European Explorations 1400-1600 - intro 2nd YR
Europe in 1400s Europeans didn’t know about America, Australia, most of Africa Huge Trade between Europe and the East (Spice Islands, India and China) People travelled by land, not by sea Europeans (Christians) travelled across Muslim lands to get the spices
Why people were afraid to travel at sea Afraid of sea monsters Thought the world was flat – would fall off edge Afraid of going down towards the equator – water would boil No navigation instruments to tell them where they were in the ocean so they were afraid to lose sight of land
Why did the age of exploration begin? Muslims charged high taxes to Christians travelling through Muslims and Christians often at war – dangerous to travel across their land Kings wanted to find gold and jewels to be richer Wanted to conquer other lands and build on empire
Why the age of exploration began (2) Legend of Prester John – Christian King They wanted to spread Christianity Influence of the renaissance ideas – to discover more about the world To control the spice trade
Spices Most important reason for starting Age of Exploration Spices were vital to Europe for many reasons Pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg Used for preserving food (no fridges to keep it fresh) To make food taste nicer Used in medicines – nutmeg, cloves Pepper from India Nutmeg from Spice Islands Cinnamon from China
What made sea exploration possible? Better ships New navigation instruments Navigation means finding your way at sea
Better ships Called ‘caravels’ Had square sails (for speed) Had triangular lateen sails (for turning or sailing against the wind) Clinker built (stronger bottoms for storms) Larger rudders – for steering Held more cargo and crew
New instruments (1) Compass (for direction) A log and line (measured the speed - knots) Swinging the lead (to find out how deep the water was) Astrolabe, or a quadrant (used to calculate latitude)
New instruments (2) Latitude – how far you are from the equator (centre of the world) Astrolabe – used stars to measure Quadrant – used the sun Portolan charts – small coastal maps