SOCIAL SCIENCES 2º ESO UNIT 8: THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

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1 SOCIAL SCIENCES 2º ESO UNIT 8: THE AGE OF EXPLORATION THE KNOWN WORLD IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY In the Middle Ages European trade with the East (silk, spices and other luxury goods) was done along the famous Silk Road from Constantinople overland through Asia this was the route taken by Marco Polo in the 13th century. However, in 1459 the Turks conquered Constantinople and the traditional trade routes were cut. The mid to late 15th century in Europe introduced a great age of travel and exchange, called the Age of Exploration and Discovery. In the two centuries that followed, European merchants and explorers travelled the world in search of goods and lands. Also, the wish to spread Christianity to newly-discovered territories should not be underestimated. The Portuguese and the Spanish were the earliest adventurers, soon followed by the British, French and Dutch; they wanted to acquire new lands and riches in their quest to become the supreme European power. It was a time of global expansion. The interest in travelling beyond their own territory came from a change in thinking by Europeans. They began looking beyond their familiar lands and thought about the benefits of new commerce and territorial expansion. New ideas and philosophies were circulating in Europe and a curiosity for new knowledge and new experience along with the promise of enormous riches persuaded monarchs of Europe, like Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, to finance exploration. Famous European explorers that contributed to the changing world map included Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, Hernando Cortes, John Cabot and Samuel de Champlain, among others. 1

2 The Portuguese were the first to send explorers to the East in search of spices and goods unavailable in Europe and as a result of this effort became a great sea-faring empire based on trade. Bartholomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama were the first Portuguese explorers to round Africa s Cape of Good Hope in voyages that returned to Portugal loaded with foreign goods. Vasco da Gama, c , Portuguese navigator, the first European to journey by sea to India. His historic voyage ( ) was made at the order of King Manuel I. With four ships, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, passed the easternmost point reached by Bartholomeu Dias in 1488, continued up the east coast of Africa to Malindi, and sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calicut. This voyage opened up a way for Europe to reach the wealth of the Indies, and out of it grew the Portuguese Empire. Immediately Portugal gained great riches from the spice trade. Gama dictated the instructions for Cabral's voyage ( ) to India, and in 1502 he himself led a fleet of 20 ships on his second India voyage. With this force he attempted to establish Portuguese power in Indian waters and tried to secure the submission of a number of chiefs on the African coast. He was harsh in his methods and was not as good an administrator as many of the Portuguese captains who later went to the East. In 1524 he was sent back to India as viceroy, but he died soon after his arrival. Gama's voyage is the subject of Camoens's epic poem The Lusiads. FIND OUT: 1. Write a short biography of Prince Henry the Navigator. The following website may help: 2. What is a caravel? Find out basic information about the caravel and its importance in this age of exploration What is an astrolabe? 4. What is a compass? A CARAVEL 2

3 The Spanish also began explorations in their search for new lands that gave them a different form of wealth through the discovery and mining of gold and silver. The Spanish also were looking for routes to the East but discovered, instead, the lands of the New World. Christopher Columbus was commissioned by the Spanish monarchs, Isabella I and Ferdinand V, to sail East to India via a Western route. He discovered for the Europeans many of the Caribbean islands and on one of his last voyages touched Panama. Later Spanish explorers such as Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernando de Soto, Juan Ponce de Leon and Francisco Pizarro would expand upon his initial explorations and eventually open the lands of North and South America to Spanish colonization. FIND OUT ABOUT CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND DO THE QUIZ ON THIS BBC WEBSITE: Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus The French, the British and the Dutch entered the race of discovery soon afterwards and began an era of expansion and conquest, as well as commerce, unseen in the West since the fall of the Roman Empire. English exploration began with the explorers John and Sebastian Cabot, financed by Henry VII, and they discovered the islands of Labrador and Newfoundland in Following these discoveries and during the age of Queen Elizabeth I, explorers such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir John Hawkins, among others, embarked on their voyages of discovery. They were referred to as pirates and privateers by their enemies. French explorers also made their contribution to the Age of Discovery, including Jacques Cartier, Jacques Marquette and Samuel de Champlain. The age of exploration and discovery transformed the continental powers of Europe into world powers. With the exploration of these newly discovered lands, the European powers accumulated wealth, economic influence and global aspirations through the subjugation of the native people and the exploitation of the natural resources of their colonial territories. Source: blog.aurorahistoryboutique.com/tag/vasco-nunez-de-balboa/ 3

