1.2 The start of the Age of Discovery

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1

1.2 The start of the Age of Discovery

Columbus (1492) on the famous voyage on which he discovered a new continent (America)

Goals for this lesson

At the end of this lesson you understand...

• What role trade with the East played in the Late Middle Ages and how it changed.
• How tradeconflicts led to the age of discovery.
• How Portugal became the dominant world power.

Worldmap from around 1200 AD

Trade goods from 

the east

• In the Late Middle Ages Europe traded a lot with Asia via the Middle East. 
• There was not a lot of knowledge about Asia in Europe at the time. 

Nutmeg (=nootmuskaat)

Pepper

Silk (=zijde) Type of fabric

Cinnamon (=kaneel)

Marco Polo

• Italian Merchant from Venice
• Travelled to Asia between 1271 and 1295 AD
• One of the first European discovers.

Paying a high price

• Products from Asia travelled to Europe through the Middle East= Silk Route
• The middle men wanted to make a profit -> products became very expensive.

Arabian middle men took products from China to Europe

The Silk Route

Causes exploration

• Ottomans (Turks) started asking higher prices -> Europeans wanted new routes to the East.
• Invention of the compass and better ships. 

New type of ship: Carvello

Portugal

• Portugal tries to find a route around Africa.
•  In 1488 they reached the Cape of Good Hope.
• In 1498 Vasco da Gama reaches India.

Portugal World Power

• After the explorarions Portugal became dominant  in the spicetrade.
•  Portugal became a large naval power (large fleet). 

What was the name of the famous trade route over land with the East?

Marco Polo

Vasco da Gama

Bartolomeo Dias

Landroute to China

c. 1498

Route to South Africa

c. 1295

Route around Africa

c. 1488

Which famous European was the first to travel to Asia and write about his travels?

1. Vasco da gama
2. Bartolomeu Dias
3. Magellan
4. Marco Polo

1.2 The start of the Age of Discovery

Columbus (1492) on the famous voyage on which he discovered a new continent (America)