FINAL PAPER SUBMISSION
HUM101: World Civilizations & Cultures
Name: Somiya Azadi Tonni
Id: 20101187
Sec: 08
Submitted to: Chathuri Weerasinghe
Using concrete examples, critically evaluate how and why certain major events of
post-classical and initial years of early modern Europe, and the cultural, political
and religious changes they caused paved the way for European explorations in
the early 15th century.
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, was a time from roughly the 15th to the
17th century when explorers from various European nations explored, colonised, and dominated
regions worldwide. An extraordinary era of discovery at the beginning of the 15th century changed
the geographic and cultural boundaries of the globe. European journeys to foreign regions offered up
new perspectives, marking an important event in history. This essay critically examines the ways in
which significant occurrences in Europe's post-classical and early modern eras, along with
corresponding social, political, and religious changes, led the way for the key discoveries of the early
15th century.
To begin with, The Crusades, a series of military wars aimed primarily at regaining the Holy Land
from Islamic control, had a profound impact on European exploration by fostering interactions
between cultures and expanding knowledge, particularly in geography and trade. European Christians
initiated the Crusades, a campaign of violence against Muslims to conquer the Holy Lands, a region
under Islamic control that stretched from modern-day Turkey in the north along the Mediterranean
coast to the Sinai Peninsula, partly in response to continuous Muslim control in Europe. Moreover,
The Crusades provided the theological doctrine for the Reconquista, which in turn encouraged
Atlantic colonisation. The 800 years of bloodshed and the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian
Peninsula following the unsuccessful Crusades are known as the Reconquista or Reconquest.
Religious intolerance was solidified by the Crusades and the Reconquista, and the Christians saw
colonisation as a way to carry on their religious conquests. The completion of the Reconquista in 1492
with the conquest of Granada marked a turning point. Spain, now united under Catholic rule, sought
new avenues for expansion. Religious enthusiasm drove the rulers to convert Native Americans and
sanctify Christian global dominion, especially in the heavily Catholic states of Spain and Portugal.
However, Throughout the Crusades, Europeans obtained knowledge of the Middle Eastern lands and
geography, as well as a taste for the things produced in those lands; this appetite drove trade. Trade
increased as a result of the Crusades as Europeans traveled and gained more exposure to exotic
commodities such as spices (especially pepper and cinnamon), sugar, dates, pistachio nuts,
watermelons, and lemons. Cotton cloth, Persian carpets. The growth of towns and cities in Western
Europe, beginning in Italy, was partly caused by increased trade. Despite the battles that took place
during the lengthy Crusades, Italian trading centers such as Amalfi, Genoa, Venice, and Florence
improved their trade connections with the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean coast), where they
aligned with crusader states to acquire access to ports like Latakia, Tripoli, Acre, Alexandria, and
Damietta. Trading routes on the Atlantic and the North Sea combined with Mediterranean routes as
demand and output in northern Europe developed, bringing trade products into Europe by river trade
and over the Alps.
Among the religious conflicts, European exploration was significantly impacted by the Ottoman
Turks' conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It influenced the development of Islam in North Africa
and modern-day Turkey and altered the character of pre-existing trade and political ties. The city of
Genoa, which deliberately submitted to the Spanish Monarchy at the beginning of the 16th century in
order to maintain its economic stability, fell as a direct result of Constantinople's collapse. The
Genoese were denied access to the silk routes of Genoa after Constantinople collapsed in 1453, and
the city's economy and political climate gradually deteriorated. The Ottomans gained control over key
trade routes, making it more difficult for European powers to access goods from Asia. As a result,
This disruption encouraged European powers to seek alternative maritime routes to access lucrative
markets that bypassed Ottoman-controlled territories. Additionally, The desire for a shorter sea route
to China than the one the Portuguese opened up via Africa was sparked by the potential rewards from
more direct trading, which caused European attention to move from the lands of the east to the seas of
the west. The destination (Cathay) remained the same; the west was attractive because it provided a
passage to the east. John Cabot and Christopher Columbus traveled west across the sea in pursuit of a
route to the Orient, eventually ending up finding the exploration of new sea routes such as the wellknown rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, and the establishment of a direct sea link with India and
China. Moreover, The fall of Constantinople heightened concerns about the expansion of the Ottoman
Empire and its potential threat to Europe. The Ottoman Empire posed a serious danger to Western
(Christian) civilization as it expanded its influence westward through North Africa and particularly
northward through the Balkans, all the way to Vienna, Austria. As a result, European powers sought
to counter the Ottomans by forming alliances and expanding their influence. This drive for strategic
alliances encouraged exploration, as European nations sought to establish new trade partnerships, find
allies in distant regions, and potentially counterbalance Ottoman power. For instance, The Habsburg
dynasty, centered in Austria and Spain, emerged as a significant rival to the Ottoman Empire. The
Habsburgs were deeply concerned about the Ottoman presence in Eastern Europe and the
Mediterranean. The fall of Constantinople further intensified this rivalry, leading to conflict in regions
such as Hungary, where the two powers competed for influence. The Habsburgs sought alliances to
counter the Ottoman threat and maintain their dominance in European politics. Ottoman military
pressure in Hungary compelled the Viennese government to form a permanent border defense force
along the Habsburg-Ottoman border in Hungary and Croatia, which could be regarded as the
monarchy's first-ever permanent army. The Ottoman challenge influenced the development of the
Habsburg Monarchy's military, financial, and state institutions because the Habsburg government
funded, provided, and oversaw the anti-Ottoman border defense in Hungary and Croatia in
collaboration with the Hungarian, Croatian, Bohemian, and Austrian estates.
