Technological Innovations

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to technological innovations in maritime travel and trade during the period 1450-1750.

Magnetic Compass

Helped steer a ship in the right direction. Originally created in China for fortune telling.

Astrolabe

Improved by Muslim navigators in the 12th century, let sailors find out how far north or south they were from the equator.

Caravel

A small, three-masted sailing ship developed by the Portuguese in the 15th century, allowed sailors to survive storms at sea better than earlier-designed ships.

Cartography

Mapmaking and knowledge of current and wind patterns also improved navigation.

Primogeniture Laws

Laws that gave all of each estate to the eldest son.

Omani-European Rivalry

Rivalry between the Omani and Europeans was one reason for Christopher Columbus's search for a new route to India.

Maritime Empires

Empires based on sea travel; Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France and Holland transformed into these.

Astronomical Chart

Any map of the stars and galaxies. Mariners relied on these maps to guide ships' direction, especially before the introduction of the compass.

Lateen Sail

A ship sail in the shape of a triangle. Used by Arab sailors and in the Indian Ocean, it significantly affected medieval navigation and trade.

Carrack

Square and lateen sail on 3-4 masts. Used by Portugal for trade from the 14th to 17th Centuries.

Caravel

Lateen sails on 2 or 3 masts. Used by Portuguese and Spanish for long voyages at great speed from the 15th to 17th Centuries.

Fluyt

Square on 2 or 3 masts. Used by the Dutch for trade from the 16th to 17th Centuries.