Age Of Exploration History Notes JC-Learn. JC-Learn. History Notes Age of Exploration. 1 P a g e

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1 JC-Learn History Notes Age of Exploration 1 P a g e

2 Age of Exploration Reasons: (For Good, For God and For Glory). For Good: They wanted to find a route to Asia and the Spice Islands (Great Silk route became dangerous when the Turks took over Constantinople). For God: They wanted to spread Christianity in Africa and look for the legendary kingdom of Preston John in the Arab Islands. For Glory: Monarchs wanted to take over and conquer lands to expand their empire. (It was much easier to conquer land in Africa than Europe). Marco Polo and other famous sailors also inspired people by their voyages. Advances in Travel & Navigation: Portuguese Cartographers drew Portolans (Very detailed maps of coastlines and harbours) so sailors could plan their journey better. Invented Quadrants and Astrolobes which measured the height of the Sun/North star above the horizon. Chronometers measured Longitude (How many degrees east/west a ship is from a fixed geographical point). Knots per hour: Method of measuring a ships speed (Rope with knots at equal intervals, sailor would throw the rope in the sea and count how many knots go through his hand in a certain time). o They used ropes with knots to measure depth as well. Fathom = Distance between 2 knots. Log Book: Captains wrote about speed, distance and direction of their voyage in a log book to record their voyage and spread knowledge. Ships: Clinker Built = Wooden boards were overlapped (Stroger) and sails were square. o Strong but unable to turn quickly. Lateens = Triangular sails to get in and out of harbours quickly. o Slow but very good at turning. Caravel = Clinker built, with triangular and square sails for both power and manoeuvrability. Carrack/Naos = Big caravels with extra room for storage. 2 P a g e

3 Life on Ship: Captains brought more sailors than needed (Knew some would die). They slept in the hull of the ship with cargo very cramped. Food, water and even ship biscuits went out of date. o Resulted in Typhoid (Dirty water) and Scurvy (Lack of vitamin C). Chaplain = A priest who travelled on a ship. Portugal Begins: Reasons why explorations began in Portugal: 1. It faces the Atlantic (Hard to trade with the Mediterranean so they needed trade links). 2. Heard stories of Preston John + great wealth in nearby Africa. 3. Advances enabled them to travel longer distances. Henry the Navigator: He was the governor of Algrave in Portugal and he set up a Navigational School in Sagres He brought together the best sailors, ship builders and cartographers to get to the Spice Islands by going around Africa. Many voyages were made and at the end of their journeys sailors put Padroas (Large stone pillars) on the coastline as a marker for the next voyage. When Henry died in 1460 voyages had travelled past Cape Bojador. They traded with Natives in Africa and had warehouses full of gold in Sagres. This encouraged others to explore. Bartholomew Diaz: Set off in 1487 in hope of finding the southern Cape of Africa. At the Orange River he was blown off course by a storm. When he finally found land which was the Southern Cape of Africa he named it The Cape of Storms (Renamed Cape of Good hope by King Diaz as he didn t want to discourage sailors). 3 P a g e

4 Vasco de Gama: 8 July 1497 he set off to Spice Islands with a Caravel, two Naos and an even bigger boat. Made it to Cape of Good Hope on Christmas day easily with the help of Diaz s accurate co-ordinates. (Stopped in Natal) Travelled upwards to Mozambique where he met an Arab called Ibn Majid who gave De Gama the route to the Spice Islands. Arrived in Calicut, India on the 20 May He headed home with Spices, Jewels and only two ships. The voyage took 3 months and De Gama returned to a Hero s welcome. Results of Portuguese Explorers: Became extremely wealthy (Traded with Africa and Asia). Their Empire expired. Inspired many countries, especially Spain. Spain Follows: Christopher Columbus: Early Life: Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451 (Had an important maritime with the sea). He was inspired by Marco Polo s journeys. He believed the world was round and he wanted to go westward. Using Toscanelli s map he estimated that Cathay (China) and Cipangu (Japan) were 4000 km away. Financial Sponsorship: John II of Portugal was the obvious choice but he woudn t sponsor Coloumbus as he was more interested in finding a route to Asia. The King of England also rejected him. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain said no initially as they were fighting the Moors but they defeated them and agreed to sponsor his voyage. He was given 3 ships: Nina (Caravel), Pinta (Caravel) and Santa Maria (Naos) and 90 crew members. 4 P a g e

