Portuguese And Portuguese Exploration During The 15th-16th Centuries

During the 15th and 16th century, exploration became the new norm of society. Each individual country had their own motives, reasons and goals regarding voyages across land and sea. For instance, Christopher Columbus, in the name of Spain, voyaged out to find an alternative route to Asia. The Portuguese, tried to increase their knowledge about trading. Moreover, while some traveled to increase their powers, Zheng He, of China, traveled to discover raw resources and generate more capital into China’s economy. If we compare the maritime policies of the kingdom of Spain and Portugal on the one hand and the Ming Empire on the other the differences in motives clearly outweigh the similarities between these two societies. For example, the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal traveled to spread Christianity, to gain land, to rule over new subjects and to spread their power throughout the different continents, while as the Ming Dynasty was only interested in capital and new/raw resources.

With the inventions of more efficient ships and the perfection of navigational instruments, the Spanish (as well as England and France) gained a curiosity to explore and find a way to Asia by water and

The main idea behind the voyage was to find a faster route to the Indies, as well as introduce Christianity and The King and Queen to the new world along with its inhabitants. As said by Columbus “Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone.” Like said, it shows that Columbus wished to find a faster route, so Spain could easily be able to obtained traded goods which would produce more profit for the country of Spain. This kind of shows that Spain needed to find this route due

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, European exploration and expansion thrived. Portugal led the way in this movement of exploration with their development of efficiently built ships known as caravels, seafaring devices such as compasses and astrolabes, and cutting-edge naval academies. Various European countries, including Spain, England, France, etc., followed Portugal’s example by utilizing their progressive naval technology. These technological advancements led to the crossing of oceans and eventually the circumnavigation of the world. These Portuguese sailing techniques were implemented by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, and Bernal Castillo allowing them to travel by sea to places such as Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. These nations and explorers were persuaded to put in the time and effort to complete these complex expeditions by three essential motivations. Financial gain, political dignity, and religious expansion were fundamental motivators for the European Age of Exploration.

During the exploration of the New World Portugal, France, and Spain had one thing in common to search for new resources such as sugar, spices, and gold. The European arrival in the Americas set a new era off known as the Columbian Exchange which changed the America’s forever. Native Americans introduced the Europeans to several new crops such as corn, squash, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. Portugal set off for a search for sea route to Asia, while in competition with Spain who was also seeking an active root to Asia as well. The French exploration occurred later after the “New World” was found, and their target was to find a Northwest Passage where they hoped for a route through North America to the pacific.

Portugal was one of the, if not the only, technological and economic geniuses of the fifteenth century. As a result of their genius, Portugal was able to build one of the first caravels and sail around the coast of Africa in an attempt to find a sea route to India. As a result of this attempt,

Spanish exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere lasted from 1492 until 1898, from Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American war. As with all major seafaring European nations, they were in pursuit of the fabled Northwest Passage, a direct route to Asia. This was how Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas, on his quest for this route. The Spanish were after more though, specifically gold and spread of the Christian faith. With this page we will discuss multiple historical figures, places, and ideas that emphasized what the Spanish found most important at the time, God and gold.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave funds to the Italian explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus, to discover a new route to Asia. By finding a new route to Asia, Spain would have the advantage in trading with them by having access to a shorter and safer trade route instead of having to go around the African continent. Why did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hire Columbus instead of a Spanish Explorer? The deal between Spain and Columbus was that any minerals and resources found would go to Spain and Columbus would become Governor of any place he landed at. In this way, there are many advantages and disadvantages of working relationships between foreign parties.

- Because Spain and Portugal were rivals, they were always trying to out beat each other. Since the Portuguese set up trading posts in Africa first, other European countries started and later on Spain set up posts too. Because the Portuguese didn’t like taking water routes, it took them longer to get to India through land to get spices and jewels. While this was happening, the Spanish people became unified and seeing that they were now stronger, planned to outstrip their rivals of the Indian

Christopher Columbus is known for being an explorer and is said to have made one of the most important voyages in world history without even wanting to. Something else that is also believed is that he “opened up” the Americas to European nations, which changed the course of American history. Before he went on his voyage though, he was in need of resources. So he asked Portugal, France, Italy among many other countries but they all denied Columbus and thought his statement was incorrect. Columbus’ statement was that he had found a faster way to get to Asia than the Portuguese had, which was going around the continent of Africa. Columbus lived a majority of his life in Spain, so when it came to setting sail for the west, Spain was one of the first nations he asked for funding. Though it took Columbus a little more than a few years to convince a nation to fund his voyage, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand from Spain subsequently granted to endow him in 1492. He would then leave for “Asia” on August 3, 1492. There are many unanswered questions and thoughts on why Spain decided to finally fund Columbus’ voyage, especially since he was an explorer that was born in Italy.

The early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish were motivated by gold, trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through religious conversion. The voyages of a few adventurers show that the Spanish and Portuguese goals were to spread Catholicism, expand trade, and expand the kingdom of the Spanish and the Portuguese to the new lands they’ve discovered. These adventures were Christopher Columbus who attempted to find a new route to Asia to extend Spain’s trade and to colonize, Bartholomew Columbus and his successful founding of Santo Domingo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his

During the 15th and 16th century, countries such as Portugal set out to find out more about the world in an era called the “Age of Exploration.” The explorers set out on voyages mainly to find sea trade routes to Asia. Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan were the explorers that made the most important breakthroughs. They used different boats, tools, and maps to help them explore.

One of the biggest and most widely known accomplishments of the Portuguese is their foundation of the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese Empire was one of the largest and longest-lived empires of the European Colonial empires. The voyages of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama and his crew would come to be extremely influential in boosting the economy of the empire, but doing so wasn’t always their purpose. While the original goal of the Portuguese was to have more power than Spain through colonization, they changed their motives upon arriving in the Indian Ocean world, and by using violence and advanced technology they became a superpower in the Indian Ocean world in the 16th and 17th century.

They basic reasons for Europeans exploring was because of the phrase “Gold, God, and Glory”. The gold was promised to the explorers by the king and queen of their country if they were to find new land; some went believing that their duty to the people of the new land was to introduce them to their religion and bring god to them by spreading their faith; and lastly the glory was the idea that the adventure of claiming land would make them rich instead of poor sailors and longed to be praised.

The European explorers who discovered the new lands of America and Africa were in search of an all-water route to China and India. After establishing reliable routes in this newly discovered land, the motives of the Spanish explorers soon morphed into seeking wealth and fortune. This is also true in the conquering of Africa as well. These types of motives greatly jeopardized the sustainability of the native culture of the area and eventually pushed them close to abolishment.