What are the geographical discoveries related to modern times. Great geographical discoveries. Journey of Amerigo Vespucci
Age of the Greats geographical discoveries- the most important stage in the history of mankind. This is a time when the outlines of continents, seas and oceans are becoming more accurate, technical devices are being improved, and the leading countries of that time are sending sailors in search of new rich lands. In this lesson, you will learn about the sea expeditions of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan, as well as the discovery of new lands by them.
background
Among the reasons for the Great geographical discoveries are:
Economic
After the era of the Crusades, Europeans developed strong trade ties with the East. In the East, Europeans bought spices, fabrics, jewelry. In the XV century. overland caravan routes, along which Europeans traded with eastern countries, were captured by the Turks. The task of finding a sea route to India appeared.
Technological
The compass and the astrolabe (an instrument for measuring latitude and longitude) were improved.
New types of ships appeared - caravel, carakka and galleon. They were distinguished by their spaciousness and powerful sailing equipment.
Navigation charts were invented - portolans.
Now Europeans could make not only traditional coastal voyages (i.e., mainly along the coast), but also go far into the open sea.
Events
1445- the expedition organized by Henry the Navigator reached the Green Cape (the western point of Africa). Madeira Island, Canary Islands, part of Azores.
1453- Constantinople is captured by the Turks.
1471 The Portuguese reached the equator for the first time.
1488- Expedition Bartolomeu Dias reached the southernmost point of Africa - the Cape of Good Hope.
1492- Christopher Columbus discovered the islands of San Salvador, Haiti, Cuba in the Caribbean.
1497-1499- Vasco da Gama reached the Indian port of Calicut, rounding Africa. For the first time, a route was opened to the East across the Indian Ocean.
1519- Ferdinand Magellan goes on an expedition in which he discovers the Pacific Ocean. And in 1521 it reaches the Mariana and Philippine Islands.
Members
Rice. 2. Astrolabe ()
Rice. 3. Caravel ()
Successes have also been made in cartography. European cartographers began to draw maps with more accurate outlines of the coasts of Europe, Asia and North America. The Portuguese invented navigational charts. On them, in addition to the outlines of the coast, settlements were depicted, obstacles encountered on the way, as well as the location of ports. These navigation charts were called portolans.
The pioneers were Spaniards and Portuguese. The idea of conquering Africa was born in Portugal. However, the knightly cavalry was helpless in the sands. Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator(Fig. 4) decided to try the sea route along the west coast of Africa. The expeditions he organized discovered the island of Madeira, part of the Azores, the Canary Islands. In 1445, the Portuguese reached the western point of Africa - Cape Verde. Somewhat later, the coast of the Gulf of Guinea was discovered. A large amount of gold and ivory was found there. Hence the name - Gold Coast, Ivory Coast. At the same time, African slaves were discovered, which were traded by local leaders. Portugal became the first European country to sell live goods.
Rice. 4. Henry the Navigator ()
Already after the death of Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese reached the equator in 1471. In 1488 the expedition Bartolomeu Dias reached the southern end of Africa - Cape of Good Hope. Rounding Africa, this expedition entered the Indian Ocean. However, due to the rebellion of the sailors, Bartolomeu Dias was forced to return. His path continued Vasco da Gama (Fig. 5), which in 1497-1499. rounded Africa and after an 8-month voyage arrived in the Indian port of Calicut (Fig. 6).
Rice. 5. Vasco da Gama ()
Rice. 6. The opening of the sea route to India, the route of Vasco da Gama ()
Simultaneously with Portugal, the search for a new sea route to India began Spain, which at that time was ruled Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Christopher Columbus(Fig. 7) proposed a new plan - to reach India, moving west, across the Atlantic Ocean. Christopher Columbus shared the view that the earth is spherical. On August 3, 1492, Columbus on three caravels "Santa Maria", "Nina" and "Pinta" set off from Spain in search of India (Fig. 8). On October 12, 1492, a shot rang out on the Pinta caravel. This was the signal: the sailors had reached the island they named San Salvador, which in translation means "holy savior." Having explored the island, they went south and discovered two more islands: Haiti (then Hispaniola) and the island of Cuba.
Rice. 7. Christopher Columbus ()
Rice. 8. Route of Christopher Columbus ()
The first expedition of Columbus lasted 225 days and discovered caribbean sea. During the next three expeditions, Columbus discovered the coast of Central America and the northern coast of South America. However, the Spanish crown was not satisfied with the amount of gold that entered the country. Soon Columbus was turned away. He died in 1506 in poverty, confident that he had discovered a new sea route to India. The continent discovered by Columbus was originally called West Indies(Western India). Only later the mainland was given the name America.
