What time period did Europeans begin to travel?
The END of the Middle Ages (around 1300)
What are “pilgrimages?” and what was their purpose?
Religion journeys or Christian holy sights
What did they desire on their journey to new regions?
Goods from foreign lands AND to spread their religion
What happened between the time of 1295 and 1522?
Christopher Columbus found America
Marco Polo returns from China
Kings and queens began sponsoring trips for explorers to find new land and riches
What route did people take to trade with Asia and why was it important?
Silk Road
Why did European leaders sponsor voyages?
To get rich by finding new trade routes
What was the key driver of the Age of exploration?
Competing religions, ideas, and countries
Name THREE technological advances that were helpful during the Spanish exploring the Americas
Compass, Stern Rudder, Printing Press, Astroblade, Carrack, Sextant and Chronometer
What is a Sextant and a Chronometer?
John Bird invented the sextant which uses two mirrors and movable arm to measure the angles of stars in the sky. Chronometer helps keep accurate time at sea.
What is a Carrack?
Three or four masted sailing ship developed in Italy in the late 1400s. The Santa Maria was a carrack.
What is an Astroblade?
Measures the position of stars in the sky and europeans learned of the astrolabe from arab traders in the 1100s
What is a Printing Press?
1450- German inventor built Europe’s printing press that could print text and be mass produced to easily spread news about explorers’ discoveries
What is a Stern Rudder?
Chinese sailors used an oar that hung off the boat and evolved into the stern-mounted rudder which directed the flow of water passing over it to help STEER a ship.
What is a Compass?
magnetic arrow that points north so people can figure out directions. Invented in china and introduced to Europeans in the 1200s.
Who were some of the famous explorers who tried to reach China and the islands off Southeast Asia and what did they believe?
Vasco de Gama (from Portugal)
Bartolomeu Dias (from Portugal)
Columbus (from Italy)-persuaded Spain’s King and Queen (Portugal neighbor), to pay for his voyage
What were Christopher Columbus’ ships known as?
Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
What did they reach when they spotted land?
Bahamas
Taino people greeted him and exchanged gifts
Brought Taino people back to Europe to sell as slaves
When and how did he find the “New World”?
King and queen of spain sent Columbus back out and found present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic
Who was a major part of finding the “Americas”?
Vasca Nunez Balboa- first Spanish explorer to find “the great waters” to the west of these lands
Amerigo Vespucci- sailed one of Columbus’s routes in 1499 and the name Americas was used for these lands in honor of him
Magellan died attempting to sail around the world
Juan Sebastian Elcano - sailed around the world in 1522, but it took three years
