South of Lisbon, and to the Algarve, Portugal's southernmost province, to seize French ships in retaliation for French peacetime depredations against Portuguese shipping-a task that Vasco rapidly and effectively performed. In 1492 King John II of Portugal sent him to the port of Set�bal,
Little is known of his early life he may have studied at the inland town of �vora-somewhere he learned mathematics and navigation. He third son of Est�v�o da Gama, a nobleman who was commander of the fortress of Sines on the coast of Alentejo province in southwestern Portugal, Vasco He also helped make Portugal a world power. Way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. 24, 1524, Cochin, India), Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497-99, 1502-03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by Women: The Shadow Story of the Millennium Land, Two if by Sea, Three if by Rollerblade.
