Geographical Discoveries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries PDF

## Geographical Discoveries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries The capture of Constantinople was a great turning point in the history of Europe. It set Europe to find a new route to reach the East - preferably a sea route. It shifted the focus from the Middle East to the Atlantic Ocean, whic...

## Geographical Discoveries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries The capture of Constantinople was a great turning point in the history of Europe. It set Europe to find a new route to reach the East - preferably a sea route. It shifted the focus from the Middle East to the Atlantic Ocean, which offered some hope. But no sailor had ever ventured to go far into the Atlantic Sea because it was believed that the earth was flat and probably it ended somewhere in the Atlantic. However, there was one possibility to reach the East Indies, and that was through circumnavigating the African Continent. Europeans of the fifteenth century knew only of the Christian civilization of the European continent, the Muslim civilization of the Middle or Near East, the Chinese civilization of the Far East and Indian civilization beyond the mountains and deserts. Each major cultural area flourished in seclusion from others. However, the crusades brought the Christian west into contact with the Muslim Middle East, which was in turn in contact with the Indian. Only traders were travelling freely from one part to the other, and even that was cut off for the Christians as Constantinople was taken by the Ottoman Turks. Thus the flow of oriental goods from the Venetian or Genoese cities into the heart of Europe shrunk to negligible proportion. Without spices European food lacked the required taste and flavour. Without silk, gold, silver and precious stones European social life became dull. Certain drugs, cotton and goods of the orient stopped reaching the European capitals and left the people in despair. Europe, being the smallest of the five continents, depended more on the rest of the world than vice-versa. Again, the Europeans were unhappy, particularly when the supplies remained uncertain due to Turkish conquests. As the supply of oriental goods and articles always remained uncertain and unsatisfactory, a pressure was built up on the rulers of ### Voyages of Discovery - A map of the world showing the voyages of discovery. It shows the voyages of: - Cabot - Cartier - Hudson - Portugal - Columbus - Vespucci - Cabral - Da Gama - The map is labelled with the following oceans: - Pacific Ocean - Atlantic Ocean - Indian Ocean ### History of Europe West-European countries and Portugal were urged by people to do something concrete. - The simple economic motives were: - To carry the gospel outside Europe. - To convert the Asians into Christians. - The demands of trade and the demands of religion caused a revolutionary expansion of Europe in the sixteenth century. Necessity is the mother of invention. So the situation demanded that Europeans pool their resources and geographical knowledge to overcome the crisis created by the Turks by undertaking voyages to find a new sea route. Already Europe had acquired considerable geographical knowledge during the Middle Ages. - Marco Polo (1254-1324), the famous Italian merchant, had left behind him records of his travels and stay (for nearly seventeen years) in Cathay (China), and his return journey was by sea. - A Florentine merchant wrote *A Merchants Handbook*, which indicated all the known trade routes between the East and West. - A Venetian described some of the Asiatic cities he visited in his *Secrets of the Faithful Crusader*. - There were other travellers and merchants who knew much about Asiatic countries or countries of the Far East. - Some of the sailors were familiar in taking the aid of the mariner's compass and astrolabe. Geographical discoveries of the fifteenth-century Europe owe much to the sincere efforts of Prince Henry, the Navigator (1394-1460), a member of the Portuguese royal family. Although he was not a navigator by profession, he was nevertheless a pioneer in the field of geographical explorations. As a devout Catholic he also dreamed of spreading Christianity to the rest of the world if his plans succeeded. He opened a school for navigators and encouraged extensive geographical explorations. The school attracted all kinds of scholars, navigators, scientists, map makers and mathematicians from Europe and the East. It was in this school that all the existing knowledge was pooled, and the sailors taught about the use of mariner's compass and astrolabe. The ship-builders were asked to bring out