they were in search of trading goods such as gold, silver and spices. in the process, europeans met people and mapped lands previously unknown to them. among the most famous explorers of the period were christopher columbus, vasco da gama, pedro álvares cabral, john cabot, , juan ponce de león, juan sebastian elcano, bartholomeu dias, ferdinand magellan, willem barentsz, abel tasman, jean alfonse, jacques cartier, samuel de champlain, willem blaeu and captain james cook.