Upload
ashlie-barrett
View
213
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Why Europeans Went Exploring
Ch 1
Crusades
• Crusades-began in France (1095), when Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont exhorted Christendom to war
• Religious motives dominated at first, but worldly considerations were never absent
• Constantinople in shreds
The Renaissance (1300-1600)
• Near the end of the middle ages, Christians of western Europe launched the crusades to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims (Islam).
• Thousands of europeans traveled to the holy land only to find they had much to learn from the east. (exchange of knowledge)
The Renaissance (cont.)
• Commerce grew
• Minds were opened as scholars translated books of poetry, adventures, and science from Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian
• This leads to a great revival of ancient architecture, learning, painting. (Leonardo de Vinci and Michelangelo)
The Renaissance (cont.)
• Books-previously all copied by hand (long books took 6 months)
• In 1456 Johann Gutenberg invented the movable type, and printed the bible the same year.
• This opened a new world for books and the age of learning had begun
• Astronomy was born: Copernicus showed that the earth revolved around the sun
The Rise of Nation States
• Age of nationalism was about to begin
• People began to take pride in their nationality.
• They were more adventurous and went out exploring to plant their flag abroad
• This contributes to age of discovery & learning.
The lure of the East
• In 1271 the Venetian merchants Maffeo, Nicolo Polo, and his son Marco, traveled to China. 17 years later they returned with gold, silks, and jewels.
• 2 centuries later when Marco Polo’s book was printed (read by Columbus) Monarchs began to think of a sea route to the east.
The Techniques of Discovery
• Prince Henry “The Navigator” (1394-1460)• Set up a school for explorers at Cape St. Vincent
on the Southwestern tip of Portugal• He pushed voyages of discovery along the coast of
Africa, although this was the long way • Portuguese designed new kind of sailing ship
called “Caravel”• 1488 Barthalomeu Diaz sails around the southern
tip of Africa and the eastern sea route to the East is now open