Maritime navigators, caravel ships, circumnavigation, and world maps.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Vasco da Gama negotiated with which ruler of Calicut on his first visit to India?
The Zamorin ruled a major trading port where established merchants had little reason to welcome a new commercial rival.
Which Portuguese king sent Vasco da Gama on his first voyage to India?
Profits from the Asian spice trade helped Manuel I fund grand building projects, including the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon.
What colonial office did Vasco da Gama hold in Portuguese India near the end of his life?
A viceroy governed on behalf of a monarch, extending royal authority across the long distance between Portugal and India.
Vasco da Gama sought a direct sea route to buy which valuable goods in Asia?
Pepper and other spices could pass through many merchants before reaching Europe, raising their price at each stage.
Which epic poem by Luís de Camões celebrates Vasco da Gama's voyage to India?
Camões mixes the voyage with classical mythology, letting gods such as Venus help the Portuguese sailors.
Which vitamin-deficiency disease afflicted Vasco da Gama's crews on long ocean voyages?
Without fresh fruit or vegetables for months, sailors could lack vitamin C, which the body needs to repair tissue.
Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India began in which city in 1497?
The Tagus River links Lisbon's harbor to the Atlantic, making the city a departure point for ocean voyages.
What was Vasco da Gama's flagship on his first voyage to India called?
Da Gama began the voyage with four ships, but only two returned to Portugal.
What was the name of the ship John Cabot took across the Atlantic in 1497?
Cabot crossed in a single ship; Columbus had taken three vessels on his first Atlantic voyage five years earlier.
John Cabot's 1497 Atlantic voyage reached the coast of which continent?
The exact landing site remains uncertain, but Cabot's voyage helped establish England's claims in North America.