new designs for ships meant for long-distance sailing. They were called *caravels*. In 141 some of his sailors undertook daring voyages, some ci ⚫ht h11ndr d mil. awa into th Atlantic from the coast Of Po,111al. His. Ailor. si ht d Azors And Mad ira and the new expedition re. ultcrl in the sttl.ment on the island. For th next few year. his snilors. Riled hundr--ds of mils a Ion the western coast of the trican (ontin nt. Onc th y sail d to th ap called Bojador, hut were afraid to gn hond it for fear of the 'boiling water'. But the fear w ov rcom when Henry explained the cause and Bojador was conquered. The sailors of Prince Henry's school established a number of trading posts on the west coast of Africa, and ivory, lumber and other goods produced in Africa reached Portugal. The slave trade which the Arabs were carrying on caught on with the Portuguese too. Thus Portugal prospered by trading in ivory, timber and slaves from Africa. Although Prince Henry died without discovering a sea route to the East Indies, he nevertheless set Portugal on a course for further geographical explorations. The second half of the fifteenth century witnessed remarkable progress in the geographical discoveries. - Lopo Gon alves (15th century) crossed the equator. - Bartholomew Diaz (1450-1500) reached the southernmost tip (curved tip) of Africa and named it the Cape of Storms. His report to King John II of Portugal caused great excitement and the latter renamed the discovery as the "Cape of Good Hope" because it gave hope to all to reach the East. - Little or no notice was taken of Columbus, a sailor from Genoa, who was approaching the king for financial support for his proposed expedition to sail westwards across the Atlantic to reach India or Cathay. - In 1497, Vasco da Gama (1460-1524), another Portuguese explorer, took three months to reach the tip of the African continent, where he battled with fierce winds for four days. After that he sailed along the east coastline and finally reached the port towns of Mombasa and Malindi. He took the help of a friendly Arab navigator and sailed across the Indian Ocean. He ultimately reached Kerala's coastal town of Calicut on May 20, 1498. He witnessed the booming trade between the Arabs and the peoples of India and South-east Asia. Calicut was, in those day, one of the five great port-towns of the world. Silks, precious gems, pearls, brocades along with baskets of pepper, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and other items wer dazzlingly displayed in the shops of Calicut to the utter disbelief and wonder of Vasco Da Gama and his sailors. His discovery of the new sea-route to India was undoubtedly the greatest. The Indians laughed at him when he tried to s.II som" .h ap10th ttnd lin ar • for he required money to bu pis (whi.h w"r.vry hap), wh1 h was a luxury itelll in Europ an mark"t. H r turn d with fifly sailors (out of 180 whenh set ut) after completing a journey of 24,000 miles which took nearly two at 14 7-99). Η was appoint d ount by the Portuguese kingfri hi grata hi ment. All rout and places discovered were claimed b 1 nging to th Portugue e king. Numerous expeditions were undertaken to have contact with India and other Spice islands. - In 1510, the Portuguese were able to capture Goa on the west coast of India which turned into a Portuguese colony, along with Diu and Daman. - They reached Canton (China) in 1517 and colonised Macao. - They set up a trading outpost in. Japan and St. Francis Xa ier preached Christianity there. In 1500, a Portuguese commander named Pedro Alvares Cabral (1467/68-1520) was sailing down along the west coast of Africa. A raging storm blew his ship off the course and at last he reached the eastern coast (Monte Pascoal) of South America. Thus Brazil was claimed in the name of the Portuguese king. ### Spanish Discoveries After finding no satisfactory response in Portuguese court to his plan designed to reach India by sailing west across the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) left Portugal for the Spanish court. He was very well received by the royal couple, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who showed some interest. However, they were busy with other things. King Ferdinand was working towards throwing out the Muslims from Granada, and the queen was involved in Church matters. Captain Columbus was greatly disappointed as he did not hear anything about their financial support. It was at the last minute, that he was summoned by the queen who agreed to help him. On August 3, 1492, he set sail taking with him three caravels named Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta, with 88 crew members and a year's provision on board. Columbu