What was a reson for European exploration in the 1400s?

Answer 1

The reason for Eurpoean exploration in the 1400s was to find a sea route to Asia for their silks, spices, and other goods. Also, they wanted to find gold, silver, and precious stones. They also wanted to expand their knowledge of the world. Next, they wanted power; to gain control of a larger empire. During the late 1400s - 1500s, they wanted to expand Christanity.

Answer 2

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1

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

TASK 1

:

Study

the

Hereford

map(made

round

1,300AD

in

England)

and

decide

what

the

main

misconceptions

about the shape of our planet and the possibilities to

sail to India and China were.

TASK 2:

Were there

any earlier voyages before the famous

Portuguese and Spanish expeditions?

Early Travellers

Arab Travellers

There were

many Arab travellers trying to discover or trade with unknown countries

–

eg Ibrahim Ibn Jacob visiting the

Czech lands in the 10

th

cent

ury, the author of the first written record of Prague . In the 14

th

century the Arabs controlled

the trade with India and trade routes in the Indian Ocean

–

including the east coast of Africa, with many trade bases later

discovered by the Portuguese sailo

rs.

The most famous Arab travellers were Masudi (10

th

century), Idrisi (11

th

century) and

Ibn Batuta

(14

th

century), probably

the most sensational explorer visiting and describing Africa, India, China and Europe

–

the whole known world of his

time.

Chinese

Travellers

The

Chinese

set

off

on

many

voyages

reaching

Africa

–

bringing

back

to

the

emperor

giraffes

and

other

exotic

animals

-

Am

erica, Australia but not Europe. The admirals reported that all the discovered areas are in comparison with China very

back

ward and so the emperor decided to cancel any further voyages as there was nothing to learn from the new lands.

The most famous Chinese admiral was

Zheng He

(Cheng Ho) (1371

-

1435) 7 voyages 1405

-

1430, huge ships

European Travellers

The

Europeans

learned

a

bout

the

riches

of

India

and

China

from

the

Arabs

during

the

crusades.

The

first

Europeans

reached China paradoxically after the Mongol Invasions as envoys to the court of the Great Khan.

The first to return and report to the pope was Giovanni Caprini (124

5

-

1247 in Bejing)

The most famous were the Venetian traders

–

the

Polo

brothers Nicollo and Mafeo who visited China twice taking

Marco

Polo

on

their

second

voyage.

They

spent

twelve

years

in

China

and

Marco

described

his

experiences

in

his

book

‘The

Millio

n’.

No

matter

how

tempting

the

treasures

of

China

were

European

sailors

reached

India

and

China

only

two

centuries later.

TASK 3: Preconditions of the Voyages

What necessary improvements in sailing were needed to enable voyages to India and China?

What pro

blems and prejudices had the sailors to overcome?

What reasons made the Europeans risk their lives on such dangerous voyages?

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2

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

Reasons for overseas voyages



Islamic, Venetian and Genoese monopoly on trade making the goods too expensive



Transport by water muc

h cheaper and enabling to transport more than by land



Main trade routes

through central Asia very unsafe



Ottoman expansion troubling the trade (1453 Constantinople, 1459 Serbia, 1480 Otranto, Italy)



Turks imposing heavy taxes on trade

Portuguese Voyages

Portugal

became

strong

and

united

in

the

course

of

six

centuries

of

wars

against Muslims

to reconquer their territory. The

struggle continued in northern Africa and Portugal began to expand. Their first important gain was Ceuta in 1415

–

during

the

reign

of

King

Jo

hn

I.

(1385

-

1433).

The

most

important

figure

for

the

early

Portuguese

voyages

was

his

son

Henry

‘the Navigator’

(1394

–

1460).

He

was

influenced

by

the stories of the riches of Africa

–

gold,

ivory,

slaves

and decided

to

go

on

with

the

expansion.

To

prepare

well

for

this

he

gathered

scholars

at

his

court

to

improve

ships,

navigation

and

maps.

In

the

course

of

the

following

decades

they

discovered

many

Atlantic

islands

and

continued

going

south

round the

African coastline.

The main discoveries:



148

8

Bartholomew

Diaz

reached

the

Cape

of

Good

Hope

(actually

named

it

Cape

of

Storms

due

to

terrible

weather)



1497

Vasco

da

Gama

reached

Calicut,

India

but

he

was

badly

surprised

by

the

presence

of

Arab

trade

bases

in

eastern Africa and Arab controlled trade

with India. Because of this the King of Portugal decided to send 13 ships

and army to get the trade bases and trade under Portuguese control.



