saint George|Banco di San Giorgio]]'', was founded in 1407 at Genoa). Sailing also into the ports of [[Bruges]] (Flanders) and England, Genoese communities were then established in Portugal,<ref>[[#Abu-Lughod 1991|Abu-Lughod 1991]], p. 122.</ref> who profited from their enterprise and financial expertise.

European sailing had been primarily close to land [[cabotage]], guided by [[portolan chart]]s. These charts specified proven ocean routes guided by coastal landmarks: sailors departed from a known point, followed a compass heading, and tried to identify their location by its landmarks.<ref>[[#Parry 1981|Parry 1981]], p. 33.</ref> For the first oceanic exploration Western Europeans used the compass, as well as progressive new advances in [[cartography]] and astronomy. Arab navigational tools like the [[astrolabe]] and [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]] were used for [[celestial navigation]].

===Portuguese exploration===
{{See also|Portuguese maritime exploration|European exploration of Africa}}
[[File:Niger saharan medieval trade routes.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Trans-Saharan trade|Saharan trade routes]] c. 1400, with modern [[Niger]] highlighted]]
[[File:Quarta et Ultima Affrice Tabula NLI.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A map of [[North Africa]] as it was known to Europeans in 1482, created by German cartographer Lienhart Holl and based on [[Ptolemey]]'s fourth map of Africa]]
In 1297, King [[Denis of Portugal]] took personal interest in exports. In 1317, he made an agreement with Genoese merchant sailor [[Manuel Pessanha]], appointing him first [[admiral]] of the [[Portuguese Navy]], with the goal of defending the country against Muslim pirate raids.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], p. 210.</ref> Outbreaks of [[bubonic plague]] led to severe depopulation in the second half of the 14th century: only the sea offered alternatives, with most population settling in fishing and trading coastal areas.<ref>[[#Newitt 2005|Newitt 2005]], p. 9.</ref> Between 1325 and 1357, [[Afonso IV of Portugal]] encouraged maritime commerce and ordered the first explorations.<ref>[[#Diffie 1960|Diffie 1960]], p. 49.</ref> The [[Canary Islands]], already known to the Genoese, were claimed as officially discovered under patronage of the Portuguese, but in 1344 Castile disputed them, expanding their rivalry into the sea.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 29–31.</ref><ref>[[#Butel 1999|Butel 1999]], p. 36.</ref>

To ensure their monopoly on trade, Europeans (beginning with the Portuguese) attempted to install a mediterranean system of trade which used military might and intimidation, to divert trade through ports they controlled; there it could be taxed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750|last=Chaudhuri|first=K.N.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1985|page=64}}</ref> In 1415, [[Ceuta]] was [[Conquest of Ceuta|conquered]] by the Portuguese aiming to control navigation of the African coast. Young prince [[Henry the Navigator]] was there and became aware of profit possibilities in the [[trans-Saharan trade]] routes. For centuries [[Trans-Saharan slave trade|slave and gold]] trade routes linking West Africa with the Mediterranean passed over the Western Sahara Desert, controlled by the Moors of North Africa.

Henry wished to know how far Muslim territories in Africa extended, hoping to bypass them and trade directly with West Africa by sea, find allies in legendary Christian lands to the south<ref>[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 333.</ref> like the long-lost Christian kingdom of [[Prester John]]<ref>[[#Anderson 2000|Anderson 2000]], p. 50.</ref> and probe whether it was possible to reach the [[Indies]] by sea, the source of the lucrative [[spice trade]]. He invested in sponsoring voyages down the coast of [[Mauritania]], gathering a group of merchants, shipowners and stakeholders interested in new sea lanes. Soon the Atlantic islands of [[Madeira]] (1419) and the [[Azores]] (1427) were reached. The expedition leader who established settlements on Madeira, was Portuguese explorer [[João Gonçalves Zarco]].<ref>Joaquinn Pedro Oliveira Martins, The Golden Age Of Prince Henry The Navigator. (New York: Dutton), p. 72.</ref>

Europeans did not know what lay beyond Cape Non ([[Cape Chaunar]]) on the African coast, and whether it was possible to return once it was crossed.<ref>[[#Locke 1824|Locke 1824]], p. 385.</ref> Nautical myths warned of oceanic monsters or an edge of the world, but Henry's navigation challenged such beliefs: starting in 1421, systematic sailing overcame it, reaching the difficult [[Cape Bojador]] that in 1434 one of Henry's captains, [[Gil Eanes]], finally passed.

