Routes of the VikingsThe Vikings were both a warrior and farming society from the region now known as Scandinavia. They were also seafaring explorers who sailed beyond their homelands not only to raid, but also to build settlements in other parts of the world. The Danish Vikings went south toward Germany, France, England, Spain, and into regions on the northwestern Mediterranean coast. Swedish Vikings went to eastern Europe, while the Norwegians sailed to Greenland and North America.

Leif Eriksson later landed on North America, which he called Vinland, or Wineland, because of the large numbers of grapes that he and his men found.

First Crusade (1095-1099)Second Crusade (1145-1148)Third Crusade (1187–1192)Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229)Children’s Crusade (1212-1213)Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)Sixth Crusade (1228-1229)Seventh Crusade (1248-1250)Eighth Crusade (1267-1272)

The governor, along with his bodyguard, was escorted out of the city. Tancred promised protection in the Aqṣā Mosque, but his orders were disobeyed. Hundreds of men, women, and children, both Muslim and Jewish, perished in the general slaughter that followed.

Marshall W. Baldwin

Professor of History, New York University, New York City, 1954–72. Coeditor of A History of the Crusades.

Thomas F. Madden

Peter the Hermit's preaching in Germany inspired other groups of Crusaders, who also failed to reach Jerusalem. One of these groups was led by the notorious Count Emicho and was responsible for a series of massacres of Jews in several Rhenish towns in 1096. Traditionally recognized as an important turning point in Jewish and Christian relations in the Middle Ages—in fact, it is often cited as a pivotal moment in the history of anti-Semitism—these attacks occurred first in Speyer and then with increasing ferocity in Worms, Mainz, and Cologne. The Jews of these towns often sought, and sometimes received, the protection of the bishop or futilely took refuge in local homes and temples. Forced by the Crusaders to convert or die, many Jews chose death. There are accounts of Jews' committing suicide and even killing their children rather than converting or submitting to execution by the Crusaders. Though zealotry of this nature is not unique to Christianity, these massacres did not go unnoticed even by fellow Christians.

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Marco Polo

Venetian traveler and author

Birth 1254

Death 1324

Place of Birth Venice, Italy

Known for Traveling to China

Milestones1271 Set out to travel to the Mongol Empire with his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo

1275 Arrived at the court of Kublai Khan, Mongol ruler of China, in Shangdu

1275?-1292 Served as a diplomat for Kublai Khan and traveled extensively within the Mongol Empire

1292 Departed for Europe, accomplishing a final diplomatic mission for Kublai Khan in Persia on the way

1295 Arrived in Europe

1298 Was captured and imprisoned by the Genoese during a war between Venice and Genoa

1298 Dictated the story of his travels to fellow prisoner and romance writer Rustichello

Full name Ibn Battuta

Born February, 1304 Tangier,Morocco

Died 1368 or 1369 Morocco

School/tradition

Sunni Maliki

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Monument to the DiscoveriesThe Monument to the Discoveries was erected in 1960 in honor of the 500th anniversary of the death of Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator. Located in Lisbon’s busy port at the mouth of the Tagus River, the monument resembles a gigantic ship. On the prow, a statue of Prince Henry leads a group of explorers, statesmen, and artists. Henry the Navigator was a man of skill and great vision who gathered together Portugal’s best sea captains, astronomers, chart makers, and navigators to develop new principles of sailing and navigation. Such efforts led to Portugal’s long-range voyages of exploration, which had never before been attempted.Gianni Tortoli/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Diogo Cão or Diogo Cam (15th century), Portuguese navigator and explorer. During voyages made between 1482 and 1484 and again in 1485 and 1486, he discovered the mouth of the Congo River and was the first European to explore the western coast of Africa as far south as Cape Cross, near what is now Walvis Bay, in southwestern Africa.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

                                       Bartolomeu DiasIn 1488 Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Dias called the cape Cabo Tormentoso (Portuguese for “Cape of Storms”) because of the area’s dangerous sea conditions.

