Age of Discovery
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See also Age of Sail.
The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. They also were in search of trading goods such as gold, silver and spices. In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them. Among the most famous explorers of the period were Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, John Cabot, Yermak, Juan Ponce de León, Juan Sebastian Elcano, Bartholomew Dias, Ferdinand Magellan, Willem Barentsz, Abel Tasman, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Willem Jansz and Captain James Cook.
The Age of Exploration was rooted in new technologies and ideas growing out of the Renaissance. These included advances in cartography, navigation, firepower and shipbuilding. Many people wanted to find a route to Asia through the west of Europe. The most important development was the invention of first the carrack and then caravel in Iberia. These vessels evolved from medieval European designs with a fruitful combination of Mediterranean and North Sea designs and the addition of some Arabic elements. They were the first ships that could leave the relatively placid and calm Mediterranean and sail safely on the open Atlantic.
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[edit] Exploration by Land
The prelude to the Age of Exploration was a series of European expeditions crossing Eurasia by land in the late Middle Ages. While the Mongols had threatened Europe with pillage and destruction they also unified much of Eurasia creating trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China (although land routes from Han Dynasty China to the Roman Empire existed beforehand, see Silk Road). A series of Europeans took advantage of these to explore eastwards. These were almost all Italians as the trade between Europe and the Middle East was almost completely controlled by traders from the Italian city states. Their close links to the Levant created great curiosity and commercial interest in what lay further east. The Papacy also launched expeditions in hopes of finding converts, or the fabled Prester John.
The first of these travelers was Giovanni de Plano Carpini who journeyed to Mongolia and back from 1244–1247. The most famous voyage, however, was that of Marco Polo who traveled throughout the Orient from 1271 to 1295, a guest at the Yuan Dynasty court of Kublai Khan. His journey was written up as Travels and the work was read throughout Europe. In 1466-1472, a Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin of Tver became the first European to describe a visit to India. His trip was described in his book A Journey Beyond the Three Seas.
These voyages had little immediate effect, however; the Mongol Empire collapsed almost as quickly as it formed and soon the route to the east became far more difficult and dangerous. The Black Death of the fourteenth century also blocked travel and trade. The land route to the East was always to be too long and difficult for profitable trade and it was also controlled by Islamic empires that had long battled the Europeans. The rise of the aggressive and expansionist Ottoman Empire further limited the possibilities for Europeans.
[edit] Exploration begins in Portugal
- Main article: Portugal in the Age of Discovery
It was not until the carrack and then the caravel were developed in Iberia that European thoughts returned to the fabled East. These explorations have a number of causes. Monetarists believe the main reason the Age of Exploration began was because of a severe shortage of bullion in Europe. The European economy was dependent on gold and silver currency, but low domestic supplies had plunged much of Europe into a recession. Another factor was the centuries long conflict between the Iberians and the Muslims to the south. The eastern trade routes were controlled by the Ottoman Empire after the Turks took control of Constantinople in 1453, and they barred Europeans from those trade routes.[1] The ability to outflank the Muslim states of North Africa was seen as crucial to their survival. At the same time, the Iberians learnt much from their Arab neighbours. The carrack and caravel both incorporated the Arab lateen sail that made ships far more maneuverable. It was also through the Arabs that Ancient Greek geography was rediscovered, for the first time giving European sailors some idea of the shape of Africa and Asia.
The first great wave of expeditions was launched by Portugal under Prince Henry the Navigator. Sailing out into the open Atlantic the Madeira Islands were discovered in 1419, and in 1427 the Azores, both becoming Portuguese colonies. The main project of Henry the Navigator was exploration of the West Coast of Africa. For centuries the only trade routes linking West Africa with the Mediterranean world were over the Sahara Desert. These routes were controlled by the Muslim states of North Africa, long rivals to Portugal. It was the Portuguese hope that the Islamic nations could be bypassed by trading directly with West Africa by sea. It was also hoped that south of the Sahara the states would be Christian and potential allies against the Muslims in the Maghreb. The Portuguese navigators made slow but steady progress, each year managing to push a few miles further south, and in 1434 the obstacle of Cape Bojador was overcome. Within two decades, the barrier of the Sahara had been overcome and trade in gold and slaves began in what is today Senegal. Progress continued as trading forts were built at Elmina and São Tomé e Príncipe became the first sugar producing colony. In 1482 an expedition under Diogo Cão made contact with the Kingdom of Kongo. The crucial breakthrough was in 1487 when Bartolomeu Dias rounded (and later named) the Cape of Good Hope and proved that access to the Indian Ocean was possible. In 1498 Vasco da Gama made good on this promise by reaching India.
