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During the 15th and 16th centuries, the way that Europeans viewed the world changed. For example, they became interested in parts of the world that they had not cared much about before. They also learned that some places existed for the first time.
Two European cartographers, or mapmakers, made the world maps below almost 100 years apart. Both cartographers believed they were mapping the entire world.
During the 1400s and 1500s, Europeans traveled farther than ever before. This period of time is often called the Age of Exploration.
As they traveled to new places such as southern Africa and the Americas, Europeans developed a better understanding of world geography.
When did Europeans learn the earth was round?
In the 4th century BCE, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle determined the earth was round based on his observations of the moon and stars.
By the 1400s, most European scholars agreed that the earth was round. Some of the most popular novels of the time included descriptions of a round earth!
Beginning in the late 1400s, several European governments sponsored, or paid for, overseas voyages in search of new sources of wealth. The timeline below shows some of these expeditions and the government that sponsored each one.
Portugal takes the lead
Before 1500, Portugal sponsored more overseas expeditions than any other European country. Spain soon became Portugal's biggest rival in sponsoring overseas expeditions. Other European countries, such as France and England, didn't play a large role in overseas exploration until later in the 1500s.
Were Europeans the only people who explored the seas?
No! Many different societies had long histories of sea exploration. For example, Polynesian people were exploring and settling islands scattered in the Pacific Ocean as early as 1500 BCE. That was more than 3,500 years ago!
Portugal and Spain put a lot of time, money, and effort into overseas expeditions in the late 1400s and early 1500s. But other political groups that were wealthier and more technologically advanced decided against this practice. For example, the Ming Dynasty decided against making many overseas expeditions in the late 1400s. The Ming Dynasty ruled over parts of present-day China.
The map shows Portugal, Spain, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Did people from the Ming Dynasty ever explore the oceans?
Yes! In the early 1400s, the Ming government sponsored a military general named Zheng He (JUNG huh) to make seven major overseas expeditions.
Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He explored the oceans surrounding Asia and East Africa. At this time, the Portuguese had just barely begun to sail beyond North Africa.
Zheng He's fleet of ships was the largest and most advanced in the world. These ships were probably capable of sailing to the Americas before European ships could. But after 1433, the Ming government decided to stop sending major overseas expeditions. Meanwhile, European countries began sending more and more of them.
By the late 1400s, Portugal had already sent many expeditions to the western coast of Africa. Trade in Africa was beginning to make Portugal wealthy. But the Portuguese government still wanted access to the riches of the spice trade around the Indian Ocean.
The map shows some of the places Portuguese ships reached over time, marking the year when they arrived in each place.
By 1488, the Portuguese had reached points along the entire west coast of Africa but had not yet reached the Indian Ocean.
Why was Portugal so determined to sail to the Indian Ocean?
In the 1400s, people in Europe were willing to pay a lot of money for spices such as pepper. These spices were bought and sold in port cities around the Indian Ocean. Portuguese merchants believed that if they could find a route to these cities, they could control the trade of spices between Asia and Europe. This control would make Portugal rich!
How did pepper get to Europe?
Before Europeans found direct sea routes to Asia, transporting spices to Europe was a long and dangerous process!
First, pepper was grown on trees in Southeast Asia. Farmers dried the peppers and sold them to local merchants. Eventually, merchants in the wealthy port cities around the Indian Ocean bought and sold these spices.
Then, traveling merchants often transported spices across the desert on camels. Crossing the desert was risky work, because merchants needed to memorize exactly where to find water on these long, dry routes!
Finally, merchants brought these spices to Italian cities. Spices such as pepper, made many Italian merchants wealthy. They used their wealth to build beautiful buildings and palaces.
Many different people from Portuguese society were involved in overseas expeditions:
First, men who were highly educated in sea navigation looked for opportunities to lead expeditions. These expeditions could bring them wealth and fame.
Next, the king of Portugal had to decide whether or not to sponsor voyages. Expedition leaders often gained the king's support by promising to bring back lots of riches to make Portugal richer than other countries.
