The Crusades: Middle Ages most Europeans lived in local villages and towns. During the 150 years of the Crusades Europeans began traveling to the Middle East, discovering the continent of Asia.

The Silk Road: Having discovered products brought from China along the silk road European merchants wanted direct trade with China. In 1271 Marco Polo traveled to China and returned to tell about it.

The Renaissance: The Renaissance provoked curiosity amongst Europeans. With the re-discovery of books, maps, math, and geography new technology to aid in exploration was invented.

Some went believing that they must bring their religious beliefs to the peoples of the Americas, and that God would reward them for doing it. Religion was very important to people, and many explorers left their own country to spread religion to new lands.

Rumors of gold – amounts beyond their wildest dreams – made men believe they could get rich quickly. Explorers took the risk of setting sail because the pay off could be HUGE. If an explorer found new land, he would be paid in gold and riches by the king and queen.

Glory was to be found in the adventure and in the land they might claim, making them rich lords instead of poor sailors. Many average people longed to have “celebrity status” so they would set out on an adventurous voyage on the open seas to see what they could find.

Astrolabe An astrolabe is an instrument that can be used for measuring the position of large celestial bodies. It is made of a circle, that is marked off in degrees, with a arm that can move, that is placed in the center of the circle. This was used to measure latitude

Compass A compass was used to find direction If they knew their direction and speed, they could estimate their location.

Better Maps These maps could be used for actual navigation, a marked improvement over their Middle Age counterparts! Middle Age Maps Renaissance Map

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