Chapter One – Part TwoEuropean Exploration Begins

For centuries Rome ruled most of the ancient European world. Under Roman rule, the empire enjoyed many of the things that we have today: roads, bridges, sewers, running water, baths, education, libraries, advanced medicine (including operations), and security. The list could be much, much longer.

In the Fifth Century AD, however, a greatly weakened Roman Empire was destroyed by invading “barbarian” armies from Central and Eastern Europe.

The security and benefits of Roman life were wiped out within a generation. Europe had entered the “Dark Ages” – a time filled with warfare, poverty, disease, and suffering.

. This was a world without anything “modern” as we know it: no

electricity, running water, plumbing, medicine, communications (phones, internet, radio, TV, computers), transportation (cars, airplanes, trains – anything with an engine powered by gas), education, or government.

A. Changes Lead to Exploration

Europe was divided into thousands of tiny kingdoms engaged in constant warfare over land, resources, and power.

As time passed, some nations began to form in Western Europe, but the warfare and violence of the “Dark Ages” hardly improved as Europe entered the “Middle Ages” nearly five hundred years after the fall of Rome.

In an effort to put an end to the fighting in Europe, Pope Urban II (head of the Christian Church in Western Europe) urged knights and commoners from all over Europe to invade and take control of the “Holy Land” - the region in and around modern Israel. The year was 1095. Muslim forces had banned Christians from traveling to the Holy Land.

A series of Christian invasions and wars known as The Crusades were launched to win control of the Holy Land and lasted for the next two centuries.

Although they captured Jerusalem and most of the Holy Land during the first crusade, the Christian forces of Europe were, over time, pushed out of the Middle East by Muslim forces.

Pope Urban Calls for the First A typical Middle Age image Crusade at Clermont, France of a Crusade

The First Crusade Invasion Routes

Christian Kingdoms in the Holy Land

Although the mission to capture and control the Holy Land failed, the Crusaders did not leave the Middle East “empty handed.” European soldiers had been exposed to new learning, foods, inventions, and ancient teachings that had been lost to Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Everything from oranges and figs to spices, silks, and books made their way back to Europe with the returning Crusaders. The impact of these new items changed the course of European (and eventually American) History.

The demand for new items and ancient teachings from the Middle East created a great desire in Europeans to trade. For the first time since the end of the Roman Empire, Europe began to look outside of its borders and wonder what existed in the outside world.

With the increase in trading profits and learning brought about by the Crusades, the Middle Ages began to come to an end. The new age of learning, growth, and change was known as the “Renaissance,” or “Rebirth.”

Effects of the Crusades

City-States (small nations centered on a single, large city) and powerful nations began to form. By the late 1400’s, new and powerful European nations that were eager to find ways to profit from overseas trade began to make strong efforts to explore and find new sources of trading wealth. The Age of Exploration had arrived.

Europeans returning from the Middle East brought back many new inventions that made long-range exploration possible for the first time in Western Europe..

B. The Beginnings of Exploration

Europe – About 1500

New technologies that made long voyages of exploration possible included:

Magnetic Compass: The compass allowed ship captains to tell which direction they were sailing in – something that was difficult, especially during the day and on cloudy nights, in Middle Age Europe.

Astrolabe: An astrolabe was a metal measuring device that allowed a ship captain or navigator to measure the distance between the North Star and the horizon while at sea. The distance measured revealed how far a ship was above the equator or the “latitude” of the ship.

New Sailing Technologies

A Modern Magnetic Compass

An Astrolabe

Lateen Sail: The lateen sail was triangular and allowed the ship to gather more wind. The lateen sail also allowed a ship to sail into the wind at an angle under the right conditions. Europeans began to use lateen and traditional square sails together on ships.

Rudder: Rudders were added to the bottom of a ship and were connected to the main deck by a wheel or till (wooden handle). They act much like a fish fin – helping to steer the direction of the ship. The rudder, combined with new types of sails and sailing instruments, made long sea voyages far from the sight of land possible.

Inventions Continued

Ship with Lateen Sails

Ship Square Sailed Ship

A Rudder

Cross-Section of a European Trading/Exploring Ship from the 1600’s (although this dates from a later time, the basics were the same as ships used in the late 1400’s

to 1500’s)

Finally, ancient teachings (Greek, Roman, and Far Eastern) on mathematics, astronomy, construction, engineering, and science flooded into Europe in books from the Middle East. Great schools and universities began to form all over Europe. The new knowledge spread quickly thanks to a mechanical invention known as the printing press.

The printing press lowered the cost of books and made them affordable to a greater number of people. By the end of the 1400’s, Europeans began to create sailing schools to train ship captains and navigators on how to use the new inventions and knowledge in their explorations.

The wealthiest nations in Europe were ready to begin large-scale exploration. They had both the wealth and the resources to take action before other, smaller nations.

C. The Rise of the Exploring Nations

During the late 1400’s and early 1500’s, several strong nations emerged in Europe: Spain, Portugal, France, and England. Each nation was ruled by a powerful king who had total control over each nation. All of these nations were very interested in trading with the Far East (Asia) – the source of many rare items.

These new and powerful nations entered into direct and fierce competition to find and control the new trade routes. The wealth and power of these nations depended on how successful such efforts were.

Portugal, Spain, France, and England prepared sailing expeditions to seek routes that would connect them with Asia directly and allow them to bypass the Middle East. Each nation hoped to find a direct route to Asia that would allow them to profit from trade with the nations of that continent. The countries that reached Asia first had the best chance to control trade between the source of the spices, fruits, and fabrics that were in high demand and the European markets where they were sold.

Exploring Nations Continued

Prince Henry “The Navigator” – Ruler of Portugal

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain

King Henry VII of England

King Louis XII of France

1. What were the Dark Ages like?

2. How did Pope Urban II attempt to put an end to fighting between Christians in Europe?

3. How did the demand for new items influence Europeans?

Team/Pair Review Questions

4. What started the beginning of the Age of Exploration?

5. The four technological devices that helped Europeans explore over long distances were:

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6. What led to the creation of universities and schools in Europe and what helped the spread

to spread knowledge?

Team/Pair Review Continued

7. What made the powerful nations of Europe start exploring for trade routes to Asia?

8. How could great wealth acquired through trade help these nations?

Team/Pair Review Continued