AGE OF DISCOVERY

Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery

Introduction

The so-called Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a historical period that began in the early fifteenth century extending into the early seventeenth century. During this time the ships of Europe sailed the seven seas in search of new partners and trade routes that contribute to the mercantilism of Europe. During these explorations, European nations discovered and mapped lands previously not known. Among the most famous explorers of the Age of Discovery are Christopher Columbus, Basque de Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral, Juan de la Cosa, Bartholomew Diaz, John Cabot, Juan Ponce de León, Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano. Offshore sailing faced with precarious means: they could not accurately determine the length, wooden hulls of the ships were attacked by borers, was inadequate food for long voyages, and hygiene and living conditions on board were bad. However, driven by the economy, and to enhance areas of empires and nations, the men conducted expeditions that broadened the known world by the Europeans.

Discussion

Earlier Works of Geography

A series of European expeditions crossing Eurasia by land in the late Middle Ages were the forerunners of the Age of Exploration. Although the Mongols threatened to plunder Europe also unified much of Eurasia by establishing lines of communication and trade routes between China and the Middle East. Some Europeans took the opportunity to explore the eastern regions. The vast majority of these were Italians as the trade between Europe and the Middle East was virtually under the control of the merchants of the city states of Italy. His close relations with the Middle East Mediterranean aroused considerable commercial interest in the regions were more to the east. The Pope also sent expeditions in hopes of finding converts to Christianity and the mythical kingdom of Prester John (Wiesner, 2003). The Mongol Empire in the fourteenth century, on a map of 1923. He was one of the largest empires in history, inhabited by nearly half the world population at the time. The first of these travelers was Giovanni da Pian del Carpine reaching Mongolia and returned to Europe between 1244 and 1247. However, the most famous being is that of Marco Polo who crossed all East from 1271 to 1295. The ratio of your trip is profusely narrated as The Travels of Marco Polo, a work that was widely disseminated throughout Europe.

These trips did not exert an immediate effect. However, ...