The rivalry between Spain and Portugal led to the first division of the world in history. IN 1494 was concluded Treaty of Tordesillas, according to which a conditional meridian was drawn along the Atlantic Ocean somewhat west of the Azores. All newly discovered lands and seas to the west of it were to belong to Spain, and to the east to Portugal. However Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world corrected this document.
Back in 1513, the Spaniard Vasco de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. He called it then the South Sea. In the autumn of 1519, on five caravels with a team of 253 sailors, Fernand Magellan (Fig. 9) set off on his journey (Fig. 10). His goal was to find a way across the Atlantic Ocean to the Moluccas (Spice Islands). After a year of travel, Magellan's team entered a narrow strait, which was later named Strait of Magellan. After passing through it, Magellan's team managed to enter the previously unknown ocean. This ocean is called Quiet.
Rice. 9. Ferdinand Magellan ()
Rice. 10. The first round-the-world trip of Ferdinand Magellan ()
In March 1521, Magellan's team reached the Mariana Islands and then landed in the Philippines, where Magellan himself died in a skirmish with the locals. His team managed to reach the Moluccas. Three years later, only one ship with 17 sailors returned home. Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world proved that the Earth is spherical.
European exploration of the New World took the form conquests - conquests. Together with the conquest, the resettlement of colonists from Europe to the New World begins.
The great geographical discoveries changed the picture of the world. First, it has been proven that the Earth is spherical. A new continent, America, was also discovered, as well as a new ocean, the Pacific. The outlines of many continents, seas and oceans have been refined. The great geographical discoveries were the first step towards the creation of a world market. They shifted the trade routes. So, trading cities Venice and Genoa lost their key role in European trade. Their place was taken by ocean ports: Lisbon, London, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Seville. Due to the influx of precious metals into Europe from the New World, a price revolution took place. Prices for precious metals fell, while prices for products and raw materials for production rose.
The great geographical discoveries marked the beginning of the colonial redistribution of the world and the dominance of Europeans in Asia, Africa and America. The exploitation of slave labor and trade with the colonies allowed European trading circles to enrich themselves, which became one of the prerequisites for the formation of capitalism. Also, the colonization of America led to the destruction of the oldest American cultures. The great geographical discoveries were one of the causes of the food revolution in Europe. Previously unknown crops were introduced: corn, tomatoes, cocoa beans, potatoes and tobacco.
Bibliography
- Boytsov, M.A. Magellan's Way: Early Modern Times. History reading book. - M., 2006.
- Vedyushkin V.A., Burin S.N. Textbook on the history of modern times, grade 7. - M., 2013.
- Verlinden C., Mathis G. “Conquerors of America. Columbus, Cortes. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1997.
- Lange P.V. Like the sun ... The life of Ferdinand Magellan and the first circumnavigation of the world. - M.: Progress, 1988. ; Artist
- What discovery is Ferdinand Magellan famous for, and what continent was discovered by Christopher Columbus?
- Do you know any other famous navigators and the territories they discovered?
One of the first long-distance travelers was Afanasy Nikitin, who committed in the 60s of the XV century. travel from Russia (Tver) to India. His path at that time was unusually difficult. He had to endure a number of adventures and dangers. He lived in India for about three years.
On the way back, Afanasy Nikitin went through Persia, crossed the Black Sea and died on the way in Smolensk. Several notebooks were found in his travel bag, in which he kept travel notes. Subsequently, his recordings were published under the title "Journey Beyond the Three Seas". They contain interesting descriptions of his travels and the life of the people of India. Residents of the city of Kalinin (former Tver) erected a monument in memory of their compatriot (Fig. 3).
Finding a sea route to India
Western European merchants sold goods from India with great profit. Under India, people who knew little of geography understood the entire east of Asia, right up to China. For spices, pearls, ivory, fabrics brought from there, they paid in gold. There was little gold in Europe, and goods were very expensive. To the shores of the Mediterranean Sea from India they were delivered by intermediaries - Arab merchants. In the XV century, the Turks seized the lands in the east of the Mediterranean Sea - a huge Turkish Ottoman Empire arose. The Turks did not let trade caravans pass, often robbed them. We needed a convenient sea route from Europe to India, to the countries of the East. The Europeans took up the search for it - primarily the inhabitants of Portugal and Spain.
Portugal And Spain located in the south of Europe, Iberian peninsula. This peninsula is washed by both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. For a long time it was under the rule of the Arabs. In the 15th century, the Arabs were expelled, and the Portuguese, pursuing them in Africa, began to sail off the coast of this continent.
Henry, Prince of Portugal, was nicknamed the Navigator. However, he did not swim anywhere. Heinrich organized sea expeditions, collected information about distant countries, looked for old maps, encouraged the creation of new ones, and founded a nautical school. The Portuguese learned how to build new ships - three-masted caravels. They were light, fast-moving, they could move under sail and with a side, and even with a headwind.
