Corte-Real (or Corterreal), Gaspar (c. 1450-c. 1501) and Miguel (fl. 1502), Portuguese navigators who visited the North American coast between Labrador and Newfoundland.
Gaspar sailed west across the Atlantic in 1500 to look for new trade routes and lands to colonize. He rediscovered Greenland before reaching North America, landing on what is probably Newfoundland, then returned to Portugal. In 1501, Gaspar went on a second expedition, again reaching Newfoundland. Two ships from this expedition returned to Lisbon carrying 57 Beothuk Indians, but Gaspar's ship was never heard from again.
The following year, one of Gaspar's older brothers, Miguel, went in search of him. The expedition's flagship, with Miguel aboard, was lost at sea. In 1503, the Portuguese king denied another brother permission to launch yet another expedition to search for the missing explorers.
The Corte-Real brothers came to symbolize the dangers of exploration.
