da Gama, Vasco
(ca. 1469–1524)
A Portuguese explorer, da Gama lived at a
time when this small kingdom at the
southwestern edge of Europe was building
one of the largest colonial realms in his-
tory. Trained in the school of Henry the
Navigator, Portuguese ship captains were
braving unknown seas and building small
trading stations along the west African
coast. A sea route between Africa and Asia
would, in theory, allow merchants to easily
reach the Spice Islands, in what is now In-
donesia, and the markets of South Asia.
Da Gama first served his king as an officer
in west Africa, where the Portuguese ports
were under frequent assault by rival Euro-
pean nations. After proving his ability as a
sailor as well as a soldier, he won a com-
mission from Manuel I to discover a route
to India, which could only be reached at
that time by a long and dangerous land
route through countries held by hostile
Turks and Arabs. In the late fourteenth
century, the more northerly Silk Route to
Asia was also disrupted by unrest and war
after the fall of the Mongol Empire.
In 1497 da Gama set out with four
ships from Lisbon, Portugal, reaching the
Cape of Good Hope and then continuing
up the eastern coast of Africa. The fleet
called at Madagascar, Mombasa (in
present-day Kenya), and Malindi, and then
crossed the Indian Ocean to Calicut, on
the southwestern coast of India, reached
in May 1498. Da Gama returned to Lisbon
in September 1949 in triumph and with a
fortune in trade goods, for which he was
rewarded with a noble title. His journey
had established the Portuguese claim to
important trading posts in Africa and In-
dia. Da Gama returned to India on a sec-
ond voyage in 1502, conquering the now-
hostile port of Calicut and forcing further
trade concessions. A third voyage in 1524
ended with da Gama’s death from malaria
in the small Indian realm of Cochin.da Sangallo, Antonio (the Younger) ...
(1484–1546)
This renowned architect was the nephew
of two well-known men, Giuliano da San-
gallo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder,
also an architect. He was born in Florence
and studied as a young man in Rome un-
der Donato Bramante, the architect of
Saint Peter’s Basilica. One of his early com-
missions was a palace for Cardinal Alessan-
dro Farnese (later Pope Paul III). This im-
posing structure, now known as the
Farnese Palace, would be completed by
Michelangelo Buonarroti and become one
of the great Renaissance monuments of
Rome. After 1520 Sangallo succeeded Bra-
mante as the chief architect of Saint
Peter’s. His busy workshop in Rome pro-
duced designs for churches, monuments,
and villas throughout Italy, and influenced
Italian architecture for the next two centu-
ries. Sangallo’s most notable works are the
church of Santa Maria di Loreto; the
church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini,
built along the Tiber River; and the Pa-