Age of Discovery

==Background==
{{See also|Early world maps|Chronology of European exploration of Asia}}

===Rise of European trade===
After the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] largely severed the connection between Europe and lands further east, Christian Europe was largely a backwater compared to the Arab world, which quickly conquered and incorporated large territories in the Middle East and North Africa. The Christian [[Crusades]] to retake the [[Holy Land]] from the Muslims were not a military success, but it did bring Europe into contact with the Middle East and the valuable goods manufactured or traded there. From the 12th century, the European economy was transformed by the interconnecting of river and sea trade routes, leading Europe to create trading networks.{{Failed verification|date=November 2023|reason=No mention of trade networks being created at this time, nor any inference that these were the first trade networks in Europe.}}<ref name="Paine_2013">{{cite book
|title=The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World |last=Paine |first= Lincoln |year= 2013 |publisher =Random House, LLC |location= New York }}</ref>{{rp|345}}

Before the 12th century, a major obstacle to trade east of the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], which divided the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, was Muslim control of great swaths of territory, including the Iberian Peninsula and the trade monopolies of Christian city-states on the Italian Peninsula, especially [[Venice]] and [[Genoa]]. Economic growth of Iberia followed the [[Reconquista|Christian reconquest]] of [[Al-Andalus]] in what is now southern Spain and the [[siege of Lisbon]] (1147 AD), in Portugal. The decline of [[Fatimid Caliphate]] naval strength that started before the [[First Crusade]] helped the maritime Italian states, mainly Venice, Genoa and Pisa, dominate trade in the eastern Mediterranean, with merchants there becoming wealthy and politically influential. Further changing the mercantile situation in the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] was the waning of Christian Byzantine naval power following the death of Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos]] in 1180, whose dynasty had made several notable treaties and concessions with Italian traders, permitting the use of Byzantine Christian ports. The [[Norman Conquest]] of England in the late 11th century allowed for peaceful trade on the North Sea. The [[Hanseatic League]], a confederation of merchant guilds and their towns in northern Germany along the North Sea and Baltic Sea, was instrumental in commercial development of the region. In the 12th century, the regions of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[County of Hainaut|Hainault]], and [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] produced the finest quality textiles in Northwestern Europe, which encouraged merchants from Genoa and Venice to sail there directly from the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar and up the Atlantic coast.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>{{rp|316–38}} Nicolòzzo Spinola made the first recorded direct voyage from [[Genoa]] to Flanders in 1277.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>{{rp|328}}

===Technology: Ship design and the compass===
Technological advancements that were important to the Age of Exploration were the adoption of the [[Compass|magnetic compass]] and advances in ship design.

The compass was an addition to the ancient method of navigation based on sightings of the sun and stars. The compass was invented during the Chinese [[Han dynasty]] and had been used for navigation in China by the 11th century. It was adopted by the Arab traders in the Indian Ocean. The compass spread to Europe by the late 12th or early 13th century.<ref name="Merson_1990">{{cite book|title=The Genius That Was China: East and West in the Making of the Modern World|url=https://archive.org/details/geniusthatwaschi0000mers|url-access=registration|last=Merson |first= John|year= 1990|publisher = The Overlook Press|location=Woodstock, NY |isbn= 978-0-87951-397-9}} A companion to the PBS Series ''The Genius That Was China''.</ref> Use of the compass for navigation in the Indian Ocean was first mentioned in 1232.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>{{rp|351–2}} The first mention of use of the compass in Europe was in 1180.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>{{rp|382}} The Europeans used a "dry" compass, with a needle on a pivot. The compass card was also a European invention.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>

Ships grew in size, required smaller crews and were able to sail longer distances without stopping. This led to significant lower long-distance shipping costs by the 14th century.<ref name="Paine_2013" />{{rp|342}} [[Cog (ship)|Cogs]] remained popular for trade because of their low cost. [[Galley]]s were also used in trade.<ref name="Paine_2013" />

