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THE EUROPEANS

Europe in the 15th century

INFLUENCE OF CATHOLICISM

The spiritual powers of the Roman Catholic Church permeated every aspect
of life and made the Church the dominant institution in Western Europe. It
fostered the desire to spread Christianity in foreign lands. The Pope became
the arbitrator of political disputes, particularly those involving the discovery
of new lands. Yet new political and religious ideas began to undermine the
predominance of Christendom.

POLITICAL

The archaic feudal system had practically disappeared with the

establishment of new city-states and nation-states, namely England, France,
Spain, Portugal, and the Italian city-states. Though they retained monarchical
systems of government as in feudal period, nationalism replaced the old
ideas of an overruling Christian Empire.

SPAIN: The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

completed the unification of Spain and founded Europe’s most absolute and
Catholic monarchy.

PORTUGAL: Under the rule of Prince Henry the Navigator and others
Portugal took the lead in nautical exploration for new trade routes.

To consolidate the economic basis of their power and to rival each other’s
progress, monarchies of the nation-states sought new sources of wealth
through overseas trade and colonization.

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SOCIAL

Because of the Renaissance and the decay of feudalism, the serfs, society’s
lowliest and largest class of manual labourers, were unshackled from the
semi-slavery of serfdom; personal enquiry and personal enterprise became
the hallmarks of society. A new middle class of merchants and tradesmen
came into existence, and above them was the nobility, forming the ruling
class.

TRADE

A lucrative commerce had developed between Europe and the Far East with
Venice, Genoa and Florence as the most important trading cities. European
articles such as wine, salted fish, furs, woollen goods, and linen cloth were
exchanged for silk, muslin, velvets, cotton, dyestuffs, spices, jewels, ivory,
and gold in the Orient. These luxuries and exotic items were then
transported overland to Europe where they were in great demand by the
wealthy and the affluent. But further expansion of the European Oriental
trade was hindered by: the dangers and difficulties of the overland route;
Venetian and Genoese monopoly of the spice trade; the limited amount of
produce transported by pack; the capture of Constantinople by Turks closing
one of the best trade routes. The easiest way to overcome all of these
difficulties and satisfy demands for Oriental products was to find a new route
to the East.

TECHNOLOGY

Scientific advancement during the Renaissance resulted in wide range of

inventions and improvements in ship design which aided maritime
exploration: invention of the compass, astrolabe, quadrant, hour glass,
sundial, and windlass; the design of ocean going carracks and caravels; the
development of printing which spread new information to all levels of

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society. Learned men believed that the world was a sphere, not a rectangle,
and it was therefore possible to reach the EAST by sailing WEST across the
Atlantic. One such learned person was Don Cristobal Colon of Genoa.

Reasons why Europeans did not travel long distances before the late
15th century

 The Europeans thought that the world was flat. They believed that
after you reached the end of the world, you would drop off.
 The Europeans believed that there were horrible sea creatures in the
sea so they did not travel long distances.
 The ships the Europeans owned needed much improvements so they
were not suitable for travelling long distances.
 The Europeans seas were dangerous as there were various conflicts
between them and the Muslims so they did not travel long distances.

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Reasons for European Exploration in the 15th century- ‘’Gold, God,

Glory’’

1. Europe was divided into a number of kingdoms whose rulers were

absolute monarchs. This meant that they had the authority to make
whatever decisions they liked. Their subjects (people under their rule)
had to accept the king’s decision as final.
2. The Kings of Europe frequently waged war against each other, so as to
capture more territories. Each King wanted to be more powerful than
each other and they believed that power depended on the amount of
land under their control. These Kings were even willing to finance
voyages of exploration in order to get more land. They also hoped to
find gold which could be used to finance war for their own personal
purposes.
3. The discovery of new land therefore meant more space for citizens,
land for the landless and job opportunities for the unemployed.

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4. The Europeans wanted to find a new sea route to the east. European
merchants travelled frequently to places like China, India and North
Africa in order to trade.
5. Travel at that time was very dangerous but these merchants still went
to distant lands to sell the things they made and to get things they
could not grow for themselves. From India, the merchants obtained
gold, tea and spices. From Africa: gold, ivory and slaves. From China:
silk, spices and tea. The European merchants were able to sell cotton,
knives, cutlasses, hoes, and glass beads.
6. The merchants from Venice began to monopolize the trade to the East.
They would not let the other European merchants pass through their
port. The merchants from Venice became so rich that it aroused the
jealousy of the other European merchants. The Spaniards and
Portuguese became more determined to find another route to the east.

The Renaissance (Period of rebirth of revival of Greek and Roman

knowledge)

During the period when the Turks controlled some parts of Europe, life was
difficult for the people who lived in those parts. Some of them were even
captured as salves. Progress at that time slowed almost to a halt. Knowledge
gained in previous time almost disappeared as few people went to school.
Some people referred to this time as the dark ages. Between 1400 and 1700,
the old ideas in art, science, and mathematics started to spread again from
Italy to the rest of Europe. The Renaissance was a rebirth of knowledge and
learning which resulted in new inventions. Two famous scientists of the
period were Galileo Galilei who invented the telescope and Sir Isaac Newton
who first explained the force of gravity.

The desire for adventure and knowledge was stirred even in sailors, who
were now interested in making voyages of exploration. Some of the famous

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explorers were Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Bartholomew

Diaz.

Technological Improvements

Price Henry the Navigator was the son of King John of Portugal. In 1419, he
founded a navigation school which trained many of Europe’s sailors. These
sailors were now prepared to make long voyages.

Sailors learned about cartography which is the skill of mapmaking. During

the 15th century, improvements were made in this area so that one of the
maps made was a map of the world (Ptolemy’s map of the world).