Once the king decided to sponsor the expedition, expedition leaders had to hire sailors. Most sailors came from poor families. The more experience they had at sea, the more money they could earn on a ship.
Each person who was involved in these expeditions had different motives, or reasons.
Gold, Glory, and God
The king of Portugal and expedition leaders saw overseas exploration as an opportunity to gain wealth and glory. But often, these expedition had other goals. The king, many expedition leaders, and even some sailors also hoped that their expeditions would allow them to spread Christianity in foreign lands.
In Portugal, most people followed a type of Christianity called Catholicism (kuh-THOL-uh-siz-um). Many Catholics believed that they had a duty to convince non-Christians to become Christians.
In preparation for long journeys, expedition leaders had to load their ships with supplies to feed their crews. The table below shows foods that sailors were able to eat on board long expeditions, and foods that they did not eat.
Eat your fruits and vegetables!
A lack of vitamin C, which is found in fruits and vegetables, caused many sailors to get scurvy.
Sailors with scurvy developed rotten teeth and open sores all over their bodies. Sometimes, over half of a ship's crew would die of scurvy before they reached their destination.
Scurvy wasn't the only risk of long-distance sea travel. Sailors faced harsh weather at sea, usually only had one set of clothes, and had to sleep on the ship's deck with no bedding!
The map below has information about some important Portuguese expeditions.
Bartolomeu Dias traveled first and sailed the shortest distance of the three explorers. Vasco da Gama's expedition was second and took the most time. Pedro Álvares Cabral traveled the farthest distance, but his expedition took a relatively short amount of time.
Even though the open ocean doesn't look like it's moving, under the surface, strong currents of water move in specific directions. Understanding these currents made a big difference for ocean travelers.
Vasco da Gama became the first expedition leader to sail around Africa and reach the Indian Ocean. The passage below describes his arrival in the Kingdom of Calicut, on the southwestern coast of present-day India, in 1498. Read the passage. Then complete the sentence below.
It was the custom for foreign visitors to present gifts to the Zamorin, or ruler, of Calicut. Vasco da Gama brought some common Portuguese trading goods to Calicut officials for them to take to the Zamorin. These goods included wool hats, brass pots, and pieces of cloth. The officials looked at the goods da Gama presented with disgust, and refused to take them to the Zamorin. They said da Gama should have brought some gold for him instead. Da Gama begged them, and they eventually allowed him to apologize to the Zamorin in person.
To people in Calicut, the goods da Gama brought as gifts were not very valuable not very valuable.
City of Spices
The Kingdom of Calicut was established in the 1100s. Located on the southwest coast of present-day India, the kingdom flourished for six centuries. The kingdom's capital city, Calicut, was one of the most important centers of the international spice trade. Some even called it the "city of spices."
The famous traveler Ibn Battuta visited Calicut in the mid-1300s. He commented on the number of different people he found there:
[Calicut] is visited by men from China, Java, Ceylon, the Maldives, Yemen and Persia, and in it gather merchants from all quarters. Its harbour is one of the largest in the world.
all quarters: the whole world
Adapted from The Travels of Ibn Battuta A.D 1325-1354, translated by H. A. R. Gibb, London 1994
In 1500, another Portuguese expedition, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, arrived in Calicut. Cabral was better prepared to trade with the Zamorin than Vasco da Gama had been. Look at the events showing what happened after Cabral arrived in Calicut.
Who were the pilgrims da Gama attacked?
The pilgrims were Muslims, or followers of a religion called Islam. A pilgrim is someone who travels to a place for religious reasons. Islam requires that all followers travel to the holy city of Mecca and perform rituals there at least once, if they can. That means that for many Muslims, this journey is the most significant religious event of their lives. The Muslim pilgrims da Gama encountered were returning home from Mecca when he captured and set fire to their ship.
In the 1400s and 1500s, the journey to Mecca from South Asia was long, expensive, and dangerous. The pilgrims on the ship had already faced many perils and were close to returning home to safety when they were attacked by da Gama. None of the passengers are known to have survived the fire.
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