Explorers


 * = The most important Explorers that based their explorations to find a route to the spices were: =

Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 - January 8, 1324) was a Venetian merchant and explorer who, along with his father and uncle, was among the first Westerners who traveled the Silk Road to China. In the Polo´s family, they had other browsers in addition to Marco. His father Nicholas and his Uncle Matthew were prosperous merchants engaged in trade with the East. Both departed for Asia in 1255 and reached China in 1266, reaching Khanbaliq or Cambaluc (Beijing). Returned from China and envoys of Kublai Khan with a letter to the Pope requesting that people send in their enlightened rule teach, to inform the Mongols on their way of life.
 * =__Marco Polo:__=

Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery. He commander the first ships wich sail directly from Europe to India. For a short time in 1524 he was Governor of Portuguese India under the title of Viceroy. On 8 July 1498 Vasco da Gama left Lisbon with a tripulation of170 men and four ships. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than around the equator. It is not known for certain how many people were in each ship's crew but approximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost. Two of the vessels were as naus or newly built for the voyage, possibly a caravel and a supply boat. The four ships were:
 * =__Vasco de Gama:__=
 * 1) The São Gabriel, commanded by Vasco da Gama; a carrack of 178 tons, length 27 m, width 8.5 m, draft 2.3 m, sails of 372 m².
 * 2) The São Rafael, whose commander was his brother Paulo da Gama; similar dimensions to the São Gabriel.
 * 3) The caravel Berrio, slightly smaller than the former two (later re-named São Miguel), commanded by Nicolau Coelho.

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, but later obtained Spanish nationality in order to serve King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Magellan's expedition of 1519–1522 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean. It also completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. Of the 250 men who set out on five ships, only 18 completed the circumnavigation and managed to return to Spain in 1522, led by the Basque Spaniard.
 * =__Ferdinand Magallan__=