Expedition Bartolomeu Dias
Portuguese expeditions moved along the coast of Africa further and further south. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed to the southern end of Africa. Two of his ships fell into a cruel storm- a storm at sea. A strong wind drove the ships to the rocks. Despite the high waves, Diash turned from the shore into the open sea. For several days he sailed east, but the African coast was not visible. Dias realized that he had circled Africa and entered the Indian Ocean! The rock on which his ships almost crashed was the southern tip of Africa. Dias named her Cape Storms. When the sailors returned to Portugal, the king ordered that the Cape of Storms be renamed Cape of Good Hope, hopes to reach India by sea.
Voyage of Columbus
In the XV century. many sea expeditions were made. The most prominent of these is the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus. In 1492, members of the expedition on three ships sailed from the Iberian Peninsula to look for a sea route to India rich in gold and spices. Convinced of the sphericity of the Earth, Columbus believed that by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean, one could reach the shores of Asia. After a two-month voyage, the ships approached the islands of Central America. Travelers discovered many new lands.
Columbus made three more trips to America, but until the end of his life he was sure that he had visited India, and the islands he discovered are known as the West Indies (West Indian); The indigenous people are called Indians.
In the 19th century one of the republics of South America became known as Colombia.
Journey of John Cabot
The news of the discoveries of new lands by Columbus quickly spread throughout Europe, reached England. This country lies on the British Isles, separated from Europe the English Channel. In 1497, British merchants equipped and sent to the west an expedition of John Cabot, an Italian who had settled in England. The small ship sailed across the Atlantic far north of Columbus' ships. On the way, the sailors encountered huge shoals of cod and herring. Until now, the North Atlantic is the most important area in the world for catching these types of fish. John Cabot discovered the island Newfoundland at North America. Portuguese navigators discovered the cold harsh peninsula labrador. So the Europeans, five hundred years after the Vikings, again saw the North American lands. They were inhabited - American Indians came ashore dressed in animal skins.
Journey of Amerigo Vespucci
All new expeditions went from Spain to the New World. In the hope of getting rich, finding gold, and becoming owners of new lands, Spanish nobles and soldiers went west. Together with them, priests and monks sailed - to convert the Indians to the Christian faith, to increase the wealth of the church. The Italian Amerigo Vespucci was a member of several Spanish and Portuguese expeditions. He compiled a description of the coast of South America. This area was covered with dense tropical forests, in which the brazil tree grew with valuable red wood. Later, they began to call all the Portuguese lands in South America and the huge country that arose on them - Brazil.
The Portuguese opened a convenient bay, where, as it seemed to them incorrectly, the mouth of a large river was located. It was in January, and the place was called Rio de Janeiro - "January River". Now here is the largest city in Brazil.
Amerigo Vespucci wrote to Europe that the newly discovered lands most likely have nothing to do with Asia and represent New World. On European maps compiled during the first voyages across the Atlantic, they are called the land of Amerigo. This name was gradually assigned to the two huge mothers of the New World - North America and South America.
John Cabot's expedition was funded by patron Richard America. There is a widespread belief that the metric was named after him, while Vespucci had already taken his name from the name of the continent.
Expeditions of Vasco da Gama
First expedition (1497-1499)
In 1497, a Portuguese expedition of four ships led by Vasco da Gama went to look for a way to India. The ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope, turned north and sailed along the unknown eastern berets of Africa. Unknown to the Europeans, but not to the Arabs, who had commercial and military settlements on the shores. Taking on board an Arab pilot - a sea guide, Vasco da Gama sailed with him across the Indian Ocean, and then across the Arabian Sea to India. The Portuguese reached its western shores and safely returned to their homeland in 1499 with a cargo of spices and jewelry. The sea route from Europe to India was opened. It was found that the Atlantic and Indian oceans are connected to each other, the coasts of Africa, the island of Madagascar, were mapped.
Discovery of the Pacific Ocean (Vasco Balboa)
First trip around the world (Magellan)
From 1519 to 1522 expedition Fernando Magellan made the first circumnavigation of the world. The crew of 265 people on 5 ships set off from Spain to South America. Having rounded it, the ships entered the ocean, which Magellan called the Pacific. Swimming continued in incredibly difficult conditions.
On the islands off the coast of Southeast Azin, Magellan intervened in the feuds of the local authorities and died in one of the clashes with the locals. Only in 1522, 18 people on one ship returned to their homeland.
Journey of Magellan greatest event 16th century The expedition, having gone west, returned back from the east. This journey established the existence of a single World Ocean; it had great importance for further development of knowledge about the Earth.