carrieda letter of greeting from King Ferdinand to the Great Khan of Cathay(China). He did not sight land despite two months of monotonous sea-voyage. His crew member became sick, restless, impatient and mutinous. Finally birds and land were sighted. After landing on the island and thanking God, he named it San Salvador (now known as the Watling Island in the Bahamas). He still believed that he must have reached the coast of Cathay (China) or India. H visit d the other islands (Cuba and Haiti) n arb and met strange p ople, whom he called Jndians. He did not see silk or spices. H returned to Palos in Spain on March J 5, 1493. He was received by the Spanish royal couple at Barcelona. He presented trinkets of gold, bright coloured birds, strange looking f ndians and fruits to the royal couple. He was honoured by them and appointed Governor-General of the islands of Asia and India. Columbus undertook three more voyages to the same region, and discovered Santo Domingo, Trinidad, and Martinique. On his last voyage he saw lands which are now known as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. He returned home with pineapples, sweet potatoes, and tobacco but not spices and silk. He died in 1506, and little did he realise that he had discovered a new continent. ### Colonial Rivalry and Dispute In 1480, Portugal sought the intervention of the Pope regarding her colonial claims and monopoly. The Pope as the arbiter of the Christendom gave his imprimatur to Portugal to have her colony, monopoly of trade and political domination extending from the western coast of Africa to the East Indies. In 1493, another Pope had to intervene in the dispute between Portugal and Spain, subsequent to the first voyage of Columbus. He drew a line on the map from the North Pole to the south, Portugal extending monopoly over lands situated in the east and Spain on the west. This was further amended in 1494 at the behest of Portugal, and this time Portugal gained to the extent of having Brazil (in South America) in its sphere of influence. But these interventions and interpretations came to nothing in the course of time when other_powers entered the fray. ### Further Spanish Explorations An Italian adventurer, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), who was in Spain as an agent of the banking house of Medici, evinced keen interest in the findings of Columbus. He made four voyages during the last decade of the fifteenth century to the region visited by Columbus. He declared his conviction of having seen the "New World" in a letter which got wide publicity. What Columbus discovered was not Asia or India but Mundus Novus (The New World). In 1507, when a German cartographer was drawing the map of the world, he named the New World as America in honour of Amerigo (in Latin it is Americus) Vespucci. Pon e de Lcrmns nnl',lf the Spnninrd. who was on hoard the ship when otumbu. ldl Spllin on his sond vnya_g f. h ame the govermor of thr fir t c<,lon pnin set up, 111111 ly, If 1spanmla. fie eard from the nativt'S tlrnt in the i. land of Bimini, there wasa fountain of v uth. Thi.. et Ponce de con on further explorations resulting in the dis Overv of lorida (in Spanish Pascua Florida, meaning "Feast of Flo\\n-:.) in 1513. He was the first Spaniard to set his foot on the soil of orth America since the Vikings. In the same year, another Spanish adventurer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa 14 5-1519), heard from the natives of Central America of another sea-a ast western sea with a city of gold. He crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered what is now called the Pacific Ocean. ### Ferdinand Magellan's Voyage Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) was a Portuguese nobleman who approached the Spanish King Charles to sponsor his voyage around the world. He said such a voyage would lead him to the riches of the East Indies and also increase the prestige of the monarch. The king agreed, and Magellan left Seville with five ships and 267 sailors in September 1519. He reached the coast of South America, and from there sailed steep south to the tip of South America where he found an island which he named Tierra del Fuego (The Land of Fire). Taking a turn he moved westwards. He found the sea calm and therefore called it El Mare Pacifico (The Calm Sea). He took ninety-eight days to reach the island of Guam from Tierra del Fuego and another week to reach the Philippines. Magellan went ashore with his sailors to talk to the natives. But they attacked and killed him and his sailors. One of his vessels named Victoria carrying the survivors crossed the Indian Ocean, then round the southern coast of Africa and finally