Chronology of the Portuguese Voyages of Discovery
- 1147—Voyage of the Adventurers. Soon before the siege of Lisbon by the crusaders, a Muslim expedition left in search of legendary Islands offshore. They were not heard of again.
- 1336—First expedition to the Canary Islands. Another 2 in 1340 and 1341.
- 1412—Prince Henry, the Navigator, orders the first expeditions to the African Coast and Canary Islands.
- 1419—João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira discovered Porto Santo island, in the Madeira group.
- 1420—The same sailors and Bartolomeu Perestrelo discovered the island of Madeira, which at once began to be colonized.
- 1422—Cape Não, the limit of Moorish navigation is passed as the African Coast is mapped.
- 1427—Diogo de Silves discovered the Azores, which was colonized in 1431 by Gonçalo Velho Cabral.
- 1434—Gil Eanes sailed round Cape Bojador, thus destroying the legends of the ‘Dark Sea’.
- 1434—the 32 point compass-card replaces the 12 points used until then.
- 1435—Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia discovered Garnet Bay (Angra dos Ruivos) and the latter reached the Gold River (Rio de Ouro).
- 1441—Nuno Tristão reached Cape White.
- 1443—Nuno Tristão penetrated the Arguim Gulf.
- 1444—Dinis Dias reached Cape Green (Cabo Verde).
- 1445—Alvaro Fernandes sailed beyond Cabo Verde and reached Cabo dos Mastros (Cape Red)
- I446—Alvaro Fernandes reached the northern Part of Portuguese Guinea
- 1452—Diogo de Teive discovers the Islands of Flores and Corvo.
- 1458—Luis Cadamosto discovers the first Cape Verde Islands.
- 1460—Death of Prince Henry, the Navigator. His systematic maping of the Atlantic,reached 8º N on the African Coast and 40º W in the Atlantic (Sargasso Sea) in his lifetime.
- 1461—Diogo Gomes and António Noli discovered more of the Cape Verde Islands.
- 1461—Diogo Afonso discovered the western islands of the Cabo Verde group.
- 1471—João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar crossed the Equator. So the southern hemisphere was discovered and the sailors began to be guided by a new constellation, the Southern Cross. The discovery of the islands of São Tome and Principe is also attributed to these same sailors.
- 1472—Corte Real and Alvaro Martins Homem reached the Land of Cod, now called Newfoundland.
- 1475—Colombus (Critovão Colombos) arrives in Portugal.
- 1476—João Coelho visits the West Indies. It seems one of the sailors aboard was called Critovão Colombos.
- 1482—Diogo Cão reached the estuary of the Zaire (Congo) and placed a landmark there. Explored 150kms upriver to the Ielala Falls.
- 1484—Diogo Cão reached Walvis Bay, south of Namibia.
- 1487—Afonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilhã traveled overland from Lisbon in search of the Kingdom of Prester John. (Ethiopia)
- 1488—Bartolomeu Dias, crowning 50 years of effort and methodical expeditions, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean. They had found the "Flat Mountain" of Ptolomeu's Geography.
- 1489/92—South Atlantic Voyages to map the winds
- 1490—Colombus leaves for Spain after his father-in-law's death.
- 1492—First exploration of the Indian Ocean.
- 1492—Christopher Columbus, reaches the West Indies, thinking to be somewhere in Asia.
- 1494—The Treaty of Tordesilles (46º 37' W), the pope divided the world into two parts, between Portugal and Spain.
- 1495—Voyage of Joao Fernandes, the Farmer, and Pedro Barcelos to Greenland. During their voyage they discovered the land to which they gave the name of Labrador (lavrador, farmer)
- 1494—First boats fitted with cannon doors and topsails.
- 1498—Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut.
- 1498—Duarte Pacheco Pereira explores the South Atlantic and the South American Coast North of the Amazon river
- 1500—Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on his way to India.
- 1500—Gaspar Corte Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras de Corte Real.
- 1502—Miguel Corte Real set out for New England in search of his brother, Gaspar. João da Nova discovered Ascension Island. Fernão de Noronha discovered the island which still bears his name.
