Europe and the New World: New Encounters
Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500-1800
On the Brink of a New World ❖ By the 16th century, the Atlantic seaboard had become the center of a commercial activity that raised Portugal and Spain and later the Dutch Republic, England, and France to prominence ➢ the age of expansion was a crucial factor in the European transition from the agrarian economy of the MA to a commercial and industrial capitalistic system.
The Motives ❖ Contact w/non-Europeans remained limited until the end of the 15th century
Fantastic Lands ❖ Europeans had always been curious about lands outside of Europe
Economic Motives ❖ Although Muslim control of Central Asia cut Europe off from the countries farther east, the Mongol conquests in the 13thc reopened the doors ❖ Marco Polo went to the court of Kublai Kahn in 1271 ➢ His account of his experiences, the Travels was the most informative of all descriptions of Asia by ME travelers ❖ In the 14th, the conquests of the Ottoman Turks and then the breakup of the Mongol Empire reduced Western traffic to the East ➢ A number of people became interested in reaching Asia by sea ➢ Merchants, adventurers, and government officials had high hopes of finding precious metals and new areas of trade
Religious zeal ❖ A crusading mentality was strong in Portugal and Spain
The Mean ❖ The expansion of Europe was connected to the growth of centralized monarchies during the Ren. ➢ Ren. Expansion was a state enterprise ➢ By the 2nd ½ of the 15th century, European monarchies had increased both their authority and their resources and were in a position to look beyond their borders
Maps ❖ Europeans had achieved a level of wealth and technology that enabled them to make a regular series of voyages beyond Europe. ➢ Potlolani - charts made by medieval navigators and mathematicians in the 13th and 14th which were more useful than their predecessors. They took no account for the curvature of the earth so were of little use for
On the Brink of a New World ❖ By the 16th century, the Atlantic seaboard had become the center of a commercial activity that raised Portugal and Spain and later the Dutch Republic, England, and France to prominence ➢ the age of expansion was a crucial factor in the European transition from the agrarian economy of the MA to a commercial and industrial capitalistic system.
The Motives ❖ Contact w/non-Europeans remained limited until the end of the 15th century
Fantastic Lands ❖ Europeans had always been curious about lands outside of Europe
Economic Motives ❖ Although Muslim control of Central Asia cut Europe off from the countries farther east, the Mongol conquests in the 13thc reopened the doors ❖ Marco Polo went to the court of Kublai Kahn in 1271 ➢ His account of his experiences, the Travels was the most informative of all descriptions of Asia by ME travelers ❖ In the 14th, the conquests of the Ottoman Turks and then the breakup of the Mongol Empire reduced Western traffic to the East ➢ A number of people became interested in reaching Asia by sea ➢ Merchants, adventurers, and government officials had high hopes of finding precious metals and new areas of trade
Religious zeal ❖ A crusading mentality was strong in Portugal and Spain
The Mean ❖ The expansion of Europe was connected to the growth of centralized monarchies during the Ren. ➢ Ren. Expansion was a state enterprise ➢ By the 2nd ½ of the 15th century, European monarchies had increased both their authority and their resources and were in a position to look beyond their borders
Maps ❖ Europeans had achieved a level of wealth and technology that enabled them to make a regular series of voyages beyond Europe. ➢ Potlolani - charts made by medieval navigators and mathematicians in the 13th and 14th which were more useful than their predecessors. They took no account for the curvature of the earth so were of little use for