One of the things you might have noticed in the past few episodes, besides the fact that we were jumping around in time a bit, was that we actually got a bit into the 1500’s. For example, the High Renaissance ended in 1520, with the death of Raphael.
An anyone with any sense of history at all knows that by getting into the 1500’s, we have missed one of the most historic dates of all time, 1492. Famous and infamous, but no doubt, one of the most important dates in history.
But before we get to Columbus sailing the ocean blue, there were some other, previous explorations by people from other countries. First of all, we have to acknowledge that the Viking explorers, like Lief Ericson, had actually sailed to the New World around 500 years earlier, right around 1000 AD, but that information had just never reached the overall consciousness of Europe, and after the Vikings, no one explored that way.
Christopher Colombus
Coloumbus’ first voyage (best guess)
The Santa Maria. As you can see, it’s not a big ship.
Vasco de Gama, the Portuguese explorer who first navigated to India
All at the Portuguese explorations in the 1400’s and 1500’s. It’s pretty amazing, honestly.
Giovanni Cabota, also known as John Cabot, and a map of his first voyage
A modern replica of John Cabot’s ship, the Matthew.