From 1440 onwards, [[caravel]]s were extensively used for the exploration of the coast of Africa. This was an existing Iberian ship type, used for fishing, commerce and military purposes. Unlike other vessels of the time, the caravel had a sternpost mounted rudder (as opposed to a side-mounted steering oar). It had a shallow draft, which was helpful in exploring unknown coastlines. It had good sailing performance, with a [[Windward and leeward|windward]] ability that was notable by the standards of the time.{{efn|Windward sailing ability, true for historic vessels as much as any other, is a combination of rig and hull shape. Other considerations are the amount of marine fouling on the hull, and a sternpost mounted rudder gives a clear advantage over a steering oar, partly by producing less drag but also having the hydrodynamic effect of slightly reducing leeway.<ref name="Palmer 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=Colin |title=Windward Sailing Capabilities of Ancient Vessels |journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |date=September 2009 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=314–330 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.2008.00208.x|bibcode=2009IJNAr..38..314P |s2cid=111332443 }}</ref>}} The lateen rig was less useful when sailing downwind – which explains [[Christopher Columbus]] ({{lang-it|Cristoforo Colombo}}) re-rigging the {{ship||Niña|ship|2}} with [[square rig]].<ref name="Elbl 1994">{{cite book |last1=Elbl|first1=Martin |editor1-last=Gardiner |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Unger |editor2-first=Richard W |title=Cogs, Caravels and Galleons: the sailing ship, 1000–1650 |date=1994 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-85177-560-8 |chapter=The Caravel and the Galleon}}</ref>

For [[celestial navigation]] the Portuguese used the [[Ephemeris|ephemerides]], which experienced a remarkable diffusion in the 15th century. These were astronomical charts plotting the location of the stars over a distinct period of time. Published in 1496 by the Jewish astronomer, astrologer, and mathematician [[Abraham Zacuto]], the Almanac Perpetuum included some of these tables for the movements of stars.<ref>Nissan Mindel, Rabbi Abraham Zacuto – (1450–1515), http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111917/jewish/Rabbi-Abraham-Zacuto.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107002658/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111917/jewish/Rabbi-Abraham-Zacuto.htm |date=2021-11-07 }}</ref> These tables revolutionized navigation, allowing the calculation of [[latitude]]. Exact [[longitude]] remained elusive from mariners for centuries.<ref>[[#Parry 1981|Parry 1981]], p. 145.</ref><ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 132–34.</ref> Using the caravel, systematic exploration continued ever more southerly, advancing on average one degree a year.<ref>[[#Russell-Wood 1998|Russell-Wood 1998]], p. 9.</ref> [[Senegal]] and [[Cap-Vert|Cape Verde Peninsula]] were reached in 1445 and in 1446, [[Álvaro Fernandes]] pushed on almost as far as present-day [[Sierra Leone]].

In 1453, the [[Fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] was a blow to Christendom and established business links with the east. In 1455, [[Pope Nicholas V]] issued the [[Papal bull|bull]] ''[[Romanus Pontifex]]'' reinforcing the previous ''[[Dum Diversas]]'' (1452), granting all lands and seas discovered beyond Cape Bojador to King [[Afonso V of Portugal]] and his successors, as well as trade and conquest against Muslims and pagans, initiating a ''[[mare clausum]]'' policy in the Atlantic.<ref>[[#Daus 1983|Daus 1983]], p. 33.</ref> The king, who had been inquiring of Genoese experts about a seaway to India, commissioned the [[Fra Mauro map|Fra Mauro world map]], which arrived in Lisbon in 1459.<ref>[[#Bagrow 1964|Bagrow 1964]], p. 72.</ref> In 1456, [[Diogo Gomes]] reached the [[Cape Verde]] archipelago. In the next decade captains at the service of Prince Henry, discovered the remaining islands which were occupied during the 15th century. The Gulf of Guinea would be reached in the 1460s.

