João Vaz Corte-Real

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João Vaz Corte-Real (pronounced [ʒuˈɐ̃ũ vaʃ ˈkoɾt(ɨ) ʁiˈaɫ]) (d. 1496) was a Portuguese explorer in the 15th century. In 1474, he was granted lands on Terceira Island on the Azores because he had discovered Terra Nova do Bacalhau (literally, New Land of the Codfish); there is speculation that this unidentified isle was possibly Newfoundland. If this is true, Corte-Real would have come to America about twenty years before Columbus. The plausibility of such a voyage is not questioned, but as there is a complete lack of evidence, it remains entirely speculative. Off the north-east tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, however, there is a Baccalieu Island.

Corte-Real was the father of Miguel and Gaspar Corte-Real, who is claimed to have accompanied him on his trip. Various fragmentary evidence has been claimed to suggest that the expedition was a joint venture between the kings of Portugal and Denmark, and also that Corte-Real was accompanied by the German sailors Didrik Pining and Hans Pothorst, and even the possibly mythical John Scolvus.

[edit] See also

• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact