Motivations for the Age of Exploration
During the 1400s, Europeans started embarking beyond their boundary lines to foreign topographic points. This period of clip when Europeans explored, colonized, and settled in foreign states is known as the Age of Exploration. It began in the 15Thursdaycentury and lasted until the 17Thursdaycentury. The event led to legion promotions in geographic cognition, and besides improved the interactions and trade between states. Several factors favored Europe as the get downing topographic point of geographic expedition. Medieval spiritual ardor made captains experience it was their responsibility to change over everyone they met to Christianity. Europe was besides in good conditions economically, and its geographic place drove it to happen paths to Asia, which so led to the Americas. Both the Renaissance and the Crusades were important in the development of the Age of Discovery. Renaissance ideas motivated the Europeans to see and detect other civilizations, giving them the bravery to interact with different people. The Crusades besides opened the heads of the Europeans which brought them in contact with different goods and spiritual thoughts. After the Renaissance and the Crusades, the Age of Exploration began due to the Europeans’ impulse to distribute Christianity, their avidity for celebrity, their desire for wealth, and the betterments in engineering that allowed ocean trips.
A major motivation for the Age of Discovery was the spiritual desire to change over people to Christianity. Bartolomeu Dias, an early Lusitanian adventurer, stated his motivations for ocean trip: “To serve God and His Majesty, to give visible radiation to those who were in darkness and to turn rich as all work forces desire to ( Miller ) .” The first two motivations stated were both spiritual ends that Christians hoped to carry through. Another narrative that they believed in besides motivated them to research. This was the myth of Prester John ( The Myth of Prester John ) . Although sham, the Europeans believed in this narrative where the male monarch of the legendary Christian state had ordered all Christians to fall in him in a spiritual conflict against the heathens. This myth persuaded many Christians to fall in the sanctum wars, or the Crusades, which were highly of import factors of the Age of Exploration.
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Europeans thought that it was their responsibility to carry through God’s wants and salvage souls by distributing Christianity. The Crusades played a important function in constructing up to the Age of Exploration ( The European Voyages of Exploration ) . It exposed the Europeans to new people and topographic points, giving them the new aim to change over more people to Christianity. Puting up missions was one of the spiritual ends of geographic expedition. Missionaries that traveled with adventurers preached to the indigens of different countries to accomplish their spiritual wants. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit missionary that went to India with the Lusitanian adventurers ( McGrath ) . He learned the local linguistic communications and was able to prophesy in their native lingua. This was a more effectual manner of distributing faith which made 1000s of people convert to Christianity. Missionaries like Xavier were influential in salvaging the psyche of people from all around the universe, finishing an aim of geographic expedition.
The Age of Exploration developed along with the Renaissance, as these thoughts influenced their desires for single glorification. The Renaissance stressed the single homo being, so adventurers wanted to gain celebrity and award for themselves with successful geographic expeditions. Peoples during this clip wanted to populate gratifying lives, unlike people during the mediaeval times who wanted to make heaven. Because of this, people during the Renaissance worked for themselves and worked to go rich in order to populate an gratifying life. Explorers besides wanted to sail in hunt of single wealth and celebrity. Explorer Christopher Columbus was an illustration as he worked to accomplish celebrity and luck ( Christopher Columbus ) . His contract with the Spanish swayers agreed that when he discovered land, he would be given a baronial rubric, could maintain 10 per centum of the wealths he found, and would be able to regulate the lands he discovered. Kings and Queenss besides wanted glorification for their states, so they promoted geographic expedition. With the innovation of the printing imperativeness, it became possible for one to go celebrated for what he or she did. With this in head, adventurers became motivated by personal glorification to detect lands in the New World.
The “rebirth” of classical Greek and Roman values that brought many alterations to how people thought was created by the Crusades. The holy wars allow the Europeans see beyond their ain universe, triping their involvement in larning which led to the Renaissance. The secular mentality made people believe more about spiritual authorization, and besides gave them scientific wonder ( Brotton ) . It was a clip when people wanted to larn more about the universe. Humanism brought rational wonder about the universe to people’s heads, and the finds made led to a new age in hunt of scientific cognition. The will and courage to larn and understand different civilizations made people want to research and see more around the universe ( Lecture 2 ) . This thought links with the Renaissance in general, and besides the human nature to research and derive information on the unknown.