- 1503—On his return from the East, Estevão da Gama discovered Santa Helena island.
- 1506—Tristão da Cunha discovered the island that bears his name. Portuguese sailors landed on Madagascar.
- 1509—The Gulf of Bengal crossed by Diogo Lopes Sequeira. On the crossing he also reached Malacca.
- 1512—António de Abreu discovered Timor island.
- 1513—The first trading ship to touch the coasts of China, under Jorge Álvares.
- 1519-1522—Voyage round the world by the Portuguese sailor Fernão de Magalhães, then in the service of Spain. During the voyage the passage linking the Atlantic to the Pacific was discovered (Strait of Magellan).
- 1522—Australia is discovered by Cristovão de Mendonça (1522) and Gomes de Sequeira (1525).
- 1526—Discovery of New Guinea.
- 1541—Fernão Mendes Pinto, Diogo Zeimoto and Cristovão Borralho reached Japan.
- 1542—The coast of California explored by João Rodrigues Cabrilho.
- 1557—Macau (Macao) given to Portugal by the Emperor of China as a reward for services rendered against the pirates who infested the China Sea.
- 1595—Pedro Fernandes Queiroz, then in the service of Spain, discovered the Marquise Islands.
- 1660—Voyage of David Melgueiro, in the service of Holland, from Japan to Portugal via the Arctic Ocean.
[edit] European colonization of the Americas
- Main article: European colonization of the Americas
Portugal's rival Castile had been somewhat slower than its neighbour to begin exploring the Atlantic, and it was not until late in the fifteenth century that Castilian sailors began to compete with their Iberian neighbours. The first contest was for control of the Canary Islands, which Castile won. It was not until the union of Aragon and Castile and the completion of the reconquista that the large nation became fully committed to looking for new trade routes and colonies overseas. In 1492 the joint rulers of the nation conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada, that had been providing Castile with African goods through its tribute, and they decided to fund Christopher Columbus' expedition that they hoped would bypass Portugal's lock on Africa and the Indian Ocean reaching Asia by travelling west.
Columbus did not reach Asia, but rather found a New World, America. In 1500, the Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral also discovered a new world, the land that is today called Brazil. The issue of defining areas of influence became critical, being resolved by Papal intervention in 1494 when the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between the two powers. The Portuguese "received" everything outside of Europe east of a line that ran 270 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands; this gave them control over Africa, Asia and eastern South America (Brazil). The Spanish received everything west of this line, territory that was still almost completely unknown, and proved to be mostly the western part of the American continent plus the Pacific Ocean islands.
Columbus and other Spanish explorers were initially disappointed with their discoveries. Unlike Africa or Asia the Caribbean islanders had little to trade with the Spanish ships. The islands thus became the focus of colonization efforts. It was not until the continent itself was explored that Spain found the wealth it had sought in the form of abundant gold. In the Americas the Spanish found a number of empires that were as large and populous as those in Europe. However, small bodies of Spanish conquistadors, with large armies of allied natives, managed to conquer them. The most notable amongst the conquered nations were the Aztec empire in Mexico (conquered in 1521) and the Inca empire in modern Peru and Ecuador (conquered in 1532). After the conquest, pandemics of European disease devastated the native populations. Once Spanish sovereignty was established, the main focus became the extraction and export of gold and silver.
In 1519, the same year that Cortez's army landed in Mexico the Spanish crown funded the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese. The goal of the mission was to find the Spice Islands by travelling west, and thus placing them in the Spanish sphere. The expedition was a success and became the first to circumnavigate the world upon its return three years later.
[edit] Decline of the Portuguese monopoly
Portuguese exploration and colonization continued despite the new rivalry with Spain. The Portuguese became the first Westerners to reach and trade with Japan. Under the King Manuel I the Portuguese crown launched a scheme to keep control of the lands and trade routes that had been declared theirs. The strategy was to build a series of forts that would allow them to control all the major trade routes of the east. Thus forts and colonies were established on the Gold Coast, Luanda, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Mombassa, Socotra, Ormuz, Calcutta, Goa, Bombay, Malacca, Macau, and Timor. The Portuguese also controlled Brazil, which had been discovered in 1500 by Pedro Álvares Cabral and was partly on the Portuguese side of the global "divide" set at Tordesillas.