==== Portuguese exploration after Prince Henry ====
In 1460, [[Pedro de Sintra]] reached Sierra Leone. Prince Henry died in November that year after which, given the meagre revenues, exploration was granted to Lisbon merchant [[Fernão Gomes]] in 1469, who in exchange for the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea had to explore {{convert|100|mi|0|abbr=off}} each year for five years.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 145–48.</ref> With his sponsorship, explorers [[João de Santarém]], [[Pedro Escobar]], Lopo Gonçalves, [[Fernão do Pó]], and Pedro de Sintra made it beyond those goals. They reached the Southern Hemisphere and islands of the Gulf of Guinea, including [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] and [[Elmina]] on the Gold Coast in 1471. There, in what came to be called the "Gold Coast" in what is today [[Ghana]], a thriving alluvial gold trade was found among the natives, Arab and [[Berbers|Berber]] traders.

In 1478, during the [[War of the Castilian Succession]], near the coast at [[Elmina]] was a [[Battle of Guinea|large battle]] was fought between a Castilian armada of 35 caravels, and a Portuguese fleet for hegemony of the Guinea trade (gold, slaves, ivory, and melegueta pepper). The war ended with a Portuguese naval victory, followed by the official recognition by the Catholic Monarchs of Portuguese sovereignty over most of the disputed West African territories embodied in the Treaty of Alcáçovas, 1479. This was the first colonial war among European powers.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 1481, [[John II of Portugal|João II]] decided to build [[Elmina Castle|São Jorge da Mina]] [[factory (trading post)|factory]]. In 1482 the [[Congo River]] was explored by [[Diogo Cão]],<ref>[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 335.</ref> who in 1486 continued to [[Cape Cross]] (modern [[Namibia]]).
[[File:Caravel Boa Esperanca Portugal.jpg|thumb|left|Replica of a [[caravel]]|alt=]]

The next crucial breakthrough was in 1488, when [[Bartolomeu Dias]] rounded the southern tip of Africa, which he named Cabo das Tormentas, "Cape of Storms", anchoring at [[Mossel Bay]] and then sailing east as far as the mouth of the [[Great Fish River]], proving the Indian Ocean was accessible from the Atlantic. Simultaneously [[Pero da Covilhã]], sent out travelling secretly overland, had reached [[Ethiopia]] having collected important information about the Red Sea and Quenia coast, suggesting a sea route to the Indies would soon be forthcoming.<ref>[[#Anderson 2000|Anderson 2000]], p. 59.</ref> Soon the cape was renamed by King [[John II of Portugal]] the "[[Cape of Good Hope]]", because of the great optimism engendered by the possibility of a sea route to India, proving false the view that had existed since [[Ptolemy]] that the Indian Ocean was [[Landlocked country|land-locked]].

Based on much later stories of the [[phantom island]] known as [[Bacalao (phantom island)|Bacalao]] and the carvings on [[Dighton Rock]] some have speculated that Portuguese explorer [[João Vaz Corte-Real]] discovered [[Newfoundland]] in 1473, but the sources are considered unreliable.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lusa|title=Portugueses chegaram à América 19 anos antes de Colombo|url=https://expresso.sapo.pt/cultura/2016-02-27-Portugueses-chegaram-a-America-19-anos-antes-de-Colombo|publisher=Expresso|access-date=2018-07-29|archive-date=2018-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215173553/https://expresso.sapo.pt/cultura/2016-02-27-Portugueses-chegaram-a-America-19-anos-antes-de-Colombo|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Spanish exploration: Columbus's landfall in the Americas===
{{see also|Voyages of Christopher Columbus|Spanish colonization of the Americas}}
[[File:Viajes de colon en.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|The four voyages of [[Christopher Columbus]], 1492–1503]]

