geographical discoveries of the XV and XVI the geographical discoveries of the XV and XVI.
corresponds to a series of geographical exploration made at the beginning of the modern age, that due to economic reasons, ideological and technical prompted the Europeans to discover sea routes and areas distant from their surroundings, which were carried out during XV and XVI centuries especially by the Portuguese and English. BACKGROUND
Between XII and XIV centuries after the Crusades, Christianity experienced major changes: reborn cities and trade grew, Europe came into contact with the land close to Asia and found their products and wealth, the spices that arrived there, perfumes, silk, paper and carpets. Against poverty in Europe, Asia had a lot to offer, and some commercial cities of Italy such as Venice, Genoa, Florence and Pisa began to prosper and expand their fleets.
The Europeans, who knew almost all of Asia, was accustomed, from the twelfth century, products that came from there and was increasingly Estimated spices. These
food served to spice up some dishes do more poorly preserved food. In a cookbook of the time there were plenty pepper, ginger, mint, nutmeg, sage, parsley, cumin, saffron, cloves and anise. Also used to ferment some homemade beverages. Finally, the medicine produced many concoctions with these products. From the thirteenth century, the spice trade was perfectly organized. Most of them, the choicest and appreciated, came from the Far East (Sunda Archipelago, now Indonesia). Trans Through routes land (silk) and sea (the Indian), perfectly organized, came to the eastern Mediterranean spices (Tana, Trebizond, Constantinople, Alexandria), where they were raising their factories European traders, that collected for distribution in the Christian world That was how the Italian cities were introduced in trade with East and, once they controlled, avoided at all costs that they should be made no competition. Even when the interests and monopolies of Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Naples, Sicily, etc.., Could threaten one another, came the confrontation, followed by the collapse of trade promotion and another that took possession markets of the charm. this depended on a single route, so convenient to find a new way to reach India. Originating
FACTORS: FACTOR
POLITICAL HISTORY: The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and the domination of Egypt (Alexandria) soon after, interrupted the trade routes of the Italian merchants of the Mediterranean Sea the Middle East impossible contacts between Europeans and Asians demonstrating the vulnerability of the Christian trade while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. SOCIO POLITICAL
FACTOR: The noble, strong and rich, involved in maritime activities not considered dishonorable. Kings soon made his concerns about the sea, shipbuilding protected, supported the establishment of shipyards and rights and privileges granted to coastal cities, it could not be otherwise unable to occupy the Mediterranean sea routes , left no other choice but to use the Atlantic for such purposes, a situation that left at unbeatable advantage to those nations strategically located in front of this ocean as with Spain and Portugal. Thus, the potential grew naval and utility, both in peace and in war.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR: To go into the ocean and practice sailing on oceans with certain guarantees, was very convenient to have, first of all, a boat wave resistant, strong and brave, Atlantic, and served as the galleys moved by oars, and too low crew aboard the ideal solution would be the caravel. Secondly, it became necessary to study and understand the physical conditions of the sea, winds and currents prevailing in each location to make the most and make more favorable routes. Finally, it was essential to handle all types of instruments that will help guide in the middle of the wide sea, as accurately locate the lands which were discovered and ensure a return to home ports.
The ship was born, and began to sail to 1440. The first innovation introduced is that it was a long boat, hence its speed and maneuverability. Had a ratio of length (length of the building on the main deck) and breadth (wider than a boat) from 3.3 to 3.8. Her hull was very strong and suitable for the violence of the ocean. A second feature relates to the canopy. I developed a lot: increased mast and sail used interchangeably square and triangular or Latino, which won with power and maneuverability. Since the invention of the caravel, the only innovations made for nearly three years refer only to the improvement of the canopy. It was as fast as the main roads plowed and was only displaced by the arrival of steam. Carrying capacity varied considerably. The most commonly used during the XV and XVI ranged from 60 to 100 tons. Between 15 and 30 crew were enough to steer the boat, and some more if they were on a mission of discovery.