Second trip around the world (Drake)
The second circumnavigation of the world was made by an English pirate Francis Drake in 1577-1580. Drake was proud that, unlike Magellan, he managed not only to start, but also to complete the voyage himself. In the XVI-XVII centuries, pirates, among whom there were many English and French, robbed Spanish ships, hurrying from America to Europe with expensive cargo. Pirates sometimes shared part of the stolen wealth with the English kings, in exchange for rewards and patronage.
Drake's small ship, the Golden Hind, was blown south of the Strait of Magellan by a storm. The open sea lay before him. Drake realized that South America was over. Subsequently, the widest and deepest strait in the world between South America and Antarctica was named Drake Passage.
Having plundered the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of South and Central America, Drake was afraid to go back the old way, through the Strait of Magellan, where armed and angry Spaniards could wait for him. He decided to bypass North America from the north, and when this failed, he returned to England through the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, completely circumnavigating the globe.
The search for the southern mainland
Discovery of Oceania
The Portuguese sailed to India and to the spice islands around the African mainland. Spanish ships were looking for ways to Asia, sailing from the western coast of America. The sailors crossed the Pacific Ocean, discovering the islands along the way, which received the name of the islands Oceania. Navigators often kept their discoveries secret. Captain Torres discovered the strait between the island of New Guinea and south of Australia. Geographic discovery Torres Strait classified from the sailors of other countries by the Spanish authorities.
Discovery of Australia (Janszon)
Portuguese and Dutch sailors in the late 16th and early 17th centuries landed on the shores of northern and western Australia, replenishing their water and food supplies. At the same time, they did not think that they were setting foot on the coast of a new mainland. So, the Dutchman Janszon discovered the northern coast of Australia, but, knowing nothing about the Torres Strait, he believed that this was part of the island of New Guinea. In the 17th century, the small European country of Holland ( Netherlands), lying in Europe on the coast North Sea, became a strong maritime power. Dutch ships sailed across the Indian Ocean to sunda islands. Big Java island became the center of the Dutch colonies.
Discovering New Zealand (Abel Tasman)
Europeans persistently searched for the southern mainland, shown on the ancient map of Ptolemy. In 1642, the Dutch captain Abel Tasman was sent by the Governor of Java to search for the South Land. The sailor dared to woo the daughter of the governor, and he considered it best to send him on a dangerous voyage. Tasman sailed far south, discovered a large island south of Australia, which was later named Tasmania. He described the entire northern coast of Australia, the smallest continent of the Earth, first named New Holland. Tasman sailed along for the first time New Zealand, considering its shores to be the shores of the unknown southern mainland. The Dutch tried to keep these discoveries secret so that other countries would not seize the newly discovered lands.
Conquest of Siberia
The Dutch scientist Bernhardus Varenius in the 17th century in his work “General Geography” for the first time singled out geography from the system of knowledge about the Earth, dividing it into general and regional. Varenius summed up the scientific results of the Great geographical discoveries of the 15th-16th centuries, which laid the foundation for the modern view of the placement of continents and oceans on our planet. For the first time, he proposed to distinguish between five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and South Arctic.
Great geographical discoveries were prepared development of shipbuilding. A new type of ships has appeared - caravel. These ships could go under sail and against the wind, in addition, being small in size, they were also very roomy. Appeared astrolabe, thanks to which it was possible to establish the latitude of the location of the vessel, a compass.
Improved firearms. There was a way to preserve meat (by salting), which made it possible for sailors not to depend on trade, making long voyages.
Navigators, merchants, politicians and scientists of this era were based on the concept of a single world ocean. The idea of the World Ocean becomes a sacred and church tradition, becoming part of the religious worldview.
There were ideas that sailing from Europe to Asia in a westerly direction was possible. Cartography developed. In 1492 a German geographer Martin Beheim created a large globe and presented it to his hometown of Nuremberg. This globe is still the oldest that has come down to us and is fully preserved.
The first European country to actively embark on long-distance travel and the discovery of new lands was Portugal. After Portugal managed to separate from Spain and decided by the middle of the XIII century. its borders, it turned out to be completely cut off and isolated from Europe. Therefore, the government of this country provided patronage to sea travel.
Discoveries and conquests of Portugal during the Age of Discovery:
Henry the Navigator. A large fleet has been built. Exploring the West Coast of Africa. The Azores and Canary Islands were discovered. Creation of a caravel.
The case begun by Henry the Navigator was continued by another Portuguese traveler Bartalameo Dias. In 1487, he undertook a sea expedition along the western coast of Africa and reached its southern tip, which he called the Cape of Good Hope.
While Spain continued its sea voyages to the west in search of India, Portugal did not abandon its attempts to reach India by the east.
In the summer of 1497, the Portuguese king Manuele I appointed one of the courtiers, a representative of an old noble family, to lead the expedition to India. Vasco da Gama.