It also contributed to the exploration of new lands and maritime routes, reshaping the world's map and
sparking the competition among the Europeans during the Age of Exploration in the early 15th
century.
Furthermore, European competition among themselves to dominate globally sought to compete
against each other in terms of maritime exploration, trade, colonization, and influence, leading to a
series of ambitious voyages that ultimately reshaped the world's map and interconnectedness. Both the
Portuguese and the Spanish were driven by rivalry to colonise the New World rapidly and violently.
In the 1400s, Prince Henry the Navigator led Portugal's exploration of Africa and the Atlantic.
Portuguese seafarers built a trading presence in West Africa by successfully navigating an eastward
route there. The Portuguese were also made aware of the widespread slave trade in Africa through
their merchants' excursions to western Africa. The arrival of the Portuguese in the 1400s marked the
beginning of a period of aggressive European expansion across the Atlantic. The Portuguese
expansion in the Atlantic and monopoly over enslaved Africans worried the Spanish, who began their
own colonisation effort with Christopher Columbus in 1492. As the rivalry between the two countries
grew, more and more Europeans were drawn to the New World. As a result, To avoid conflict
between Portugal and Spain over newly discovered lands, “The Treaty of Tordesillas” was signed.
The treaty divided the unexplored world into two spheres of influence, with lands to the west falling
under Spain's control and those to the east under Portugal's. This competition-driven agreement led
both nations to intensify their exploratory efforts to claim territories within their respective spheres.
This competition among European powers further fueled the Age of Discovery, for access to new
territories, resources, and trade routes. However, Exploration's competitive nature spurred
breakthroughs in shipbuilding, cartography, and navigation. Competition among European nations
encouraged the development of more sophisticated navigation instruments. Explorers needed accurate
tools to determine their position at sea. Innovations like the astrolabe, quadrant, and cross-staff
allowed navigators to measure the angle between celestial objects, enabling them to calculate latitude
and longitude more precisely. To discover new ways to reach Asia and explore undiscovered
territories, explorers like John Cabot (England), Giovanni da Verrazzano (France), and Ferdinand
Magellan (Spain) set out on expeditions. These explorers were motivated to invent and create more
precise navigational methods by the desire to compete and claim areas for their various authorities.
During the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, caravels and carracks frequently sailed together on
transatlantic journeys. The Portuguese transformed the Atlantic fishing boat known as the caravel into
a craft that could go along the African coast in search of new territory. Navigation became far more
accurate due to advancements in mapping, the compass, and the use of quadrants (which measure the
angle of the sun at noon to estimate latitude). A defense system that might be installed aboard ships
was the broadside gun. Therefore, Technical advancements and competition among European nations
were mutually reinforcing drivers of exploration and expansion during the Age of Discovery. The
quest for supremacy in global trade, colonial dominance, and territorial control spurred nations to
invest in innovative technologies, navigation tools, and cartographic techniques.
In conclusion, The European discoveries of the early 15th century were the result of a complex
interaction of historical, cultural, political, and religious influences. The extraordinary age of
discovery was made possible by the fusion of post-classical influences such as the Crusades and trade
networks, early modern transformation through the Crusades, Renaissance, and technological
improvements. These events and shifts ignited a curiosity-driven quest that not only transformed maps
but also transformed the course of human history, marking the beginning of a new age of
interconnectedness and global exploration.
References:
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magnifijicent. The Battle for Central Europe, 287–307.
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004396234_015
3. Cartwright, M. (2021, August 11). Treaty of Tordesillas. World History Encyclopedia.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Treaty_of_Tordesillas/
4. Cross-Cultural Trade and cultural exchange during the crusades. The Sultan and The Saint.
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