EXPLORATION

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EXPLORATION
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Explorers of the Middle Ages
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Vikings

• By the 800s, the Vikings were known shipbuilders
  and traders
• They came from areas of Scandinavia (Norway,
  Denmark, and Sweden)
• Tacking well-known
• Sailed over North seas

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Leif Ericson

• Around 1000, Vikings came to North America
• Helluland- Labrador and Newfoundland
• Markland- Nova Scotia
• Vinland- Cape Cod
• Returned after failure of settlement

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Venetians

• After Crusades, desire to trade with the East
  increased
• Traders from Venice, under Nicolo Polo, wanted to
  have direct trade with China and India without
  going through the Arabs
• 1255- Went on journey to Asia
• Met the messengers of Kublai Khan, the Mongol
  Emperor

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Marco Polo

• Went on return trip
• Stayed in the court of Kublai Khan
• Wrote about his discoveries in The Adventures of
  Marco Polo
• Had huge impact on readers
• Left the impression that Asia was larger and
  Atlantic smaller than in actuality

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AGE OF DISCOVERY
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Trade with the Orient

• Syria- fabrics
• China- silk, porcelain, ginger
• Persia- rugs
• India- pepper
• Spice Islands- cloves, nutmeg, and cinnnamon

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Causes

• 1453- Fall of Byzantine Empire
• Ottoman Turks block trade routes
• Jealousy of Italian cities
• Desire to spread Christianity
• Better ships- caravel

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Exploring the Atlantic

• Portugal leads the way, in part because of
  location
• Prince Henry, the Navigator- begins school at
  Sagres in early 1400s
• Brings together navigators, shipbuilders,
  mapmakers, and geographers
• Plan is to explore down the coast of Africa and
  search for all-water route to Asia

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Portugal succeeds

• Exploration begins by getting bases on islands
  off of NW coast of Africa
• By late 1400s, Portuguese sailors have sailed
  down western coast of Africa
• 1488- Bartolomeu Dias reaches Cape of Good Hope
• 1497- Vasco da Gama sails around cape and goes to
  India

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COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA
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Christopher Columbus

• Born in Genoa
• Plan to sail west to reach Asia
• Four voyages 1492-1504
• West Indies and coast of Central and South
  America
• 2 mistakes underestimated circumference of earth
  by 25 and thought earth was more land than water

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First attempt

• 1483- presented plan to King John II of Portugal
• Council will reject
• They want to use resources to go around Africa to
  Asia

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Second attempt

• Went to Spain
• Engaged in Reconquista
• Aragon and Castile joined by Ferdinand and
  Isabella
• Fight against Moors in Granada
• Columbus presents plan
• Spain rejects

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Reasons for rejection

• Money would be better spent against Moors in
  Reconquista
• Did not want to reopen conflict with Portugal
• They thought the estimates were wrong

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Fortunes change

• Jan. 1492- Spain defeats the Moors
• Columbus tries again
• Reasons for voyage
• Spread Catholicism
• Open new trade routes
• Compete with Portugal
• Gains approval in April

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The Voyage

• They will set sail from Palos, Spain
• Martin Alonso Pinzon- Pinta
• Vicente Yanez Pinzon- Nina
• Christopher Columbus- Santa Maria
• Leave on Aug. 3, 1492 and went to Canary Islands

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Dead Reckoning

• Few navigational instruments
• Measure latitude by North Star
• Position from stars
• Compass to plot course
• Estimated distance
• Half-hour glass for time
• Guessed his speed

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The Discovery

• After a month the crew was anxious
• Between the evening of Oct.11 and the morning of
  Oct. 12, land was seen
• He thought he was in the East Indies, near Japan
  or China
• Called the islanders Indians
• Discovery led to one of the greatest moments in
  world history

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Columbian Exchange

• To Europe- gold, corn, potato, sweet potato,
  beans, peanut, squash, pumpkin, tomato, cocoa
• To Americas- wheat, horse, pig, cattle, goat,
  sheep, chicken, guinea hen, mule
• Amerigo Vespucci- a brand, new world