Portugal's Iberian rival, [[Crown of Castile|Castile]], had begun to establish its rule over the Canary Islands in 1402, but became distracted by internal Iberian politics and the repelling of Islamic invasion attempts and raids through most of the 15th century. Late in the century, following the unification of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, an emerging modern Spain became fully committed to the search for new trade routes overseas. The [[Crown of Aragon]] had been an important maritime power in the Mediterranean, controlling territories in eastern Spain, southwestern France, major islands like [[Sicily]], [[Malta]], and the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and [[Sardinia]], with mainland possessions as far as Greece. In 1492 the [[Catholic Monarchs|joint rulers]] conquered the [[Emirate of Granada|Moorish kingdom of Granada]], which had been providing Castile with African goods through tribute, and decided to fund [[Christopher Columbus]]'s expedition in the hope of bypassing Portugal's monopoly on west African sea routes, to reach "the Indies" (east and south Asia) by travelling west.<ref>[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 341.</ref> Twice before, in 1485 and 1488, Columbus had presented the project to king [[John II of Portugal]], who rejected it.

On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from [[Palos de la Frontera]]. Land was sighted on 12 October 1492, and Columbus called the island ([[Guanahani|one of the islands]] now comprising [[The Bahamas]]) ''San Salvador'', in what he thought to be the "[[East Indies]]". Columbus explored the northeast coast of [[Cuba]] and the northern coast of [[Hispaniola]], by 5 December. He was received by the native [[cacique]] [[Guacanagaríx|Guacanagari]], who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind.
[[File:TresCarabelas.jpg|thumb|left|Replicas of ''[[Niña (ship)|Niña]]'', ''[[Pinta (ship)|Pinta]]'' and ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]'' at [[Palos de la Frontera]], Spain]] Columbus left 39 men and founded the settlement of ''[[La Navidad]]'' in what is now [[Haiti]].<ref>[[#Maclean 2008|Maclean 2008]], web.</ref> Before returning to Spain, he kidnapped some ten to twenty-five natives and took them back with him. Only seven or eight of the native 'Indians' arrived in Spain alive, but they made an impression on [[Seville]].<ref>[[#Forbes 1993|Forbes 1993]], p. 22</ref> On 15 March 1493 he arrived in [[Barcelona]], where he reported to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Word of his discovery of new lands [[Columbus's Letter on the First Voyage|rapidly spread throughout Europe]].<ref>[[#Mancall 1999|Mancall 1999]], p. 26.</ref>

Columbus and other Spanish explorers were initially disappointed with their discoveries—unlike Africa or Asia, the Caribbean islanders had little to trade with the Castilian ships. The islands thus became the focus of colonization efforts. It was not until the continent itself was explored that Spain found the wealth it had sought.

===Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)===
{{Main|Treaty of Tordesillas}}
[[File:Spain and Portugal.png|upright=1.35|thumb|The 1494 [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] meridian (purple) and the later [[Maluku Islands]] [[180th meridian|antimeridian]] (green), set at the [[Treaty of Zaragoza (1529)]]]]

Shortly after Columbus's return from what would later be called the "West Indies", a division of influence became necessary to avoid conflict between the Spanish and Portuguese.<ref>[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 345.</ref> On 4 May 1493, two months after Columbus's arrival, the [[Catholic Monarchs]] received a [[Papal bull|bull]] (''[[Inter caetera]]'') from [[Pope Alexander VI]] stating all lands west and south of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of the [[Azores]] or the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Castile and, later, all mainlands and islands then belonging to India. It did not mention Portugal, which could not claim newly discovered lands east of the line.

