1. Isabella and Ferdinand
marry and turn Spain into
a world power.
Spain sponsors Columbus’s
expedition
Bishop of Moscow names
Moscow the “Third Rome”
Eastern Europe creates
serfdom to supply western
Europe with food supply
2. The year 1492
In 1453 Ottoman was
established as the
capital of Istanbul
Istanbul is known as
“the place that is like
paradise”
Istanbul, Turkey
3. All of India was under Muslim rule,
except for the Hindu kingdom,
Vijayanager in the south.
The people of Delhi (ruled by a Muslim
sultan) were used to adapting to new
cultures and foreigners, since the city
was visited often by marauders and the
like.
In East South Asia, people were
Theravada buddhists, who saw their
leaders as gods.
However, they did not persecute people
of other religions.
4. The European Challenge
The Portuguese (rather than the
Spanish) ruling house made the first
moves in the early 1400s to break out of
Europe's isolation. When Columbus
joined the naval service of the king of
Portugal, he put himself directly in the
mainstream of Europe's effort to push
past its boundaries.
Through commerce and war, European
kingdoms improved their shipping and
gained an ultimate advantage over the
rest of the world.
Although European naval technology was
sufficiently advanced in 1492 to allow
sailors to move out into unknown waters,
it was still by no means the best in the
world. The Chinese, the Indians, and the
Arabs had long been innovators in ship
technology, developing such instruments
as the marine compass, astrolab,
windrose, astronomical tables, and heavy
brass cannon.
By the end of the sixteenth century,
Portuguese and Spanish gunships were
being supplanted by the even more
formidable fleets of Dutch and English
men-of-war.
Christopher Columbus broke the seal of
ignorance that earlier societies had set
upon the Sea. His venture gave him a
significant role in the coming together of
humanity.
