Grade 6

Term 2
History
Grade 6 History -Term 2-Study Notes
Study Notes

Reasons for European exploration

Important definitions to know:
• Renaissance – the period in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries when there
was an increased interest in art, literature and science.
• Turning point – a time at which an import change in a situation occurs.
The European Renaissance 15th and 16th centuries: a turning point in European
history
• The Renaissance was the period of time from the in the 15 th and 16th
centuries. Remember a century is 100 years long.
• The Renaissance was a time of “coming out of the dark”, this means that it
was a reawakening of education, science, art and government from ancient
Greece.
• People all over the Europe started to change the ways they thought about
themselves and the world around them.
• The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy and then spread to other parts of
Europe.
• During this time many changes took place in people’s knowledge of the world.
• The Renaissance took place at the same time as when the Kingdom of Great
Zimbabwe was at its best.
• A turning point in European history took place during the Renaissance period.
• These changes also affected the rest of the world and the African continent.
Women in Renaissance society
• During the Renaissance period women had no power in society.
• The lives of the poor women did not change during the Renaissance.
• The wives and daughters of wealthy women were often educated at home
they were taught needlework, reading and writing.
• Women were not allowed to go to universities.
• Women of the upper classes were not allowed to work outside the home.
• The people of the time did not believe that women could be artists or
scientists.
• In Renaissance Italy, most women from the upper classes had only two
options in life: marriage or the nunnery.

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The contributions of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
Biography:
• Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, scientist, and inventor during the Italian
Renaissance.
• He is considered by many to be one of the most talented and intelligent
people of all time.

Where was Leonardo da Vinci born?

• Leonardo was born in the town of Vinci, Italy on April 15, 1452.
• Not much is known about his childhood.
• About the age of 14 he became an apprentice to a famous artist named
Verrocchio.
• This is where he learned about art, drawing, painting and more.

Leonardo the Artist

• Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as one of the greatest artists in history.

• Leonardo excelled in many areas including drawing, painting, and sculpture.
• Although we don't have a lot of his paintings today, he is probably most
famous for his paintings and also gained great fame during his own time due
to his paintings.
• Two of his most famous paintings, and perhaps two of the most famous in the
world, include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
• Leonardo's drawings are also quite extraordinary.
• He would keep journals full of drawings and sketches, often of different
subjects that he was studying.
• Some of his drawings were previews to later paintings, some were studies of
anatomy, some were closer to scientific sketches.
• One famous drawing is the Vitruvian Man drawing.
• It is a picture of man who has perfect proportions based off the notes from the
Roman architect Vitruvius.
• Other famous drawings include a design for a flying machine and a self-
portrait.

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 Leonardo the Inventor and Scientist

• He drew pictures and designs of hang gliders, helicopters, war machines,

musical instruments, various pumps, and more.
• He was interested in civil engineering projects and designed a single span
bridge, a way to divert the Arno River, and moveable barricades which would
help protect a city in the case of attack.
• Many of his drawings were about anatomy.
• He studied the human body including many drawings on muscles, tendons,
and the human skeleton.
• He had detailed figures of various parts of the body including the heart, arms,
and other internal organs.
• Leonardo didn't just study the human anatomy either.
• He also had a strong interest in horses as well as cows, frogs, monkeys, and
other animals.

Case Study: Galileo

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)
Biography:

Early Life

• Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy where he grew up with his brothers and sisters during
the Italian Renaissance.
• His father was a music teacher and a famous musician.
• His family moved to the city of Florence when he was ten years old.
• It was in Florence that Galileo began his education at the Camaldolese monastery.
• Galileo was an accomplished musician and an excellent student.
• At first, he wanted to become a doctor, so he went to the University of Pisa to study
medicine in 1581.

A Budding Scientist

• While at university, Galileo became interested in physics and mathematics.

• One of his first scientific observations was with a lamp hanging from the ceiling in the
cathedral.
• He noticed that despite how far the lamp swung, it took the same amount of time to
swing back and forth.
• This observation didn't agree with the common scientific principles of the day.
• In 1585, Galileo left the university and got a job as a teacher.
• He began to experiment with pendulums, levers, balls, and other objects.
• He tried to describe how they moved using mathematic equations.
• He even invented an advanced measuring device called the hydrostatic balance.