King [[John II of Portugal]] was displeased with the arrangement, feeling that it gave him far too little land—preventing him from reaching India, his main goal. He then negotiated directly with King [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand]] and Queen [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella]] of Spain to move the line west, and allowing him to claim newly discovered lands east of it.<ref>[[#Davenport 1917|Davenport 1917]], pp. 107–11.</ref> In 1494, the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] divided the world between Portugal and Spain. Portugal gained control over Africa, Asia, and eastern South America (Brazil), encompassing everything outside Europe east of a line drawn 370 [[league (unit)|leagues]] west of the [[Cape Verde]] islands (already Portuguese). The Spanish (Castile) received everything west of this line, including the islands discovered by Columbus on [[First Voyage of Columbus|his first voyage]], named in the treaty as [[Names of Japan#Jipangu|Cipangu]] and [[Antilia]] (Cuba and [[Hispaniola]]). The dividing line, situated about halfway between Portuguese Cape Verde and Spanish discoveries in the Caribbean, split the known world of Atlantic islands evenly.

In 1500, [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]], initially considering the Brazilian coast as a large island, claimed it for Portugal east of the dividing line. This claim was acknowledged by the Spanish. Cabral, heading towards India, followed a corridor in the Atlantic negotiated by the treaty for favorable winds. While some speculate earlier secret Portuguese discovery of Brazil, there is no credible evidence for this. Similarly, suspicions about [[Duarte Pacheco Pereira]] alleged 1498 discovery lack credibility among historians.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Later the Spanish territory would prove to include huge areas of the continental mainland of North and South America, though Portuguese-controlled Brazil would expand across the line, and settlements by other European powers ignored the treaty.

===The Americas: The New World===
[[File:Waldseemuller map closeup with America.jpg|thumb|Detail of 1507 [[Waldseemüller map]] showing the name "America" for the first time.|alt=]]
Little of the divided area had actually been seen by Europeans, as it was only divided by a geographical definition rather than control on the ground. Columbus's first voyage in 1492 spurred maritime exploration and, from 1497, several explorers headed west.

====North America====
That year [[John Cabot]] ({{lang-it|Giovanni Caboto}}), also a commissioned Italian, got [[letters patent]] from King [[Henry VII of England]]. Sailing from [[Bristol]], probably backed by the local [[Society of Merchant Venturers]], Cabot crossed the Atlantic from a northerly latitude hoping the voyage to the "West Indies" would be shorter<ref>[[#Croxton 2007|Croxton 2007]], web (on subscription)</ref> and made landfall somewhere in North America, possibly [[History of Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]].

In 1499 [[João Fernandes Lavrador]] was licensed by the King of Portugal and together with [[Pero de Barcelos]] they first sighted [[Labrador]], which was granted and named after him. After returning he possibly went to Bristol to sail in the name of England.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 463–64.</ref> 

Between 1499 and 1502 the brothers [[Gaspar Corte-Real|Gaspar]] and [[Miguel Corte-Real|Miguel Corte Real]] explored and named the coasts of [[Greenland]] and Newfoundland.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 464–65.</ref> Both explorations are noted in the 1502 [[Cantino planisphere]].

====The "True Indies" and Brazil====
In 1497, newly crowned King [[Manuel I of Portugal]] sent an exploratory fleet eastwards, fulfilling his predecessor's project of finding a route to the Indies. In July 1499, news spread that the Portuguese had reached the "true Indies", as a letter was dispatched by the Portuguese king to the Spanish Catholic Monarchs.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], p. 185.</ref>

The third expedition by Columbus in 1498 was the beginning of the first successful Castilian (Spanish) colonization in the [[West Indies]], on the island of [[Hispaniola]]. Despite growing doubts, Columbus refused to accept he had not reached the Indies. During the voyage he discovered the mouth of the [[Orinoco River]] on the north coast of South America (now Venezuela) and thought that the huge quantity of fresh water coming from it could only be from a continental land mass, which he was certain was the Asian mainland.

