Gaspar was born between 1450 and 1455, the son of João Vaz Corte-Real, a governor of the Azores. He is mentioned as having served as acting governor in his father’s stead in 1488 and 1497. In 1498, King Manoel of Portugal became interested in western exploration when he learned of the voyage of John Cabot and feared his discovery might fall within the territory assigned to Portugal by the treaty of Tordesillas.
Voyage to Greenland
The king recruited a handful of intrepid seamen including Gaspar Corte-Real who sailed as far as Greenland, which he thought was east Asia, in 1500 but did not land, possibly due to the weather or ice packs. He stayed in the area for some time and it has been suggested that he sailed into Davis Strait but this has not been confirmed.
After returning to Portugal, Gaspar and his brother, Miguel, invested in preparations for another voyage. Miguel had intended to accompany his brother but King Manoel had other ideas and sent him to assist the Venetians in their battles with the Turks.
Voyage to Labrador
In May 1501 Gaspar Corte-Real sailed again, this time with three caravels and the promise of the king that he would have captaincy over any lands he discovered. Ice flows forced them to abandon an attempt to return to Greenland. Contemporary letters indicate the Portuguese explorer then crossed Davis Strait and sighted a coastline. Gaspar sailed up one of the rivers he sighted and landed amongst pine tree and wild berries. He captured over 50 aboriginals to be sold as slaves from what is thought to be Hamilton Bay. After charting about 600 kilometers of coast Corte-Real sailed south without the other ships in September. Only two of his ships returned to Lisbon, the third, with the expedition leader on board, disappeared.
Miguel Corte-Real
Miguel set out from Lisbon to find his brother in May 1502 with three ships but he too failed to return though two of his ships arrived home after becoming separated from Miguel’s vessel when they split up to scour the coast of Newfoundland. Gaspar’s third brother, Vasco Añes Corte-Real, endeavoured to mount an expedition in search of his brothers but was unable to obtain funding from the king. Two ships were sent but they searched in vain. The Corte-Real claims to Newfoundland were later confirmed by the king. A statue of Gaspar was erected in 1965 in front of the Confederation Building in St. John’s Newfoundland.
Dighton Rock Mystery
There is a rock on the coast of Massachusetts that some claim is a Portuguese claim marker left by Miguel Corte-Real who had been shipwrecked and came to live amongst the natives. Known as Dighton Rock, it is the subject of numerous interpretations including that aboriginals or pranksters made the markings.
Bibliography
Thomas B Costain – The White and the Gold – Doubleday - 1954
Richard Howard, Jacques Lacouriere - A New History of Canada: Volume 1 – Editions Format - 1972
Encyclopedia Canadiana
William Silvester - Most of Bill's writing over the past few years has been for the philatelic press and consists primarily of columns and articles about the ...
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