reached Seville in 1522. This circumnavigation of the world was indeed the most marvellous achievement in naval history. Although Spain forgot to give credit to Magellan, historians and cartographers called the straits at the southern tip of South America as the straits of Magellan. ### The Spanish Conquistadors The discovery of a sea route to the west and the stories about the great and hidden treasures in the new continent attracted many Spanish treasure-hunters. A few built the empire for Spain and therefore got the name "Conquistadors". The foremost among them was Hernando Cortez (1485-1547). The Governor of Hispaniola sent Cortez in 15 J 9 with five ships, eleven canons and fi fl n horses, a fore of five hundred oldiers on a navalp dition to explore the coast of 'entral America. He landed on the coast of Mexico, where the natives called Aztec re isted hi further march on land. But on seeing the riders on horses and canons they fled. One trib after another surrendered. This news reached the Aztec emperor. Montezuma, who tried to stop their march by offering gold and other gifts. Cortez was convinced that the Aztec Empire must have great hidden treasures. The Spaniards marched further with the assurance of support from several tribal leaders to confront the Aztec Emperor. They invited the Emperor to meet them near his capital. On his arrival he was taken prisoner. Emperor Montezuma offered them 600,000 marks of pure gold and large quantities of precious stones as ransom money. In the battles that followed his loyal supporters were killed. The Aztecs rose in revolt against the Spaniards and the latter allowed Montezuma to pacify them. The Aztec mob became furious, killed Montezuma, and drove out the Spaniards. But Spaniards ultimately conquered the Aztec Empire of Mexico. Cortez's achievement in Mexico was surpassed by another cunning and ruthless Spanish adventurer named Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541). He was one of the Spaniards who followed Balboa across the Isthmus of Panama to discover the "Great Southern Sea" (the Pacific Ocean). During his march he heard the tales of the fabled riches of the country of Incas from the natives. In 1532 he got permission from the Spanish Emperor, Charles V, to set out on an expedition to South America, obviously to the land of Incas that is Peru. He took aboard his three ships 180 men and 27 horses at Panama and reached the coast of Peru. He told the Incas that he had come to their country on a friendly visit and conveyed his greetings to their emperor. They showed him the way to reach the capital. After crossing the Andes Mountains, he was confronted by the Emperor with his army. With valour and cunning Pizarro was able to imprison the Inca Emperor and obtain a huge ransom from the helpless people. He captured their city Cuzco and founded another capital, Lima, in I 535. The Spanish conquistador and his followers enriched themselves by taking all their gold, silver and other pre ious stones. The Inca Empire belonged to Spain and the natives who revolted were mercilessly killed by the Spaniards. The conquest of Peru in South America paved the way for the building up of the Spanish Empire by others. Pedro de Mendoza conquered the present states of Argentina and Paraguay and 1º oud" tile eiti s of Buenos Aires And Asuncion in 1535 and 1536respe tivel. In 1535 Ecuador was conquered and the famous porttownofGua aquil was founded. In I I the Chilean coastwas taken and theharbour town of Santiago de (htlc was founded. In 1538 the country of olombia wa. discovered and the city of Bogotawas founded. The paniard settled in these countries, introduced their language and religion. and exploited these countries and natives for the benefit of their homeland. In 1539 and 1540 De Soto, and Coronado explored many parts of the United States, such as the Alabama, Mississippi, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas region. The former was in search of treasure, the latter. of the much heard of El Dorado (the City of Gold). ### The Discoveries of English Explorers In the late fifteenth century there were many explorers who were trying to discover a new sea route to the East Indies, and among them was an Italian Captain Giovanni Caboto (1450-1499) hailing from Genoa. His anglicized name was John Cabot. He was employed by the Tudor King of England, Henry VII, to discover a north-west passage to the East. He set out from Bristol in 1497, crossed the Atlantic and reached Cape Breton Island. He reported to the king that he had reached the land of the "Great Khan." His discovery led to the English claim over much of what is now called North America. During the last quarter of the sixteenth