===Early geographical knowledge and maps===
[[File:Adler von Lübeck. Model ship 05.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Pintle]]-and-[[gudgeon]] stern-post rudder of the [[Hanseatic league]] flagship ''[[Adler von Lübeck]]'' (1567–1581).]]The ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', a document dating from 40 to 60 AD, describes a newly discovered route through the [[Red Sea]] to [[India]], with descriptions of the markets in towns around Red Sea, [[Persian Gulf]] and the Indian Ocean, including along the eastern coast of Africa, which states "for beyond these places the unexplored ocean curves around toward the west, and running along by the regions to the south of Aethiopia and Libya and Africa, it mingles with the western sea (possible reference to the Atlantic Ocean)". European medieval knowledge about Asia beyond the reach of the [[Byzantine Empire]] was sourced in partial reports, often obscured by legends,<ref>[[#Arnold 2002|Arnold 2002]], p. xi.</ref> dating back from the time of the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]] and his successors.
Another source was the [[Radhanite|Radhanite Jewish trade networks]] of merchants established as go-betweens between Europe and the Muslim world during the time of the [[Crusader states]].

[[File:Ptolemy Cosmographia 1467 - world map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Ptolemy's world map]] (2nd century) in a 15th-century reconstruction by [[Nicolaus Germanus]].]]
In 1154, the [[Geography in medieval Islam|Arab geographer]] [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] created a description of the world and a [[world map]], the [[Tabula Rogeriana]], at the court of King [[Roger II of Sicily]],<ref name=houben>Houben, 2002, pp. 102–04.</ref><ref name=harley>Harley & Woodward, 1992, pp. 156–61.</ref> but still Africa was only partially known to either Christians, Genoese and Venetians, or the Arab seamen, and its southern extent unknown. There were reports of great African [[Sahara]], but the factual knowledge was limited for the Europeans to the Mediterranean coasts and little else since the Arab blockade of North Africa precluded exploration inland. Knowledge about the Atlantic African coast was fragmented and derived mainly from [[Early world maps|old]] Greek and Roman maps based on Carthaginian knowledge, including the time of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] exploration of [[Mauritania]]. The [[Red Sea]] was barely known and only trade links with the [[Maritime republics]], the [[Republic of Venice]] especially, fostered collection of accurate maritime knowledge.<ref>[[#Abu-Lughod 1991|Abu-Lughod 1991]], p. 121.</ref>

Indian Ocean trade routes were sailed by Arab traders. Between 1405 and 1421, the [[Yongle Emperor]] of [[Ming dynasty|Ming China]] sponsored a series of long range [[Treasure voyages|tributary missions]] under the command of [[Zheng He]] (Cheng Ho).<ref name="auto">[[#Arnold 2002|Arnold 2002]], p. 7.</ref> The fleets visited [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]], [[East Africa]], [[India]], [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] and [[Thailand]]. But the journeys, reported by [[Ma Huan]], a [[Muslim]] voyager and translator, were halted abruptly after the emperor's death<ref name="Mancall 2006">[[#Mancall 2006|Mancall 2006]], p. 17.</ref> and were not followed up, as the Chinese [[Ming dynasty]] retreated in the ''[[haijin]]'', a policy of [[isolationism]], having limited maritime trade.

By 1400, a Latin translation of [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geographia]]'' reached Italy coming from Constantinople. The rediscovery of Roman geographical knowledge was a revelation,<ref>[[#Arnold 2002|Arnold 2002]], p. 5.</ref> both for map-making and worldview,<ref>[[#Love 2006|Love 2006]], p. 130.</ref> although reinforcing the idea that the Indian Ocean was landlocked.

