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![Vasco Núñez de Balboa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16109.png?v=1656667565)
Definition
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513. An utterly ruthless adventurer and colonizer, Balboa was as much a danger to his fellow conquistadors...
![Vasco Núñez de Balboa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16109.png?v=1656667565)
Image
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
A 19th-century portrait of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), the Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513. (Naval Museum of Madrid)
![Statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16110.png?v=1656668221)
Image
Statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa
A modern statue in Panama City of Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), the Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513.
![Vasco da Gama](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14137.png?v=1720451643)
Definition
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama (c. 1469-1524) was a Portuguese navigator who, in 1497-9, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa and arrived at Calicut (now Kozhikode) on the south-west coast of India. This was the first direct voyage from...
![Spanish Requirement](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16242.png?v=1714178403-1660025466)
Definition
Spanish Requirement
The Spanish Requirement or Requerimiento was a document intended to be read out to and agreed upon by indigenous peoples during the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Created in 1513, the document outlined the history of Christianity, the...
![Adelantado](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/15990.png?v=1697581029)
Definition
Adelantado
Adelantado was an office awarded by the Spanish Crown to conduct military campaigns in the medieval period but then repurposed during the Age of Exploration to grant an individual the right to privately fund expeditions of discovery and conquest...
![Portuguese Cochin](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14185.png?v=1707756850)
Definition
Portuguese Cochin
Cochin, located on the southwest coast of India, was a Portuguese colony from 1503 to 1663. Known to the Portuguese as Cochim, it was one of several important cities on India’s Malabar Coast and a great trade centre for spices like pepper...
![Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Americas](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16902.jpg?v=1707404047-1674037400)
Article
Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Americas
To climatologists, the period of seven to twelve centuries ago was known as a "Climate Anomaly" or a "Warm Period" (800-1300 CE). To archaeologists, it was a time of great change, a period when cultural patterns were put into place that lasted...
![Vasco da Gama Portrait](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14119.png?v=1698313383)
Image
Vasco da Gama Portrait
A 16th century portrait of the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama (c. 1469-1525). He was the first European to sail directly from Europe to India via the Cape of Good Hope, a voyage taken in 1497-9. (National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon)
![The Portuguese Conquest of India](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14136.png?v=1701877383)
Article
The Portuguese Conquest of India
Throughout the 15th century, the Portuguese Crown yearned for a piece of the Far Eastern spice trade. For centuries this trade had been dominated by the Venetians who obtained pepper, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon from their Middle...