The expedition passed along the western coast of Africa, then deviated to the southwest and went in a large arc to the Cape of Good Hope and, having rounded Africa, went further (now to the north) along the eastern coast of Africa to the equator.
Moving along the East African coast, the ships tried not to lose sight of the land. In Port Malindi Vasco da Gama hired an Arab pilot who led the Portuguese to India.
In August 1498, the expedition led by Vasco da Gamma set off on the return journey, and in July 1499 the ships entered the harbor of Lisbon. Portugal triumphed. Vasco da Gama was given the title of Don and also the title of Admiral of the Indian Sea. At the age of 65 (1524) he died in the city of Cochin in southern India.
The Portuguese sought to capture not so much vast territories as strategically important points that gave them the opportunity to control trade routes.
Discoveries and conquests of Spain during the Age of Discovery:
In the second half of the XV century. there was a union of the two largest states of the Iberian Peninsula - Castile and Aragon, which led to the creation of the Spanish monarchy. Spanish troops began to liberate the lands captured by the Arabs as early as 711. The last region liberated from the Arabs in 1492 was Granada. After that, Spain became the most powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula and could no longer put up with the dominance of the Portuguese at sea. The desire for leadership pushed the royal nobility to expand their territory, extract gold and capture slaves. But navigation and shipbuilding in Spain was poorly developed. Therefore, the Spanish monarchs resorted to the services of sailors from other countries. One of these sailors was an Italian Christopher Columbus.
Columbus offered his services to the kings of Portugal and Spain several times. Only in 1492 did he receive consent and funding. The journey began on August 3, 1492 from Seville. First, the ships reached the Canary Islands, and from there they headed due west into the open ocean and reached land on October 12 of the same year. It was one of the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea, which the sailors, exhausted by a long voyage, called "San Salvador", which means "holy savior".
Continuing their navigation, the ships turned south and on October 25, 1492 reached the island of Cuba. Further, Columbus sent his ships along the coast of this island, turning east. He considered that this was not an island, but part of a large continent. All members of the expedition were sure that they had reached the shores of Japan, China or India. Conventionally, they called the open lands West Indies, and the locals - Indians.
Passing along the coast of Cuba and the island of Haiti, he turned back. In the spring of 1493 the travelers returned to Spain in triumph. For this journey, Columbus was granted a personal coat of arms and was awarded the rank of admiral.
After that, in 1493, 1498 and 1504, Columbus made three more trips, discovered many islands in the West Indies, explored the coast of Central America. But until the end of his life he was sure that he had reached Asia.
In subsequent years, the explorer Amerigo Vespucci proved that the lands were a new continent, and his name was soon attached to these lands - America.
In 1519-1522. - first circumnavigation Ferdinand Magellan. It was the first trip around the world in history that proved the Earth's sphericity. The great geographical discoveries contributed not only to the formation of the world market, but also to the development of international and cultural relations, the formation of permanent water and sea routes, which later became tourist routes.
In the second half of the XVI century. for leading roles in sea voyages out Holland and England.
Travels of James Cook. The task of the middle of the XVIII century. - search for the southern mainland. 1768-1771 - the first expedition. Explored New Zealand, proved the existence of a strait between the North and South Islands (Cook Strait). Opened Big barrier reef and the east coast of Australia. Having explored the Torres Strait, he proved that New Guinea is an island. A rich botanical collection has been collected. 1772-1775 - the second expedition. Search for the Southern Continent (71 S). He proved that at 40-60 s. there is no land. A number of islands in Polynesia have been discovered. Easter Island. New Caledonia. 1776-1779 - the third journey. The goal is to find a northwestern path. He discovered the Hawaiian Islands, explored the coast of Alaska (Cook Inlet). Passed the Bering Strait, but the ice forced to turn back. In a clash with the Hawaiian natives, J. Cook died.
Thus, many lands in the Pacific Ocean were discovered during this period. Compiled detailed maps new lands. The richest scientific collection is collected. An example of travel for scientific purposes.
It is of great importance in the history of mankind. Most familiar goods and foodstuffs simply would not exist in our market today without these two centuries.
background
The Age of Discovery refers to the period from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century AD. The term came about because of the active exploration and expansion that took place over two hundred years. At this time, the countries of Western Europe and the Moscow kingdom significantly expanded their possessions by including new territories.
Sometimes lands were bought, less often they simply settled down, more often they had to be conquered.
Today, scholars believe that the main reason that caused the surge of such expeditions was the rivalry in finding a shortcut to India. At the end of the Middle Ages in the countries Western Europe it was widely believed that this is a very rich state.
After the Portuguese began to bring spices, gold, fabrics and jewelry from there, Castile, France and other countries began to look for alternative routes. Crusades no longer brought due financial satisfaction, so there was a need to open new markets.
