Main Reasons For European Exploration In The 15th And 16th Century

European exploration was a time period in European history when European countries explored and discovered new parts of the world. The desire to grow rich and spread Christianity alongside advances in sailing technology lead to European exploration. European countries wanted the same success in trading with Asia as Italy, so they sought a direct trade route to Asia to bypass the Italian merchants who sold their goods from Asia at unreasonable prices. The spread of Christianity also led to European exploration because they believed it was their sacred duty to convert non-Catholics, which led to discovering new people and converting them. Lastly, advances in sailing technology, such as the caravel, astrolabe, and compass, led to European exploration by allowing for longer voyages and greater distances being able to be crossed.The desire to grow rich, spread Christianity, and advances in sailing technology led to European exploration.

1. Why did Europeans embark on exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries and how were they able to do it? Include the rise of nations, technology and motivations.

1.) The desire to find new trade routes to Asia was one of the motivations for European explorations. Europeans were seeking the wealth of Africa and Asia. They wanted profit, they wanted gold. The spice market was also a huge profit of trading and several countries tried to gain control of spice trade. Another motivation was God and religion. Europeans wanted to spread the teachings of the Gospel to other parts of the world. They believed it was their duty to spread the word of God. Lastly, land was another motivation for European explorations. Some rulers, especially the King of Spain, and the King of Portugal, wanted to claim as much land as they could. The more land and money a country owned, the better their chance of domination in Europe.

The factors that contributed to the development of western European interests of exploration, and discovery was the desire of wealth, power, the status competition, and a push among the Christians set for new converts, also the new trade routes. Also the Black death, and the decline of feudalism, and finally the impact of renaissance contributed to the development.

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.

People living the the 15th century had multiple reasons for venturing beyond its confinement of land. Scientific curiosity of the world played a major part in the advancement of naval travel, but it was not the main cause of exploration in these times. The Age of Exploration was sparked by Europeans wanting to find sea routes to East Asia, which they called the Indies. Merchants and crusaders were bringing goods to Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These trade routes were controlled by the Muslims and the Italians. However, flaws

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries small groups financed by private businesses carried out the first phase of European exploration. Members of the noble or merchant class typically funded these early expeditions. Over time, as it became clear that global exploration was extremely profitable, European states took on a primary role. The next phase of exploration involved voyages taken in the name of a particular empire and monarch (e.g., France or Spain). The Iberian empires of Spain and Portugal were some of the earliest states to embark on new voyages of exploration. In addition to seeking luxury goods, the Spanish empire was driven by its quest for American silver.

European nations in the 15th century began exploring new lands with three motives: religion, wealth, and glory. It was made possible by advances in naval fleet building and navigation, first pioneered by the Portuguese. Europeans began to be involved in extensive exploration, coming in contact with Africa, Americas and their prime target Asia. The main targets of the pioneering Portugese and Spanish was to find and alternate trade route for the Indies trade and also promote Christianity to the new lands. As the century unfolded, the search for newer territories to colonize and shortern routes to the exotic land of spices and silk became the initial driving force for the intensive early exploration by the Europeans .

The Renaissance and the Age of Exploration brought on new ideas, technology, and tools that allowed the Europeans to travel across sea. The Europeans traveled to Africa in search of grains, spices, ivory, gold and slaves. Upon further exploration they found China. In China they found what they were searching for, they found silk cloth, spices and goods. The Europeans wanted to gain power by expanding their empire and search for gold. New technology, firepower, greed, and curiosity drove the Europeans to explore western

The desire for new trade routes by the Europeans was one reason the Age of Exploration began. In Document 1 it is written that the Europeans were afraid of the Ottoman Empire due to their rapid expansion and powerful military. This shows that Europe was afraid to challenge them and they were pushed to expand and find other trade routes. Document 2 depicts the power the Ottoman had and the control they held over Mediterranean Sea trade, therefore preventing the Safavid and Europeans from trading. Because of this, Europe

The time period Europeans started to develop officially began in the 15th century and lasted through the 16th century. This period of time symbolizes the time of exploration when Europeans started to explore around the world by land in search of new trading routes, wealth, and knowledge. Many nations were in search of goods, however, the spark for exploration was the curiosity of the new routes for spice and silk exchanges. The impact of the Europeans development would affect the society permanently in the future. Therefore, religion was not the most important factor leading Europe to explore in the 15th and 16th centuries. Instead economics was the most important reason followed by religion and technological advances.

century in which Europeans embarked on extensive overseas expeditions. European nations, such as Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands, participated heavily in global trade and set up many trade colonies and routes. Many people will say that the European’s only reason for exploration was to spread Christianity, obtain gold, and gain glory through their conquests and acquisition of lands. Some people might also say that the Ottomans heavily influenced the Europeans to participate in this period of exploration. Although the goals of “God, gold, and glory” are often associated with the Age of Exploration, the Ottoman Empire had a greater influence on the desire of European states to establish overseas empires and employ mercantilist economy

Europeans had many reasons to explore the world and try to find new land. One of the reasons being technology and knowledge were greater than they had ever been which made it an easier task to explore. Technology gave possibilities of not getting lost as easy, knowing where to head toward, and many others. Cartography, the art and science of map making, was created in the early 1400s. This made maps more relevant and usable. Knowledge grew with the more exploring that happened. The more land that was discovered by explorers, the more accurate the maps got. This gave everyone more knowledge on the rest of the world and also reconsidered the idea of trade routes and how to make them better.

One of the main reasons European Exploration started snowballing is the fall of Constantinople. This reason itself is why European Exploration began. The Ottomans controlled all the sea trade in the eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the rest of North Africa, and the power extended into Europe also. After the fall of the great Ottoman Empire it had sparked curiosity into European explorers to discover new sea routes, lands, and territories. They were preparing for this moment and they took full advantage of it, and that was starting with Portugal. In “Document 3” the map describes “A map of exploration routes coming from Portugal. Rulers of Portugal began to fund voyages of exploration under the rule of Prince Henry, ‘The Navigator’ a nickname earned for his interest in new navigation technologies he brought to Europe from the Arab world.” In the map it had presented the new sea routes around the southernmost tip of Africa because they were attempting to find new routes to Asia. If the fall of Constantinople never happened and they remained with their power, the exploration would have never started up. Europe still would’ve been isolated in the Dark Ages with poverty, death, and overall a corrupt

     The Age of Exploration was a time of struggle and wealth for many European countries. The pursuit of a trade route to the Far East led many countries across the ocean, looking for the great spice cities that were rumored by Marco Polo. These countries knew that whoever found the shortest or best route would become rich, very quickly. Explorers from many European countries embarked on journeys that not even they had any clue where they were going. This search for the Far East led to many discoveries that would otherwise have never been found.