History can be unfair outstanding people. Brave travelers, politicians, warriors, inventors sometimes leave behind so little information that there is no way to form any reliable idea about their life, character, dreams, not to mention the fact that often the date of birth itself is not recorded anywhere. ..

They were named after the Apostle Bartholomew, the patron saint of merchants, butchers, tailors and winegrowers. It's just that the name Bartholomew in Portuguese sounds like Bartolomeu. The name is very common in the homeland of the future navigator. The surname Dias also cannot be called rare. Among the Dias there are many famous navigators who made many sea voyages for the glory of the Portuguese crown. But information about the discoverer of the sea route has to be extracted bit by bit from many documents. It still remains perhaps the biggest mystery for researchers.

Brief biography of Bartolomeo Dias

When was Bartolomeo Dias born? no one knows. The year of his birth is considered to be 1450 for one reason only: there is a record of admission to study at the University of Lisbon by Bartolomeo Dias, dated 1466. And 16 years was the usual age for starting to study university wisdom at that time. But much older people studied at the university. Let's assume that our hero joins a group of young and successful people. There is absolutely no information about his parents. It feels like he appeared suddenly and out of nowhere. But it is known that the training was successful. But after that it was a failure again. It is unknown what he was doing, where he lived, what he was thinking about... Next appearance The young Dias takes place in 1478: he is appointed keeper of the royal trade warehouses. Well, no one will trust such a post to a person with a bad reputation. In addition, we can now say with confidence that Bartolomeo Dias is a nobleman, moreover, a knight. Here the youth of the future discoverer ends, begins new period- maturity. Now Dias does not disappear from view.

Looking for India

- a country on the outskirts. While the cunning Venetians, Genoese, Hanseatics, and English divided all known seas and captured all possible trade routes, the Portuguese are forced to receive only the remnants of all eastern riches. In other words, only what was no longer bought in the rest of Europe, or surplus eastern goods, reached Portugal. But prices were the highest on the continent. The Portuguese monarchs were thoroughly fed up with the position of “stepdaughter”. But what can we do? Explore those lands that Europe was not very interested in: the western coast of Africa. This direction was considered by many to be unpromising. According to Ptolemy's world map, Africa occupies all the space to the very edge of the Earth, the passage to Indian Ocean No. Official science still considers the Earth to be flat, with clear boundaries, beyond which there is emptiness. Those few scientists who dared to declare that we live on a ball are considered stupid eccentrics, this is in best case scenario. At worst, the Inquisition takes care of their affairs, and then, after questions asked by a polite man in a cassock, the upstart is most often burned at the stake, gathering crowds of lovers of this kind of entertainment. At that time, treatises about dog-headed people living in the northern lands were perceived with much more faith than the confused and foggy works of Copernicus.

But only the desperate do not take risks. At first, the Portuguese kings looked for trading partners in Africa, but there were either Moorish enemies or Aboriginal tribes with whom there was nothing to talk about. The only benefit was black slaves, but they were more suitable for decorating the rich houses of Lisbon. The first expeditions in search of a route to India (contrary to official science!) were organized by Enrique the Navigator, a prince who received such a loud nickname without ever making a single sea voyage. But the prince spared neither effort nor money in organizing trips to Africa. Under him, Sierra Leone and the Cape Verde Islands were discovered. And most importantly, the way was opened for descendants to the southern tip of the African continent.

King Juan II continued to implement the ideas of his relative. Having equipped an expedition led by Diogo Can, the king ordered to find a way to India, to go south of the previous expeditions. Kahn honestly swam to Angola, installed a stone pillar there with the coat of arms of Portugal and turned back. He had very little time left to open a passage to the Indian Ocean. There is still debate about why he did not complete the expedition. Some believe that Kahn was convinced that he had reached southern Africa and considered his mission complete. Others say it's to blame poor condition seafarer's health. Still others are sure that the amount of supplies was insufficient, and the team refused to continue the expedition “to nowhere.” Nobody knows the truth. The result of the activities of Bartolomeu Dias' predecessors was the discovery of the western coast of Africa from the Sahara to southern Angola. was not found.

Expedition of Bartolomeo Dias

The incompleteness of Kahn's expedition irritated the king. A new mission is urgently organized under the leadership of the favorite João II. Yes, already a favorite. Most likely, in addition to protecting the royal property, Dias also carried out other assignments of the crown, quite successfully. In addition, it is reliably known that he had already visited Africa at least once.

