'Gaspar Corte-Real' (ca.
1450 -
1501) was a
Portuguese explorer.
He was the youngest of three sons of
João Vaz Corte-Real, also an explorer, and had accompanied his father on his expeditions to
North America. In
1500, King
Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar to discover lands and search for a
Northwest Passage to
Asia. He reached
Greenland, believing it to be east Asia, but chose not to land. He set out on a second voyage to Greenland in 1501, with his brother
Miguel Corte-Real and three
caravels. Encountering frozen sea, they changed course to the south and reached land, believed to be
Labrador and
Newfoundland. There they captured about sixty
native men, who would later be sold as
slaves. Gaspar then sent his brother and two ships back to Portugal before continuing southwards. Nothing more was ever heard of Gaspar Corte-Real. His brother Miguel attempted to find him in
1502, but he too never returned.
External links
★
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''