Age of Exploration and Discovery in the Renaissance

1. Age of Exploration and Discovery in the Renaissance New Empires in the East and West

2. On the Brink of a New World • Those who had gone before…MAYBE • Magical Kingdom of Prester John (12th century tale that a Christian kingdom existed in the East) • Travelogues of Marco Polo (13TH century - Asia) • The Travels of John Mandeville (14th century – Supposed adventures in the East) • Motives: God, Glory, Gold • Economic motives • Access to the East – spices, silk, coffee • The New World of the West – gold, silver, coffee, sugar, tobacco • National and personal pride/fame • Religious Zeal • Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans,

3. Means • Centralization of political authority • Maps • new maps – more advanced cartography • Ships and Sailing • Naval technology – compass, astrolabe, back-staff, lateen (triangular) sail coupled with square sail • Increased size and structure of ships • Knowledge of wind patterns

4. Ptolemy’s World Map ca. 150 A.D.

5. Ortelius - 1579

6. Mercator – 1596

7. A Seventeenth-Century World Map

8. Sundial & Compass

9. Mariner’s Astrolabe

10. Back-Staff Cross-Staff

12. The Development of a Portuguese Maritime Empire • In Search of Spices • Travel the coast of Africa searching for all-water route • 1511 – Albuquerque wants to control Malacca = destroy Arab trade & provide a way station on route to Moluccas (Spice Islands) • Reasons for Success • Excellent naval technology • More advanced weaponry (gun ships) • Unable to maintain long-term empire abroad • Lacked the power as a European nation • Lacked the population necessary to expand abroad • Lacked the desire to colonize Asia

13. So why was Spain able to Succeed?

14. Map 14.1: Discoveries and Possessions in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) – decreed by Spanish pope Alexander VI, that all trade to the west go to Spain and to the east to Portugal.

15. Slaughter of the Natives

16. The Spanish Empire in the New World • Administration of the Spanish Empire • Encomienda – natives = subjects of Castile (taxed and put to work) to be protected, paid and spiritually supervised – instead they were exploited and abused • Anton Montecino and Bartholome las Casas decry abuse • Encomienda abolished in 1542!! • Viceroys &– chief civil and military officer to the king (in Mexico City and Lima) • audiencias – advisory group that also functioned as supreme judicial body • The Church – Spanish monarchs allowed to appoint bishops & clergy, build churches, collect fees, supervise religious orders in New World; Spanish Inquisition in Peru (1570) and Mexico (1571)

17. Consequences: intended or otherwise • In your opinion, in what way(s) did exploration of 15th and 16th centuries impact the conquerors and the conquered the most

18. Price Revolution (aka Inflation) • Price revolution (a very slow “revolution”) • rise in prices = fall in value of currency Causes for the Price Revolution • “Bullionism” influx of gold & silver bullion, provided primarily by Spain • Increase in population also increases demand for land and food = higher prices • Who suffers from higher prices? • Peasant and laborer wages rose the least = drop in standard of living • Some governments – excessive borrowing from bankers = new and higher taxes • Who benefits? • Landowners and Entrepreneurs profit from higher rents, higher prices, bigger markets, and cheap labor costs • Increased Social Tension • Continuing cracks in breakdown of feudal society; clergy vs. laity, nobility vs. peasantry, urban elite vs. guilds/artisans