The hunt for trade paths that led to wealth was an indispensable cause of European geographic expedition. The Crusades and trade brought the Europeans to spices, silk, and other luxuries. The Europeans demanded spices from the East to add spirit to their bland nutrient, doing it highly valuable. When of import trade paths to the East were blocked by the Turks, the adventurers embarked to happen better 1s ( FC67 ) . Better trade paths could increase the net income made in the markets of luxuries. Thomas Mun’s thoughts on the effects of foreign trade stated inEngland’s Treasure by Foreign Tradeshowed how he supported foreign trade since it increased England’s exchequer ( Koeller ) . He tells of how England exports more goods than it imports, therefore increasing the net income they made from trade. This thought links to mercantile system, where people thought that there was merely a limited sum of money in the universe. In order to do the land strong, they had to hold more wealth than other states. Mercantilism motivated the Europeans to research and seek for trade paths, which could so assist them go affluent and powerful.
Before the newer trade paths existed, trade for goods in the East was controlled by the Italians and Muslims. The Muslims sold the goods they got from the East to the Italians at a raised monetary value, and so the Italians besides increased the monetary value of the goods sold to Europe in order to do net income. The Europeans were non happy with the sum they had to pay, so they wanted to happen a path straight to Asia to short-circuit the jobbers. Before trade paths were found, a lb of cinnamon cost 24 pence, which would hold taken a maestro carpenter three yearss to gain ( Kelley ) . Although dearly-won, Europeans still considered spices a necessity and were willing to pay big sums of money for them. In order to get these goods and more wealth, adventurers searched for trade paths, and the Portuguese accomplished this with their trading imperium. Previous costs of spices could be anyplace from ten to a hundred times the original monetary value, so a immense difference was made to these monetary values after the trading imperium was created ( Munro ) . It allowed merchandisers to convey back goods at the original monetary value paid at the beginning, doing it low-cost to more Europeans.
The Age of Discovery would non hold been possible without the geographical cognition gained during this clip. Before maps had improved and included locations on planetary graduated tables, crewmans used the colour of skies and Waterss, the types of flora, and besides the types of sea birds in the country to place their location. Later, portolan charts, coastal maps of Europe and the Mediterranean, and planetary projections were created, giving the Europeans better thoughts of the universe ( FC81 ) . With clear thoughts of way, sailing became a batch easier and adventurers were besides less likely to sail to the incorrect topographic point. Prince Henry the Navigator helped better the techniques used to research and map the new lands. He developed the first maritime map that replaced the portolan charts ( Briney ) . The portolan charts kept crewmans near to the shore, but the maritime maps allowed them to sail away from land which improved the consequences of travel, because more could be seen and discovered. Prince Henry besides introduced navigational schools to better the geographical cognition of adventurers.
Furthermore, assorted naval innovations and promotions allowed the oceans to be sailed. Some of the most of import were the magnetic compass, the astrolabe, and the alterations in ship building ( FC81 ) . The compass invented by the Chinese gave a better sense of way. The astrolabe, perfected by the Muslims, helped find latitude. Great alterations were besides made to the European ships. The hulls of the caravels were bulkier and sturdier, leting ocean trip in big moving ridges. The southern trigon or lateen canvas allowed ships to sail against the air current, which was non possible earlier. These innovations made sailing overseas an come-at-able undertaking, taking to the find of the assorted countries separate from Europe.
The Age of Exploration was a important period of clip that made influential differences in non merely the history of Europe, but the history of about the full universe. This event would ne’er hold occurred without the Crusades, Renaissance, and promotions in engineering. The will to carry through spiritual desires, hunt for wealth, and prosecute personal celebrity drove the Europeans out of the Old World in hunt of new topographic points over the seas. All the ocean trips made helped associate different states together, and even influenced the footing of cognition presents. Although the Age of Discovery ended in the 1600s, the effects of it still do important alterations to the universe today.
Plants Cited
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“Christopher Columbus.”History.com.A & A ; E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
Kelley, Laura. “The Silk Road Roots of the Age of Exploration.”The Silk Road Gourmet, 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 21 May 2015.
Koeller, David. “Thomas Mun: England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade.”Then Again…David Koeller, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
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— – . “The Myth of Prester John.”The History Guide.Steve Kreis, 11 Oct. 2006. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
McGrath, Jane. “How Missionaries Work.”HowStuffWorks.HowStuffWorks, 4 June 2009. Web. 24 May 2015.
Miller, Jane. “Explorer Bartolomeu Dias.”ThingLink.ThingLink, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
Munro, John. “Oriental Spices and Their Costss in Medieval Cuisine: Luxuries or Necessities? ”Spices and Their Costss in Medieval Europe, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
“The European Voyages of Exploration: Introduction.”Saylor.org Academy.Saylor Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
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