Section 1 Flashcards
Who was the first explorer to the Americas?
Leif Erikson
Who was Marco Polo?
Venetian trader who wrote the Il Milione, the first widely circulated account of the Orient.
Who was Henry the Navigator?
Was the first major patron of explorers. In 1418, Prince Henry started the first school for oceanic navigation along with an astronomical observatory at Sagres, Portugal. In this school, people were trained in navigation, map-making, and science, in order to sail down the west coast of Africa.
What did Henry the Navigator commision sailors to find?
(1) A path to the Indian Ocean to get Portugal involved in the spice trade. (2) Find the Kingdom of Prester John, a mythical Christian king who was believed to be living somewhere in Africa.
Who was Vasco de Gama?
A student at Henry the Navigator’s school at Sarges. The first European to reach India by sea, in 1497. Sailed around the horn of Africa, also known as the Cape of Good Hope.
What was Reconquista?
A period of 774 years between the Islamic conquest of Spain beginning following the Battle of Covadonga in 718, and ending with the fall of Granada, the last Islamic stronghold Western Europe.
Who was Isabelle of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon?
Their marriage united the two warring kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. After conquering the Muslim state of Granada, Isabelle and Ferdinand successfully united the Iberian peninsula for the first time. Served as the patron to Christopher Columbus’ expedition to the New World.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
An Genoese explorer who was commissioned by Isabelle and Ferdinand to discover a passage to Asia.
Who were the Taino?
Were a major indigenous people in the Caribbean, inhabited present day Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. An estimated 1,000,000 Taino inhabited Hispaniola at the time of Columbus’ arrival in 1492. By 1507 it is believed less than 60,000 Taino remained on the island.
What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
Spain and Portugal sign a treaty dividing the newly discovered lands between the two nations.
Who was Amerigo Vespucci?
An Italian cartographer (mapmaker) who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia’s Eastern outskirts, but were an entirely separate landmass. The continents he discovered were then named “America” in his honor.
Who was Ferdinand Magellan?
A Portuguese explorer who served under Charles I of Spain. Led the first European expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and circumnavigate the globe. Died during a skirmish with indigenous tribes in the Philippines in 1521. The remainder of his crew eventually made it back to Spain.
What was the Battle of Mactan?
Showdown between Magellan’s crew and Philippine natives, resulted in the death of Magellan.
Who was Lapu-Lapu?
The Philippine chief who led the attack against Magellan. Today is considered a Philippine national hero.
What is a Conquistador?
Were soldiers and adventurers who served the Portuguese and Spanish Empires. They conquered many territories in the New World between the 15th and 17th centuries.
