Topic 11

The black death disrupted the trade routes to Asia.

→ Once population increased people wanted goods from Asia.

They got all their spices from Moluccas a group of islands in modern day indonesia

Traded goods increased in price as they were sold from merchant to merchant

→This lead to cutting the middle men out and gained direct access to Asia

Missionaries went over seas to convert people to christianity

  • Improvements in Tech helped   * people cross vast oceans   * Cartographers   * Sailors learned a skill called astrolabe to figure out their latitude at sea   * Design larger and bigger ships   * caravel, which combined the square sails with triangular, sails.

    → Caravels also adapted the sternpost rudder and numerous masts of Chinese ships. The new rigging made it easier to sail across, or even into, the wind.

==What were the major causes of European Exploration==

→Money, Spices and preservatives for food, religious reasons, medicine, perfume

Prince Henry saw great promise in Africa

  • converted islam and other religions to christianity
  • Henry believed he would find Muslim controlled gold there
  • He wanted to find a better way to get to Asia bypassing the Mediterranean

  →In order to make this happen he hired people to redesign ships, prepare maps and train captais and crew

After Henry passed the Portuguese still continued his quest

  • they built forts in Africa and established trading posts, soon after they left just enough men to defend the forts and continued the journey
  • They continued making trading posts along the journey
  • They also attacked cities such as Mombasa and Malindi

  → they took over the trade network

Vasco de Gama Went on the same journey around the Cape of Good Hope but went further and found the great spice port(what they wanted in the first place)

  • On the way back they lost half their ships due to sickness

  -Although they lost half their ships they still made a lot of money off it and sent off a new venture

==How did the Portuguese create a trading empire stretching from Africa through the Indian Ocean to India’?==

-They made a route and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and on the journey they made trading posts and forts, they also took over the central trading network all the way to the great spice port in Asia.

  • Columbus knew that the Earth was a sphere, but he underestimated Earth size and didn’t know about North or South America.
  • After Portugal refused to sponsor him he asked Ferdinand and Isabella from Spain to ad they did.
  • The Spanish rulers expelled Jews from Spain in hope of increasing their power and making Catholicism stronger in Spain

  → This just weekend Spanish culture and the nation, the hoped COLUMBUS would bring wealth and prestige

  • The journey was tough although the ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were great they still didn’t get to land until they were almost out of food, this was many weeks later
  • He found the continents and Spain and Portugal both tried to claim the islands he found.
  • The Line of Demarcation was unclear but it allowed them to claim big areas of land and start a trading empire

[[Why were Spanish rulers pleased with the Treaty of Tordesillas and Line of Demarcation[[

-They were pleased with this because it was a compromise that made everyone happy and it helped to have new land for the countries.

  • The Americans blocked a sea pathway to Asia

  → Europeans searched for a route through the Americas

Vasco Nunez helped the “Indians” find the Pacific Ocean

Ferdinand McGlynn is a minor Portuguese nobleman who sent out 5 ships from Spain to the Pacific.

Circumnavigate means sailing across the world

For most of the 1500s Portugal controlled the spice trade

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