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Diogo Cão
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Diogo Cão
Diogo Cão (European Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈoɣu ˈkɐ̃w]; c. 1452 – 1486), also known as Diogo Cam, was a Portuguese mariner and one of the most notable explorers of the fifteenth century. He made two voyages along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia.
Little is known about the early life of Diogo Cão. According to tradition, he was born in Vila Real, Portugal, around 1452. His grandfather, Gonçalo Cão, had fought for Portuguese independence at the Battle of Aljubarrota.
By 1480, Cão was sailing off the coast of Africa in the service of João II. There is a record that he returned to Portugal with captured Spanish ships.
When the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1480) confirmed Portugal's monopoly on trade and exploration along Africa's west coast, João II moved quickly to secure and expand his hold on the region. In 1481, a fleet of ten ships was dispatched to the Gold Coast to construct a fortress known as São Jorge da Mina. The fort would serve as a commercial center for trade (including in slaves) and an important point of resupply for Portuguese voyages. João II also re-instituted a program of exploration southward along the African coast, an initiative that had been held in abeyance during the war with Spain. Diogo Cão was selected to lead João's first voyage of exploration in 1482.
When João II restarted the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cão, probably around midsummer 1482, to explore the African coast south of the equator. Diogo Cão filled his ship with stone pillars (padrões) surmounted by the cross of the Order of Christ and engraved with the Portuguese royal arms, planning to erect them at significant landmarks along his voyage of discovery. On the way, the expedition stopped at Sao Jorge da Mina to resupply.
In August 1482, Cão arrived at the Congo River mouth and marked it with a padrão erected on Shark Point, commemorating the Portuguese occupation. This padrão stood until 1642 when it was destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation of the Congo.
Cão sailed up the great river for a short distance and commenced modest commerce with the natives of the Bakongo kingdom. He was told that their king lived farther upriver, so he sent four Christian native messengers to search for the ruler and then proceeded south along the coast of present-day Angola where he erected a second padrão, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cabo de Santa Maria. When he returned to the Congo, Cão was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned, so he abducted four local natives who were visiting his ship and returned with them to Portugal.
He reached Lisbon by 8 April 1484, where John II ennobled him, promoting him from esquire to a cavalier of his household, and granted him an annuity of eighteen thousand reals and a coat of arms on which two padrões are depicted.
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Diogo Cão
Diogo Cão (European Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈoɣu ˈkɐ̃w]; c. 1452 – 1486), also known as Diogo Cam, was a Portuguese mariner and one of the most notable explorers of the fifteenth century. He made two voyages along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia.
Little is known about the early life of Diogo Cão. According to tradition, he was born in Vila Real, Portugal, around 1452. His grandfather, Gonçalo Cão, had fought for Portuguese independence at the Battle of Aljubarrota.
By 1480, Cão was sailing off the coast of Africa in the service of João II. There is a record that he returned to Portugal with captured Spanish ships.
When the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1480) confirmed Portugal's monopoly on trade and exploration along Africa's west coast, João II moved quickly to secure and expand his hold on the region. In 1481, a fleet of ten ships was dispatched to the Gold Coast to construct a fortress known as São Jorge da Mina. The fort would serve as a commercial center for trade (including in slaves) and an important point of resupply for Portuguese voyages. João II also re-instituted a program of exploration southward along the African coast, an initiative that had been held in abeyance during the war with Spain. Diogo Cão was selected to lead João's first voyage of exploration in 1482.
When João II restarted the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cão, probably around midsummer 1482, to explore the African coast south of the equator. Diogo Cão filled his ship with stone pillars (padrões) surmounted by the cross of the Order of Christ and engraved with the Portuguese royal arms, planning to erect them at significant landmarks along his voyage of discovery. On the way, the expedition stopped at Sao Jorge da Mina to resupply.
In August 1482, Cão arrived at the Congo River mouth and marked it with a padrão erected on Shark Point, commemorating the Portuguese occupation. This padrão stood until 1642 when it was destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation of the Congo.
Cão sailed up the great river for a short distance and commenced modest commerce with the natives of the Bakongo kingdom. He was told that their king lived farther upriver, so he sent four Christian native messengers to search for the ruler and then proceeded south along the coast of present-day Angola where he erected a second padrão, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cabo de Santa Maria. When he returned to the Congo, Cão was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned, so he abducted four local natives who were visiting his ship and returned with them to Portugal.
He reached Lisbon by 8 April 1484, where John II ennobled him, promoting him from esquire to a cavalier of his household, and granted him an annuity of eighteen thousand reals and a coat of arms on which two padrões are depicted.
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