A pilot was launched at sea expeditions, he would see to it that no ship missing in instruments such as the marine compass, consisting of a magnetic needle placed in a small box that floated on water and always returned to the northern tip . Also used to use the common quadrant, for the latitude. Less prevalent was the use of the astrolabe and the cross staff, also for the latitude. Tables and calendars, the probe and the bulb or hourglass also missing. With this and a special sense of direction, these men crossed the seas with some confidence and success. COMPANY
Portuguese discoverers
With Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese had started his explorations of the African coast, the Portuguese king, the son of John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, sister of Henry IV of England. Encouraged geographical exploration companies undertaken by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Very young, he participated with his brother Duarte and Peter on an expedition along the coasts lusa North Africa, which ended with the conquest of the city of Ceuta (1415). The following year, he sent Gonzalo Velho to explore the west coast of Africa, and when he returned, Alfonso Beldaya commissioned another trip along the coast. In the range established in a school of seamanship Sagres, in order to train captains and crews in order to Portuguese maritime exploration companies. Its objectives in this regard were basically two: the recovery of African lands south of the Canaries and the search for a way to India via the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Within held companies, it includes the discovery of the island of Madeira (1418), by Juan González Zarco and Tristan Vaz Teixeira, the exploration of the Azores, from 1432 to 1457, and the conquest of Cape Bojador (1434), Rio de Oro (1436), Arguin Island (1443), Senegal (1445) and Gulf of Guinea (1460).
Another important monarch in the process of Portuguese geographical discoveries was John II King of Portugal in 1481, the death of his father, Alfonso V. Subjected to the real aristocracy after hard struggle. Attempted alliance with Castile through the marriage of his son Alfonso to the Princess Elizabeth, future Queen of Castile, but the death of that prevented its implementation. During his reign continued Portuguese colonial expansion was concluded with Castile the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which fixed the limits of the domains of both kingdoms overseas.
Portuguese navigators SOME IMPORTANT: Bartolomé
Days: (1450-1500), Portuguese navigator. It was the first skirted the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. In 1481 he captained one of the ships of the flotilla that King John II of Portugal sent to the Gold Coast of Africa. Five years later, the king put him in charge of an expedition to explore the west coast of Africa, which was organized according to the experience than in 1482 Diogo Cam made and it came to a point far south near Walvis Bay. Dias sailed from Lisbon in August 1487 and in February of 1488 skirted the southern tip of Africa to the estuary of the river that would later be known as the Great Fish. This meant opening a sea route between Europe and the Far East traders and European politicians considered essential to the prosperity of Europe. Basque da Gama was the first to get complete the route to India, the route was not possible without going round the Cape of Good Hope. This will complete the project that began with Henry the Navigator in the early fifteenth century.
On his way back, stopped in the plateaus of the southeast corner of Africa, he called out storms or Cape of Storms, and later King John II of Portugal called Cabo da Boa Esperança, or Cape of Good Hope. Dias explored in total 2,030 km of previously unknown African coast. In December 1488 he returned to Lisbon. In 1500 he sailed on an expedition under the command of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral lands in Brazil. Shortly after perished in a storm, just at the Cape of Good Hope. Basque
Gama: Portuguese Navigator. Following the death of his father, Stephen da Gama, was put in charge of an expedition, by order of Juan II, was go to India along the coasts of Africa. However, the expedition set out ten years later, on July 8, 1497, during the reign of King Manuel the Fortunate, with a staff of four ships and 200 men. During the voyage Basque Gama became the first European who rounded the Cape of Good Hope, arriving on May 1, 1498 to Mozambique and then to Malindi, where the sultan gave him an Arab guide who led him to India, He arrived in May 1498 after more than ten months at sea. In India managed to sign a trade treaty with the prince Zamorin which opened the possibility of the Portuguese monopoly the spice trade, so, back to his country, Basque Gama was appointed Admiral of the Sea of \u200b\u200bIndia. In 1502 he repeated the trip, this time with a fleet of twenty ships, with the purpose of establishing trading posts in India. In this second voyage he discovered the islands admiral, conquered Quiloa, Calicut bombed in retaliation for the murder of forty Portuguese traders and destroyed an Arab-Indian fleet. It also signed a new treaty with the king of Cochin and established factories on the coast of Decan. After a third trip, King John III appointed him governor with the title of Viceroy of the Indies, Count of Videgueyra, just reward for the man who had opened a new path to East that allowed to leave the dangerous land route that Marco Polo discovered years ago.