century, the English explorers like Sir Francis Drake, Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh explored the eastern coast of North America and laid claims to the territories situated from the bank of St. Lawrence to the southern coast of Florida. Sir Francis Drake (1540-96) became the first English sailor to circumnavigate the globe in his ship Golden Hind in 1580. Sir Walter Raleigh became famous as the court favourite of Queen Elizabeth J, explorer, historian and writer. Patriotic Englishmen admired his daring exploits in which he plundered the Spanish colonies and became rich. He introduced potato plant and tobacco to Europe which he brought from the New World. He brought the English settlers to Ireland and also founded the CC:lony of Virginia in the USA and another in Newfoundland. Captain Cook s three voyages (1768-79) resulted in the discovery of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia. ### French Explorers King Francis I encouraged oceanic explorations. He sponsored the exploratory expedition of John Verrazano, an Italian captain, in I 524, who discov red th oa ts ofNova Scotiaand New England. In 1534 the ame Frnh King sponcor d the expedition of Frenchman Jacques Cartier (1491-1. 7) to dis over a north-west passage to the East across the tianti. artier failed tofind any but explored theSt LawrenceRiverregion up t Montreal. In 1608, another French explorer, Samuel de hamplain (15 4-1635). discovered Quebec ity. In the course of time Prance !aimed the whole region situated between St. Lawrence River and mouth of the Mississippi. It was named Louisiana in honour of King Louis XIV. The Dutch (who were controlled by Spain) soon overtook the Portuguese in establishing trade relations with Asian countries. They monopolised the bulk of eastern trade and became rich. ### Effects of Geographical Discoveries The geographical discoveries enabled Europe to take giant strides in civilising itself. Medievalism ended and it became modern in the real sense of the term. Europe stole a march over the other continents in colonisation, trade and commerce, scientific progress and cultural domination. A major part of the world belonged to Europe until the middle 61' the twentieth century. The old notions that the world was fiat and confined only to the landmasses of Asia, Africa and Europe were rejected. It was realised that continents were separated by oceans, and the world was not small after all. The thinking of Europeans began to change with the ending of continental isolations. ### Political Change It may be remembered that were it not for the popular Kings of Europe there would not have been any discoveries. The monarchs of Europe who sponsored oceanic explorations stood to gain much by discoveries. The wealth of their countries increased by increased import of raw materials from the newly found lands. It enabled them to convert their states into nation-states with people's cooperation. The ruled and the rulers of these countries began to take pride in their achievements. There was a conspicuous decline in feudalism consequent to the rising popularity of enlightened monarchs. The direct effect of the geographical discoveries was colonisation. Portugal and Spain followed by other European ountries enhanced their national glory by building overseas empires. Although a small country, Portugal built an overseas empire in South America (Brazi.l west coat of India ( a. frica. nd hma (Maao), and carried n bri, k trade. Beginning with Hispaniola. pain colonic included leir. Florida., me southern part of and hile. Peru, E uad r. Argentina. Paraguay (all in outh merica). Philippines. and the present Central American Republics. The Dutch set up their colonies in the East Indies. The French colonised Canada and Britain. the thirteen colonies in orth America. The demarcation line drawn by the Popes to diYide the world no longer remained alid. ### Trade and Commerce Geographical explorations and colonization helped each imperial country of Europe to trade with the natives. The Portuguese and the Dutch gained immensely by buying spices and other oriental commodities and selling them to the Europeans. Spain benefited by plundering the empires of the Aztecs (Mexico) and Incas (Peru). The ill-gotten treasures were carried in the galleons from the new continent to the Spanish coast. Local natives were employed to work in gold and silver mines under the supervision of Spanish soldiers. No doubt therefore Spain became the richest country in Europe. Mercantilist capitalism developed by unequal trade whether the natives liked it or not. Portugal and Spain collected taxes and tribute and imposed restrictions on trade by the natives. Another