When preparations for the voyage were in full swing, someone asked to see the Portuguese king and proposed a very bold project - to go not along the coast of Africa, but strictly to the West. What if these weirdos who claim that the Earth is round are right? Then you can save time and, at the same time, make friends with China. This proposal did not find a response in the king's soul. Too revolutionary. Too fantastic. Too unreliable. So much effort has been poured into this damn Africa, and now we have to start all over again? No way! We will move along the well-known route! Columbus did not grieve for long. He goes to, captivates the gullible and impressionable Queen Isabella with his project, and she, in turn, captivates her husband the king. How the heirs of João II cursed with bad words: a little less stubbornness, a little more adventurism, and not Spain, but Portugal would have become a great power for many centuries...

Three ships - two with crew and one with food - under the leadership set off in the summer of 1487. In four months, the squadron covered the path traversed by Kahn and moved a little further south - to the south of Namibia. Winter has come, or rather the very beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere - a time of storms. The coast was deserted and rocky, so as not to expose the ships to danger, Dias orders to go out to the open sea and move away from the coast. For two weeks the ships were tossed by the sea, the sailors prayed and no longer hoped to see their relatives and friends. The worst thing was that Dias could not determine the direction in which the shore was located. He ordered to sail to the West (there was still a timid hope that they had circumnavigated Africa) - there was no shore.

He ordered to turn north - on February 3, 1488, the Portuguese saw land. It turned out to be a very welcoming land: green fields, cows, shepherds. The shepherds, however, when they saw the Europeans, disappeared. And a few hours later they appeared, accompanied by menacing-looking warriors. he sincerely wanted to establish contact: his crew included several black sailors who were supposed to help with translation and convince of the peaceful intentions of the expedition. But the natives did not understand the language of the “Afro-Portuguese” and began to wave spears and throw stones at the newcomers. Dias ordered to take out crossbows and wave them too. The European intricate weapons did not frighten the local warriors, but provoked them even more. Not only stones flew, but also spears and arrows. The Portuguese had to defend themselves. In the heat of battle, Bartolomeu Dias fired and hit one of the aborigines in the eye. The range and power of the weapon made the locals think, but not for long. The Portuguese realized that they had to leave. Having barely managed to place a stone pillar with the country's coat of arms (to stake out the territory, so to speak), the squadron went to sea.

The ships had barely headed to the East when another storm struck. The sailors and officers made it clear to their leader that they would like to go home, that they had already done a lot, and that they should leave something undiscovered next. He gave a lot of arguments in favor of continuing the expedition, argued that they were almost at their goal and would see India very soon, and urged them to remember the words of their oath to the king. Nothing helped. Then the captain called only the officers for a conversation. There he asked everyone to repeat aloud the oath of allegiance to the king, which was given by all the nobles of Portugal. The officers repeated, but did not give up their demands. Then Dias invited the most authoritative sailors to his place. Here the conversation went in a different direction: Dias described the treasures of India, cited quotes from books of travelers, talked about the wonders of the country of elephants, about the riches that await anyone who reaches this magical land. The sailors listened with their mouths open, but stood their ground - go home! What frightened the expedition members so much? Nothing could scare them! It is no secret that every expedition of that time was a journey to nowhere. The final goal was unknown to anyone. To go on such a journey you need to be a brave person, an adventurer and a fatalist. Such were the officers and sailors expeditions of Bartolomeo Dias, But...

On the way to uncharted lands, the squadron landed several times on the shore, sometimes for quite some time. long time. These were places where Portuguese colonies were already located, and trade with the aborigines was active: beads in exchange for gold and pearls. The sailors and officers managed to sell enough for themselves to live a comfortable life. There were even a few new slaves in the holds, bought by the officers for their homes. Each team member had something to lose. Except Bartolomeo Dias. When persuasion fails, the squadron commander invites all crew members to gather on the main ship. He invites everyone to sign an official statement about their refusal to obey the captain, about the end of the expedition, about their refusal to serve the king. Dias asks absolutely everyone to sign the document - from the senior officer to the cabin boy, the assistant cook. After a short hesitation, everyone signs. The last thing Dias can do is kneel down in front of his team and beg to continue forward for three more days and three nights. Promising with an oath that after this time the squadron will turn back. The officers refused, but then the sailors stood up for the captain. The decision was made - they sail to India for three more days.

Three days flew by quickly. The wind was fair and the squadron covered more than 200 nautical miles. invited officers to admire the opening shore from a barrel on the mast of the main ship. The coastline goes further and further north. Which means the passage is open. During the next landing on the shore, the squadron commander names the open land after one of the officers... All this in the hope that the team will change their decision. But no. The team wants to go home. On the way back, having discovered a cape near which the sea is never calm, Dias gives it the name “Cape of Storms” (later “”), marking it on the map as the southernmost point of Africa. The way back was boring and uninteresting.