As shipping between [[Seville]] and the West Indies grew, knowledge of the Caribbean islands, Central America and the northern coast of South America grew. One of these Spanish fleets, that of [[Alonso de Ojeda]] and Amerigo Vespucci in 1499–1500, reached land at the coast of what is now [[Guyana]], when the two explorers seem to have separated in opposite directions. Vespucci sailed southward, discovering the mouth of the [[Amazon River]] in July 1499,<ref name=Pohl1966>{{cite book
  | last = Pohl
  | first = Frederick J.
  | title = Amerigo Vespucci: Pilot Major
  | url = https://archive.org/details/amerigovespuccip0000pohl
  | url-access = registration
  | publisher = Octagon Books
  | year = 1966
  | location = New York
  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/amerigovespuccip0000pohl/page/54 54–55] }}</ref><ref>[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4820349-amerigo-and-the-new-world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108102859/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4820349-amerigo-and-the-new-world|date=2021-11-08}} Arciniegas, German (1978) ''Amerigo and the New World: The Life & Times of Amerigo Vespucci'': Octagon Press</ref> and reaching 6°S, in present-day north east Brazil, before turning around.

In the beginning of 1500, [[Vicente Yáñez Pinzon]] was blown off course by a storm and reached what is now the northeast coast of Brazil on 26 January 1500, exploring as far south as the present-day state of [[Pernambuco]]. His fleet was the first to fully enter the Amazon River estuary which he named ''Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce'' (''Saint Mary's River of the Freshwater Sea'').<ref name=Morison1974>{{cite book
  | last = Morison
  | first = Samuel
  | title = The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages, 1492–1616
  | url = https://archive.org/details/europeandiscover00mori_2
  | url-access = registration
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | year = 1974
  | location = New York
}}</ref> The land was too far east for the Castilians to claim under the Treaty of Tordesillas, but the discovery created Castilian interest, with a second voyage by Pinzon in 1508 (the [[Pinzón–Solís voyage]], an expedition that coasted the northern coast to the Central American coastal mainland, in search of a passage to the East) and a voyage in 1515–16 by a navigator of the 1508 expedition, [[Juan Díaz de Solís]]. The 1515–16 expedition was spurred on by reports of Portuguese exploration of the region (see below). It ended when de Solís and some of his crew disappeared when exploring the [[Río de la Plata|River Plata]] in a boat, but what they found reignited Spanish interest, and colonization began in 1531.

In April 1500, the [[2nd Portuguese India Armada (Cabral, 1500)|second Portuguese India Armada]], headed by [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]], with a crew of expert captains, encountered the Brazilian coast as it swung westward in the Atlantic while performing a large "[[volta do mar]]" to avoid becalming in the [[Gulf of Guinea]]. On 21 April 1500, a mountain was seen and named ''[[Monte Pascoal]]'', and on 22 April Cabral landed on the coast. On 25 April, the entire fleet sailed into the harbour they named ''[[Porto Seguro]]'' (Port Secure). Cabral perceived that the new land lay east of the line of Tordesillas, and sent an envoy to Portugal with the discovery in letters, including the [[carta de Pero Vaz de Caminha|letter]] of [[Pero Vaz de Caminha]]. Believing the land to be an island, he named it [[Ilha de Vera Cruz]] (Island of the True Cross).<ref>N. McAlister, Lyle. (1984) ''Spain and Portugal in the New World: 1492–1700.'' p. 75.</ref> Some historians have suggested that the Portuguese may have encountered the South American bulge earlier while sailing the "volta do mar", hence the insistence of John II in moving the line west of Tordesillas in 1494—so his landing in Brazil may not have been an accident; although John's motivation may have just been to claiming new lands in the Atlantic easier.<ref>[[#Crow 1992|Crow 1992]], p. 136.</ref> From the east coast, the fleet then turned eastward to resume the journey to the southern tip of Africa and India. Cabral was the first captain to touch four continents, leading the first expedition that connected and united Europe, Africa, the New World, and Asia.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hBTqPX4G9Y4C&dq=Cabral+four+continents&pg=PA187 ''Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208111121/https://books.google.com/books?id=hBTqPX4G9Y4C&pg=PA187&dq=Cabral+four+continents&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ei=zPIIU8HvE-af7AakkYDICw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Cabral%20four%20continents&f=false |date=2016-02-08 }}, Bailey Wallys Diffie and George D. Winius. University of Minnesota Press, 1977 p. 187</ref><ref>[https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.coming.of.the.portuguese.htm ''The Coming of the Portuguese''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031005735/https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.coming.of.the.portuguese.htm |date=2014-10-31 }} by Paul Lunde, London University's School of Oriental and African Studies, in Saudi Aramco World – July/August 2005 Volume 56, Number 4,</ref>

