Unit 4 EK Notes
The Age of Exploration
Exploration
Factors contributing to the European discovery of
lands in the Western Hemisphere
•Demand for gold, spices, and natural resources in Europe
•Support for the diffusion of Christianity
•Political and economic competition between European
empires
•Innovations in navigational arts (European and Islamic
origins)-compass, astrolabe, lateen sail, caravel
Portugal
Portuguese Take the lead in Exploration
•Pioneering role of Prince Henry the Navigator-created a navigational school on the
coast of Portugal
•Bartolomeu Dias-first recorded European trip around the southern tip of Africa
•Vasco da Gama- opened direct sea route from Portugal to India
Spanish Explorers
Establishment of overseas empires and decimation (destruction) of
indigenous (native) populations
•Christopher Columbus- tried to find Asia by sailing west, landed in the
islands of the Caribbean; his voyage initiated contact between the
Eastern and Western hemispheres
Spanish Explorers
•Ferdinand Magellan- led the voyage which was the first
to successfully circumnavigate the globe; he died in the
Philippines after becoming involved in a tribal conflict.
His crew finished the journey back to Spain.
Spanish Explorers
•Hernando Cortez- conquistador who conquered the Aztecs
Spanish Explorers
•Francisco Pizarro-conquistador who conquered
the Incas
English Explorer
•Sir Francis Drake-circumnavigated the globe
destroying Spanish ships and holdings
French Explorer
•Jacques Cartier- explored and claimed the
area around Montreal for the French