Age of Exploration Flashcards
Many European explorers were hoping to find gold and other precious metals. What are precious metals?
Metals that are rare and worth a lot of money.
In ancient times some spices were worth their weight in gold.
True
Why were spices so much more expensive five hundred years ago?
The world wasn’t as connected and spices were hard to transport.
Why can’t peppercorns be grown in Europe?
Peppercorns only grow in warm, wet places like India.
Why were very few oldest sons explorers?
The oldest son would inherit all of the father’s land and money.
Who becomes the new king when a king dies?
oldest son
What is the only way a daughter of a king could become a queen?
She could only become queen if she had no brothers.
What does primogeniture mean?
first born
What does geniture mean?
born
Why did the law of primogeniture make sense 500 years ago?
If the land keeps getting split, eventually each child would get less and less land making the family less important in stature.
Why did so many second sons become explorers?
They had to seek out other ways of getting fortunes since their oldest brother gets the entire inheritance.
What Italian made a map of the world in 1474 where he drew half of the map as he imagined it to be.
Paolo Toscanelli
Christopher Columbus set out to find someone to pay for his voyage. What is a voyage?
A trip, usually on the ocean or space.
What country did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella rule?
Spain
Who did Toscanelli send his map to first?
The King of Portugal
Where did Europeans get their information about China?
Stories about the travels of Marco Polo
What did Columbus actually find instead of Asia?
The Caribbean Islands
What did Europeans call the islands they were trying to reach?
The Spice Islands
Why did the law of primogeniture make sense 500 years ago?
If the land keeps getting split, eventually each child would get less land and the family name would be less important.
Why did so many second sons become explorers?
They had to seek out other ways of getting fortunes since all of the inheritance went to the oldest son.
What is a device that uses magnets that points north?
compass
Why do compasses always point north?
There is a strong magnetic field at the North Pole.
What was one of Toscanelli’s biggest mistakes about the Earth?
He thought the Earth was much smaller than it really is.
What does Toscanelli’s map drawn over the real map show us?
Why Columbus thought he had reached the Indes.
