Age of Exploration and Global Encounters

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the technological advancements, key figures, and cultural consequences of the Age of Exploration as detailed in the session notes.

Caravel

A ship representing a shift towards continuous maritime innovation, larger vessels, and better navigation, ultimately leading to European naval dominance.

Prince Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese patron and visionary who sponsored systematic exploration of the Western African coast, though he never sailed on the major voyages himself.

Lateen Sails

Triangular sails with origins in the Islamic world that were incorporated into the caravel, demonstrating intercultural knowledge exchange.

Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese navigator who opened a direct sea route to India in $1498$, establishing Portugal as a major maritime power.

Ferdinand Magellan

The explorer whose expedition achieved the first recorded circumnavigation of the globe from $1519$ to $1522$, proving the Earth's sphericity.

Feitorias

Fortified trading posts established by the Portuguese along the coasts of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia to control spice routes.

Columbian Exchange

A massive exchange of goods, people, and diseases enabled by ships that reshaped global demographics and economies.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

A horrific chapter in history initiated during the period of Portuguese exploration involving the transport of enslaved Africans to Europe and the Americas.

Eurocentrism

A perspective that frames the era through a European lens, such as the label 'Age of Exploration,' while potentially ignoring the disruption of existing societies.

Tupinambá

An indigenous group of Brazil frequently cited in historical accounts (though debated) for practices of ritualistic cannibalism.

Flower Wars

Aztec ritual sacrifice practices involving the consumption of hearts and blood, which were often exaggerated by Spaniards to justify conquest.

Noble Savage Myth

A harmful historical extreme that romanticizes indigenous cultures, contrasting with the demonization used to justify exploitation and conquest.

Globalization

The acceleration of global interconnectedness in trade and cultural exchange that began during the era of the caravel.

Silk Road

The existing land-based trade network with the East that Europeans sought alternatives to after disruptions by the Ottoman Empire.

Cartography

The study and practice of map-making, which improved during the Renaissance to help explorers find riches and map the world.

Cultural Relativism

The modern historical debate about whether it is ethical to judge past cultural practices, such as cannibalism, by modern moral standards.

Caravel

A ship representing a shift towards continuous maritime innovation, larger vessels, and better navigation, ultimately leading to European naval dominance.

Prince Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese patron and visionary who sponsored systematic exploration of the Western African coast, though he never sailed on the major voyages himself.

Lateen Sails

Triangular sails with origins in the Islamic world that were incorporated into the caravel, demonstrating intercultural knowledge exchange.

Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese navigator who opened a direct sea route to India in $1498$, establishing Portugal as a major maritime power.

Ferdinand Magellan

The explorer whose expedition achieved the first recorded circumnavigation of the globe from $1519$ to $1522$, proving the Earth's sphericity.

Feitorias

Fortified trading posts established by the Portuguese along the coasts of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia to control spice routes.

Columbian Exchange

A massive exchange of goods, people, and diseases enabled by ships that reshaped global demographics and economies.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

A horrific chapter in history initiated during the period of Portuguese exploration involving the transport of enslaved Africans to Europe and the Americas.

Eurocentrism

A perspective that frames the era through a European lens, such as the label 'Age of Exploration,' while potentially ignoring the disruption of existing societies.

Tupinambá

An indigenous group of Brazil frequently cited in historical accounts (though debated) for practices of ritualistic cannibalism.

Flower Wars

Aztec ritual sacrifice practices involving the consumption of hearts and blood, which were often exaggerated by Spaniards to justify conquest.

Noble Savage Myth

A harmful historical extreme that romanticizes indigenous cultures, contrasting with the demonization used to justify exploitation and conquest.

Globalization

The acceleration of global interconnectedness in trade and cultural exchange that began during the era of the caravel.

Silk Road

The existing land-based trade network with the East that Europeans sought alternatives to after disruptions by the Ottoman Empire.

Cartography

The study and practice of map-making, which improved during the Renaissance to help explorers find riches and map the world.

Cultural Relativism

The modern historical debate about whether it is ethical to judge past cultural practices, such as cannibalism, by modern moral standards.