significant development was that Italians lost their commercial supremacy and banking business they enjoyed since the European merchants no longer flocked to the Italian trading ports of Venice and Genoa to bring oriental goods. Now they went to Lisbon or Seville. The monopoly of banking business shifted from the Italians to the Germans and Dutch who now supplied necessary capital to their merchants to carry on their trade. When Charles V became the ruler of Spain, his ties with Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire made him the single most powerful monarch on the continent. With the development of mercantilist capitalism in Europe, the guild system was making its exit. ### Social Change It is easy to perceive structural and institutional changes in th E ropea society. due to the long-term effects of geographical discovenes spanning over two centuries (fifteenth and sixteenth cenu es). One of the most significant developments was the birth of the middle class (the bourgeoisie). They lived in cities and thrived on trade. husiness. banking. manufo 'h1r--s. and oth"r ainful upations. Some of them nmass:.od fortun (Fugg •rs famil of Augsburgh inga typical exmnpland 1 RtronLd arts Rnd lit rntur . In the rountryside. th manorial sst mand mdivI gri ultur landlordi m. The noble or bar n left d a) ffi na unt of absent th ir manors,r ca tles and li din citi s to tak up commer ial enterpri e Th mpelled the p asants to pay ash instead of kind and appointed gentstokk after their estat s. Peasants found it difficult to meet the e bligation, \\ hi h1 d to the decline in their social status from tenants t that of agricultural labourers. A big gap could be perceived between the ne\\ middle class (the bourgeoisie) and the poor, and between the simple rural economy and urban conglomerations. Antwerp, a city in the Netherlands, became the biggest banking centre with a stock exchange. Mercantilist capitalism began to thrive with national governments taking mu h interest in regulating monetary economy. The Catholic Church did not enjoy as much popularity as the kings of Europe in the course of time. The rulers too wanted that church interference in the affairs of the state should cease, and in this they got full support from the new middle class. Portugal and Spain found slavery a useful tool to exploit the colonies. When the natives of South America refused to work as per the wishes of their colonial masters, both Portugal and Spain brought slaves from western coast of Africa (Guinea) to get their work done. They did nt feel guilty about this abominable practice because the Moors were als canying on the same practice. Slave trade spread from the Moorst the imperial masters of Europe. Slave trafficking took place on a larg al. Again the native Indians of the West Indies, Mexico, Peru and Brazil' ere treated cruelly by their masters. The Christian missionaries prot st d and sent petitions to the kings for preventing the cruel treatm nt. When th national monarch put restraints on slave owners, the latter br ught peopl of African origin to replace them. The lot of the la s rem inedm miserable. The Slaves provided cheap labour to European mat wh were out to exploit the new colonie . ### Spread of Christianity Colonisation of the new f und land in th nw ntin nt ' nt hand in hand with the spread of hri tianity.."""""" ... started sending their missionaries to convert the natives of then w ontinent into Christians. The missionaries protested at the cruelties perpetrated on the native Indians by the European masters. Bartolome de la Casas a prominent bishop and a friend of the native Indians, told the king of Spain that people of African origin are more suitable for long hours of hard work in the new continent than the native Indians. His suggestion carried weight. The missionaries set up a small church in each village or town and propagated the Christian faith among the natives. Their humanitarian work and service to the cause of education among natives yielded rich dividends. The spread of European culture began when the Spanish or Portuguese governors encouraged their brethren to marry girls of the natives and settle down. There is intermingling of races particularly in Central and South America. Higher education facilities were_pro ided by _Spain to the natives when they set up universities in Mexico city (Mexico) and Lima (Peru) in 1551. ### Suggested Readings 1. Baker, J.N.L., *A History of GeB h. I grap,ca Discoveries and Explorations (1963).* 2. Albion, R.G., *Explorations and Di¹ i?-fi,1,.* 3. Penrose Boies, *Travel ad D. n sc overy. iscovery in the Renaissan e, 1420-1620 (1962).* 4. Harig, 'larenc H., *The SpanishE mp,re m Ameri a (1963).*