European History 15th-16th Centuries

Questions and Answers

Spanish, Portuguese, and Basque fishers

1497

Cheap source of protein, can be salted and preserved, Catholic doctrine

Catholic doctrine required its consumption on Fridays and many Holy Days Signup and view all the answers

Until around 1992, when stocks collapsed Signup and view all the answers

Light blue for shallowest, dark blue for deepest Signup and view all the answers

An atlas of human activities Signup and view all the answers

There was likely a significant French population living in the area Signup and view all the answers

Spanish, Portuguese, Basque Signup and view all the answers

Names of surrounding islands and cities Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Europe recovered from the Black Death and Hundred Years' War, leading to the rise of cities, merchants, and trade.
Feudalism was replaced by these new economic systems.
The Spanish Inquisition began in 1492, leading to the expulsion of Jews, Muslims, and other "unbelievers" from Iberia.
The Protestant Reformation began in 1517, splitting Europe into Protestant and Catholic camps, and resulting in millions of deaths in religious wars.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 led to the discovery of new ocean routes to Asia.
New technologies, such as improved cartography, the astrolabe, magnetic compass, and better ships, made long-distance sailing easier.
Iberians (Spanish, Portuguese, and Basques) took the lead in exploration.

Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean in 1492, beginning a reign of genocide.
The conquest of the New World led to mass killings of Indigenous Americans, with up to 90% of the population dying from war, disease, and mistreatment.
The African slave trade began, and ecocide occurred as introduced plants and animals devastated native ones.

The wealth generated from the conquest of the New World and the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and Africans led to the rise of the West.
This wealth facilitated the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment, and the industrial revolution, which in turn led to humanism.

Beaver pelts were highly valued in Europe for making hats.
European and Russian beaver populations were declining, while Indigenous peoples had been hunting beaver for centuries.
Europeans, especially the French, traded with Indigenous peoples for pelts, relying on centuries-old Indigenous trading networks.

Jacques Cartier set up a French settlement in 1541, but it failed due to Indigenous hostility and lack of economic foundation.
Samuel de Champlain established a fort at Quebec in 1608, and other forts were set up along rivers.
The French established small bourgeois and aristocratic settlements, primarily focused on the fur trade and missionary activities.

The first Europeans in what is now Canada were Spanish, Portuguese, and Basque fishers and whalers.
They started fishing cod off Newfoundland's Grand Banks in 1497, and fish became a major reason for European returns to Canada.
Cod was a cheap source of protein, could be salted and preserved, and was required by Catholic doctrine for consumption on Fridays and many Holy Days.