At the invitation of King Manuel I of Portugal, Amerigo Vespucci<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 456–62.</ref> participated as observer in these exploratory voyages to the east coast of South America. The expeditions became widely known in Europe after two accounts attributed to him, published between 1502 and 1504, suggested the newly discovered lands were not the Indies but a "New World",<ref>[[#Arciniegas 1978|Arciniegas 1978]], pp. 295–300.</ref> the ''Mundus novus''; this is also the Latin title of a contemporary document based on Vespucci letters to [[Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici]], which had become popular in Europe.<ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], p. 458.</ref> It was soon understood that Columbus had not reached Asia but found a new continent, the Americas. The Americas were named in 1507 by [[Cartography|cartographers]] [[Waldseemüller map|Martin Waldseemüller]] and [[Matthias Ringmann]], probably after Amerigo Vespucci.

From 1501 to 1502, one of these Portuguese expeditions, led by [[Gonçalo Coelho]] (and/or [[André Gonçalves (explorer)|André Gonçalves]] or [[Gaspar de Lemos]]), sailed south along the coast of South America to the bay of present-day [[Rio de Janeiro]]. Vespucci's account states that the expedition reached the latitude "South Pole elevation 52° S", in the "cold" latitudes of what is now southern [[Patagonia]], before turning back. Vespucci wrote that they headed toward the southwest and south, following "a long, unbending coastline", apparently coincident with the southern South American coast. This seems controversial, since he changed part of his description in the subsequent letter, stating a shift, from about 32° S (Southern Brazil), to south-southeast, to open sea, maintaining that they reached 50°/52° S.<ref>[http://icaadocs.mfah.org/icaadocs/THEARCHIVE/FullRecord/tabid/88/doc/839287/language/en-US/Default.aspx The Invention of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215122112/http://icaadocs.mfah.org/icaadocs/THEARCHIVE/FullRecord/tabid/88/doc/839287/language/en-US/Default.aspx |date=2018-12-15 }}. Indiana University Press. pp. 106–07, by Edmundo O'Gorman</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2zZCAAAAIAAJ Imago Mvndi – Brill Archive – Leiden, Editorial Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725002724/https://books.google.com/books?id=2zZCAAAAIAAJ&hl=pt-PT&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=2020-07-25 }}. Leo Bagrow, Stockholm – ''New light on Vespucci's third voyage'', By R. Levillier pp.&nbsp;40–45</ref>

In 1503, [[Binot Paulmier de Gonneville]], challenging the Portuguese policy of ''[[mare clausum]]'', led one of the earliest [[French people|French]] [[Normandy|Normand]] and [[Brittany|Breton]] expeditions to Brazil. He intended to sail to the East Indies, but near the Cape of Good Hope his ship was diverted to west by a storm, and landed in the present day state of [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]] (southern Brazil), on 5 January 1504.
[[File:Gutiérrez, the Americas, 1562.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''[[Americae Sive Quartae Orbis Partis Nova Et Exactissima Descriptio]]'' by [[Diego Gutiérrez (cartographer)|Diego Gutiérrez]], the largest map of the Americas until the 17th century, and the first map to use the name "California". [[British Library]], London.]]