The route of the Bartolomeo Dias expedition

Returning to his homeland in the winter of 1488, he makes a detailed report to the king: there is a passage to India, Ptolemy’s map is incorrect! The king is perplexed as to why Dias did not swim to India. The sailor is shy and mumbles. He never showed the king the seditious paper and did not betray anyone from his team. João II is disappointed; he suspects his Bartolomeo Dias of elementary cowardice. The discoverer was removed from expeditions.

Life of Bartolomeo Dias after the expedition

Despite everything, the experience is very valuable for Portugal. He is entrusted with the efforts of preparing a new expedition to India, under the leadership of a young and ambitious man. The navigator makes changes to the design of the ships of the new squadron, changes the sails, and takes an innovative approach to crew training and collecting supplies. He knows everything, he can do everything, he wants to prove that he can be useful in the expedition, he wants to see India, finally... Together with the new expedition, Bartolomeu Dias sails to Guinea, where he remains the commandant of one of the fortresses. For a long time he watches the sailing ships of Vasco da Gama... After Europe was stunned by the discoveries of Columbus, everything began to move. Everyone wanted their own special piece of the New World. And then Vasco da Gama returned with full holds of Indian goods, fully confirming everything Bartolomeo's discoveries Diasha. They remembered the old sailor. After the happy return of Vasco da Gama, a large and powerful fleet under the command of Pedro Cabral was equipped in India. India, however, was only the official destination. The king's order is to explore the ocean west of Africa, where that sneaky Columbus discovered something. The expedition is substantial, it requires specialists. Bartolomeo Dias was invited to command one of the ships of the fleet. It was a moment of absolute happiness for the experienced sailor.

The result of the exploration of western waters by Cabral's expedition was the discovery of Brazil. After such a successful start, it seemed that everything would go well with India. The Portuguese fleet approached southern Africa at the most unpleasant time (the end of spring in the northern hemisphere). The storm scattered the ships over a vast area. The ship under command was last seen near the Cape of Good Hope on May 29, 1500. When the storm subsided, the fleet was missing almost half of its ships. Dias' ship also disappeared.

To this day no one has seen him dead. Officially, he is still considered “missing in action.” But some sailors claim that the famous " the flying Dutchman"is controlled by none other than Bartolomeo Dias. Even dead, he stands on the captain's bridge and looks forward, trying to withstand unfavorable currents and winds. He simply cannot die completely without seeing India. That's the kind of man he was: he came from nowhere and went to nowhere. Portuguese navigator named after Saint Bartholomew.

Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 - 1500) - Portuguese navigator.

Introduction

He was the first to circumnavigate the southern tip of Africa and discover the Cape of Good Hope. We can say that he saw India, but, like Moses in the promised land, he did not enter it. The sources remain silent about the life of Bartolomeo Dias before the start of his famous voyage. Moreover, authentic reports about the voyage itself have not reached us. Scientists have only brief mentions in the writings of chroniclers.

The full name of the Portuguese navigator is Bartolomeu (Bartolomeo) Dias de Novais. It has been established that he came from the family of Joao Dias, who was the first to circumnavigate Cape Bojador, and Dinis Dias, who discovered Cape Verde.

It is known that Dias was a fidalgu (nobleman), a courtier of King João II, at one time he was the manager of the royal warehouses in Lisbon, but was also known as an experienced sailor. In 1481, as part of Diogo Azambuja's expedition, he sailed to the shores of Africa. Apparently, this is why King Juan, who continued the work of his great-uncle Henry the Navigator, appointed him commander of one of the two flotillas sent to explore the coast of Africa and search for a sea route to India.

At the end of the 15th century, many people had a question: is Ptolemy’s map of the world correct? On this map, Africa extended to the South Pole, separating Atlantic Ocean from Indian. But Portuguese navigators established: the further south you go, the more the coast of Africa deviates to the east. Maybe the continent ends somewhere, or is washed by the sea from the south. Then it would be possible to go around the land, get into the Indian Ocean, and along it travel by ship to India and China and from there by sea bring spices and other valuable goods to Europe.