4 Explorers Timeline EXPLORERS TIMELINE 1265: Marco Polo begins his exploration of China and Asia 1432: Early Portuguese navigators discovered the Azores 1456: The Cape Verde islands are explored by Portuguese 1470: The Portuguese begin 15 years of African exploration 1488: Bartholomeu Dias of Portugal first European to sail from the Iberian Peninsula to the south of Africa. 1492: The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus 1496: First European settlement in the "New World" established at Hispaniola by Columbus 1497: John Cabot and his son Sebastian were the first Europeans to discover Canada, landing on the coast of Newfoundland 1498: Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India 1500: Vicente Pinzon and Juan Dias de Solis discovered Brazil before Cabral 1500: Cabral credited with discovering Brazil Explorers Timeline : Amerigo Vespucci explores the coast of South America 1510: Portuguese ships conquer Goa in India which begins the era of Portuguese dominance in southern Asia 1513: Vasco Nunez de Balboa explores the Pacific coast of Panama and discovers Pacific Ocean 1513: Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida 1518: Juan de Grijalava discovers Mexico 1519: Ferdinand Magellan is the first to go around the world 1519: Hernando Cortez kidnaps Aztec Emperor Montezuma and loots the Aztec gold 1524: Giovanni Verrazano, an Italian explorer employed by France, sails along the coast of North America and discovers New York Bay 1524: Hernando Cortes conquers the Honduras 1528: Alvar Cabeza de Vaca explores Texas, Arizona and New Mexico 1530: The Portuguese begin their colonization of Brazil 1531: Francisco Pizarro conquers Peru 1532: Francisco Pizarro invades and loots the Incan Empire 1536: Pedro de Mendoza explores Paraguay 1540: Discovery of the Grand Canyon by Garcia Lopez de Cardenas Explorers Timeline : Portuguese establish port of Macau on Chinese coast 1562: John Hawkins sails to Africa - profits from the slave trade 1564: Spain begins conquest of the Philippines 1572: Spain establishes Manila 1576:The Englishman Sir Martin Frobisher begins three attempts to find the Northwest Passage and gold sailing to Baffin Bay and into the Hudson Strait 1577: Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the world - December to September : Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the Roanoke colony 1593: Sir Richard Hawkins travels to the South Pacific 1595: Sir Walter Raleigh seeks golden city of El Dorado in South America 4