1500

Pedro

Cabral

led

the

above

mentioned

military

expedition,

but

his

fleet

was

caught

in

a

storm

and

he

discove

red

Brazil

TASK 4:

Label the map of the Portuguese voyages.

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3

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

Spanish Voyages

Columbus and Going West

Christopher

Columbus

(1451

-

1506)

a

sailor

from

Genoa,

It

aly.

He

was

influenced

by

a

Florentine

geographer,

Paolo

Toscanelli, and his map showing that it

is much shorter to sail westwards to reach India. That was a revolutionary idea but

it was extremely difficult for him to find a sponsor for his voyage.

He

was

refused

by

the

King

of

Portugal

(1480),

King

and

Queen

of

Spain

(1486),

Kings

of

France

and

E

ngland

(1486

-

1492).

Finally

he

was

given

the

second

hearing

with King

Ferdinand

and

Queen

Isabella

of

Spain

in

1492

–

the

year

of

the conquest of Granada and the end of reconquista in Spain. He got their support

–

one ship

Santa Maria

. The other two

ships

Pinta and Nina were provided by their owners. This was not the end of difficulties as it was almost impossible to get

the necessary crew.

TASK

5:

Why

was

it

so

difficult

to

persuade

sailors

to

join

his

expedition?

Columbus and his voyages:

1492

-

1493

–

sai

ls to Bahamas (San Salvador) and Cuba (Hispaniola)

1493

-

1496

–

West Indies

1498

-

1500

-

West Indies

1502

-

1504

–

Latin America

TASK 6:

Study the map.

What ́mistake ́ did Columbus and Toscanelli make? What saved Columbus?

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4

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

TASK

7:

Read

the

f

ollowing

extracts

from

Columbus’s

Journal

(according

to a copy made by Bartholomew Las Casas

–

the original disappeared) and answer the questions below.

Sunday, 9

th

September

This

day

the

Admiral

made

19

leagues

and

he

arranged

to

count

less

than

the

act

ual

number,

because

if

the

voyage was long of duration, the people would not be so terrified and disheartened.

Tuesday, 25

th

September

The

Admiral

talked

with

Martin

Alonso

Pinzon

respecting

a

chart

(which

he

had

sent

to

the

caravel

three

days

before)

on

which

the

Admiral

had

certain

islands

drawn

in

that

sea.

Martin

Alonso

said

that

the

ships

were

in

that

position on which the islands were placed, and the admiral replied that so it appeared to him.

Wednesday, 10

th

October

During the night and the day the

y made 59 leagues, counted as no more than 44. Here the people could no longer

endure.

They

complained

of

the

length

of

the

voyage.

But

the

admiral

cheered

them

up

in

the

best

way

he

could,

giving

them good hopes of the advantages they might gain from it.

Thursday, 11

th

October

They

saw

shore

birds

and

a

green

reed

near

the

ship.

Those

of the

caravel

Pinta

saw

a

cane

and

a

pole

and

they

picked

up

another

pole

which

seemed

to

be

worked

with

iron.

On

board

the

Nina

the

same

day

they

saw

a

small

branch

covere

d with berries. Everyone breathed afresh and rejoiced at these signs.

1.

Why did Columbus decide to cheat concerning the distance covered?

2.

What do you think would be Columbus’s main worry on 25

th

September?

3.

On the 10

th

October they were on open sea for a m

onth. long voyage or Did the sailors complain because of the length

of the journey or were they afraid of anything else?

4.

What made the sailors rejoice and why?

New

Continent

Spanish discoveries

Columbus set an example for many other explorers that a

ctually confirmed the existence of the new continent.

Alonzo de Hojeda and

Amerigo Vespucci

(1499

-

1500) South America, West Indies

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

1513 crossed the Panama Straight and discovered the Pacific Ocean

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5

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

English

Discoveries

John Cabot

(1497)

Labrador, Newfoundland

Sebastian Cabot

(1498) North America

French

Discoveries

Jacques Cartier

(1534) Newfoundland, St. Lawrence’s River

Circumnavigation

TASK 8:

Why did the Spanish decide to send a risky expedition to sail round the world?