Pedro Alvarez Cabral. Portuguese navigator. In command of a major expedition into the African coast, sponsored by King Manuel the Great, began his journey in 1500. When he reached a latitude near the Cape of Good Hope, diverted the course of their ships to the southwest and reached a new land he called Santa Cruz (Brazil, year 1500), which took office on behalf of Portugal. From there he returned to the Cape of Good Hope and lost many ships due to a violent storm. Then he went to India and Ceylon, and returned to Lisbon in 1501. In his homeland he was received by the king with a great cold, probably due to the loss of several ships. The disappointment and despondency which caused this lack of enthusiasm after last sacrifice he decided to retire from sailing, and remained in the shadows the rest of his life.
DISCOVERER ENTERPRISE SPANISH
At the end of the fifteenth century, the situation in Spain was particularly favorable to participate in the surveys. The reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, meant to unite the crowns of Castile and Aragon to form a strong policy unit gravitation. Those monarchs subjected to the feudal lords, imposed order and strengthened the monarchy's absolute power. They could also end the fight with the Arabs and enter the realm of Granada (1492), with the latter fulfills one of the most important objectives of Absolutism: A single authority, one culture and one religion.
unified Spain, its power could enter a period of expansion. SOME IMPORTANT
MARINERS IN THE SERVICE OF THE SPANISH CROWN
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). The Genoese navigator in the service of the Catholic Kings. Convinced of the possibility of reaching India through Atlantic Ocean, because according to his calculations, the roundness and size of the Earth would travel shorter and more direct, tried to interest various European crowns in its projects, until in 1492 the Catholic Monarchs finally accepted his proposals. Once signed
capitulations of Santa Fe, that gave Columbus the governor and viceroy of the newly discovered lands, preparations began. With a ship and two ships and a crew recruited by the brothers Pinzon, Palos de Moguer left in August 1492. After a difficult journey, reached the island of San Salvador on October 12, 1492. Columbus thought at first that had reached the East Indies. On that first trip also touched on other territories (Cuba, which he called Juana, the English, etc.).. In 1493 began the return to Spain and was received by the Catholic Kings in Barcelona.
He was awarded the titles of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of the lands discovered. The second trip began on 25 September of that year. Desired arrived at the November 3, played Guadalupe and discovered Puerto Rico. In 1494 he discovered Jamaica and Trinidad in 1495, settling in the English until his return to Spain on June 11, 1496.
asserts his authority by the king, began his third trip to 30 May 1498, arriving back to the English, where he found the colony in the midst of civil war because of the rebellion of Francisco Roldán. In the confused situation, the Catholic Monarchs decided to send Bobadilla, who commanded the Columbus brothers hunt down and sent to Spain. Refurbished
by kings, left again on 11 May 1502, playing Honduras, Panama and Jamaica, but could not arrive at The English, on being banned by the Governor Nicolás Ovando. In Jamaica was isolated for a year, until he finally decided to rescue Ovando. He returned to Spain on November 7, 1504. Columbus was dedicated
then to assert its privileges, and that, while enjoying economic benefits did not enjoy the privileges of admiral and governor of the new lands. The litigation with the Crown was put on hold to place his death in Valladolid.
, Basque Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), English navigator and conquistador, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean. Made several trips to the Caribbean territories participating in its conquest, was able to win the sympathies of the colonists and also got the Viceroy Diego Colón, the highest authority in America, will appoint his lieutenant in the Darien. The king, meanwhile, was named the December 23, 1511 captain and governor Acting Darien (Panama).
