4.2

The Fall of Constantinople (1453)

• Sultan Mehmed II led Ottoman forces into the Byzantine Empire

• Capture marks the end of the Roman Empire

  • also marks a new era of warfare

• The city was renamed Istanbul and is the capital of the new Ottoman Empire

Prince Henry the Navigator

• Patron of Portuguese exploration

• interested in trade and expanding Christianity

  • Wanted African gold

  • Searched for “Prester John"

• Encouraged use of new ships, maps, and technology

Portuguese Trading Empire

• wanted to find a route to the sources of the spice trade

  • Why not just grow the spices themselves?

• Made money on the slave trade

  • Bringing to Europe from West Africa

• First major achievement: Bartolomeu Dias round the Cape of Good Hope (1488)

Major Turning Point: Voyage of Vasco de Gama (1497)

• Successfully sailed around the coast of Africa to India

• Portugal was now part of an extensive maritime trading system

  • Seized trading ports throughout Africa and Asia (“trading post empire") ←- Thallosocracy