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Tertiary sourceDocument1913

Vasco da Gama, Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 entry

Otto Hartig · 1913

A 1913 encyclopedia article by Otto Hartig describing Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to the East Indies.

A 1913 encyclopedia article describing Gama's discovery of the sea route to India within the wider Portuguese exploration effort.

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Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

This is an article on Vasco da Gama written by Otto Hartig for the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913. It describes his birth in Sines, his father's role at court, and the background to his famous voyage following earlier explorers like Bartolomeu Dias.

Why it matters

This entry shows how Gama's voyage was understood as the solving of a long-standing "nautical problem" built on the work of earlier Portuguese explorers. It places Gama within a chain of exploration involving his father Estevão da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, and Pedro de Corvilhão, showing how his achievement depended on others' earlier discoveries.

Look closer

  • Why might the article give so much detail about Gama's father and earlier explorers?
  • How does framing the voyage as a "problem to be solved" shape the way we see Gama's achievement?
  • What might a religious encyclopedia choose to emphasize differently than a secular one?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vasco da Gama on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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