This exciting mystery was solved by the Portuguese traveler Bartolomeu Dias. Leaving Lisbon in 1487 on three ships, in 1488 he sailed to the southern tip of Africa and even circled it, despite a severe storm. Dias called the southernmost protrusion of Africa the Cape of Storms. Beyond this cape, his ships entered the waters of the Indian Ocean. But Bartolomeu Dias had to end his journey here: the team, exhausted by storms, demanded to return to their homeland. After Bartolomeu Dias' report on the results of the voyage, the Portuguese government ordered that the southern cape of Africa be called not the Cape of Storms, but of Good Hope - the hope of reaching India and other countries of the East by sea.

Purpose

The appointment took place in October 1486, but the ships went to sea only in August next year. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the king considered the expedition to be especially important and difficult, since they prepared for it very carefully. The flotilla of three ships included a special vessel loaded with food supplies, water, weapons and even spare ship gear in case of repairs. Peru d'Alenquer, the most famous navigator of that time, was appointed chief helmsman, who was allowed to sit at the same table with the king when the courtiers were forced to stand. Other officers were also true experts in the matter.

Finally, three caravels under the command of Dias left Lisbon and moved along the African coast. At the port, in addition to the crew, there were several blacks, men and women, who were to be landed on the coast of Africa along the route of the flotilla. Former slaves were supposed to talk about the wealth and power of Portugal. In this way, the Portuguese hoped to finally attract the attention of “Priest-King John.” In addition to the first, the blacks were dressed in European clothes and had with them samples of gold, silver, spices and other goods that were of interest in Europe. They were supposed to convince the natives to trade with Portugal.

Stone crosses

First, Dias headed to the mouth of the Congo, and then, with great caution, sailed along the unfamiliar African coast to the south. He was the first of the Portuguese to begin erecting padrans on the shores he discovered - stone crosses with inscriptions indicating that the territory belonged to the Portuguese crown.

Beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, the flotilla was carried south by a storm. The sailors did not see land for thirteen days and considered themselves dead. After the storm, they sailed first to the east, then, in search of land, to the north. Finally, on February 3, 1488, they saw the shore from high mountains. Soon the happy sailors found a convenient bay and landed on the shore, where they saw cows and black shepherds. At first, the blacks, frightened by the strangely dressed white people, ran away, but then began to throw stones at the sailors. Dias threatened them with a crossbow, but the natives, not knowing what it was, continued to behave aggressively. Then Dias shot an arrow and killed one of the attackers, becoming the first victim of white aggression in South Africa.

Bahia dos Vaqueiros

The bay was named Bahia dos Vaqueiros - the Shepherds' Harbor (modern Mossel). She was not yet open cape Good Hope over 200 miles away. However, Dias realized that they had rounded Africa only when he noticed that the coast stretched to the east. He headed east and reached Algoa Bay and a small island. They put a pad-run on him. Dias wanted to continue the journey, but the crew, exhausted by the hardships of the journey and suffering from hunger (the cargo ship fell behind), opposed this. Persuasion and consultations with officers and sailor leaders led nowhere. Even when Dias invited the team to say under oath how, in their opinion, people in royal service should act, the situation did not change. Then the commander drew up a document recording the general decision and invited everyone to sign it. When the formalities were completed, he still managed to obtain the favor of sailing ahead for another two or three days. The flotilla reached the mouth of a large river, which was named Rio di Infanti - in honor of Joao Infanti, one of the captains of the flotilla, who was the first to go ashore here.

From here the expedition turned back. Passing near the padran, placed in Algoa Bay, Dias, as one of the wrote! chroniclers, said goodbye to him “with such a deep feeling of sadness, as if parting with a son doomed to eternal exile; he recalled with what danger both for himself and for all his subordinates he went through such long haul, having in mind one single goal, - and so the Lord did not allow him to achieve his goal.

But on the way back, Dias had another discovery. His gaze opened up to a view of the majestic cape and Table Mountain. Now he has passed by the southernmost tip of Africa and given it a name. It is usually said that the navigator called it the Cape of Storms, but in December 1488, the king, during Dias’s report on the journey, proposed calling it the Cape of Good Hope, since he was confident that the sea route to India had been found. In fact, this is apparently nothing more than a legend that arose on the basis of a report by a famous Portuguese historian of the 16th century. Barrosa. Contemporaries testified that the author of the name was Dias himself.

San Gregorio

Near Cape Dias went ashore, recorded his observations in a nautical chart and journal and set up a padran that has survived to this day, calling it San Gregorio.

Now it was necessary to find a cargo ship. He was discovered, but out of the nine crew members, only three remained on board, one of whom also soon died from the disease. The rest died during skirmishes with the natives, who coveted the sailors' belongings.

