1. Age of Exploration Europe Looks Beyond the Horizon

2. Why Explore By Sea? Overland route had many drawbacks.  Costly traveling from the East to Europe  Disrupted by the breakup of the Mongol Empire and the Black Death.  Europe’s recovery increased its demand for goods. (its all economics)

3. Search for Moluccas Group of islands within present day Indonesia.  Europeans called them the Spice Islands Spices grew here that the Europeans used to do various jobs.

4. Portugal Leads Off Prince Henry the Navigator Why  Easier way to reach Asia, How?  Find the source of riches of the Muslim traders.  Convert the locals from Islam/tribal religion to Christianity

5. Portugal Sails East As the 1400s continued, the Portuguese sailed/mapped further and further east.  Bartholomeu Dias (1488) rounded the southern tip of Africa  Vasco da Gama (1497) followed around the Cape and sailed to Calicut in western India.

6. Spain Enters the Game Christopher Columbus (Gerona) convinced Spain to finance the venture  The crown wanted wealth and prestige after expelling some of its most affluent citizens.  3 August 1492 Columbus sailed with the Nina (Caravel) Pinta (Caravel) and Santa Maria (Carrack)

7. Catholics Divide the World in Half Pope Alexander VI answered the plea from Ferdinand and Isabella to support their claim to the New World.  The Pope created a Line of Demarcation and west of it was Spain’s while east of it is Portugal.  Later confirmed at the Treaty of Tordesillas that was signed between 1494 Note this pushed all of the other sea power nations to rapidly build their own fleets to challenge Iberia.

8. Other bits of trivia Martin Waldseemuller (german Cartographer) named America after Amerigo Vespucci in 1507. Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed Panama and called the vast body of water the South Sea. Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet sailed around the world starting 1519, and returning in 1522.