In their campaigns of conquest of new lands and alliances or subjugation of the Indians, Balboa heard from the south existence of a large sea and land where gold abounded, perhaps related to the Inca Empire of Peru. Following this news, Balboa organized an expedition of 190 English (among whom was Francisco Pizarro) and 800 Indians who first crossed the Isthmus of Panama. On September 25, 1513 noticed the coveted sea, he called MAR DEL SUR due to the direction taken by the expedition from the point of departure, but was later called Pacific issue Magellan (1520), because of the gentle trade winds that blew it. After taking possession of the sea on behalf of Spain, Balboa and his men returned to Darien (January 1514). Américo Vespucio
, (1454-1512), Italian navigator and explorer in the service of Spain, whose name was used to call the newly discovered continent (America).
Born in the Italian city of Florence in 1454, into a wealthy family near the circle of the Medici, which allowed him to get in touch with important humanists of Renaissance Florence. Remained until 1491 in the service of the Medici.
In 1492 he moved to Spain to represent the commercial interests of this family in Seville, devoted to trade in gold and slaves and supplier of the preparations of the ships on voyages to the New World, he decided to navigation.
Between 1499 and 1502 made several trips to America told in five letters to different recipients. Following the route of Christopher Columbus' voyage, visited the northern coast of South America and came to Cape de la Vela (Venezuela) came to Brazil and along the coast south arrived in Patagonia, near the strait discovered shortly after Fernando of Magellan. And found that the newly discovered lands were not an extension of the Asian peninsula, but a new continent. The news of the discovery of a new continent spread with extraordinary rapidity to the European courts and scholarly circles. The cosmographer Martin Waldseemüller referred in his Cosmographiae introductio, "Introduction to the Latin version of Ptolemy's Geography, prepared in the abbey and published in 1507 - the news of Vespucci. It was decided to name the new continent of America in his honor.
In 1504 he was back in Sevilla and the following year was received by King Ferdinand in Toro (Zamora), which was granted English citizenship. In 1508 he was appointed the first pilot of the House of Trade, by combining them with his indian business, investing their money in a fleet that left the New World.
Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521), Portuguese navigator, with great knowledge of navigation and mapping, started the expedition that gave the first round the world and discovered the southern strait that bears his name. Born near Port around 1480, in a family manor. Educated in the Portuguese court, where he learned geography and navigation, in 1505 embarked on the expedition of Francisco de Almeida to India and there received reports about the Moluccas. Back in Portugal, participated in the North African campaign (1513), where he was wounded.
disgraced the court of Manuel I the Fortunate of Portugal, Magellan reached Seville in 1517 with the cosmographer Rui Faleiro. Convinced that the Moluccas were situated within the English river that had been set by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1491), offered the king of Spain Charles V (Holy Roman V) projects to explore the east to the Portuguese King rejected. His proposal was to reach the Spice Islands by a western route of English jurisdiction, through a narrow passage or through South America, thus avoiding entering the Portuguese dominions. The draft, signed a capitulation on March 22, 1518 in Valladolid, which was appointed captain-general of Magellan Navy and governor of all the lands he found.
On August 10, 1519 Magellan set out from Seville to the Spice Islands with five ships: the Trinidad, flagship, La Concepcion, Juan Sebastian Elcano as master, the San Antonio, Santiago and Victoria, which was the only returning Spain, and about 250 men, which included Antonio de Pigafetta, chronicler of the voyage. For more than a month remained at the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda, and finally the September 20, 1519 Magellan sailed to South America. After obtaining supplies in the archipelago of the Canary Islands and after entering the bay from Rio de Janeiro and explore the estuary of the Plata on March 31, 1520 arrived in the bay of San Julian, where he wintered about five months. Here Magellan had to quell a riot and losing two ships: the Santiago in exploration work and the San Antonio deserted. Started
navigation, Oct. 21 entered the desired strait, which Magellan called All Saints, and went to the Pacific Ocean on 28 November.
