European expansion 1400-1550
Describe the historical significance of each of the following Portuguese explorers
(1469) FERNAO GOMES: a prominent Lisbon merchant purchased from the crown the privilege of exploring 350 miles and discovered the island São Tomé, explored the Gold Coast (1488) BARTOLOMEU DIAS: first Portuguese explorer to round the southern tip of Africa and enter the Indian Ocean (1497-1498) VASCO DA GAMA: led a Portuguese expedition sailed around Africa and reached India (1500) PEDRO ALVARES CABRAL: led an expedition 1500 ships swung wide to the West in the south Atlantic to Southern Africa and to India, then to the eastern coast of South America Portugal—Brazil
Who was Christopher Columbus and what did he refuse to accept?
-A Genoese mariner and leader of their overseas mission -refused to accept that he had found unknown continents and people's, insisting that he had succeeded in his goal to finding a shorter route to the Indian Ocean than the one the Portuguese had found
What was the Portuguese caravel and what were its advantages?
-a new vessel -best ships that sailed the seas -permitted them to enter shallow coastal waters and explore upriver -strong enough to weather ocean storms -great speed and maneuverability -sail deeply into the wind
Who was Henry the navigator and what were his "mixed" motives exploration?
-a young prince who led the attack on Ceuta -converting Africans to Christianity, making contact with existing Christian rulers in Africa, and launching joint crusades with them against the ottomans
What was he treaty of tordesillas of 1492, and what did it establish?
-an early papal proposal agreement between Spain and Portugal led by the pope -the pope wanted to spread Christianity
Describe the religious and economic motives for Portugal and Spain to take risks in an attempt to find new routes across the Atlantic
-both were participants in the ship building changes and the gun powder revolution -both were open to the new geographical knowledge -both blessed with exceptional leaders
What did Columbus carry with his oh his voyage to the new world?
-carried letters of introduction from the Spanish sovereigns to eastern rulers including one to the "grand khan" —Chinese emperor
What were the internal affairs that had resulted in Spain not sponsoring overseas exploration until the end of the 1400's?
-completion of the reconquest of southern Iberia -amalgamation of the various dynasties -conversion or expulsion of religious minorities
What two factors resulted in Iberian overseas expansion?
-first Iberian rulers had strong economic, religious, and political motives to expand their contacts and increase their dominance -Second, improvements in the maritime and military technologies have them the means to master treacherous and unfamiliar ocean environments, seize control of existing maritime trade routes, and conquer new lands
Henry the navigator and his staff invested and improved on what specific navigational instruments?
-magnetic compass (developed in China) -a strolable—an instrument of Greek or Arab invention that enabled mariners to determine their location at sea by measuring the position of the sun or the stars in the night sky -design of vessels appropriate for the voyages of the exploration
while the first financial return from the voyages came from the slave trade, this lucrative trade drove Portuguese exploration throughout the 1400-1500's?
-the gold trade in west Africa and reached across the Sahara
While the city states of northern Italy had grown very wealthy economically and culturally, why did they not take the lead in the overseas expansion in the 1400's?
-the trading states of Venice and Genoa preferred to continue the system of alliances with the Muslims that had given their merchants privileged access to the lucrative trade from the east -ships of the Mediterranean were ill suited to the more violent weather of the Atlantic
Why were the consequences of Columbus's voyages momentous from a world history perspective?
-those who followed in his wake laid the basis for Spain's large Colonial empires in the americas and for the empires of the European nations -will lead to a trading network across the Atlantic and more profitable by the 1600-1700'sa
What are the four long term trends in the Latin west that contributed to the Iberian kingdoms sponsoring voyages in the 15th century?
1.) revival of urban life and trade 2.) struggle with Islamic powers for dominance of he Mediterranean that mixed religious motives with the desire for trade with distant lands 3.) growing intellectual curiosity about the outside world 4.) a peculiarly European alliance between merchants and rulers
Who was Ferdinand Magellan?
1521, led a Spanish expedition and found the Philippines, settled them by 1565
Why did Columbus insist on called the inhabitants of the Caribbean Indians?
Cuz he believed that the islands were part of the east indies
How did Henry the navigator derive funds for the Portuguese explorations of the 1400's?
He drew partly on the income of the order of Christ which is a military religious order of which he was governor
What two countries began a maritime revolution in the 1400's that profoundly altered the course world history?
Portugal and spain
Why was the new continent named America rather that's Columbia after Columbus?
On behalf of Spain and then for Portuguese
How did the Portuguese capture of the Moroccan City of Ceuta in the early 1400'z increase their desire to trade with Africa?
Rested on new established Atlantic fishing and a history of anti-Muslim warfare
Why did Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agree to fund Christopher Columbus's voyages?
They were in a good mood