Portuguese expeditions
As we said earlier, the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries began with the first expeditions of the Portuguese. They, exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa, reached the Cape of Good Hope and ended up in the Indian Ocean. So the sea route to India was opened.
Prior to this, several important events, which led to such an expedition. In 1453 Constantinople fell. Muslims captured one of the most important Christian shrines. From now on, the way was blocked for European merchants to the east - to China and India.
But without the ambitions of the Portuguese crown, perhaps the era of great geographical discoveries would not have begun. King Afonso V began searching for Christian states in southern Africa. At that time, there was an opinion that beyond the lands of Muslims, beyond Morocco, forgotten Christian peoples begin.
So the islands of Cape Verde were discovered in 1456, and a decade later they began to explore the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Today there is the Ivory Coast.
1488 marked the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Storms (later renamed the Cape of Good Hope by the King) and anchored on the Pacific coast.
Thus, a bypass route to India was opened. The only problem for the Portuguese was that the journey took a year. For the rest of the monarchs, the discovery became a thorn in the side, since, according to the papal bull, it was Portugal that monopolized it.
Discovery of America
Many believe that the Age of Discovery began with the discovery of America. However, this was already the second stage.
The fifteenth century was a rather difficult stage for the two parts of modern Spain. Then they were separate kingdoms - Castile and Aragon. The first, in particular, at that time was the most powerful Mediterranean monarchy. It included the territories of southern France, southern Italy, several islands and part of the coast of North Africa.
However, the process of reconquista and the war with the Arabs significantly removed the country from geographical research. The main reason that the Castilians began to finance Christopher Columbus was the confrontation with Portugal that had begun. This country, due to the opening of the route to India, received a monopoly on maritime trade.
In addition, there was a skirmish over the Canary Islands.
By the time Columbus was tired of persuading the Portuguese to equip an expedition, Castile was ready for such an adventure.
Three caravels reached Caribbean. During the first campaign, San Salvador, part of Haiti and Cuba were discovered. Later, several ships of workers and soldiers were transported. Initial plans for mountains of gold failed. Therefore, the systematic colonization of the population began. But we will talk about this later, when we talk about the conquistadors.
Indian Ocean
After the return of the first expedition of Columbus, the diplomatic solution of the division of spheres of influence begins. To avoid conflict, the Pope issues a document that defines the Portuguese and Spanish possessions. But Juan II was dissatisfied with the decree. According to the bull, he was losing the newly discovered lands of Brazil, which were then considered the island of Vera Cruz.
Therefore, in 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between the Castilian and Portuguese crowns. The frontier was two hundred and seventy leagues from Cape Verde. Everything that was to the east went to Portugal, to the west - to Spain.
The era of great geographical discoveries continued with expeditions in the Indian Ocean. In May 1498 Vasco da Gama's ships reached the southwestern coast of India. Today it is the state of Kerala.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka were discovered. The Portuguese gradually developed new markets.
Pacific Ocean
As we mentioned earlier, the era of great geographical discoveries began with the search for a sea route to India. However, after the ships of Vasco da Gama reached its coast, European expansion began to the countries of the Far East.
Here, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese discovered the markets of the Philippines, China and Japan.
At the other end of the Pacific Ocean at this time, Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and becomes the first Spaniard to see "another sea."
The next inevitable step was the development of new spaces, which led to the first circumnavigation of the Magellan expedition in 1519-1522.
conquistadors
The navigators of the era of great geographical discoveries were not only engaged in the development of new lands. Often the pioneers were followed by waves of adventurers, entrepreneurs, immigrants in search of a better life.
After Christopher Columbus first set foot on the coast of one of the Caribbean islands, in New World thousands of people crossed. The main reason was the misconception that they had reached India. But after the expectations of the treasures did not come true, the Europeans began to colonize the territories.
Juan de León, setting out from Costa Rica, discovered the coast of Florida in 1508. Hernán Cortes, on the orders of Velazquez, left Santiago de Cuba, where he was mayor, with a flotilla of eleven ships and five hundred soldiers. He needed to conquer the natives of Yucatan. There, as it turned out, there were two fairly powerful states - the Aztec and Mayan empires.
In August 1521, Cortes captures Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs, and renames it Mexico City. From now on, the empire became part of Spain.
New trade routes
The Age of Discovery presented Western Europe with unexpected economic opportunities. New sales markets were opened, territories appeared from where treasures and slaves were imported for next to nothing.
Colonization of the western and eastern coasts of Africa, the Asian coast indian ocean and the Pacific territories allowed the once small states to become world empires.
Open to European traders Japan, Philippines, China. The Portuguese even got their first colony there - Macau.