Fer

nao

M

agellan

(1519

-

1522)

The geographers believed there must be a North

-

West and South

-

West passage round America to India. Magellan decided

to use the South

-

West passage as the Spanish knew the coast of South America.

He was given 5 ships (1 returned) and 237

sailors (18 returned)

Hardships of the voyage:



Problems with the crew



2 ships lost while crossing the Magellan Straight



The size of the Pacific Ocean underestimated (Nov 28

–

Mar 6)



Magellan killed in the Phillippines

Francis Drake

(1577

-

1580)

English

pirate, in fact forced to circumnavigate the world by the pursuing Spanish ships.

The Search for the North

-

West Passage

Henry Hudson

1610 discovered Hudson Bay and believed it to be the Pacific

Button

1612 discovered the west coast of Hudson Bay

Conquest

of Paradise

No matter how impressive the discovery of America was the king of Spain was rather disappointed. They did not discover

a

new

way

to

India,

no

trade,

no

spices

and

only

very

little

gold

was

coming

from

the

new

continent.

This

was

to chang

e

in a

few years and thanks to undisciplined adventurers.

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6

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

Aztec Empire

The Aztecs arrived in Mexico in the 13

th

century and made it the centre of their empire. They lived in big, advanced stone

cities

–

capital

Tenochtitlan

100,000 inhabitants.

However,

in the

15

th

century

their

empire

was

declining

due

to

internal

weakness

and

the

opposition

of

neighbouring

tribes.

The

Aztec

were

highly

unpopular

because

of

their

cruelty,

human

sacrifices and harsh rule.

The Spanish learned about Aztec wealth and sent an expedi

tion to establish a port as a trading base.

1519

-

1521

Hernando

Cortez

used

this

opportunity

and

without

any

order

set

off

to

conquer

the

empire

with

only

400

foot

soldiers

and

15

horsemen.

The

Emperor

Montezuma

invited

them

to

Tenochtitlan

,

where

Cortez

to

ok

him

p

risoner

and

ruled

in

the

name

of

Montezuma.

The

Spanish

brought

with

them

small

-

pox

and

half

of

the

Indians

died

of

this

illness.

In the end Cortez was given the title of Governor of New Mexico by the Spanish king.

Inca Empire

The

Inca

civilizatio

n

was

at

its

peak

when

the

Spanish

arrived.

They

controlled

a

large

area,

built

even

better

cities

than

the Aztecs, built roads connecting their cities, had no problems with neighbours.

The problem was that there was a civil war between two candidates sho

rtly before the Spanish arrived.

Francesco Pizzaro and Diego de Almagro

(1530

-

1532)

Pizzaro

had only 106 soldiers and 62 horsemen but managed to conquer the empire and defeat the Inca army in the Battle

of Cajamarca and took the emperor

Atahualpa

prisoner.

TASK 9:

How were the Spanish able to defeat armies so superior in numbers?

Thanks to the two conquests Spain became the richest colonial power. Aztec and Inca gold and silver was melted and sent

to Spain

–

irresistible temptation for pirates in service

of England and France.

More Voyages, More Discoveries

TASK

10:

Use

the

atlas

and

find

out

who

discovered

the

following

places.

Write

down

the

name

of

the

explorer

and

the

country he served.

a.

Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya

b.

Tasmania

c.

Tahiti

d.

New Zealand

e.

Bering S

trait

f.

Hawaii

g.

Easter Islands

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7

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VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY

Results of the Voyages

TASK 11:

Work in groups. What was the effect of the voyages on Europe and America?

W

rite down the results/effects of

the voyages on Europe and America.

Europe

Am

erica

TASK 12:

Put the following events into the correct chronological order.

a.

Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire

b.

Cook discovered the Hawaii Islands

c.

Bartholomew Diaz reached the Cape of Good Hope

d.

Columbus reached the Bahamas

e.

Vasco da Gama r

eached India

f.

Pizzaro destroyed the Inca Empire

g.

Voyages of Zheng He

h.

Francis Drake and his circumnavigation

TASK

13:

Label

the

picture

of

the

legendary

Francis

Drake ́s

Golden

Hind.

Would

you

like

to

sail round the

Word

on

a

ship this size?

1.

2.

3.

4

.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Answer 3

Among the people who did the explorations, the most important factor was probably a desire to become wealthy. There were a few who wanted to spread Christianity.