Portugal had some trouble expanding its empire inland and concentrated mostly on the coastal areas. Over time the nation proved to be simply too small to provide the funds and manpower sufficient to manage such a massive venture. The forts spread across the world were chronically undermanned and ill-equipped. They could not compete with the larger powers that slowly encroached on their empire. The days of near monopoly of east trade were numbered. Portuguese hegemony in the east was broken by Dutch, French and British explorers, who ignored the Papal division of the world. In 1580 the Spanish King Philip II became also King of Portugal, as rightful heir to the Crown after his cousin Sebastião died without sons (Philip II of Spain was grandson of Manuel I of Portugal). The combined empires were simply too big to be kept unchallenged, and to resist those challenges some of Portuguese possessions were lost or circumscribed, particularly in the West Africa, the Middle East and the Far East that were mostly surrounded by British and Dutch trading posts and then colonies. Bombay was given away to the British as a marriage gift. The colonies where the Portuguese presence was effective, like Macau, East Timor, Goa, Angola, and Mozambique, as well as Brazil, remained in Portuguese possession. The Dutch attempted to conquer Brazil, and at one time controlled almost half of the nation, but were eventually discontinued.
[edit] Northern European involvement
The nations outside of Iberia refused to acknowledge the Treaty of Tordesillas. France, the Netherlands, and Britain each had a long maritime tradition and, despite Iberian protections, the new technologies and maps soon made their way north.
The first of these missions (1497) was that of the British funded John Cabot. It was the first of a series of French and British missions exploring North America. Spain had largely ignored the northern part of the Americas as it had few people and far fewer riches than Central America. In 1525, Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first recorded European to visit the East Coast of the present-day United States. The expeditions of Cabot, Jacques Cartier (first voyage 1534) and others were mainly hoping to find the Northwest Passage and thus a link to the riches of Asia. This was never discovered, but in their travels other possibilities were found and in the early seventeenth century colonists from a number of Northern European states began to settle on the east coast of North America.
It was the northerners who also became the great rivals to the Portuguese in Africa and around the Indian Ocean. Dutch, French, and British ships began to flout the Portuguese monopoly and found trading forts and colonies of their own. Gradually the Portuguese and Spanish market and possession share declined, the new entrants surrounding many of their most valuable possessions (like Hong Kong being next to Macau). The northerners also took the lead in exploring the last unknown regions of the Pacific Ocean and the North-American west coast, which was in the Spanish part of the Tordesillas divide. Dutch explorers such as Willem Jansz and Abel Tasman explored the coasts of Australia while in the eighteenth century it was British explorer James Cook who mapped much of Polynesia.
[edit] End of the Age of Exploration
The age of exploration is generally said to have ended in the early seventeenth century. By this time European vessels were well enough built and their navigators competent enough to travel to virtually anywhere on the planet. Exploration, of course, continued. The Arctic and Antarctic seas were not explored until the nineteenth century. It also took much longer for Europeans to reach the interior of continents such as North America, though the Amazon basin was crossed and the centre of what is now the United States was reached by the middle of the 16th century by Spanish conquistadores. Africa´s deep interior was not explored by Europeans until the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries, partly because of a lack of trade potential in this region (slaves were purchased at coastal settlements), in part due to serious problems with contagious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and the powerful Muslim Ottoman empire in the north.
[edit] See also
- Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
- Colonization of Africa
- Colonialism
- Global empire
- Exploration
- Land hemisphere
- History of the west coast of North America
- Age of Sail
[edit] References
- ^ Rankin, Rebecca B., Cleveland Rodgers (1948). "Chapter 1", New York: the World's Capital City, Its Development and Contributions to Progress. Harper.
[edit] Other references
- Cipolla, Carlo Cipolla. European Culture and Overseas Expansion.
- DeVoto, Bernard (1952). The Course of Empire. Houghton Mifflin.
- Fiske, John (1892). The Discovery of America: With Some Account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest. Houghton Mifflin.
- O'Sullivan, Daniel. The Age of Discovery.
- Perry, J.H.. The Discovery of the Sea.
- Penrose, Boies. Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance: 1420–1620.
- Sletcher, Michael Sletcher (2005). "British Explorers and the Americas", in Will Kaufman and Heidi Macpherson: Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Oxford University Press.
- Wright, John K. (March 1947). "Terrae Incognitae: The Place of the Imagination in Geography". Annals of the Association of American Geographers 37(1): p. 1-15.
