1. A P E U R O P E A N H I S T O R Y
M A G I S T E R R I C A R D
Chapter 15: European Exploration
and Conquest 1450-1650

2. Chapter 15 Objectives
 Analyze the relative importance of political, economic,
and cultural causes of European exploration
 Assess the impact of 15th/16th century European
exploration on politics and economics
 Analyze changes in the European economy brought
about by 15th/16th century exploration and colonization
 Examine the impact of 15th/16th century European
expansion on European culture and society
 Compare and contrast development of Portuguese,
Dutch, and Spanish commercial empires

3. C H A P T E R 1 5 : 1 4 5 0 - 1 6 5 0
World Contacts Before
Columbus

4. The Trade World of the Indian Ocean
 The center of the pre-Columbian world trade
network was the Indian Ocean
 Since Han and Roman times, seaborne trade flowed across the
Indian Ocean
 Merchants congregated in port cities with diverse
populations
 China played a key role in the 15th century revival of
Indian Ocean trade
 Admiral Zheng He led 7 voyages of exploration (1405-1433)
 India was the link between the Persian Gulf and the
SE and E Asian trade networks

5. Africa
 Africa played an important role in world trade before
Columbus
 Cairo was a hub for Indian Ocean trade goods
 Slaves, gold, major goods exported to Europe during 15th
century
 Legends about Africa shaped European imagination about
outside world

6. The Ottoman and Persian Empire
 Middle East was crucial to late medieval world trade
 Silk Road linked East with West
 Turkish Ottomans and Persian Safavids dominated
the region
 Turkish expansion frightened Europeans
 Safavids opposed Ottoman regional ambitions

7. Genoese and Venetian Middlemen
 Europe was western terminus of trade network
 Venice grew in importance with creation of crusader
kingdoms
 Peaked during 1400s
 Specialized in luxury goods and slaves
 Genoa was Venice’s ancient rival
 Focused on finance and the Western Mediterranean
 Also active in the slave trade

8. C H A P T E R 1 5 : 1 4 5 0 - 1 6 5 0
The European Voyages of
Discovery

9. Causes of European Expansion
 A revival of population and economic activity increases
demand for Eastern luxury goods
 Religious fervor pushed expansionism
 Curiosity and desire for glory also pushed expansionism
 Political centralization in Spain, France, and England
helps shape policies for expansion
 Tales of the travels of Marco Polo (1254-1324) are
published and widely read
 Recovery of ancient geographical writings (Strabo,
Ptolemy)

10. Technological Stimuli to Exploration
 Developments in shipbuilding, weaponry, and
navigation provided another spur to expansion
 Needle compass (direction)
 Astrolabe (determined latitude)
 New ships (the caravel)
 Better maps created during 14th/15th centuries

11. The Portuguese Overseas Empire
 Portugal leads expansion
 Seeks to Christianize Muslims
 Importing gold from West Africa
 Seeks direct access to gold in Niger River basin, long
controlled by Berber tribesmen from North Africa
 Searches for overseas route to India for spices
 Seeks contact with Prester John, mythical Christian ruler of
Ethiopia

12. The Portuguese Overseas Empire
 Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) played
leading role in early phases of exploration
 In 1415, Portuguese send ships down west coast of
Africa
 Captured Ceuta on Moroccan coast, begins colonizing Azores
and Canary Islands
 Reach India in 1497-1499
 Reach Brazil 1500
 Gain control over Indian Ocean from Muslim rulers

13. The Portuguese Overseas Empire
 In 1487, Bartolomeo Dias (1450-1500) rounds the
Cape of Good Hope
 Vasco de Gama (1460-1524) reaches India on
voyages between 1497-1499
 Returns with spices worth 40-60x cost of trip
 Alfonso de Alburquerque (1453-1515) develops string
of Portuguese trading posts in the Indian Ocean by
force

14. The Problem of Christopher Columbus
 Extremely religious
 Knowledgeable about the sea
 Focused on finding a direct sea route to Asia
 Describes Caribbean as a Garden of Eden
 When he settles the Caribbean and enslaves
inhabitants, was acting simply as “a man of his
times”
 Keep in context!