From 1511 to 1512, Portuguese captains [[João de Lisboa]] and Estevão de Fróis reached the [[Rio de La Plata|River Plata]] estuary in present-day [[Uruguay]] and [[Argentina]], and went as far south as the present-day [[Gulf of San Matias]] at 42°S.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Bethell
  | first = Leslie
  | title = The Cambridge History of Latin America, Volume 1, Colonial Latin America
  | publisher = Cambridge University Press
  | year = 1984
  | location = Cambridge
  | page = 257
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_w0kAPYQ5xMC&q=froes
  | isbn = 978-0-521-23223-4
  | access-date = 2020-05-03
  | archive-date = 2022-05-20
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220520133454/https://books.google.com/books?id=_w0kAPYQ5xMC&q=froes
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
  | last = Laguarda Trias
  | first = Rolando A.
  | title = Pilotos portugueses en el Rio de La Plata durante el siglo XVI
  | publisher = UC Biblioteca Geral 1
  | year = 1988
  | location = Coimbra
  | pages = 59–61
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N4ruiK_IJZQC&q=pilotos+portugueses+la+plata&pg=PA81
  | access-date = 2020-11-08
  | archive-date = 2020-12-11
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201211001504/https://books.google.com/books?id=N4ruiK_IJZQC&q=pilotos+portugueses+la+plata&pg=PA81
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> The expedition reached a cape extending north to south which they called Cape of "Santa Maria" ([[Punta del Este]], keeping the name the Cape nearby); and after 40°S they found a "Cape" or "a point or place extending into the sea", and a "Gulf" (in June and July). After they had navigated for nearly {{convert|300|km|0|abbr=on}} to round the cape, they again sighted the continent on the other side, and steered towards the northwest, but a storm prevented them from making any headway. Driven away by the ''Tramontane'' or north wind, they retraced their course. Also gives the first news of the ''White King'' and the "people of the mountains" to the interior (the [[Inca Empire]]), and a gift, an ax of silver, obtained from the [[Charrúa]] natives on their return ("to the coast or side of ''Brazil''"), and "to West" (along the coast and the River Plata estuary), and offered to King Manuel I.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://biblio.wdfiles.com/local--files/schuller-1915-nova/schuller_1915_nova.pdf |title=Newen Zeytung auss Presillg Landt |access-date=2013-07-01 |archive-date=2013-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602205142/http://biblio.wdfiles.com/local--files/schuller-1915-nova/schuller_1915_nova.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Christopher de Haro]], a [[Flemish people|Flemish]] of [[Sephardic]] origin (one of the financiers of the expedition along with D. Nuno Manuel), who would serve the Spanish Crown after 1516, believed the navigators had discovered a southern ''strait'' to west and Asia.

In 1519, an expedition sent by the Spanish Crown to find a way to Asia was led by the experienced Portuguese navigator [[Ferdinand Magellan]]. The fleet explored the rivers and bays as it charted the South American coast until it found a way to the Pacific Ocean through the [[Strait of Magellan]].

From 1524 to 1525, [[Aleixo Garcia]], a Portuguese conquistador, led a private expedition of shipwrecked Castilian and Portuguese adventurers, who recruited about 2,000 [[Guaraní people|Guaraní Indians]]. They explored the territories of present-day southern Brazil, [[Paraguay]], and [[Bolivia]], using the native trail network, the ''Peabiru''. They were the first Europeans to cross the [[Gran Chaco|Chaco]] and reach the outer territories of the [[Inca Empire]] on the hills of the [[Andes]].<ref>[http://www.novomilenio.inf.br/sv/svh009b.htm ''Peabiru, the route lost''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422020539/http://novomilenio.inf.br/sv/svh009b.htm |date=2022-04-22 }} in English</ref>