5 WEBSITES: Very good thinkquest on Great Explorers: Short video clip about the Age of Discovery: Age of Exploration The Mariners Museum: READING SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (see the website of the National Maritime Museum) Sir Francis Drake ( ) Francis Drake was an experienced and daring seafarer. Among many adventures, the famous voyage, his successful circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580 ensured that he would be one of the best remembered figures of Tudor England. In his own lifetime, he was thought of with mixed feelings, both at home and abroad. Some English people regarded him as a hero, but he was distrusted by others, who saw him as having risen above his station. Although he was feared and hated by the Spanish, he was also regarded by some with secret admiration. What was England like at the time of Drake? Miniature of Drake, age 42 by Nicholas Hilliard in 1581 already doing. For most of Drake s life, Queen Elizabeth I ruled the country. It was a time when England was growing in population, power and wealth, and was also becoming more outward looking. New markets and colonies were needed, so that English produce, especially wool, could be traded. England was also keen to gain from the huge profits to be made from the New World of the Americas and from the Eastern spice trade, as Spain and Portugal were It was a time when religion was extremely important to people, especially the question of whether England was to be a Protestant or a Catholic country. Arguments about religion and trade meant that England was at war with Spain for much of Drake s life. Where was Francis Drake born? Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon, sometime between 1541 and What sort of family did he come from? A very ordinary family, certainly not rich or powerful. His family was a devoutly religious one. When Francis was still a small boy, the Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne, and there were religious disturbances in Devon. The family left, and moved to Chatham in Kent where for a time they lived on an old, laid-up ship. Drake s father became a Protestant preacher. These early experiences had a profound effect on the young Francis. The Protestant religion was to be one of the most important things to him throughout his life. On his voyage around the world he led religious services on board ship twice a day. When did Drake first go to sea? He first started going to sea while living in Chatham, at the age of 12 or 13. He was an apprentice on a small trading ship which was left to him when the master died. After selling this ship, he returned to Devon and sailed with his relative John Hawkins. Together, Hawkins and Drake made the first English slaving voyages, bringing African slaves to work in the New World. 5

6 Did Francis Drake marry? Yes. He married twice. When he was 25 he married Mary Newman, who died in He married again in His second wife, Elizabeth Sydenham, came from a much more influential family. He did not have children with either of his wives. What was Drake looking for on his voyages? Spanish ships, sailing back from their new conquests in South America were extremely attractive, as they were laden with silver. Drake attacked such ships, and if he was successful in capturing them, took their treasure for himself and for his queen. He also raided Spanish and Portuguese ports in the 'New World' and the Atlantic. On Drake's voyage to Panama in , he was helped by cimarrones. The cimarrones were former slaves, who had escaped to live in the forest and mountains as outlaws. Many were prepared to help the English as they blamed the Spanish for their position. One cimarrone in particular, named Diego, became especially close to Drake, accompanying him to England and later around the world. How long did it take Drake to sail around the world? The circumnavigation took three years, from 1577 to Originally, the voyage was probably planned as a raid on Spanish ships and ports. Five ships, manned by 164 seamen, left Plymouth, with Drake himself sailing in the Pelican. Almost all the crew thought they were heading for the Mediterranean. After reaching America, Drake was worried that his ships might get separated from each other, so he gave orders for two of them to be destroyed. Then the Marigold was lost, with all her crew and the Elizabeth turned back and sailed home. By October 1578, as the company started up the western coast of South America, there were just 58 left, all on the Pelican. Drake renamed his ship the Golden Hind. What did Drake find out on his voyage around the world? A merchant ship, c.1580 Drake's voyage helped to give a more accurate picture of the true geography of the world. During the course of the voyage, Drake discovered that Tierra del Fuego, the land seen to the south of the Magellan Strait, was not part of a southern continent as had been believed previously, but an archipelago, or group of islands. Francis Fletcher, the chaplain on Drake's ship described it like this: In passing along we plainly discovered that same Terra Australis to be no continent, but broken islands and large passages amongst them... This meant that if the American continent was not connected to a southern continent, the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans met at Cape Horn. It should be possible to sail ships around the bottom of South America, south of Tierra. This was the Cape Horn route, eventually discovered in As Drake sailed further up the coast, he plundered Spanish ports in Chile and Peru and captured treasure ships. His biggest prize was the Cacafuego. Drake sailed further north along the coast of the Americas than any other European until then. On the way he landed in what is now California, naming it Nova Albion (New England) and claiming it for his queen. He then continued across the Pacific to the East Indies, or Spice Islands. Six tons of cloves were loaded onto the ship. Later, half had to be tossed into the sea in order to free the ship from a reef. His route through the East Indies lay along the uncharted southern coast of Java. Here Drake discovered that Java was an island, not connected to a southern continent as the Dutch believed. Drake returned from his voyage around the world with the little Golden Hind packed full of spices from the Indies, and plundered Spanish silver and treasure. The good health of the surviving members of his crew was a remarkable achievement in itself. This was in marked contrast to the dreadful condition of those who had accompanied Magellan on the first circumnavigation of the world 50 years earlier. How was Drake helped by others? During the Tudor period, it was important that each explorer built on the experience of those who had gone before. Portugal and Spain had been involved in ocean exploration long before England. Francis Drake obviously recognised this, as he made use of this previous knowledge and expertise by seizing the Portuguese pilot Nuna da Silva to guide him on his passage to Brazil and the east coast of America. In the Pacific, he seized the charts of two Spanish pilots bound for the Philippines. He already had a chart of the world made in Portugal, and three books on navigation. 6

