Age of Exploration Flashcards

Flashcards reviewing key vocabulary and concepts from a lecture on the Age of Exploration.

Age of Exploration

The period when European explores ventured out from their homelands to explore, conquer, and colonize other continents, mainly the Americas, Africa, and East Asia.

Motivations for Exploration

God, Glory, and Gold: The desire to spread Christianity, gain fame and power, and acquire wealth were primary motivators for European exploration.

Marco Polo

Italian trader who reached the court of Kublai Khan in China in 1275, increasing European awareness of the East.

Crusades

Wars fought between Christians and Muslims from 1096 to 1270 that introduced Europeans to spices and other luxury goods from Asia.

Italian Merchants role in trade

Controlled trade across the land routes of the Mediterranean region, reselling Asian goods at increased prices to merchants throughout Europe.

Caravel

A new vessel designed in the 1400s that was sturdier than earlier vessels and had triangular sails allowing it to sail effectively against the wind.

Astrolabe

A brass circle with carefully adjusted rings marked off in degrees, used by sailors to determine their location at sea by calculating latitude.

Magnetic Compass

A Chinese invention that allowed explorers to more accurately track direction.

Prince Henry the Navigator

The son of Portugal’s king and the nation’s most enthusiastic supporter of exploration, who founded a navigation school in 1419.

Bartolomeu Dias

Portuguese captain who ventured far down the coast of Africa in 1488 and reached the tip, proving it was possible to sail around Africa.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who began exploring the east African coast in 1497 and reached the port of Calicut, India in 1498, establishing a direct sea route to India.

Christopher Columbus

Italian sea captain who convinced Spain to finance a voyage to find a route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, ultimately leading to European colonization of the Americas.

Line of Demarcation

An imaginary dividing line suggested by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 to divide lands between Spain and Portugal, with Spain claiming lands to the west and Portugal to the east.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A treaty signed in 1494 by Spain and Portugal, agreeing to honor the Line of Demarcation, and moving it farther west.

Ferdinand Magellan

Explorer whose crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe.

Hernando Cortes

conquered the Aztecs in 1521

Francisco Pizarro

conquered the Inca in 1532