Leif Eriksson Research Paper

Leif Eriksson
Leif Eriksson was a Norse explorer born shortly before A.D 1000. He was the second son of three sons of a Viking explorer called Erik the Red; He is the man that led the first European settlement on Greenland. In approximately A.D 1000 Leif Eriksson sailed to Norway where he met King Olaf the First. There he was converted to Christianity. King Olaf the First sent Leif Eriksson to Christianize the native people of Greenland, and when trying to return back to Greenland his ship sailed off course. Instead of reaching Greenland he ended up on the North American continent. His ship settled on Nova Scotia. He named this area Vinland; he then further began to explore it. He discovered the fruit known as grapes which were perfect for

He was a knight of the royal court, Superintendent of the royal warehouse and sailing master of the man-of-war, São Cristóvão. On the 10th October 1487, King John the Second appointed Bartolomeu Dias to lead an expedition to sail around the southern tip of South Africa to find a trade route to India. While sailing his fleet was hit by violent storms. Then after thirteen days the storm was gone. Bartolomeu then searched for the coastline again but was unsuccessful. All he saw was sea water; there was no land in sight. He then turned east taking advantage of the winds of Antarctica that blow strongly in the South Atlantic, he then sailed North East. For thirty days he sailed but there was still no land in sight. The expedition reached its furthest point on twelfth March 1488. Bartolomeu Dias wanted to continue sailing towards India but he was forced to turn back because his crew refused to sail any further. It was then on the returning voyage he discovered The Cape of Good Hope on May, 1488. He returned to Lisbon in the month of December later on that year after an absence of over sixteen months. The discovery of this passage was very important to the Europeans, because they realized that they could trade directly with India and some parts of Asia bypassing the land route through the Middle East. Bartolomeu died on the twenty-ninth of May 1500 during one of his voyages through the Cape of Good