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My Notes
Chapter 14
Section 1

Section 1

Motives for Expansion

  • Catholic Europe had been isolated for nearly a millennium.
    • While they had some outside contact, it was limited
  • The textbook notes 3 key things which drove Europeans to explore:
    • Land
    • Economic motivation
    • Religious ambitions

The Allure of New Lands

  • Literature and tales encourages Europeans to try to explore new lands
    • Travels of John Mandeville discusses lands with lots of treasure
    • Other literature discussed frightening figures, such as giants that eat human flesh
    • Some told tales of Christian kingdoms
      • Kingdom of Prester John in Africa
      • Small religious community in India which was supposedly founded by Thomas, and apostle of Jesus

Economic Motivation

  • Most famous travelers to the east from medieval times were the Polos from Venice.
    • Niccolo and Maffeo were Merchants from Venice
    • Niccolo’s son Marco Polo also came with them
  • While some tried to follow in the footsteps of the Polos, Europe was cut off from the East by the Ottoman Turks
  • Travels inspired future explorers, Christopher Columbus had a copy of it with him when he left on his voyage.
  • After the Ottomans conquered much of the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire, the price to acquire spice became way too high
    • This led Europeans to try to find new ways to get these spices
  • In addition, Europeans believed that new parts of the world would have a great wealth of gold and silver.
    • Motivated by “God, Glory, and Gold”

Religious Ambition

  • Many explorers had a crusade-like mentality, wanted to convert non-believers to Christianity.
  • Many agree that this motivation was secondary, however

Means to Expand

  • The expansion of European exploration was linked to the growth of Renaissance Monarchies
    • More centralized, powerful governments had money to spend on exploration
  • Portugal was not powerful enough to pursue power in Europe, so had to expand abroad.

Maps

  • As it became wealthier, Europe was able to send more voyages that allowed for more accurate maps
  • Medieval maps were often unhelpful because they were often more symbolic.
  • Portanli, however, were more useful.
    • These maps were made in the 13th and 14th centuries by skilled navigators and mathematicians
    • They were very useful for more local voyages, but since they took no account for the curvature of the Earth, they were useless for long voyages across oceans.
  • By the end of the fifteenth century Europeans would have decently accurate maps of the known world.
  • A map of the world by 2nd Century CE astronomer Ptolemy was in the book Geography
    • A latin translation of this book became available in 1477
  • He underestimated the size of oceans, inflated the size of continents, and vastly miscalculated the circumference of the planet.
    • This led to explorers thinking it would be feasible to sail around the world from Europe to Asia.

Ships and Sailing

  • Europeans developed new systems for navigation and improved the capabilities of their vessels.
    • The axial rudder was imported from China
    • Combined with lateen sails and the square rig
  • This allowed them to create mobile, capable vessels that were able to sail against the wind and engage in warfare.
    • The ships were able to mount large cannons and carry lots of goods.
  • Navigation also improved.
    • Previously, navigators relied on the position of the North Star to estimate their latitude, but this obviously doesn’t work below the equator (Remember, the Earth is a ball!).
    • Compass and Astrolabe allowed sailors to navigate more accurately
  • Another thing that helped was knowledge of wind patterns
    • This allowed them to travel around the world more easily and more consistently
Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal