Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
J
400 l
A
433 l
á533
Voya§e§ of t}íscovery
In the late 1400s and l500s, Europeans set out
to explore the oceans. Building stronger ships
capable of longer voyages, they went in search
of trade, new lands and treasure.
When the Byzantine empire fell to the Ottoman
Turks in 1453, the old trade links by land between
Europe and Asia were cut. How would Europeans
get the spices from Asia that were essential to flavour their food? A Phili| II became king of
SPain in 1556 and ruled until
To find new routes to the spice-producing islands and out of 1598. A deuout Catholic, he
curiosiry and the spirit of adventure, Europeans set sail. encouraged his sailors and soldiers
The Portuguese were the first to go exploring. The Portuguese to exPlore and Pfunder, and,
conuert to Christianit1 the
prince, Henry the Naügator, took a keen interest in shipbuilding "heathen" PeoPles thq conquered.
and naügation. He directed Portuguese sailors west into the During his reign, ouerseas trade
Atlanúc and south to explore the west coast of Africa, where they and conquests ltrought fabulous
wealth to Spain. He worked
set up forts and traded in gold and ivory. Spanish, French, Dutch
incredibly hard, alone in an ffice
and English sailors followed. Instead of sailing east, some sailed in his huge Palace El Escorial
west hoping to flnd a route to India. One famous voyage was (built 1563-1584).
made by Christopher Columbus, the first 15th century
explorer to cross the Atlantic and return. Portugal and
Spain began to settle and plunder the Americas,
dividing it between them by treaty. By 1517 the
Portuguese had reached China and nearly 30 years later
they arrived inJapan. &"
.é,F
PAclFlc ocEAN
cross-staff
Astrolabe
Compass
1I2
l
J
ó00 l
Á
ó33
J
ő6 l
Á
700
F.rlropc to \sia.
4 The aoyages of Magellan,
Columbus and Da Gama
reuealecJ to EuroPeans thtú the
tuorlrl uvts lurger than tt nricnl
Cape oí Hope geogra|lhns harl beliaud. They
sailed ac,ross oceans and lanr]erl
on coníinent.s unhnolun to
earl)er EuroPeans.
=%s*É*@qH
13