climbed by the Chilean coast to be placed on the 32 ° S latitude, from where it veered to the west and entered the Pacific Ocean. Sailed for three months without fresh supplies and water and the crew suffering from scurvy, until January 24, 1521 arrived in the Marianas, which they called Thieves, which is provisioned. Then reached the islands Vizcaya (March 16) in the center of the archipelago of the Philippines, which they called San Lazaro. On the island of Cebu, Magellan established the first English alliance, but when he died during a battle with the Indians on the island of Mactan, on April 27, was unable to complete the feat of the first round the world. The expedition headed to the Moluccas and after staying with a single ship, the Victoria, commanded Elcano, arrived in Spain on September 6, 1522, with 18 survivors and full of spices.
FORMATION OF COLONIAL EMPIRES: RISE OF CONFLICT
The rivalry between Portugal and Spain in the Atlantic Ocean began with the early findings that the Portuguese had done in the western coast of Africa.
First, the objectives of these actions were dominate Portuguese trade with the East and eliminate the economic resources and the religious influence of the Muslims. This mixture of religious strife and trade brought great prestige to Portugal and allowed to obtain, in 1454, Pope Nicholas V, the Bull Romanus Pontifex, which was granted by Portugal, the exclusive domain of the African coast from Cape Bojador to Guinea. Two years later, in 1456 Pope Callistus III, by the Bull Inter Caetera confirmed before granting the Order of Christ (Portuguese military and religious organization, whose mission was to defend the Christian faith and fight Islam), all power, dominance and spiritual jurisdiction on the region reserved for Portugal.
These two Papal Bulls had consequences in the relations between Portugal and Spain: The English who traded in Upper Guinea and the Canary Islands were under severe pressure. The Portuguese were asserting their rights and more than once destroyed the English vessels. This led to the Treaty of Alcazovar (1479), ratified in Toledo (1480). By this Treaty, the English recognized widely for Portugal's monopoly of fishing and maritime traffic along the west coast, whereas the Portuguese recognized English sovereignty in the Canary Islands.
Under this, when Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage, the Catholic Kings were quick to petition the Pope Alexander VI the best right to absolute sovereignty over newly discovered lands.
Alexander VI gave the titles of recognition through the Alexandrine bulls. The first, Inter Caetera (1493), favored the Catholic Kings with all the lands that were discovered sailing westward advance that did not belong to any other Christian prince. The second Inter Caetera
established a dividing line one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde islands, from which were from Spain all land west of the line.
Finally, the Bull Dudum siquidem, Pope Alexander VI extended the concessions made to the English monarchs as they offered "Each and every one of the islands and continents discovered or undiscovered ... sailing or going to the West and even the noon, or are found in both the western and the eastern and exist in India. "
The allusion in the Bull Dudum siquidem to India and the possibilities opened by the English, troubled King John II of Portugal and encouraged him to enter into negotiations with the Catholic Kings. These negotiations were implemented in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), in which it was provided that
the boundary line was extended to 370 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and that any discovered or undiscovered land west of the line belong Spain and those that are in the east to Portugal. Fixed
dispute between Portugal and Spain, each nation tried to take advantage of their position: Portugal ensuring their territories on the African coast to dominate and exert control factories through their sea routes to the East and the English ventured into new discoveries of land as they had secured sovereignty over them was like that when Magellan opened the possibility that the English ships crossing the Pacific Ocean to reach the Indies Eastern, the Portuguese were worried that promotes again negotiations. These were conducted in 1529, when King Charles V of Spain, renounced all rights, actions or dominion, ownership and possession of the Moluccas (located southeast of Asia) in exchange for compensation 350,000 ducats of gold. Also established a new demarcation line was going 298 miles east of the Moluccas that bordered the territories of the English and Portuguese in the Eastern Hemisphere.
