Europeans Explore the World

In the second half of the 14th century, European sailors began to plan voyages that would take them beyond the limits of the world they knew. The new interest in the world came in part from the Renaissance, but the main reason was to set up new trading links with spice-producing lands in Asia.


The Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire in 1453, cutting the land link between Europe and Asia. If spices were to reach Europe, a sea route to Asia had to be found. Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal set up a school for sailors and encouraged the exploration of the African coast. In 1486, Bartholomeu Dias and his crew became the first Portuguese sailors to reach the southern tip of Africa, but he turned back because his crew was unwilling to travel any further. Ten years later, Dias helped another Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, plan a voyage around Africa to India.

Christopher Columbus hoped to reach India by sailing west. When the Portuguese king would not sponsor his voyage, he asked Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. After six years, they agreed. When Columbus reached a group of islands across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, he was certain he had reached his goal. Columbus called the native people Indians. This is why the Caribbean islands are known as the West Indies. Columbus made three more voyages to the Caribbean, but he never realized his mistake.




The Renaissance - illustration from The Travels of Marco Polo

This Illustration of workers harvesting pepper comes from a French edition of Travels of Marco Polo.

The Renaissance - Truks Enter Constantinople (Joseph Constant, c. 1876)
Entry of the Turks into Constantinople by Benjamin Jean Joseph Constant (c. 1876)

The Renaissance - Vasco daGama
Vasco daGama was the first European to sail to India.

To cite this page (MLA):

Dowling, Mike. "Europeans Explore the World" Updated July 13, 2016 . Web. Date of Access. <>

Copyright © 2016 by Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.