Dias was a cavalier of the royal court, superintendent of the royal warehouses, and sailing-master of theman-of-war, São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher). King John II of Portugal appointed him, on 10 October 1486, to head an expedition to sail around the southern end of Africa in the hope of finding a trade route to India. Another purpose of the expedition was to try to revisit the countries reported by João Afonso de Aveiro(probably Ethiopia and Aden) with which the Portuguese desired friendly relations. Dias was also charged with searching for the lands described by Prester John, who was a fabled Christian priest and African prince. (There is no evidence he ever existed.) Dias was also sent to challenge the Muslim monopoly on trade in south Asia.

Leif Eriksson

Iceland about 1000 ad

Explored Vinland, variously identified as coast of Labrador, of Newfoundland Island, of Nova Scotia, and of New England.

Marco Polo

Venice 1271-1295 ad

Traveled through Central Asia, India, China, and Malay Archipelago.

Ibn Battutah

Morocco 1325-1349 ad

Traveled in Africa, the Middle East, India, China, and in steppes of Central Asia.

Gil Eannes Portugal 1433 ad Sailed S along W coast of Africa, past Cape Bojador.

Diogo Cam Portugal 1482-1486 ad

Explored mouth of Congo R. and explored part of coast of W Africa.

Bartolomeu Dias

Portugal 1488 ad Explored Algoa and Mossel bays in S Africa, observing and naming Cape of Storms, later renamed Cape of Good Hope.

Birth 1451

Death May 20, 1506

Place of Birth Genoa, Italy

Known asThe first European to enter and explore the Caribbean Sea

MilestonesAugust 3, 1492 Embarked with three ships from Spain in search of a westward route to Asia

October 12, 1492 Landed at Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas, and renamed it San Salvador

March 1493 Returned to Spain

September 1493 Embarked with 17 vessels on a second expedition to the New World, during which he traveled to Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica

Christopher Columbus

Italian-born Spanish navigator and explorer

1493 Founded the town of Isabela near what is now Cabo Isabela, Dominican Republic

1496 Returned to Spain after a royal commission was sent to Isabela to investigate his governing policies

1498 Embarked on a third voyage to the New World, during which he traveled to Trinidad, the mouth of the Orinoco River, and Venezuela

1500 Was arrested and sent back to Spain following criticism of his policies in the Spanish territories

1502 Embarked with four ships on a fourth voyage to the New World, during which he traveled to Honduras and Panama

1504 Returned to Spain, where he died two years later

John Cabot

Born 1450 Italy Died 1498 (aged 47–48) Unknown

Christopher Columbus

Italy 1492-1504 ad

Explored America and established colonies during four voyages across the Atlantic.

John Cabot

Italy 1497-1498 ad

Made two voyages under English flag. Explored Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia; also sailed along E and W coasts of Greenland, E coast of Labrador, W coast of Baffin Island, and a portion of S coast of Newfoundland.

Vasco da Gama

Portugal

1497-1498 ad

Sailed around Cape of Good Hope to Malindi on E coast of Africa, and then across Indian Ocean to Calicut, India.

Amerigo Vespucci

Italy 1497-1502 ad

Sailed through Caribbean along coast of South America. The German geographer Martin Waldseemüller published his accounts and suggested that New World be named America.

Sebastian Cabot

Italy 1508-1509 ad

Voyaged to Labrador while searching for the Northwest Passage, and possibly sailed as far as the Hudson Bay.

Vasco da Gama lands atCalicut, May 20, 1498.

Coasting southern Arabia, da Gama then called at Goa (later the focus of Portuguese power in India) before proceeding to Cannanore, a port in southwestern India to the north of Calicut, where he lay in wait for Arab shipping. After several days an Arab ship arrived with merchandise and between 200 and 400 passengers, including women and children. After seizing the cargo, da Gama shut up the passengers aboard the captured ship and set it afire, killing all on board, the cruelest act of his career. Eila M.J. CampbellProfessor of Geography, Birkbeck College, University of London.

On the way to India he attacked Arab Muslim ships ruthlessly. One ship he sunk carried more than 400 men, women, and children returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Map of the Portuguese Empire during the reign of John III (1502–1557).