5 The Voyage: Set sail on 3 August 1492 from Palos, Spain in Stopped at Canary Islands for fresh supplies. Sailors were nervous of getting disease, falling off the edge of the earth and sea monsters. Columbus kept 2 Logbooks, one proper one and one exaggerated one to reassure the sailors. A few days before deciding to turn back they arrived at San Salvador and placed a Crucifix on the beach. (Sailed for almost 70 days) He thought he was in India and he named the Natives Indians. On Christmas day 1492 he left 40 men on Hispaniola with a fort made from the ruined Santa Maria. He returned to Spain with parrots, pineapples, maize and some Natives. He was seen as a hero and given the title of Admiral of the Ocean and became Governor of new found lands. Later Life: Brought Spanish people over and made sugar cane companies and explored all the different islands. He never found the great cities of Asia, his desire made him a very cruel man and he killed and abused many natives. o He was removed as Governor and sent back to Spain in chains. Died in 1506 a very unhappy man. 5 P a g e

6 Ferdinand Magellan: Early Life: Born in Portugal 1480, fell in love with sailing. Did many expeditions 1 st European ship to Spice Islands. Believed he could find the Spice Islands by going westwards. o King Charles V of Spain sponsored him. Was given 5 ships Santiago, Victoria, Conception, San Antonio and Trinidad. They all needed repair before using. The Voyage: 20 September 1519 the crew set sail from Seville. 270 crew members who were mostly Spanish (Jealous of a Portuguese man leading the expedition). Sailed to Rio de Janeiro then to Port St Julian were the Spanish crew members mutinied. Magellan managed to keep control and killed two Spanish captains as well as leaving one behind. Sebastian Del Cano = Last mutineer to surrender. After the Mutiny: Magellan sent the Santiago down the coast looking for a passageway to the Great South Sea, but it crashed and he walked back to St Julian. Magellan then followed the coast along Patagonia and found a passageway, he named it the Magellan Straits and the end of it was called Cape Desire. South Sea (Pacific) was very calm and they sailed with no wind for 3 months and many died of starvation and disease. Fund lots of Islands on 6 March 1521 called them the Phillipines. Magellan was killed at an island called Mactan while trying to spread Christianity (attacked by Natives). After Magellan Died: Found Spice Islands in November The Trinidad with 47 crew members led by Sebastian Del Cano returned to Spain alone and landed in Seville on 6 September 1522 with 18 men. First Circumnavigation of the Earth. 6 P a g e

7 Other Explorers: Amerigo Vespucci realised that America was a separate continent. Treaty of Tordesillas 1494 Agreed a line drawn down Atlantic Ocean. West of the line belonged to the Spanish and East to the Portuguese. Pedro Cabral found Brazil (Portuguese), the name came from the amount of Brazil-nut trees. Conquistadores = Ruthless leaders who s mission was to find the legendary cities of gold in South America. Hernando Cortés: Ex Spanish soldier living in Cuba. Wanted to find the Aztec tribe in Mexico, he left with 500 men and 16 horses in 1519 and burnt the ships to show there was no return. Found the ancient city of Tenochtitlan (250,000 people), very advanced people. Montezuma (Aztec leader) thought Cortés on his horse was their God who prophesised to return (Quetzalcoatl) and let them in. Cortés and his men were caught robbing gold and they were kicked out of the city and Montezuma was killed. Cortes gathered local tribe members who disliked the Aztecs (Because they used them for sacrifices) and attacked Tenochtitlan with over 100,000 men. He destroyed the city and killed all Aztecs. Became Governor and rebuilt the city, called Mexico New Spain. Francisco Pizarro: Incas of Peru: Peaceful tribe even more advanced than Aztecs. Pizarro defeated Incas at Cajamarca with 180 men and 27 horses (Superior weapons). They took Atahualpa (Their leader). They were offered a room full of gold as a ransom and they took it yet still strangled him to death. Killed Inca s at Cuzco (Capital) and renamed the Incan Empire New Castille. Pizarro discovered gold in the Andes Mountains so Spain became rich. 7 P a g e

8 People resented him because of his wealth and he was killed by his own men in Results of Explorations: For Europe: Wealth New Land. Spread of Christianity. Inspired other explorers. European culture + languages became dominant. Slavery became a huge business. For Natives: Languages died out. Became slaves. Ancient civilisations were destroyed. Many natives died. 8 P a g e