But the most important thing was that in the course of expansion to the west and east, the expeditions began to meet. Ships sailing from present-day Chile reached the coasts of Indonesia and the Philippines.
Thus, it was finally proved that our planet has the shape of a ball.
Gradually, sailors mastered the movement of the trade winds, the Gulf Stream. New models of ships appeared. As a result of colonization, plantation farms were formed, where they used the labor of slaves.
Australia
The era of great geographical discoveries was marked not only by the search for a way to India. In short, humanity began to get acquainted with the planet. When most of the coasts became known, there was only one question left. What lurks in the south so massive that the northern continents do not outweigh it?
According to Aristotle, there was a certain continent - incognita terra australis ("unknown southern land").
After several erroneous reports, finally in 1603 the Dutchman Janszon landed in present-day Queensland.
And in the forties of the seventeenth century, Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania and New Zealand.
Conquest of Siberia
The era of great geographical discoveries was marked not only by the exploration of America, Africa and Australia. The table of trophies and the map of Baikal's environs speak of important discoveries made by Russian Cossacks.
So, in 1577, the ataman Yermak, who was financed by the Stroganovs, went to the east of Siberia. During the campaign, he inflicts a heavy defeat on the Siberian Khan Kuchum, but eventually dies in one of the battles.
However, his work was not forgotten. Since the seventeenth century, after the end of the Time of Troubles, systematic colonization of these lands begins.
The Yenisei is being explored. Lena, Angara. In 1632 Yakutsk was founded. Subsequently, it will become the most important transit point on the way to the east.
In 1639, the expedition of Ivan Moskvitin reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Kamchatka began to develop only in the eighteenth century.
The results of the era of the great geographical discoveries
The importance of the era of the great geographical discoveries is difficult to overestimate.
First, there was a revolution in food. Plants such as corn, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, pineapples and others came to Western Europe. There is a culture of drinking coffee and tea, people are attached to smoking.
Precious metals from the New World quickly flooded the markets of "old Europe". Along with the advent a large number colonies, the era of imperialism begins.
In the countries of Western Europe, there is a decline of some trading houses and the rise of others. The Netherlands owes its rise to the era of geographical discoveries. Antwerp in the sixteenth century became the main transshipment port on the route of goods from Asia and America to other European countries.
Thus, in this article we have dealt with the course of geographical discoveries for two hundred years. We talked about different directions of expeditions, learned the names of famous sailors, as well as the time of discovery of some coasts and islands.
Good luck and new discoveries to you, dear readers!
People of the Renaissance type were distinguished by their willingness to take on the most difficult tasks. For Europeans, with the fall of Byzantium in 1453, the problem arose of finding new routes to the East, to China and India, since the direct road was blocked by the Turks.
The Europeans began to look for a sea route. This became possible with the advent of the compass in Europe, the creation of new sails that made it possible to tack and sail against the wind. The creation of mechanical clocks was of great importance, which influenced everyday life, the organization of production, scientific experiments and observations, made it possible to navigate in time and appreciate it.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus, a Genoese in the Spanish service, based on his calculations of the "wind rose" (the prevailing wind direction) at different times of the year, with the support of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon on the Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina caravels "reached the shores of America and returned back.
The name of Columbus is one of the countries of Latin America - the Republic of Colombia. Columbus erected a number of monuments. On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, a television series was filmed about the life of the great pioneer. Many historians consider the discovery of America the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind and, rounding off, count back to 1500 and after 1500. The expression "discover America" is ironically widely used in everyday speech. The essence of the irony is that in its significance any other discovery is inferior to the accomplishment of Columbus.
In the shadow of Christopher Columbus is another navigator, the chief navigator of Spain, Amerigo Vespucci. He jointly A. Ojeda discovered (1499-1500) 1600 km of the northern and 200 km of the eastern coast of South America, the Gulf of Venezuela and a number of the Lesser Antilles. He independently discovered and mapped the Amazon Delta, the Guiana Current, the northern shores of South America (1500 km) and the Brazilian Highlands. A. Vespucci suggested calling the southern transatlantic continent the New World. Ho Lorraine cartographer M. Waldseemuller in 1507 named the mainland America in honor of Vespucci, and in 1538 this name was extended to North America.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMB (1451-1506), navigator. Led four Spanish expeditions to find the shortest route to India (1492-1493, 1493-1496, 1498-1500, 1502-1504). The official date of the discovery of America is October 12, 1492, when the ships of Columbus reached Samana Island (Bahamas). Columbus discovered Sargasso and caribbean, all the Greater Antilles, several Lesser Antilles and the Bahamas, a small (150 km) section of the South and part (1700 km) of the coast of Central America.