The supplies were placed on two ships, the cargo ship was burned as beyond repair, and then they headed back along the west coast of Africa. Along the way, the sailors picked up castaway Duarte Pasheco Pireiro and the surviving sailors, on the Gold Coast, took the gold bought from the natives by the royal trading post, and finally in December 1488 they dropped anchor in Rishtella, a western suburb of Lisbon.

The most significant Portuguese voyage before Vasco da Gama's voyage was completed. The navigator, in addition to opening the route around Africa, increased the length of the explored African coast by 1260 miles, and carried out the longest of all Portuguese voyages at that time. His ships spent 16 months and 17 days at sea. And yet, apart from the gratitude of his descendants, he received no reward. He was no longer assigned any expeditions. They were only allowed to observe the construction of ships for da Gama’s expedition, and then accompany the discoverer of the route to India. However, he went with the expedition only to the fortress of Georges de la Mina on the Gold Coast of Africa. Finally, as a simple captain, Dias was released along with Cabral to India, and he took part in the discovery of Brazil. But this trip was his last. On May 23, 1500, the captain died along with his ship during a strong storm not far from the Cape of Good Hope he discovered.

Conclusion

Dias's discovery had great importance. In addition to opening the way to the Indian Ocean for Portuguese and later other European ships, his journey dealt a crushing blow to Ptolemy’s theory of an uninhabited hot zone. Perhaps it also played a role in organizing Columbus’s expedition, since the latter’s brother, Bartolomeo, who accompanied Dias during the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, a year after its completion, went to England to King Henry VII asking for help for his brother’s expedition. In addition, during Dias's report to the king, Christopher Columbus himself was at court, on whom Bartolomeu's journey made a strong impression.

Bartolomeu Dias was famous navigator of Portuguese origin. However, a lot of information early years life is unknown. Thus, it is assumed that he was born around 1450 in Portugal. He studied exact sciences at the University of Lisbon, the knowledge of which he later widely applied in his voyages. Dias can be called a true genius of navigation.

B. Dias participated in the trade of rare goods such as ivory and spices. He constantly sailed to countries discovered by Portuguese travelers

In 1481, Dias sailed on an expedition to the Gold Coast, located in modern Guinea. After 6 years, he led a voyage along the coast of the African continent on 2 ships with the aim of exploring the borders of this continent. During this expedition, the ships were caught in a strong storm, and the sailors were very frightened. Dias failed to persuade them to continue their journey further to the shores of India, and they turned back. He gave the name to the cape where they decided to return home - “Cape of Storms”, and the Portuguese monarch renamed it “Cape of Good Hope”. This was a symbol that gave hope for continuing the search for a route to India, which was achieved by V. da Gama. Upon returning home, the navigator informed the king about the possibility of passage to India by sea around Africa. However, the monarch was very surprised and annoyed by the fact that Dias himself was unable to swim to India. In order not to expose the members of his team to royal wrath, the traveler never admitted the real reasons for the failure of the expedition.

Dias participated in the preparation of Vasco da Gama's voyage and gave him many valuable advice on the construction of ships and the difficulties of the African coast. The navigator was not allowed to join da Gama's expedition, since he was appointed head of the Portuguese fortress in Guinea.

In 1500, B. Dias took part in an expedition to the shores of India, led by Captain Cabral. The ships reached the eastern edge of South America. B. Dias participated in the discovery of Brazil. Then they decided to return to the African continent, to the Cape of Good Hope. There they were caught in a strong storm that lasted more than twenty days, in which 4 ships out of 10 that took part in the expedition were wrecked. On one of the dead ships there was also great navigator Bartolomeu Dias.

Option 2

Dias, Dias di Novais, Bartolomeu (1450-1500) - Portuguese navigator and traveler.

João II, who became King of Portugal in 1481, actively continued the country's colonial policy. In 1487 he sent Bartolomeu Dias south along the West African coast. Having passed the last padran (stone pillar) left by his predecessor, Diogo Can, Dias' ships found themselves in a line of storms, due to which they were forced to move away from the coast.

Moving further towards the unknown, it was decided to increase the supplies of food, water and equipment on board. It became clear that one ship would not be enough for a long journey, so Dias’s flotilla consisted of three ships, which included a ship loaded with provisions, fresh water, spare parts, weapons.

Dias's caravels, compared to modern ships, were miniature, but with a shallow draft and at a fast pace, they were ideal for coastal sailing.

Dias' team of about 60 people included black slaves. Along the way they were dropped ashore. To convince the natives to cooperate with Portugal, the blacks had samples with them precious metals and spices.