=== Medieval European travel (1241–1438) ===
[[File:Silk route copy.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|The [[Silk Road]] and [[spice trade]] routes later blocked by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453, spurring exploration to find alternative sea routes]]
[[File:Travels of Marco Polo.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|[[Marco Polo]]'s travels (1271–1295)]]

A prelude to the Age of Discovery was a series of European expeditions crossing [[Eurasia]] by land in the late Middle Ages.<ref>[[#silk-road 2008|silk-road 2008]], web.</ref> The [[Mongols]] had threatened Europe, but Mongol states also unified much of Eurasia and, from 1206 on, the ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'' allowed safe trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 328.</ref><ref>[[#Abu-Lughod 1991|Abu-Lughod 1991]], p. 158.</ref> The close [[Italian city-states|Italian]] links to the [[Levant]] raised great curiosity and commercial interest in countries which lay further east.<ref>{{Cite book|title=City of Fortune|last=Crowley|first=Roger|date=2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-24595-6|edition=Main|language=en}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2017}}

There are a few accounts of merchants from North Africa and the Mediterranean region who traded in the Indian Ocean in late medieval times.<ref name="Paine_2013"/>

Christian embassies were sent as far as [[Karakorum]] during the [[Mongol invasions of the Levant]], from which they gained a greater understanding of the world.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Voegelin|first=Eric|title=The Mongol Orders of Submission to European Powers, 1245–1255 |journal=Byzantion|year=1940 |volume=15 |pages=378–413 |jstor=44168533 }}</ref><ref>Grousset, ''Empire'', pp. 280–281.</ref> The first of these travellers was [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine]], dispatched by [[Pope Innocent IV]] to the [[Great Khan]], who journeyed to [[Mongolia]] and back from 1241 to 1247.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> About the same time, Russian prince [[Yaroslav of Vladimir]], and subsequently his sons [[Alexander Nevsky]] and [[Andrey II of Vladimir]], travelled to the Mongolian capital. Though having strong political implications, their journeys left no detailed accounts. Other travellers followed, like French [[André de Longjumeau]] and Flemish [[William of Rubruck]], who reached China through Central Asia.<ref>[[#Mancall 2006|Mancall 2006]], p. 14.</ref> [[Marco Polo]], a Venetian merchant, dictated an account of journeys throughout Asia from 1271 to 1295, describing being a guest at the [[Yuan dynasty]] court of [[Kublai Khan]] in ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Travels]]'', and it was read throughout Europe.<ref>[[#Mancall 2006|Mancall 2006]], p. 3.</ref>

The Muslim fleet guarding the Strait of Gibraltar was defeated by Genoa in 1291.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success|url= https://archive.org/details/victoryofreasonh00star|url-access= registration|last= Stark|first= Rodney |year= 2005 |publisher =Random House Trade Paperbacks|location= New York |isbn=978-0-8129-7233-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/victoryofreasonh00star/page/137 137]}}</ref> In that year, the Genoese attempted their first Atlantic exploration attempt when merchant brothers [[Vadino and Ugolino Vivaldi]] sailed from Genoa with two galleys but disappeared off the Moroccan coast, feeding the fears of oceanic travel.<ref>[[#Ebrey 2006|Parry 2006]], p. 69.{{full citation needed|date=July 2021}}</ref><ref>[[#Diffie 1977|Diffie 1977]], pp. 24–25.</ref> From 1325 to 1354, a [[Morocco|Moroccan]] scholar from [[Tangier]], [[Ibn Battuta]], journeyed through North Africa, the Sahara desert, West Africa, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, having reached China. After returning, he dictated an account of his journeys to a scholar he met in Granada, ''[[The Rihla]]'' ("The Journey"),<ref>[[#Dunn 2004|Dunn 2004]], p. 310.</ref> the unheralded source on his adventures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Yuan Julian |date=2021-10-11 |title=Between the Islamic and Chinese Universal Empires: The Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Global Age of Explorations |url=https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |journal=Journal of Early Modern History |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=422–456 |doi=10.1163/15700658-bja10030 |s2cid=244587800 |issn=1385-3783 |access-date=2022-03-24 |archive-date=2022-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417192653/https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1357 and 1371 a book of supposed travels compiled by [[John Mandeville]] acquired extraordinary popularity. Despite the unreliable and often fantastical nature of its accounts it was used as a reference<ref>[[#Mancall 1999|Mancall 1999]], p. 36.</ref> for the East, Egypt, and the Levant in general, asserting the old belief that Jerusalem was the [[Axis mundi|centre of the world]].

