Manuel - Rios And Bartolome Dias -gay-
Let’s break down who these men were, how they got linked, and why the search for queer history matters—even when the trail goes cold. Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450 – 1500) Bartolomeu Dias is a titan of the Age of Discovery. A Portuguese knight of the royal court, he became the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa in 1488, opening the sea route from Europe to Asia. His voyage proved that the Indian Ocean was accessible from the Atlantic, paving the way for Vasco da Gama.
But the search for that story is real. It reflects a deep human longing to see ourselves in the past, to believe that love—even forbidden love—sailed across unknown seas. Manuel Rios And Bartolome Dias -Gay-
So, let’s honor that longing by turning to the queer histories we do have: the letters of Hadrian to Antinous, the poems of Sappho, the diaries of Anne Lister. And let’s thank the archivists and historians who help us distinguish between what we wish were true and what the evidence can support. Let’s break down who these men were, how
Dias was married to a woman named (a common confusion: his wife’s name is often recorded as a man’s name in older texts, but she was a noblewoman). He had two sons. He died in a shipwreck near the Cape of Good Hope—the very landmark he had named the “Cape of Storms.” A Portuguese knight of the royal court, he