APWH 4.1 Maritime Technological Innovations

Magnetic compass

Chinese origin, 4 directional navigation device

Astrolabe

Arabic origin, location relative to equator device (gives longitude and latitude of location)

Caravel

small three masted, triangle sail ship of Portuguese design

Cartography

map making improved by inclusion of wind and current information gained in Indian Ocean

Main European motives for sea exploration

1. Gold- Empires cost a lot of money to run so the states that accessed gold continue to grow

2. God- missionary work was a high priority and papacy would fund part of cost if missionaries included

3. Glory- the larger the empire the more power, and explorers achieved greatness by claiming new lands for their king

Other motives for sea exploration

1. Population growth- Social- caused growing pressure for food and jobs at home

2. *Primogeniture Laws- Political-Wealthy families gave all their land to oldest son forcing others to seek opportunities elsewhere

3. Religious Minorities- Cultural-sought new places to settle away from persecution

4. Opportunists- Economic-sought fortune and glory and were willing to take great risks

Omani-european rivalry

• Competition between the Portuguese and the Islamic Sultanate of Oman which had ties to the Swahili Coast, caused conflict.  

• The Portuguese built forts on the Omani coast as a show of power 

• Big reason for Christopher Columbus’s search for a new route to India by going the other way

European leaders

• Iberian kingdoms of Portugal and Spain had strong 

1. Economic- Gold

2. Religious - God

3. Political motives- Glory

• Their distance from eastern trade routes and location on the coast pushed exploration by sea compared to powerful Italian city-states.

Henry the navigator

Third son of King of Portugal organized explorations of Southern Atlantic

Henry the navigator’s motives

• 1. Convert Africans to Christianity.

• 2. Make contact with Christian rulers in Africa to establish alliances and crusade against Muslim Ottoman Turks.

• 3. Discover profitable new lands.

Sagres

• Portuguese research institute for navigation built by Henry the Navigator.

• Located across from North Africa 

• Create the most accurate sea charts and land maps of the time period. 

• From the Italians trans-Saharan trade route knowledge

• From Jewish cartographers (map makers) maps of the Islamic world

• Collected information on southern Africa 

Idea advances

• Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity- led to increased sailor’s knowledge of tides that exposed dangerous rocks and reefs 

• Accurate weather records- including direction and intensity of winds identified friendly and unfriendly “trade wind” areas. 

• Astronomical charts - improved and divided charts into grids for guidance based on North Star above the equator and Southern Cross below and other constellations