Chapter 8 : The Age Of Exploration Flashcards
When
Mid 1400’s
Scurvy
A disease caused by lack of vitamin C, teeth fall out and gums go spongy
Who traded
India and spice islands = spices
China = silk
Great Silk Road
Merchants went across Asia, took months and years.
Why was it dangerous
Muslim Turks became enemies of the Christian Europeans, and they charged them to go through their land, Europe became bigger and there was more demand
Religion
Almost every European was Christian, everyone else were heathens (people who worshipped false gods. They thought it was their duty to spread Christianity, so when they went out in boats, they brought a priest to look after the sailors and convert everyone on new land.
Building empires
They wanted to make empires to control new lands and take the natural resources of the land for themselves. When Portugal and Spain collected colonies, the rest of Europe wanted to aswell.
Caravel
Combined Atlantic and Mediterranean boats, lateen sails which made it easier to go in and out of bays, clinker built which had overlapping pieces of wood to make it stronger
Navigation
Compass : needle pointed north if in northern hemisphere, South if in Southern Hemisphere
Astrolabe : found their latitude by pointing it at the sun
Quadrant : found their latitude by pointing it at the North Star
Portolan charts : maps of the sea, recorded shape of coasts and depth of seas
Log, line and knots : a line with a log at the end and evenly spaced knots ties in it, thrown over side of boat, the line went through his hands and however many in a minute was knots per minute
Henry the navigator
He knew if they could go around the bottom of Africa to India, Portugal would become very rich. He set up a sailing school in Sagres in the 1500’s. Quadrant and astrolabe were created or improved.
Bartolemeu Dias
He became the first person to reach the Cape of Africa. His ship was wrecked by storms
He named the bottom ‘the Cape of storms’ but the Portuguese king John renamed it ‘the Cape of good hope’ and he was happy because now Portugal could get all the spices it wanted and become rich
Treaty of tordesillas
Spain and Portugal drew a line on the map of the world and any land on the east of the line would be Portugals and any land on the west would be Spain’s. They did not know a the time but it went down the middle of South america
Vasco da gama
He sailed around Africa to India
Mozambique
Became a colony of Portugal when they stopped there on their way to India
Christopher Columbus
Born in Genoa, Italy. He went to Portugal to learn navigation and sailing. He thought the earth was round and wanted to get to India by going west but had no idea that America was there. He went to Portugal but they said no. He went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and they said yes. He was given the niña, pinta and Santa Maria. The Santa Maria was a better improved version of a caravel called a nao. Martin and Vincente Pinzón captained the niña and pinta. Began on 3 August in 1492. They sailed from Palos to the Canary Islands, where they stopped for food and water. They then went into the Atlantic in September. Columbus thought it would have taken 3 weeks to sail to India, but he got his maths wrong and lied to his crew. They got scurvy and demanded to go back. For this reason he kept 2 log books. On the 12 October they saw land and landed in San Salvador. They put down a cross and a Spanish flag. He named the people of the land Indians as they had coloured skin and he thought he was in India. For the next three months he explored the Caribbean, which Columbus called the indies Cuba and Hispaniola. He returned in March 1495 bringing parrots, pineapples and people with him. He returned 3 more times and did not accept that he was in Asia, but was still made governor of the land. The people that followed him treated the people badly, committing acts of robbery, torture and murder. Columbus was then arrested but pleaded not guilty and was let out. He died in 1506.
