As Europe was emerging from the Middle Ages and experiencing the Renaissance, people had the curiosity and the courage to look beyond their own continent to others. Scientific discoveries and technological improvements made it easier to travel across the vast oceans. Christians sought to spread their faith far and wide, and merchants sought new goods and business opportunities in both the East and West. North and South America awaited visits by the Europeans.
The Portuguese were the first great explorers. They developed the “caravel”, a small, lightweight ship with three lateen-sailed masts that could hold much more cargo than previous ships. The more cargo that a ship could hold, the greater its profits would be, as cargo consisted of goods that could be picked up in a faraway land and sold upon the ship’s return to its homeland. European demand was strong for exotic Indian goods, especially spices, and this drove explorers to discover new routes to India different from the Eastern Mediterranean trade controlled by the Ottomans. The discovery of new western routes accidentally led to the discovery of lands in the New World (Western Hemisphere). Portugal and Spain then emerged as the two major players in what was to become an intense European competition for exploration, conversion and colonization.
===Portuguese Exploration===
The Portuguese initiated the age of exploration in Europe as early as about 1419, when Prince Henry the Navigator established his School of Navigation and made it his life’s work to explore the West African coast and reach the Indian Ocean. His ships reached as far as Sierra Leone, but he failed to reach India. Another explorer named Bartholomew Diaz likewise failed to reach India also, but he did manage to sail around the tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) in 1487and thereby establish the route to India.
It was during this time that a young Italian by the name of In 1492, with funding from Spain (see below), Christopher Columbus approached embarked on his famous voyage with the Portuguese King John II to ask him for financial supportdream of reaching India, and he failed in that goal also. ColumbusIt was Vasco da Gama who finally reached India by sailing eastward around Africa and up the East African coast between 1497 and 1499, like many from with the Italian city help of Genoa, was an expert mariner, having started as early as the age of 14powerful monsoon winds. He had studied the works of Ptolemy on his own; Columbus did not attend formal schoolShortly thereafter, just as homeschoolers do not today. Columbus at all times regular trade was a devout Christian, writing frequently about his faith in his diary. His desire to sail to established with India was motivated in large part by his attempt to spread under the Christian faith. He repeatedly cited a desire to convert pagans to Christianity when he sought support for his voyage. Late in lifePortuguese King Manuel, even when treated as a prisoner, he sought to devote all his money and efforts towards winning back Jesus Christ’s Holy Sepulchre (burial cave) from conflict began with the Muslims in the Holy Landover dominance of Indian Ocean trade.
King John II denied Columbus’s request to fund his voyage across the Atlantic. IndeedLater, Columbus was ridiculed for seeking to reach India by sailing west rather than east. Vasco da Gama finally reached India by sailing eastward around Africa with funding and up the East African coast between 1497 and 1499men from Spain (see below), with the help of Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan became the powerful monsoon winds. Shortly thereafter, regular trade was established with India under the Portuguese King Manuel, and conflict began with first to lead an expedition around the Muslims over dominance of Indian Ocean tradeglobe.
===Spanish Exploration===
The Spanish entered the scene in the year 1492—during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who were working hard to defeat Islam and establish Christianity as the only religion in Spain. Known as the “Reconquista” (or Reconquest) of Spain, this was accomplished first through the reconquest of Granada, the last Muslim city in Spain. As explained in the prior Lecture, Queen Isabella ordered all Muslims and Jewish residents to convert or leave Spain. Initially, this caused Spain an economic and academic setback, as Jewish residents had comprised a large number of scholars and merchants.
HoweverIt was during this time that a young Italian by the name of Christopher Columbus first approached the Portuguese King John II to ask him for financial support. Columbus, like many from the Italian city of Genoa, economic stability was soon reached an expert mariner, having started as early as the strain age of fighting 14. He had studied the Muslims works of Ptolemy on his own; Columbus did not attend formal school, just as homeschoolers do not today. Columbus at all times was now gonea devout Christian, writing frequently about his faith in his diary. His desire to sail to India was motivated in large part by his attempt to spread the Christian faith. He repeatedly cited a desire to convert pagans to Christianity when he sought support for his voyage. Late in life, even when treated as a prisoner, he sought to devote all his money and taxes efforts towards winning back Jesus Christ’s Holy Sepulchre (burial cave) from Muslims in the Holy Land. King John II denied Columbus’s request to fund his voyage across the Atlantic. Indeed, Columbus was ridiculed for seeking to reach India by sailing west rather than east. The funding for Columbus came from Spain instead. Though Columbus was Italian, it was Spain who financed his voyages as the sole purpose strain of funding explorations were soon imposedfighting the Muslims subsided. Isabella and Ferdinand felt secure in granting the Genoese upstart Christopher Columbus his long-awaited funds. Beginning on August 3, 1492, Columbus embarked on four voyages, perhaps becoming the first European to discover the New World, although at first he believed he had reached India (hence his name for the inhabitants of the New World: “Indians”). The discoveries by Columbus included the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, San Salvador, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and Honduras. Columbus’ astounding success presented an increasing challenge to Spain’s Portuguese rivals.
The pope finally resolved this rivalry between Spain and Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which established an 1100-mile long “Line of Demarcation.” This division of world territories gave Portugal trading rights in India, China, the East Indies, East Brazil and Spanish Americas. Spain was given control of the remaining, vast majority of the Americas. Ferdinand Magellan then led the first successful voyage to circumnavigate the globe in 1519. Although Magellan was killed by Philippine natives before completing the last leg of the journey, he was the first to sail around Cape Horn at the tip of South America to enter the Pacific Ocean. Only 18 of approximately 250 sailors made it back to Spain three years later, in 1522.
