The Age of Exploration The World Beyond Europe

Standard 6-6

The Crusades – Success? Or Failure?• The Crusades -Holy Wars between

Christians and Muslims – failed to regain permanent control of Jerusalem.

• The Crusaders frequently showed the worst traits of men, such as greed and the quest for power. The wars left bitter resentment of both sides.

• One positive outcome of the Crusades was that the West became aware of the goods and products found in the East and they wanted more!

Marco Polo, born in Venice in 1254, was too young to travel to China with his father, Niccolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, on their first trip, but he returned with them in 1271.

Kublai Khan made Peking the capital of his vast empire and he asked Marco Polo to stay with him and serve in his court as ambassador to other areas. Polo stayed in China for 15 years and learned much about Japan, China, and India.

The Travels of Marco Polo…

Marco Polo spreads the word…• Western travelers, like Marco Polo,

explored the East and returned to tell Europe about the wealth of exotic goods produced in the East.

• At first traders tried going over land but that was costly and dangerous.

• European leaders began to support voyages to explore the possibilities of an “All-Water Route” to the East – places like India, the Spice Islands, Japan, and China.

Capitalism gets involved…• Once other people in Europe learned about

the products and the riches that were to be found in the East they all wanted more. They saw that Europeans would pay dearly for the rich fabrics and spices found there.

• Other adventurers began seeking ways to get to the riches of the East.

• Investors were willing to back an expedition with their money because the return on their investments could be huge.

Europeans learned from Arab sailors…• New sailing methods and better ships that

Europeans gained from Arab sailors made travel and exploration safer and easier.

• A stern rudder and a lateen sail improved sailing vessels and their abilities to sail in all types of water and the astrolabe made navigation more accurate.

• What they needed was more trained sailors to get involved.

Early European exploration attempts• 1419 – Prince Henry the Navigator

establishes a Naval observatory for teaching navigation, astronomy, and cartography. He brought scholars from all over Europe to learn skills of navigation.

• 1432 - Portuguese navigators discover the Azores off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

• 1441 - Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish slave trade.

Prince Henry’s School of Navigation

Prince Henry was a man educated in the spirit of the Renaissance. His curious mind wanted to know what lay beyond the narrow confines of Europe. Being a devout Christian, Henry wanted to contact the gold-rich Christian kingdom of Prester John, supposedly somewhere in Africa. Once contact had been made, Prince Henry planned a new crusade against the Moslems. The Spice Trade, was based upon trade with India and "the Spice Islands". This trade was controlled by Arabs and Venetians. If Portuguese sailors found a sea-route to India they could bring the spices back directly to Portugal. Portugal would then become the richest country in Europe.

Prince Henry wanted to explore…• Henry was a Portuguese prince, the fourth

son of John I. He began a school for navigators in 1419 and under his patronage Portuguese sailors explored and colonized Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, and the Azores; they sailed down the African coast almost to Sierra Leone.

• Henry gathered mapmakers, ship builders, mathematicians, astronomers, and scholars to his court at Sagres on the coast of Portugal and allowed them to develop new methods and maps.

Prince Henry the Navigator in his Nautical School of Sagres, Portugal, played an important role in the Age of Exploration. Here the scholars created better maps, faster ships, more efficient sails, better rudders, and more knowledgeable sailors.

Portuguese Navigation successes…• 1453 - Turks overrun Constantinople,

shutting off the overland trade route. This means explorers will have to go by sea.

• 1470-84 – Portuguese explorations discover Africa's Gold Coast and the Congo River. 

• Portuguese sailors establish forts and trading posts all along the African coast to protect their trade routes.

• 1487 - Bartholomew Dias sails around the Cape of Good Hope proving that one could get to the East by sailing around Africa.

Spain must choose another way…• Because the Turks closed the land route to

China, and Portugal claimed the African route, Spain had to find another way.

• Christopher Columbus traveled to Spain to beg for Ferdinand and Isabella’s support in exploration. They refused because they were in a war with the Moors.

• When the Moors were driven out of Spain in 1492, the Spanish rulers financed Columbus’s first voyage.

Columbus sails with the help of Ferdinand and Isabella…

Columbus sails the ocean blue…• When Columbus set sail in 1492, he had

three ships and about 90 crewmen, mostly very young men looking for adventure.

• The journey took more than eight weeks and many wanted to turn back, but finally Columbus landed on islands in what he called the Indies. He thought he had reached islands off China or India and claimed the land for Spain.

• The Portuguese claimed the land they found for Portugal. Trouble was brewing.

• The Pope in Rome saw that there was trouble brewing with two Christian nations possibly claiming the same lands, so he decided to draw an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean dividing the claims.

• 1494 - The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal for the alleged purpose of spreading Christianity. Spain received everything to the west of the line and Portugal gained everything to the east of the line.

The Pope finds a way to keep the peace…

Line of Demarcation (1493) – Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Magellan’s Long Voyage…• Magellan was Portuguese but he sailed for

Spain when his own king would not sponsor his journey.

• In 1519, Magellan set out from Spain to sail around the world, with five ships and a crew of 250 men. Many times the crews wanted to turn back. The voyage seemed to be doomed. Many starved or died of disease.

• Magellan was killed in the Philippines but 18 of his men got back to Spain in 1521.

The world was round but very large…• Magellan’s voyage proved that one could

sail all the way around the world but that it was very dangerous and took a very long time. Circumnavigation was possible but was not practical.

• Spain gave up the idea of sailing to the East and concentrated on the wealth they found in New Spain – known as Central and South America today.

Motivations for Exploration…• The Portuguese wanted to be rich and powerful.

Prince Henry wanted to find gold to finance the fight against the enemies of Christianity.

• The Spanish were seeking “God, gold, and glory.” They wanted to Christianize all they met and get as much gold and glory as possible.

• The French were seeking an all-water route, exploring the rivers of North America- fur trade

• The English came at first for gold but then decided they wanted their independence and the freedom they could find in the New World.

Created by Carol Poole, September 2006