Means to Explore

Borrowers Renaissance Europeans borrowed ideas and knowledge from other times and places They were part of a vast trading network from Asia into Africa Exchange of ideas and knowledge Openness and curiosity about the rest of the world came out of this and were part of their worldview Their knowledge of the outside world was very limited, however Other places were thought to be exotic and mysterious Travel books were extremely popular They were often full of misinformation

Maps of the World Ptolemy was not just an astronomer, he was also a geographer His manuscript Geographia was re- discovered during the Renaissance It reflected the knowledge of the world around the year 150 It was published in the Renaissance with maps made by cartographers Italian monk Fra Mauro produced a map for King Alfonso V of Portugal in 1459 He combined Ptolemy's ideas and those of explorers, and from Arab and Chinese sources

Prince Henry the Navigator Prince Henry of Portugal came to be known as Prince Henry the Navigator He had a great interest in ships and navigation Prince Henry became a patron of Portuguese explorers He sponsored many voyages along the coast of Africa He established a centre at Sagres where those involved in navigation could meet and share ideas Cartographers, mathematicians, astronomers, sailors and navigators They improved navigational instruments and created maps They created tables to help determine latitude

Navigation Navigation is the science of determining the course, position and distance travelled by a ship It comes from the Latin words navis “ship” and agere “drive”

Assignment /14 Read page 117 in your textbook and answer the following questions 1) What are the names of the four navigational instruments? /4 2) What are their uses? /4 3) What is the origin of their creation? /4 4) Which of the instruments do you think was the most important? Why? /2