Transcript SOL - Quia

As Europe stepped
out from under the
middle ages into the
renaissance and
scientific revolution
a new spirit of
exploration and
economic
competition was
sparked.
Why They Went; Fuels of
the global age
The Four Gs; Gold, God, Glory,
Gadgets
oEuropean population grew
o Nations Began to build strength
o Technology increased
o Religious reformations created
new churches and competition
for expansion
Gold: after the Ottomans captured
Constantinople the Muslim Empires
controlled the flow of expensive textiles
(silk and cloth) and spices (nutmeg,
cinnamon, cloves, and pepper) from the far
east. Europeans sought to find a way around
the Muslim monopoly.
o As European explorers started to map out
new lands the myth of easy riches beyond the
sea drove many more people to seek their
fortunes.
o After the age of exploration entrepreneurs
and Empires found more practical profits in
trade and colonization.
SOL
Factors contributing to
exploration: Demand for
Gold, spices, and natural
resources…
God: Missionaries
followed explorers to
distant lands to convert
local populations to
Christianity by choice or
by force.
o Later people would flee
Europe to escape religious
persecution.
SOL
Factors: Political and
economic rivalry
between European
empires.
SOL
Factors: Support
for the diffusion of
Christianity.
Glory: Adventurous
individuals sought to
make a name for
themselves while countries
began to fight for
influence and power
overseas.
Gadgets: new navigation
SOL
Factors:
Innovations in the
navigational arts.
inventions made it
possible for ships to leave
the sight of land
without getting lost.
o The compass and the
astrolabe helped mariners to
pin-point their position on
featureless seas.
o New ships such as the caravel were
developed to help sailors navigate faster
and against the wind.
As a result of these inventions new and
more accurate maps could illustrate
what lay beyond the Mediterranean.
Prince Henry
the Navigator
SOL
Factors:
Pioneering role of
Prince Henry the
Navigator.
Prince Henry was a Portuguese
noble who funded expeditions
across the North and West
African coast.
o Henry gathered cartographers
to map out what his ships had
found.
o Under his leadership a group of
navigators developed the Caravel
adopting the triangular sails of
Muslim mariners.
o Henry was driven by a desire to
find the source of the west
African gold trade and the
legendary kingdom of Prester
John.
Henry’s ships stumbled
across many islands
across the West
African coast
including the Azores
which they claimed for
Portugal.
Prester John
o Prester john is a
mythical Christian
king said to have lived
to the eat among the
Muslim empires.
o Prester John was
supposedly a
descendent of one of
the three Maji who
brought gifts to Jesus
on the day of his birth.
o Preseter john’s
kingdom was as close
to heaven on earth as
a land could get, rich
with wealth and
strange creatures.
Bartolomeu Dias
SOL
Creation of empires
and destruction of
native peoples.
o Bartolomeu Dias was a Portugues
nableman who was commanded with
the task of finding a sea route around
Africa to the riches of the east.
o Like Henry the Navigator Dias also
wanted to find the mythical Prester
John.
o Aboard his three ship fleet Dias
travelled with six African natives who
were to be let off at intervals down
the African coast.
o These natives carried samples of
spices and precious medals which the
Africans were supposed to inquire
about when they landed.
o They also were told to praise the
king of Portugal and seek out an
audience with prester john.
Dias Reached
the Cape of
good hope
calling it the
“Cape of Storms”
Dias and his
crew sailed past
a stone pillar
which marked
the furthest any
European
explorer had
traveled south
After being
driven south by
a strong storm
for 13 days Dias
reached the
African East
Coast and the
Indian Sea
As trail blazers such as
Prince Henry the
Navigator and
Bartolomeu Dias opened
the door to European
exploration, new
adventurers would
strike out farther into
unknown waters in the
name of expansion.
The Diary of the First
Voyage of Vasco Da
Gama
Already in this vainglorious business
Delusions are possessing you,
Already, ferocity and brute force
Are labelling strength and valour,
The heresy 'Long Live Death!' is already
Current among you, when life should always
Be cherished, as Christ in times gone by
Who gave us death yet was afraid to die.
The Lusiads, by Luis vaz de Camoes