History · Europe in Transition: From Feudalism to Industrialization
Chapter 4 : Explorations, Discovery and Colonial Empires
Table of contents27 sections
- 1.Explorations, Discovery and Colonial Empires
- 2.Motives Behind the Early Voyages
- 3.Key Terms
- 4.Improvement in Geographical Knowledge and Navigational Technology
- 5.Key Terms
- 6.The Renaissance and Sea Voyages
- 7.Key Terms
- 8.The Early Sea Voyages
- 9.Key Terms
- 10.Rise of Colonial Empires
- 11.The Portuguese Empire in Asia and Africa
- 12.The Portuguese Empire in Brazil
- 13.Key Terms
- 14.The Spanish Empire
- 15.The Age of the Conquistadors (1520–1550)
- 16.The Encomienda System and Demographic Collapse
- 17.Colonial Administration Structure
- 18.Key Terms
- 19.The Impact of the Colonial Empires
- 20.Historiography of the Discovery
- 21.Economic and Demographic Consequences
- 22.Art, Literature, and Science
- 23.The Economic Impact: Plantations, Silver, and Slaves
- 24.Impact on Spain
- 25.Ideological Impact and Human Rights
- 26.Key Terms
- 27.Quick-Recall Box
Chapter preview
Explorations, Discovery and Colonial Empires
The enlargement of the European commercial economy was closely linked to maritime geographical explorations in the last decade of the fifteenth century, resulting in the colonization of America, Asia, and Africa. Portugal and Spain were the first to develop colonial empires, followed by north-western European states.
Until the fifteenth century, European states traded with the East via overland routes. Spices (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mace), silk, and cotton were trans-shipped to Europe by the Italian merchants of Venice or Genoa through the Levant. The rise of the Ottoman Empire and religious antagonism (crusades against Muslim states) promoted the search for alternative sea routes.
Motives Behind the Early Voyages
It is difficult to assign precise motives, but Atlantic coastal countries wanted to break the Italian monopoly over luxury trade. The traditional explanation cites three factors: God, Gold, and Glory.
- God: Missionary zeal (especially among Franciscans), belief in Christian communities outside Europe, and the Pope's blessings for spreading Christianity. Early voyages near the west-African coast were seen as crusades against Muslims.
- Gold: Economic motives and the search for wealth.
- Glory: The personal ambition of individuals and rulers.
Debunking the Turkish Threat: The traditional belief that the Turkish occupation of Constantinople in 1453 blocked the Red Sea trade route is now rejected.
- Portuguese voyages started long before this date.
- Spice imports from the Middle-East were rising and prices falling until the end of the fifteenth century.
- The Ottomans did not conquer the chief distributing centres in the Levant until the opening decades of the sixteenth century. Turkish rule actually facilitated oriental trade.
Role of Individuals and Rulers:
- Marco Polo: Set off from Venice to China and Japan in 1256. Spent 14 years in the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Imprisoned in Genoa in 1298, he dictated his account to Rusticello of Pisa in the famous book Livre des merveilles du monde (copied and distributed from 1307).
- Niccolo Conti: A Venetian who visited Asia around c. 1400 and circulated a detailed picture of eastern riches.
- Prince Henry the…
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