European Expansion into the New World (15th-16th Centuries)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, technologies, motives, and concepts related to 15th- and 16th-century European exploration and expansion into the New World.

Renaissance

Cultural and intellectual revival of classical learning in 14th-16th-century Europe that fostered curiosity about the wider world.

Reformation

16th-century religious movement that fractured Western Christianity and heightened competition for missionary work abroad.

European Exploration

Period when Europeans began systematic sea voyages beyond Europe, leading to overseas empires.

New World

Term Europeans used for the Americas and other lands encountered during 15th- and 16th-century voyages.

Marco Polo

13th-century Venetian traveler whose Far-East accounts spurred later European curiosity and exploration.

Printing Press

15th-century invention that mass-produced texts such as travel literature, spreading knowledge of distant places.

Travel Literature

Published accounts of journeys that fed European fascination with exotic lands and peoples.

Sir John Mandeville

Legendary medieval author of fantastical travel tales that shaped European imaginings of unknown regions.

Ptolemy's Geographies

Ancient cartographic work rediscovered in the Renaissance that depicted a round Earth and inspired westward routes.

Silk Road

Overland trade network to Asia closed to Europeans after the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453.

Ottoman Turks

Empire that seized Constantinople, blocking eastern land routes and prompting Europeans to seek sea passages.

Astrolabe

Navigational instrument using celestial bodies to determine latitude, vital for oceanic voyages.

Caravel

Sturdy, maneuverable Iberian sailing ship designed for long-distance Atlantic exploration.

Portugal

First European state to launch systematic Atlantic voyages, exploring African coasts and beyond.

Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored early 15th-century expeditions down Africa’s west coast.

Iberian Peninsula

Region containing Spain and Portugal, launch-pad for early transoceanic exploration.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Catholic monarchs who united Spain and financed Columbus’s voyage seeking western routes to Asia.

Patronage

Financial support by monarchs for explorers in return for wealth, territory, and prestige.

Conquistador

Spanish soldier-explorer who conquered territories in the Americas for wealth and empire.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec Empire with allies and disease.

Aztec Empire

Powerful Mesoamerican civilization destroyed by Cortés and Spanish forces after 1519.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish friar who denounced atrocities against Indigenous peoples, foreshadowing later genocide debates.

Missionary

Religious emissary sent to convert Indigenous peoples, often accompanying colonial expansion.

Jesuits

Catholic order noted for scholarly approach and use of enculturation in missionary work.

Enculturation

Jesuit strategy of learning native languages and customs to convert peoples from within their culture.

Gold, God, and Glory

Triad summarizing economic, religious, and prestige motives driving European exploration.

Christopher Columbus

Genoese navigator who, sailing for Spain in 1492, reached the Caribbean believing it was Asia.

Indians (Colonial Usage)

Name Columbus applied to Caribbean natives, assuming he had reached the Indies.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese mariner for Spain whose expedition (1519-1522) achieved the first circumnavigation of Earth.

Circumnavigation

Complete voyage around the globe, first accomplished by Magellan’s crew.

Pacific Ocean

Largest ocean, named by Magellan (Pacifica) for its comparatively calm waters.

Protestant Reformation (Colonial Front)

Competition between Catholic and Protestant powers to convert New World populations.