Following the period of [[Timurid relations with Europe]], in 1439, [[Niccolò de' Conti]] published an account of his travels as a Muslim merchant to India and Southeast Asia and, later in 1466–1472, Russian merchant [[Afanasy Nikitin]] of [[Tver]] travelled to India, which he described in his book ''[[A Journey Beyond the Three Seas]]''.

These overland journeys had little immediate effect. The [[Mongol Empire]] collapsed almost as quickly as it formed and soon the route to the east became more difficult and dangerous. The [[Black Death]] of the 14th century also blocked travel and trade.<ref>[[#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]], p. 329.</ref> The rise of the [[Ottoman Empire]] further limited the possibilities of European overland trade.

=== Religion ===
[[Religion]] played a critical role in motivating European [[expansionism]]. In 1487, Portuguese envoys [[Pero da Covilhã]] and [[Afonso de Paiva]] were sent on a covert mission to gather intelligence on a potential sea route to [[Indian subcontinent|India]] and to inquire about [[Prester John]], a [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] patriarch and king initially believed to rule over parts of the subcontinent. Covilhã was warmly received upon his arrival in Ethiopia but ultimately forbidden from leaving.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Covilham, Pero |volume= 7 | pages = 344–345 |short=1}}</ref>

[[File:The First Thanksgiving, 1621.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|An idealized depiction of Pilgrims and Native Americans who gather to share a [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] meal.]]

During the [[Middle Ages]], the spread of [[Christianity]] throughout Europe fueled the desire to sermonise in lands far and beyond. This evangelical effort became a significant part of the military conquests of European powers like [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]], [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], and [[French colonial empire|France]], often leading to the conversion of indigenous peoples upon arrival, be it voluntary or forced.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Viault |first1=Birdsall |title=Modern European History |date=1991 |publisher=McGraw Hill |isbn=0-07-067453-1 |pages= 82–83 |edition=II. Series}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ricard |first1=Robert |title=An Essay on the Apostolate and the Evangelizing Methods of the Mendicant Orders in New Spain: 1523–1572, translated from French by Lesley Bird Simpson |date=1966 |publisher=University of California Press}}</ref>

Furthermore, religious orders such as the [[Franciscans]], [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Augustinians]], and [[Jesuits]] partook in most missionary endeavours in the [[New World]]. By the late 16th and 17th centuries, the latter's presence increased as they sought to reassert their power and revive the Catholic culture of Europe, which had been damaged most severely by the [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Thomas J. |title=The Jesuits, 1534–1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time |publisher=New York: The Encyclopedia Press |isbn=978-0-87821-018-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/jesuits15341921h00camp |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

===Chinese missions (1405–1433)===
{{Further|Ming treasure voyages|Chinese exploration}}
[[File:Stellardiagram-Zhengho.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|"Mao Kun map", believed to be based on [[Zheng He]]'s travels, showing sailing directions between ports of SE Asia and as far as Malindi, in ''[[Wu Bei Zhi]]'' (1628)]]
The Chinese had wide connections through trade in Asia and had been sailing to [[Arabia]], [[East Africa]], and [[Egypt]] since the [[Tang dynasty]] (AD 618–907). Between 1405 and 1421, the third Ming emperor [[Yongle Emperor|Yongle]] sponsored a series of long range [[tribute|tributary missions]] in the Indian Ocean under the command of admiral [[Zheng He]] (Cheng Ho).<ref name="auto"/> As important as they are, these voyages did not result in permanent links to overseas territories because of isolationist policy changes in China ending the voyages and knowledge of them.

