1498
Vasco da Gama Reaches Calicut
After ten months and a storm-broken crew, da Gama's three remaining ships anchored off the Malabar Coast. The Hindu Zamorin received him politely but unimpressed by his gifts, which looked to Indian eyes like a peddler's samples. A maritime trade route from Europe to Asia now existed that bypassed every middleman entirely.
Columbus's Third Voyage Sights South America
Columbus's fleet reached the coast of what is now Venezuela and entered the Orinoco delta. The volume of fresh water pouring into the Gulf of Paria convinced him he had found a continent, or possibly the earthly Paradise. He wrote as much to the Spanish court. It was South America, and it was inhabited.
Durer Publishes Apocalypse Woodcuts
Albrecht Durer, twenty-seven, issued fifteen monumental woodcuts illustrating the Book of Revelation. The technical refinement of the prints was unprecedented; their apocalyptic imagery seized the nervous end-of-century imagination. Durer had invented himself as both the greatest northern artist of his generation and a pioneering publisher of his own work. His decision to publish the series himself made him one of the first European artists to function as an independent entrepreneur.
Cabot's Second Voyage Lost
John Cabot sailed from Bristol with five ships on a second North Atlantic voyage and was never reliably heard from again. Fragmentary reports suggest one ship returned; the others and Cabot himself likely perished. England's first attempted follow-up to Columbus ended in open-ocean silence. The disappearance ended England's first transatlantic exploration attempt and left the coast to Iberian claimants for another century.
Savonarola Executed in Florence
The friar who had preached Florence into penitence was hanged and burned in the same piazza where he had conducted his bonfires. The papal commission had tortured him to confess. His ashes were scraped into the Arno. The republic went back to painting nudes and banking. The Medici would return within four years.
Louis XII Becomes King of France
The Orleans duke inherited the throne on Charles VIII's death from a bumped head at the Chateau d'Amboise. He immediately annulled his first marriage, wed Charles VIII's widow Anne of Brittany to keep Brittany French, and prepared to reassert old family claims to Milan. French expansion in Italy was about to resume.
Columbus Enters Orinoco Delta
On his third voyage, Columbus sailed into the Gulf of Paria and was stunned by the volume of fresh water pouring from the Orinoco. He concluded he had found a continental river and perhaps the earthly Paradise. His conclusion was wrong on theology but right on geography, a mainland stretched south of him.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1498?
Saeculum lists 7 curated events from 1498. The most significant is Vasco da Gama Reaches Calicut: After ten months and a storm-broken crew, da Gama's three remaining ships anchored off the Malabar Coast.
What era was 1498 part of?
1498 falls within the Late Middle Ages (1301-1500). Plague, papal schism, and the seeds of nation-states.
Which regions saw notable events in 1498?
The curated events from 1498 span South Asia, South America, Europe and North America.