The South African Khoikhoin natives, known as Hottentots, were pastoralists. Their first meeting with the sailors at Shepherds Bay ended in a quarrel in which Dias shot one shepherd with a crossbow.

Cape Volta became another padran installation site. Here Dias left one cargo ship and went further south. He named this harbor Angra dos Voltas. On the way to the south, the travelers were overtaken by a terrible storm, with which they fought for 13 days.

Having rounded the southernmost point of Africa and not noticing the coast, they moored to it already east of the cape. Soon, having reached the easternmost point - the mouth of the Great Fish River, Dias' exhausted companions convinced him to return. The refusal of Dias's team to move east from Great Fish was not perceived as a mutiny. In those days, important decisions were made at general council seafarers and captains rarely canceled them. Heading back, Dias's caravel sailed with a fair wind and easily rounded the Cape of Good Hope.

After spending 16 months at sea, Bartolomeu Dias mapped a 2,030 km long coastline and established 3 padranas. Because of his ordeals, the navigator gave the name to the southern cape of Africa - the Cape of Storms, but the place that promised the discovery of India was renamed by King Juan II to the Cape of Good Hope.

Navigators proved that by circumnavigating Africa, one could get to the Indian Ocean, and from here establish direct trade with India and the Moluccas archipelago, where there are many spices.

Dias's next expedition took place in 1497. In it, he helped Vasco da Gama reach the Cape Verde Islands.

The voyage of 1500 turned out to be the last for the traveler. The commander of the ship in the caravel P.A. Cabral (accidentally discovered Brazil, having lost his course), heading to India, Dias died in a storm at the Cape of Good Hope.

Based on Dias's report, Vasco da Gama developed his route and 10 years later made a new expedition to India.

7th grade. According to history

His colleagues were amazed at Korolenko’s creativity. Yes, the writer himself was confident in himself. To last days he believed in the victory of a bright future, the conviction in the necessity of efforts to uphold goodness.

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Winter is a charming time, there is magic all around, and there are many amazing winter holidays. But during this wonderful period, many animals hibernate. Why?

And went out into the Indian Ocean. He reached one of the southern capes of Africa, which was called the Cape of Storms.

Biography

ABOUT early life Diasha knows practically nothing. For a long time he was considered the son of one of the captains of Enrique the Navigator, but even this is not the case. The commonly added qualifier "di Novais" to his surname was first documented in 1571, when King Sebastian I appointed Dias' grandson, Paulo Dias de Novais, as governor of Angola. Henry Ivan's hole.

In his youth he studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Lisbon. There are references to the fact that for some time Dias served as manager of the royal warehouses in Lisbon, and in 1481-82. participated as captain of one of the caravels in the expedition of Diogo de Azambuja, sent to build Fort Elmina (São Jorge da Mina) on the coast of Ghana.

After Kan died during another expedition (gbplf, according to another version, fell into disgrace), the king instructed Dias to take his place and go in search of a route to India around Africa. Dias's expedition consisted of three ships, one of which was commanded by his brother Diogo. Under the command of Dias were excellent sailors who had previously sailed under the command of Kahn and knew the coastal waters better than others, and the outstanding navigator of Peru di Alenquer. The total crew number was about 60 people.

Dias sailed from Portugal in August 1487, on December 4 he advanced south of Caen and in the last days of December dropped anchor in the Gulf of St. Stephen's (now Elizabeth Bay) in southern Namibia. After January 6, storms began that forced Dias to go out to sea. A few days later he tried to return to the bay, but there was no land in sight. The wanderings continued until February 3, 1488, when, turning north, the Portuguese saw the coast of Africa east of the Cape of Good Hope.

Having landed on the shore, Dias discovered a Hottentot settlement and, since it was St. Blasius, named the bay after this saint. The blacks accompanying the squadron could not find a common language with the natives, who first retreated and then tried to attack the European camp. During the conflict, Dias shot one of the natives with a crossbow, but this did not stop the rest, and the Portuguese immediately had to set sail. Dias wanted to sail further east, but upon reaching Algoa Bay (near the modern city of Port Elizabeth), all the officers under his command were in favor of returning to Europe. The sailors also wanted to return home, otherwise they threatened to riot. The only concession they agreed to was three more days of travel to the northeast.

The limit of Dias' eastward advance was the mouth of the Great Fish, where the padran he had established was discovered in 1938. He turned back, convinced that the mission of the expedition had been completed and, if necessary, by rounding the southern tip of Africa, he could reach India by sea. All that remains is to find this southern tip. In May 1488, Dias landed on the treasured cape and, it is believed, named it the Cape of Storms in memory of the storm that almost destroyed it. Subsequently, the king, who relied on the sea route to Asia opened by Dias high hopes, renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.