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Telescope

• In 1609, Galileo heard of an invention from Holland called the telescope that could
make far away items appear much closer.
• He decided to build his own telescope.
• He made great improvements to the telescope and began to use it to view the
planets.
• Soon Galileo's version of the telescope was used throughout Europe.

Astronomer

• Galileo made many discoveries using his telescope including the four large moons
around Jupiter and the phases of the planet Venus.
• He also discovered sunspots and learned that the Moon was not smooth but was
covered with craters.

Prison

• As Galileo studied the planets and the Sun, he became convinced that the Earth and
the other planets orbited the Sun.
• However, the powerful Catholic Church considered Galileo's ideas as heresy.
• At first, they sentenced him to life in prison, but later allowed him to live at his home
in Tuscany under house arrest.

Death

• Galileo continued to write while under house arrest.

• In his later years he became blind. He died on January 8, 1642.

New ideas and knowledge

Important definitions to know for this unit
• Explore - travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it;
• Dutch - the people of the Netherlands;
• Holland –a medieval county and province on the North Sea, corresponding to
the North and South Holland provinces of the Netherlands;
• Voyages - a long journey; and
• Caravel - a small, fast Spanish or Portuguese sailing ship of the 15th–17th
centuries.
The Age of European Exploration
• The age of Exploration took place in the 15th and 16th centuries.

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 • This is when many countries in Europe sent explorers out to discover new
lands, find the best trade routes, look for treasures and gain territory for their
country.
• It was during this time that the world was mapped, and many world
civilisations got to meet each other.
• This time period is also known as the Age of Discovery.
New ideas and technology
• Stories of Leonardo and Galileo are examples of how people’s view of the
world was changing.
• They showed the great possibilities that existed for discovery.
• One of the most important reasons for European exploration was the new
ideas and knowledge of the time.
• We could say that the most important of these was the new approach of the
Renaissance.
• This was the desire to find out more about the world and the people who lived
in it.
• This also led to many discoveries in literature, art and science and it was a
reason for the voyages of exploration.
• Many other ideas also came from outside of Europe namely the Arab Muslim
world. An example of this is the Astrolabe, which was a device that helped
people to navigate on land.
• This was used by Arab traders and astrologers for many years.
• It was later adapted by the Portuguese to be used on the seas.
• The most famous of European traders who travelled to the East and shared
their knowledge of what they saw was Marco Polo.
• Marco was a merchant who travelled to the East and China.
• Stories of his travels became best sellers as they inspired others.
• His stories were of great wealth and opportunity in the East.
• He also came back to Europe with many ideas.
• The improvement in maps also led to more exploration.
• This is because more people were travelling, and the Arabian maps were
being used by Europeans.
• These new maps made it easier and safer for people to sail off the coast of
Africa.
Inventions
Several inventions were very important reasons for European exploration.
These inventions included the following:
• The magnetic compass;
• The caravel; and
• Gunpowder.

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Inventions: gunpowder, magnetic compass, caravel
Caravels
• Until the 1400s (13th century) the Europeans did not have ships that were
able to travel across oceans.
• To solve this problem, they started to build Caravels.
• This ship had two masts and two triangular sails.
• The Europeans copied the idea of the way the sails worked from the Arab
trader’s ships called the dhows.
• The sails made it possible for the sailors to make better use of wind to get
their ship to move.
Gunpowder
• The Chinese invented gunpowder. In the 13th Century.
• Knowledge of gunpowder spread to Europe.
• By the time of the voyages of discovery in the 15th Century, Europeans had
developed canons, which they put on ships, and guns using gunpowder.
• They then used these weapons to attack and conquer the people that they
met on their voyages.
• The Arabs made the first gun.

The Magnetic Compass

• The Europeans used the magnetic compass to help them find their way on
their voyages of exploration.
• The magnetic compass was first invented by the Chinese.
• The compass and the astrolabe helped sailors to figure out where they were
and where they were going so that they could stay on the right course.
• They did not have to stay in sight of land to know where they were going.
• This meant that they could use the winds that blew far from land to go where
they needed to go.