Born: 9-Mar-1454Birthplace: Florence, ItalyDied: 22-Feb-1512Location of death: Seville, SpainCause of death: unspecified

Gender: MaleReligion: Roman CatholicNationality: Italy

Sebastian Cabot (1476?-1557), Italian navigator and cartographer, best known for his expeditions for Spain and England to South and North America during the 16th century.Cabot was probably born in Venice. Although Sebastian Cabot claimed to have accompanied his father, John Cabot, to North America, it is unlikely he made a voyage to America until about 1508. In that year it is believed he reached the coast of present-day Labrador and cruised northward as far as Hudson Bay. Subsequently engaged as a cartographer by Henry VIII, king of England, he prepared maps of southwestern France for an invasion by Henry and his ally Ferdinand V, king of Spain. In 1512, while abroad with the invasion force, Cabot entered the service of Spain. After Ferdinand died, Cabot was retained by Charles I, king of Spain (later Charles V, Holy Roman emperor). About 1518 Charles promoted Cabot to the rank of pilot major.

Sebastian Cabot (1476?-1557), Italian navigator and cartographer, best known for his expeditions for Spain and England to South and North America during the 16th century.Cabot was probably born in Venice. Although Sebastian Cabot claimed to have accompanied his father, John Cabot, to North America, it is unlikely he made a voyage to America until about 1508. In that year it is believed he reached the coast of present-day Labrador and cruised northward as far as Hudson Bay. Subsequently engaged as a cartographer by Henry VIII, king of England, he prepared maps of southwestern France for an invasion by Henry and his ally Ferdinand V, king of Spain. In 1512, while abroad with the invasion force, Cabot entered the service of Spain. After Ferdinand died, Cabot was retained by Charles I, king of Spain (later Charles V, Holy Roman emperor). About 1518 Charles promoted Cabot to the rank of pilot major.In 1525 Cabot received command of an exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean, and in 1526 he reached the coast of what is now Brazil, near the estuary of the river he named the Río de la Plata (Silver River). Believing reports that the La Plata region contained vast amounts of gold and silver, he abandoned his mission and began exploring the area, conducting a fruitless search for wealth. When he returned to Spain in 1530, he was arrested, found guilty of mismanagement, and banished to Africa for four years. Charles pardoned him in 1533, however, and restored him to his post of pilot major. In 1544, his last year in the service of Spain, Cabot completed an engraved map of the world. He later settled in England, and through the influence of friends and admirers in English court circles, about 1549, he received a pension from King Edward VI of England, who also named him grand pilot of England. In 1551 Cabot founded and became governor of the Muscovy Company of Merchant Adventurers, an English trading organization. On his initiative the company financed expeditions to search for the Northwest Passage, a sea route from Europe to Asia. Richard Chancellor, a navigator employed by Cabot, reached the Russian port of Arkhangel’sk by way of the White Sea, laying the foundation for commercial relations between England and Russia.Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Italian  Giovanni Caboto  navigator and explorer who by his voyages in 1497 and 1498 helped lay the groundwork for the later British claim to Canada. The exact details of his life and of his voyages are still subjects of controversy among historians and cartographers.Cabot moved to Venice in 1461, or possibly earlier, and became a citizen of that city in 1476. While employed by a Venetian mercantile firm, he traveled to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and visited Mecca, a great trading centre where Oriental and Western goods were exchanged. He became skilled in navigational techniques and seems to have envisaged, independently of Christopher Columbus, the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing westward.Cabot's whereabouts and activities from the mid-1480s to the mid-1490s are in doubt, but it is believed that he moved with his family to England and had taken up residence in Bristol by the end of 1495.On March 5, 1496, King Henry VII of England issued letters patent to Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to voyage in search of unknown lands, to return their merchandise by the port of Bristol, and to enjoy a monopoly of any trade they might establish there. The news of Columbus' recent discoveries on behalf of Spain was a spur to English action and secured some support for Cabot from Bristol merchants.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portugal 1519-1521 ad

Explored estuary of Río de la Plata, sailed S, proceeding through strait which bears his name, and traversed Pacific Ocean to Philippine Islands, where he was killed. He was first person to sail W around the globe to a longitude previously reached on an E voyage.

Juan Sebastián del Cano

Spain 1519-1522 ad

A commander in Magellan's expedition. After Magellan's death, del Cano, in command of Victoria, the expedition's sole surviving ship, returned to Spain by way of Moluccas and Cape of Good Hope, thus being first to circumnavigate the globe.