Dias returned to Europe in December 1488, having spent 16 months and 17 days at sea, and apparently received instructions to keep his discoveries secret. Information about the circumstances of his reception at court has not survived. The king was waiting for news from Prester John, to whom Peru da Covilhã was sent by land, and hesitated in financing new voyages. Only after the death of John II, 9 years after the return of Dias, did the Portuguese finally equip an expedition to India. Vasco da Gama was placed at its head. Dias was entrusted with supervising the construction of ships, since he personal experience knew what kind of vessel design was needed to sail in South African waters. According to his orders, the slanting sails were replaced with rectangular ones, and the hulls of the ships were built with shallow draft and greater stability in mind. Also, in all likelihood, it was Dias who gave Vasco da Gama advice when sailing south, after Sierra Leone, to move away from the coast and make a detour across the Atlantic, because he knew that this was how he could bypass the strip of unfavorable winds. Dias accompanied him to the Gold Coast (Guinea), and then went to the fortress of São Jorge da Mina, of which he was appointed commandant.

When Vasco da Gama returned and confirmed the correctness of Dias' guesses, a more powerful fleet led by Pedro Cabral was equipped to India. On this journey, Dias commanded one of the ships. He participated in the discovery of Brazil, but during the passage towards Africa a storm broke out and his ship was irretrievably lost. Thus, he died in the very waters that brought him fame. Bartolomeu Dias's grandson, Paulo Dias de Novais, became the first governor of Angola and founded the first European settlement there, Luanda.

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Excerpt characterizing Dias, Bartolomeu

The next day after the council, Napoleon, early in the morning, pretending that he wanted to inspect the troops and the field of the past and future battle, with a retinue of marshals and a convoy, rode along the middle of the line of troops. The Cossacks, snooping around the prey, came across the emperor himself and almost caught him. If the Cossacks did not catch Napoleon this time, then what saved him was the same thing that was destroying the French: the prey that the Cossacks rushed to, both in Tarutino and here, abandoning people. They, not paying attention to Napoleon, rushed to the prey, and Napoleon managed to escape.
When les enfants du Don [the sons of the Don] could catch the emperor himself in the middle of his army, it was clear that there was nothing more to do but run as quickly as possible along the nearest familiar road. Napoleon, with his forty-year-old belly, no longer feeling the same agility and courage in himself, understood this hint. And under the influence of the fear that he gained from the Cossacks, he immediately agreed with Mouton and gave, as historians say, the order to retreat back to the Smolensk road.
The fact that Napoleon agreed with Mouton and that the troops went back does not prove that he ordered this, but that the forces that acted on the entire army, in the sense of directing it along the Mozhaisk road, simultaneously acted on Napoleon.

When a person is in motion, he always comes up with a goal for this movement. In order to walk a thousand miles, a person needs to think that there is something good beyond these thousand miles. Need an idea about promised land in order to have the strength to move.
The promised land during the French advance was Moscow; during the retreat it was the homeland. But the homeland was too far away, and for a person walking a thousand miles, he certainly needs to say to himself, forgetting about the final goal: “Today I will come forty miles to a place of rest and lodging for the night,” and on the first journey this place of rest obscures the final goal and concentrates on yourself all the desires and hopes. Those aspirations that are expressed in an individual always increase in a crowd.
For the French who went back along the old Smolensk road, final goal the homeland was too distant, and the nearest goal, the one towards which, in enormous proportions intensifying in the crowd, all desires and hopes strove, was Smolensk. Not because people knew that there was a lot of provisions and fresh troops in Smolensk, not because they were told this (on the contrary, senior officials The armies and Napoleon himself knew that there was little food there), but because this alone could give them the strength to move and endure real hardships. They, both those who knew and those who did not know, equally deceiving themselves as to the promised land, strove for Smolensk.
Having reached the high road, the French ran with amazing energy and unheard-of speed towards their imaginary goal. In addition to this reason of common desire, which united the crowds of French into one whole and gave them some energy, there was another reason that bound them. This reason was their number. Their huge mass itself, as in the physical law of attraction, attracted individual atoms of people. They moved in their hundred thousandth mass as an entire state.
Each of them wanted only one thing - to be captured, to get rid of all the horrors and misfortunes. But, on the one hand, the strength of the common desire for the goal of Smolensk carried everyone in the same direction; on the other hand, it was impossible for the corps to surrender to the company as captivity, and, despite the fact that the French took every opportunity to get rid of each other and, at the slightest decent pretext, to surrender themselves into captivity, these pretexts did not always happen. Their very number and close, fast movement deprived them of this opportunity and made it not only difficult, but impossible for the Russians to stop this movement, towards which all the energy of the mass of the French was directed. Mechanical tearing of the body could not accelerate the decomposition process beyond a certain limit.
A lump of snow cannot be melted instantly. There is a known time limit before which no amount of heat can melt the snow. On the contrary, the more warm it is, the stronger the remaining snow becomes.
None of the Russian military leaders, except Kutuzov, understood this. When the direction of flight of the French army along the Smolensk road was determined, then what Konovnitsyn foresaw on the night of October 11 began to come true. All the highest ranks of the army wanted to distinguish themselves, cut off, intercept, capture, overthrow the French, and everyone demanded an offensive.
Kutuzov alone used all his strength (these forces are very small for each commander in chief) to counteract the offensive.
He could not tell them what we are saying now: why the battle, and blocking the road, and the loss of his people, and the inhumane finishing off of the unfortunate? Why all this, when one third of this army melted away from Moscow to Vyazma without a battle? But he told them, deducing from his old wisdom something that they could understand - he told them about the golden bridge, and they laughed at him, slandered him, and tore him, and threw him, and swaggered over the killed beast.
At Vyazma, Ermolov, Miloradovich, Platov and others, being close to the French, could not resist the desire to cut off and overturn two French corps. To Kutuzov, notifying him of their intention, they sent in an envelope, instead of a report, a sheet of white paper.
And no matter how hard Kutuzov tried to hold back the troops, our troops attacked, trying to block the road. The infantry regiments are said to have charged with music and drums and killed and lost thousands of men.
But cut off - no one was cut off or knocked over. And the French army, pulled together tighter from danger, continued, gradually melting, its same disastrous path to Smolensk.

Dias (port. Dias de Novaes), Bartolomeu - Portuguese navigator, the first European to circumnavigate the southern coast of Africa and reach the Indian Ocean.

The origin of D. is unclear, data on early period lives are fragmentary. He studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Lisbon, was an Escudeiro of the Royal House, a knight of the Order of Christ. The privileges and coat of arms granted to him were passed on to his descendants (two sons). Presumably in 1481-1482 D. was a captain in the expedition of Diogo de Azambuja to the Gulf of Guinea. The king instructed D. to continue his research, and in 1486 he led an expedition with the official goal of establishing relations with the legendary. The main goal was to explore the coastline of the southern African continent and search for a sea route to India. D.'s expedition consisted of three ships (2 caravels with a displacement of 50 tons and an auxiliary vessel), left Lisbon in August 1487 and in early December reached the southernmost point of the Caen expedition off the coast of modern. After January 6, 1488, he was caught in a fierce storm and saw land again on February 3, 1488, having already circled Africa. Mapping the coast, he advanced to Algoa Bay (near the modern city of Port Elizabeth) 800 km east of the Cape of Good Hope. D.'s desire to sail further met resistance from the team, which demanded a return and at the end of January - beginning of February 1488 from the river. Infanta (modern Cape Great Fish) he set off on the return journey. Returning, D. placed padrans (stone pillars with the coats of arms of the King of Portugal) in the most important points coast, discovered the southernmost point of the continent. In May 1488 D. landed on a cape, which he named the Cape of Storms, which was later renamed by the king to the Cape of Good Hope. He returned to Lisbon in December 1488, aware of the significance of the expedition's results.

Familiar with the requirements of navigating the waters South Africa, D. supervised the preparation and equipment of the ships of the Vashku expedition and in 1497-1499 accompanied his flotilla to. In 1500 he accompanied Pedro Alvares, commanding one of the ships. Near the Cape of Good Hope, D.'s ship was caught in a storm and went missing. Reaching the southern tip of Africa is one of major events in the history of European navigation. D.'s journey, continued by Vasco da Gama, made it possible to open a sea route to India.

Lit.: Barreto L. F. Viagens de Bartolomeu Dias e Pero da Covilhã por Mar e Terra. Lisboa, 1988; Bartolomeu Dias: Corpo documental, Bibliografia / Ed. L. De Albuquerque. Lisboa, 1988; Bartolomeu Dias: No 500 aniversário da dobragem do Cabo da Boa Esperança 1487/88—1988: Comemorações em Durban. Porto, 1990; Congresso internacional "Bartolomeu Dias e a sua época". Actas. Vol. 1-5. Porto, 1989.