Bartholomeu Dias

Bartholomeu Dias, Bartolomeu Dias, or Bartholomew Diaz was a Portugese explorer who discovered the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. With the Muslim conquest of Constantinople, land routes to India and China were closed to Europeans. This led them to search for a water route that would be safer and less expensive. Portugal sent Dias to explore along the west coast of Africa and he succeeded in finding a way around and through to the Indian Ocean.

Within a few years after Dias' exploration, Vasco da Gama followed up with a successful voyage to India.