The Age of Exploration: Portuguese and Spanish Voyages

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering the Age of Exploration, focusing on Portuguese maritime expansion, trade motivation, Prince Henry the Navigator, Christopher Columbus, and the Line of Demarcation.

Renaissance

A period in Europe during the 1400s marked by a revival or "rebirth" of all things ancient Greek and Roman, including the rediscovery of geometry and other mathematical concepts.

Cartography

The production and development of better maps, which improved alongside rediscovery of classical mathematics and Islamic contributions during the Age of Exploration.

Prince Henry the Navigator

The Portuguese royal leader who spearheaded Portugal's exploration efforts by recruiting the best shipbuilders, sailors, navigators, and mapmakers from across Europe.

Azores

An island chain located in the Atlantic Ocean where Portuguese sailors and fishermen traveled and noted stories of seeing land further to the west.

Iberian Peninsula

The southwestern European peninsula home to Portugal and Spain, which was long governed and influenced by Muslims who held extensive global trade knowledge.

Malapas

The Southeast Asian island chain identified as the chief source of spices sought by European merchants.

Western Coast of Africa

The maritime route navigated step by step by Portuguese explorers starting in the early 1400s in an effort to bypass Mediterranean middlemen and access the Indian Ocean.

Bartholomew Diaz

The Portuguese explorer who, after seventy-five years of exploratory voyages down the African coast, reached the southern tip of Africa.

Christopher Columbus

The Italian navigator sailing for Spain who sought an alternative route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic, mistakenly believing he had reached India.

Marco Polo

The fellow Italian writer from whom Christopher Columbus obtained his descriptions and knowledge of China.

Line of Demarcation

A dividing boundary drawn by the Pope to settle claims between Portugal and Spain, allotting territories to the east of the line to Portugal and territories to the west to Spain.

Treaty of Tordesea

The official agreement that established the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal.

Magellan

The explorer whose expedition is credited with sailing around the world, although he was murdered in the Philippines before his crew completed the voyage.