Christopher Columbus and the ‘’Enterprise of the Indies’’

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa Italy between 1450 and 1451 and
practiced mapmaking along with his two brothers. Columbus showed a keen

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interest in exploration. To get ships and men to embark on voyages,

Christopher Columbus had to find a monarch who was willing to risk money
and men for such an expedition. He began to persuade the court of Portugal
to support his venture. Columbus’ main point was that he could get to the
East by sailing West. By sailing across the Atlantic he claimed that he could
reach Cipangu, Marco Polo’s name for Japan. He called this bold adventure
‘’Enterprise of the Indies’’. The Portuguese refused to accept his explanation/
his point of view. They were sure that Japan was more than 10 000 miles
away. They stated that the plan could not work and that it was too risky.

Columbus crossed the border and presented his plans to King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella of Spain. The Spanish King and Queen were at this time
fighting the Moors, a group of Muslims, from North Africa who had colonized
a part of the Spanish Empire. They did not have the money to support
Columbus. For seven years he tried to get the Spanish Monarchs to support
him. He even decided that he was going to get the French to support him. He
was on his way to the French when he received word that the Spanish were
willing to finance his voyages of exploration in order to beat Portugal in the
race to the East. Columbus first set sail on August 3rd, 1492 and landed in
San Salvador in the Bahamas first. His three ships were called the Niña,
Pinta, and the Santa María (his flagship).

Voyages to the New World (The Americas)

First Expedition

On August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, with three small
ships, the Santa María, commanded by Columbus himself, the Pinta under
Martín Pinzón, and the Niña under Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. After halting at the
Canary Islands, he sailed due west from September 6th until October 7th,
when he changed his course to the southwest. On October 10th, a small
mutiny was quelled, and on October 12th, he landed on a small island called

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San Salvador in the Bahamas. He took possession for Spain and, with
impressed natives aboard, discovered other islands in the neighbourhood.
On October 27th, he sighted Cuba and on December 5th reached Hispaniola.

On Christmas Eve, the Santa María was wrecked on the north coast of
Hispaniola, and Columbus, leaving men there to found a colony, hurried back
to Spain on the Niña. His reception was all he could wish; according to his
contract with the Spanish sovereigns he was made ‘’Admiral of the Ocean
Sea’’ and Governor-General of all new lands he had discovered or should
discover.

Second Expedition

Fitted out with a large fleet of 17 ships, with 1,500 colonists aboard,
Columbus sailed from Cádiz in October of 1493. His landfall this time was
made in the Lesser Antilles, and his new discoveries included the Leeward
Islands and Puerto Rico. The admiral arrived at Hispaniola to find the first
colony destroyed by the indigenous natives. He founded a new colony
nearby, then sailed off in the summer of 1494 to explore the southern coast
of Cuba. After discovering Jamaica, he returned to Hispaniola and found the
colonists, interested only in finding gold, completely disorderly; his attempts
to enforce strict discipline led some to seize vessels and return to Spain to
complain of his administration. Leaving his brother Bartholomew in charge at
Hispaniola, Columbus also returned to Spain in 1496.

Third Expedition

On his third expedition, in 1498, Columbus was forced to transport convicts

as colonists, because of the bad reports on conditions in Hispaniola and
because the novelty of the New World was wearing off. He sailed still farther
south and made his landfall on Trinidad. He sailed across the mouth of the
Orinoco River (in present day Venezuela) and realized that he saw a

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continent, but without further exploration he hurried back to Hispaniola to

administer his colony. In 1500, an independent governor arrived, sent by
Isabella and Ferdinand as the result of reports on the wretched conditions in
the colony, and he sent Columbus back to Spain in chains. The admiral was
immediately released, but his favour was on the wane; other navigators,
including Amerigo Vespucci, had been in the New World and established
much of the coast line of NE South America.

Fourth Expedition

It was 1502 before Columbus finally gathered together four ships for a fourth
expedition, by which he hoped to re-establish his reputation. If he could sail
past the islands and far enough west, he hoped he might still find lands
answering to the description of Asia or Japan. He struck the coast of
Honduras in Central America and coasted southward along an inhospitable
shore, suffering terrible hardships, until he reached the Gulf of Darién.
Attempting to return to Hispaniola, he was marooned on Jamaica. After his
rescue, he was forced to abandon his hopes and return to Spain. Although
his voyages were of great importance, Columbus died in relative neglect,
having had to petition King Ferdinand in an attempt to secure his promised
titles and wealth.

Problems Columbus faced while at sea

 Columbus first stopped at the Canary Islands to do some repairs.

 After 3 weeks without sight of land, the sailors began to murmur
among themselves wondering if there was really land beyond the
horizon.

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 In the mid- Atlantic, they noticed the compasses in their ships were no
longer pointing to the true north. Columbus had to explain that it was a
normal occurrence. There was a variation in the compass because the
ships were going so far west that the natural pull of the magnetic north
was altered.
 After two days at sea without sight of land, the seamen became violent
and rebellious. They wanted to return to Europe and Columbus
convinced them that land was near and promised that if landfall was
not made soon he would turn back.

The contact between The Europeans and the

Indigenous Peoples

The Clash of Cultures

The arrival of the Spaniards and the setting up of colonies brought them into
contact with the Tainos who lived in the Greater Antilles. The culture or way
of life of these two groups was so vastly different that their interaction often
resulted in direct conflict. When people from different cultures meet we say
that there is a ‘’clash of culture’’. A clash of cultures between the Tainos and
the Spaniards led to the destruction or the genocide (extermination or near-
extermination of a racial or ethnic group) of the Tainos.

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