Reason for exploring

The Europeans went on voyages for many reasons.
Curiosity about the world
Most explorers liked adventure and wanted to see new places, meet new people and
learn about new cultures.
Looking for trade and profit
• Europeans could not produce everything they wanted or needed so they
traded with the Arab Muslims to get the goods they wanted.

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 • Many countries paid for the explorers to find new trade partners and goods.
In some cases, they hoped to find new trade routes that would help them to
transport goods cheaper than their competitors.
• The Arabs had complete control over the trade routes across their land
between Europe and the East.
• This meant that they could charge high taxes on all goods that passed
through their trade routes.
• This made the prices of the goods that the Europeans wanted expensive.
• It was for this reason that the Europeans wanted to find a sea route to the
East and cut out the Arab land.
• The Europeans knew very little about Africa and the East, so to find another
trade route they had to go on voyages of exploration across the sea.
• As there were no fridges people use to preserve their food with salt, as you
can imagine this made their food very salty and not very tasty.
• Spices like nutmeg, cloves, pepper and cinnamon could also preserve the
food and these spices made the food taste much better.
• These spices did not grow in Europe because of the cold climate but grew in
the tropical climates of India and Malaysia.
• The Europeans also wanted gold and silver to make coins out of.
• The use of coins was used instead of bartering.
• The Europeans had used all their gold and silver and therefor had to look for it
elsewhere.
• The Europeans needed silk and wanted to trade directly with the Chinese. the
Chinese had perfected making beautiful clothes from silk.
• The rich people in Europe liked to wear clothes made of silk.

Spreading the Christian religion

• Religion played an important part in the growth of exploration.
• Religion was important to the Europeans, especially Christianity.
• They felt they needed to reform and convert every individual they came into
contact with into Christianity.
• During this time, Christianity became the first religion to spread around the
world. European explorers had direction and navigation.
• They were very religious and relied on their faith to get them through their
rough voyages.
• They spread their beliefs and religion. By the 1500s, Europeans were
travelling by sea to almost every part of the world.
• Missionaries followed the European traders, colonists and conquerors.

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New ideas and knowledge
Trade and making a profit
Important definitions to know for this unit
crossbow - a medieval bow of a kind that is fixed across a wooden support and has
a groove for the bolt and a mechanism for drawing and releasing the string.
European trade to the East via southern Africa
• The Europeans had seen the valuable goods that came from the East like
spices and silk.
• The trade of these spices and silk was controlled by the Arab traders.
• Once the spices and silk reached Europe, the Italian city states took over
control.
• These Italian city states became incredibly rich from this trade.
• Other European nations also wanted to find a way to the East so that they
could also benefit from the spice trade.
• The Portuguese nation was one of these.
• With new knowledge and ideas as well as new inventions this was possible.
The journey of Dias
• Bartholomeu Dias was one of the most famous Portuguese explorers.
• He was the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope (today this is
Cape Point, which is close to Cape Town).
• At the time he did not even know that he had done it.
• Dias set sail in the year 1487 from Portugal.
• He first landed in southern Africa in Namibia, at a place which is called
Luderitz today.
• When he sailed from Luderitz his ships were blown off course by massive
gale force winds.
• The winds blew for days and days.
• When the wind finally stopped, Dias steered northeast and landed in what is
known as Mossel Bay today in the Western Cape in 1488.
• This is where he met the Khoikhoi people.
• He did not know that he had gone around the Cape! He sailed on and then
stopped at Algoa Bay, which is now known as Port Elizabeth.
• It was only here that he realised that he had rounded the southern point of
Africa.
• Dias’s ships continued going north along the coast until the Keiskamma River
mouth.
• Dias was eventually forced to turn back by his crew because they were tired
and scared of the unknown.
• Their food supplies were also running out.
• As they rounded the tip of Africa again on their way home, Dias named it the
Cape of Good Hope.

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 • He called it this because he believed that there was hope of finding a route to
India.
• After being at sea for 19 months, Dias returned home as a hero.
• He died on another journey when his ship was wrecked near the Cape in
1500.

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