In 1519, the Portuguese Magellan, on behalf of the Spanish king, made the first circumnavigation of the world. He discovered the strait separating the mainland of South America from Tierra del Fuego, called the Strait of Magellan. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, reached the Philippine Islands, where he died in battle with the natives. In September 1522, 16 travelers out of 234 returned to Spain. The next trip around the world in 1577-1580. made by the Englishman Francis Drake, who began as a successful pirate. He received from the queen one thousand pounds sterling and full freedom of action (carte blanche), including the robbery of oncoming ships. During his journey, he discovered a strait 460 long and 1,120 kilometers wide between the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the South Shetland Islands, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and named after him. The Queen received £600,000 of looted treasure (two annual treasury incomes). Myself Francis Drake can serve as a symbol of a new era. He died a Vice Admiral, Member of Parliament, Knight and national hero, since in 1588 he actually commanded the English fleet, which defeated the Spanish "Invincible Armada". B 1597-1598 The Portuguese Vasco da Gama circled Africa from the south (Cape of Good Hope) and reached India. B 18th century Australia was discovered.
The great geographical discoveries to a great extent stimulated the development of capitalist relations, the processes of initial capitalist accumulation, the formation of a single world economy.
The result of the influx of huge amounts of gold and silver from the newly discovered territories was only at first the strengthening of the states that equipped the pioneers. Soon Europe was struck by a "revolution of prices", or rather their growth in most industrial and food products. This, in turn, led to the ruin of social strata with fixed incomes, which did not have the resources to maneuver.
The impoverishment of nobles, peasants, artisans was accompanied by the enrichment of industrialists, owners of manufactories and merchants.
The great geographical discoveries stimulated the development of commodity-money relations. In European states, credit is being developed, the monetary system is being transformed (trade in securities is emerging), commodity and stock exchanges are being created, and merchant and usurer's capital is developing.
An important source of accumulation of funds is the expansion of the scale of forced labor. In England, due to the growing demand for wool, the oppression of the peasantry continued. The peasants were deprived of land, which was fenced off for grazing sheep. The peasants were left without a livelihood, sold their labor for food or perished. The statesman and philosopher Thomas Mopy owns the words that "sheep eat people." By the middle of the XVIII century. the peasantry as a class disappeared in England. Against ruined, unfortunate people in 1547, the "Statute against vagabonds and beggars" was adopted. For the theft of a thing that cost as much as a pig, the death penalty was due by hanging. People who avoided work were flogged and shackled. For repeated unauthorized departure from work, they were turned into life-long slaves and branded. According to some reports, under Henry VIII (ruled 1509-1547) 72 thousand people were executed, and during the reign of his daughter Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603) over 89 thousand people. For the third attempt to leave the place of forced labor, they were executed as state criminals. Ruined peasants and artisans joined the growing ranks of the English working class.
Even worse was the situation of the population in the colonies. The Spaniards and the Portuguese ruled in Central America. In 1607, the first colony in North America, Virginia, was founded. Not only colonists went to new lands, but black slaves were also exported. In 1517, Emperor Charles V officially approved human trafficking. In 1562, the British began to trade in slaves in America. From the middle of the XVII century. The slave trade reached a terrifying scale. According to historians, in the XV-XIX centuries. Slave traders took 80 million people out of Africa. The fact is that the Indians perished en masse at the hands of the conquerors both in armed conflicts and in hard work, for which they were physically insufficiently prepared. Christian morality was quite reconciled to the extermination of millions of Indians and the exportation of millions of Africans to work in the American possessions of European monopolies. The plunder of native territories, destruction and the most cruel exploitation, the sweat and blood of the colonies were important sources of the primitive accumulation of capital, the progress of European states.
European countries in their colonies conducted a similar economic policy. Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, England initially transferred time-tested feudal structures to their colonial possessions. Plantation farms were created in the colonies. They worked for the external market, but with the use of semi-slave labor of the native population.
The economically growing bourgeoisie needed a strong state that could provide for the diverse interests of rich people. This type of state becomes an absolute monarchy. The monarchs, through a system of taxation and loans, supported the development of manufactory production, especially related to meeting the needs of the army and the court. The transfer of the rights to collect state taxes to private individuals (farming system) is becoming widespread, which has led to the emergence of financiers. Trading companies needed diplomatic, military and financial support. So, in England in the middle of the XVI century. Russian (Moscow), Eastern, Levantine, Guinean, East Indian and other leaders of trade and colonial expansion arose. The help of the state was required by the owners of manufactories in maintaining order in production, in providing enterprises with cheap labor.
B XVI century. in relation to Europe, one can speak of several large forces that had independent interests. These are: the weakening feudal class; rapidly growing bourgeoisie; masses of ordinary workers and the Catholic Church. It would not be an exaggeration to say that in the context of significant socio-economic changes, the latter caused general irritation.