15. Later Explorers
 New of Columbus’ voyage quickly spreads
 Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divides non-European
world between Spain and Portugal
 Search for profits sets direction for Spanish
exploration
 Ferdinand Magellan (1519) rounds Cape Horn and
enters Pacific Ocean, circumnavigates the globe for
Spain

16. Later Explorers
 Dutch East India Company expelled Portuguese from
many of their East Indian holdings in first half of 17th
century
 Dutch West India Company establishes posts in
Africa, Spanish colonial areas, North America
 John Cabot (1497) explores NE coast of North
America for England
 Jacques Cartier explores the St. Lawrence River
region in Canada for France (1534-1541)

17. New World Conquest
 (1519-1522) Hernando Cortes sailed from Hispaniola
to Mexico, crushing Aztec Empire
 (1531-1536) Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca
Empire in the Andes

18. C H A P T E R 1 5 : 1 4 5 0 - 1 6 5 0
Europe and the World After
Columbus

19. Spanish Settlement and Indigenous Population
Decline
 In 16th century, 200,000 Spaniards immigrated
 Altering the landscape and bringing diseases
 Spaniards establish encomienda system
 Conquerors gain right to employ Amerindians
 Disease, malnutrition, overwork, and violence lead to
drops in indigenous population
 Missionaries sent to convert
 Decline in Amerindian population creates labor
shortage

20. Sugar and Slavery
 Before 1400s, virtually all slaves were white
 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453) cut off slaves from
Black Sea region
 Portuguese voyages to West Africa, Canary and
Madeira islands merged slavery with sugar
 Native Americans did not survive long under
conditions of slavery and forced labor
 Spaniards brought in enslaved Africans
 Atlantic Slave Trade reached its peak in 18th century

21. The Columbian Exchange
 Most important changes from Columbian voyages
might be bio-social
 Flora, fauna, and disease traveled across Atlantic
 New World foods become Old World staples
 European disease ravages Amerindian populations
 Sailors and settlers bring back syphilis

22. Silver and the Economic Effect of Spain’s
Discoveries
 During the 1500s and 1600s, a huge influx of
precious metals into Spain from Americas
 Population increase in Spain and establishment of
colonies creates need for new goods
 Economy could not meet demand, leads to inflation
 Inflation forces Spanish government into bankruptcy
 Payment of Spanish armies in bullion leads to
inflation throughout Europe
 Hurts nobles on fixed incomes
 Chinese demand for silver for products and taxes
shapes world silver trade

23. The Birth of Global Economy
 Intercontinental seaborne trade creates 3 commercial
empires
 Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch
 16th century, Portuguese have hegemony over sea route to
India
 Brazil produced most of the sugar consumed in Europe (16th – 17th
centuries)
 Spain has land empire in New World, seaborne empire in
Pacific
 Commercial boom 1570-1630
 Dutch specialize in seaborne trade 2nd half of 17th century

24. Spain’s Global Empire
 Spanish expansionism in New World, Asia, and
Europe
 Phillip II inherits a vast but unwieldy empire
 Intense religiosity bred political flexibility
 Backs a plot to replace Elizabeth I (England) with
Catholic Mary Queen of Scots
 Plot fails, Mary is executed
 Sends Armada to invade May 9, 1588
 Armada is destroyed
 Spain recovers, but defeat of Armada prevents Philip
from re-imposing religious unity by force

25. C H A P T E R 1 5 : 1 4 5 0 - 1 6 5 0
Changing Attitudes and Beliefs

26. New Ideas About Race
 There was no particular connection between race
and slavery in the ancient world
 Europeans brought ideas about race with them to
New World
 Medieval Christians and Arabs shared negative views
of blacks
 Slavery in New World contributed to more rigid
notions of racial inferiority

27. Michel de Montaigne and Cultural Curiosity
 Montaigne (1533-1592), French nobleman
 Creates the essay as a means of clarifying his own
thoughts
 A skeptic
 Rejects the notion that any single human being knew
absolute truth
 Rejects the notion that any one culture is superior to
another

28. Elizabethan and Jacobean Literature
 Literature and drama boom in England under
Elizabeth I and James I (r. 1603-1625)
 William Shakespeare’s plays
 King James’ Bible