7 How did the Queen treat Drake when he returned after his three-year voyage? Queen Elizabeth dined on board the Golden Hind at Deptford, on the River Thames. Afterwards, she knighted him so that for the rest of his life he was known as Sir Francis Drake. The king of Spain was insulted by the Queen's reward to Drake. His voyage may have been triumphant to the English, but to the Spanish it was highly destructive. Was the circumnavigation the end of Sir Francis Drake's career at sea? No. Drake was involved in several other battles with the Spanish. In 1585 he and more than 1000 men attacked Santiago in the Cape Verde islands. As no treasure was found, he ordered the town to be burnt down. In 1586 he captured Santo Domingo in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo is now the capital of the Dominican Republic). One of his most famous attacks was on Cadiz and Corunna in This incident is sometimes known as the 'singeing of the King of Spain's beard.' In a daring raid, between 20 and 30 ships were sunk or captured. Perhaps of even more importance though, was the destruction of supplies intended for King Philip's planned Spanish Armada. The attack delayed the Armada and the Spanish were short of some important supplies for their fleet. They were also forced to use unseasoned wood for barrels, as Drake had destroyed the seasoned wood. Later on this resulted in the rotting of many of their precious stocks of food for the Armada crews. What was Drake's role in the battles against the Spanish Armada? Sir Francis Drake was very active in the Armada battles of One of the most famous incidents involving Drake was when the Spanish flagship, the Rosario, collided with another ship. It lost its mast and became separated from the rest of the Spanish fleet. Drake captured it, even though he had been given the job of tracking the Armada with his stern lantern alight to guide all the other English ships following him. The prize of the Rosario must have been too difficult to resist. The ship was taken without a single shot being fired, still with the royal money chest on board. How did Sir Francis Drake die? He died at sea on his final voyage, off the coast of Panama, in Nombre de Dios Bay. He had been suffering from dysentery for several days and in January 1596 he finally died. His body was placed inside a lead casket and he was then slipped overboard. Two other ships, his most recent prizes, were sunk near his body. He was about 54 years old. Why is he still remembered today? His circumnavigation led to an increased knowledge of the geography of the world, particularly to a more accurate understanding of the 'southern continent'. As a navigator his skills put him in the same rank as Columbus. His claim of California, or Nova Albion, for England led directly to later plans to send people to live in colonies in America. Sir Francis Drake Questions 1. What was his famous voyage? 2. Which English monarch reigned for most of his life? 3. What was his religion? 4. What was his first trade? 5. Which country s ships did he attack? Why? 6. How long did it take him to sail round the world? 7. What geographical fact did he discover? 8. Which two Spanish ports did he attack? 9. In which famous sea battle did he participate in 1588? 10. How did he die? 7

8 ACTIVITIES THE AGE OF EXPLORATION EUROPEAN NATIONS P. S. E. H.. F.. V.de G. C C. Sir F..D. Voyage: Voyage: Voyage: REASONS 1. In Territorial expansion 3. Commerce (e.g. ) 4. Spreading Christianity 5. Spirit of adventure 6. New technology TECHNOLOGY Type of ship:.. 8