'João da Nova' (
pron. IPA //) or 'Juan de Nova' (born c.
1460 in
Castillo de Maceda,
Galicia (Spain); died
1509 in
Cochin,
India), also know as ''João da Nova Castelia'' ("João of
New Castile") or ''João Galego'' ("João the Galician"), was a
Portuguese explorer of the
Atlantic and
Indian Ocean.
Having been born in Galicia (in modern
Spain), João da Nova (in
Galician ''Xoán de Novoa''), was sent by his family to Portugal as a young boy, in order to escape the struggles between aristocratic factions that were destroying the country (the
Irmandiña Revolts). He soon adopted Portugal as his home country and his skills and talent earned him the appointment by
King Manuel I of Portugal as ''Alcaide'' (
Mayor) of
Lisbon in 1496.
In early
1501, João da Nova was appointed as commander of the third Portuguese expedition to India. During this expedition, he was the first European to see
Ascension Island (
1501) and
Saint Helena (
1502). He returned safely to Portugal. In
1505, he undertook another voyage to
India, in the company of the first Portuguese
Viceroy of India,
Francisco de Almeida.
This event seems to be the beginning of a series of misfortunes in João da Nova's life. He soon had to return to Portugal in conflict with
Francisco de Almeida, who did not grant him the title of General-Capitain.
In
1506, João da Nova was commander of the ship ''Flor de la Mar'', belonging to the fleet of
Tristão da Cunha that was heading for the island of
Socotra (about 350 km to the south of
Yemen, off the coast of
East Africa). In this expedition
Afonso de Albuquerque, commander of six ships of the fleet, had to arrest João da Nova because he intended to sail to India, contradicting Albuquerque's orders of going to
Arabia to collect supplies in preparation for the conquest of
Ormuz. Eventually João da Nova was pardoned, because of the bravery he showed in the attack against
Oman. In
1509, João da Nova died in
Cochin,
India.
The
French Juan de Nova Island, lying in the
Mozambique Channel, is named after him.
See also
★
Exploration of Asia
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