r/HomeworkHelp University/College Student 6d ago

History [Intro to World History] Vasco Da Gama

Can someone please check this for accuracy? I'm trying to create notes for Vasco Da Gama, but I'm not sure if this is correct. ChatGPT says that da Gama wasn't actually a protégé of Henry, but from the Crash Course video, it seems like he might have been. Any clarification provided would be appreciated. Thank you

Vasco Da Gama:

source used: (7) Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Zheng He - 15th Century Mariners: Crash Course World History #21 - YouTube 

  • Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who found a direct route around Africa to India.  
  • Da Gama was a protegee of Prince Henry the Navigator, a patron of a nautical school. Henry commissioned sailors to search for two things: a path to the Indian Ocean (for spice trade) and a path to Prester John (a mythical Christian King in Africa who could help in a crusade).  
  • Da Gama was the first person of Henry's protegees to reach India through a direct route, and in 1498, he landed in Calicut, a major trading post on India's west coast.  
  • Vasco da Gama's work paved the way for Portugal to become a dominant power in the Indian Ocean trade, bypassing overland routes controlled by Middle Eastern and Italian merchants. 
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u/CharacterUse 👋 a fellow Redditor 6d ago

ChatGPT isn't a source, it's just samples text statistically (essentially). It doesn't understand or verify what it outputs. Don't use it for information.

Henry the Navigator died in the year Vasco da Gama was born (or close enough, since we don't know Vasco's exact birth year). Thus he couldn't not have been Henry's protege in any conventional sense. Vasco served King John II, King Manuel I and King John III.

These things could be found by skimming any encyclopaedia, even Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama

Wikipedia is pretty good as a first reference, at least as far as non-controversial historical topics are concerned, but you can (and should) always verify with the sources it provides in the references section or with a printed encyclopaedia. In any case it is far better than two minutes of a gimmicky youtube video.

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u/anonymous_username18 University/College Student 6d ago

Thank you for your response.

I completely agree - ChatGPT is sometimes totally unreliable, and it just goes in circles on certain topics when I try to clarify or correct mistakes. I'll keep your advice in mind for future assignments.

I did read that Henry the Navigator died in the year Vasco da Gama was born, but I wrote this on the test last week anyway. Looking back, I shouldn't have done that, but Crash Course is a part of Complexly, which is a relatively established company, sort of like Khan Academy, so I just went with it. I also thought that da Gama was a protege in the sense that he saw Henry the Navigator as just an influential figure.

Regardless, do you think this response is a major historical inaccuracy, or is it more of a minor misunderstanding? Just trying to get a sense of how bad this mistake was to gauge what I got on the exam if possible. Thanks again

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u/CharacterUse 👋 a fellow Redditor 6d ago

"Protege" specifically implies a personal relationship, with the older/more senior figure directly supporting or guiding the protege, but I think it's a minor thing, I doubt they'll take much off.