the causes of the age of exploration

new trade routes

since the arabs and italians controlled the trade, other countries like portugal and spain, wanted to find new routes to asia to break the arab and italian control

wealth for countries

the voyages of exploration were mainly funded by governments. these rulers hoped that new lands would add to the wealth, glory and power of their countries

wealth and fame for the explorers

the leaders of these voyages hoped that they would gain new riches and titles for themselves

marco polo

his book encouraged explorers to find new routes to the great wealth of the east

religion

europeans wanted to defeat and conquer the muslims, who controlled north africa and the trade routes, and convert people of the new lands to christianity. the explorers often took priests with them to convert the native people

the influence of the renaissance

people questioned old ideas during the renaissance. ptolemy’s geographia was discovered and became more widely availabe with the creation of the printing press. the information it provided encouraged explorers to learn new ideas and discover new information

how do we know about the age of exploration

• letters,

• agreements,

• logbooks,

• government records,

• books and

• artefacts and buildings of the time

before explorations began many believed

• the earth was flat

• it had people with strange shapes

• the seas further south were boiling

• the seas were full of monsters

• the world was smaller than it is

when was the age of exploration

1400-1750