Dias, Bartolomeu (redirected from Diaz)

Dias, Bartolomeu (bär'tlmā` dē`əsh), d. 1500, Portuguese navigator. He was the first European to round (1488) the Cape of Good Hope, which he called Cabo Tormentoso [cape of storms]. That voyage opened the road to India. Dias accompanied Cabral on the voyage that resulted in the discovery of Brazil, but he perished in heavy seas off the African coast. He is also called Bartholomew Diaz.

---

Dias, Bartolomeu

 or Bartholomew Diaz

(born c. 1450—died May 29, 1500, at sea, near Cape of Good Hope) Portuguese navigator and explorer. Given command of an expedition to ascertain the southern limit of Africa, he set sail in 1487. He sailed farther south than previous explorers and became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope (1488). His voyage opened the sea route to Asia via the Atlantic and Indian oceans. He later commanded a ship in an expedition under Pedro Álvares Cabral, in which he participated in the discovery of Brazil; he was lost at sea when they reached the Cape.