A large fleet of new [[Junk (ship)|junk]] ships was prepared for these international diplomatic expeditions. The largest of these junks—that the Chinese termed [[Chinese treasure ship|''bao chuan'' (treasure ships)]]—may have measured 121 metres (400&nbsp;feet) stem to stern, and thousands of sailors were involved. The first expedition departed in 1405. At least seven well-documented expeditions were launched, each bigger and more expensive than the last. The fleets visited [[Arabia]], [[East Africa]], [[India]], [[Malay Archipelago]] and [[Thailand]] (at the time called [[Siam]]), exchanging goods along the way.<ref>[[#Tamura 1997|Tamura 1997]], p. 70.</ref> They presented gifts of gold, silver, [[porcelain]] and [[silk]]; in return, received such novelties as [[ostrich]]es, [[zebra]]s, [[camel]]s, [[ivory]] and [[giraffe]]s.<ref>[[#Cromer 1995|Cromer 1995]], p. 117.</ref><ref>[[#Tsai 2002|Tsai 2002]], p. 206.</ref> After the emperor's death, Zheng He led a final expedition departing from Nanking in 1431 and returning to Beijing in 1433. It is very likely that this last expedition reached as far as [[Madagascar]]. The travels were reported by [[Ma Huan]], a Muslim voyager and translator who accompanied Zheng He on three of the seven expeditions, his account published as the ''[[Yingya Shenglan]]'' (Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores) (1433).<ref>[[#Mancall 2006|Mancall 2006]], p. 115.</ref>

The voyages had a significant and lasting effect on the organization of a [[Maritime Silk Road|maritime network]], utilizing and creating nodes and conduits in its wake, thereby restructuring international and cross-cultural relationships and exchanges.<ref name=sen16-609-11-631-3/> It was especially impactful as no other polity had exerted naval dominance over all sectors of the Indian Ocean prior to these voyages.<ref>{{Harvp|Sen|2016|loc=609}}.</ref> The Ming promoted alternative nodes as a strategy to establish control over the network.<ref name=se16-615>{{Harvp|Sen|2016|loc=615}}.</ref> For instance, due to Chinese involvement, ports such as [[Malacca]] (in Southeast Asia), [[Cochin]] (on the Malabar Coast), and [[Malindi]] (on the Swahili Coast) had grown as key alternatives to other important and established ports.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Major ports in their respective regions included Palembang on the Malaccan Strait, Calicut on the Malabar coast, and Mombasa on the Swahili Coast (see {{Harvnb|Sen|2016}}).}}<ref>{{Harvp|Sen|2016|loc=620–621}}.</ref> The appearance of the Ming treasure fleet generated and intensified competition among contending polities and rivals, each seeking an alliance with the Ming.<ref name=sen16-609-11-631-3/>

The voyages also brought about the Western Ocean's [[regional integration]] and the increase in [[Mobilities|international circulation]] of people, ideas, and goods. It also provided a platform for [[Cosmopolitanism|cosmopolitan]] discourses, which took place in locations such as the ships of the Ming treasure fleet, the Ming capitals of Nanjing as well as Beijing, and the banquet receptions organized by the Ming court for foreign representatives.<ref name=sen16-609-11-631-3>{{Harvp|Sen|2016|loc=609–611 & 631–633}}.</ref> Diverse groups of people from across the maritime countries congregated, interacted, and traveled together as the Ming treasure fleet sailed from and to Ming China.<ref name=sen16-609-11-631-3/> For the first time in its history, the maritime region from China to Africa was under the dominance of a single imperial power and thereby allowed for the creation of a cosmopolitan space.<ref>{{Harvp|Sen|2016|loc=611}}.</ref>

These long-distance journeys were not followed up, as the Chinese Ming dynasty retreated in the ''[[haijin]]'', a policy of [[isolationism]], having limited maritime trade. Travels were halted abruptly after the emperor's death, as the Chinese lost interest in what they termed barbarian lands, turning inward,<ref name="Mancall 2006"/> and successor emperors felt the expeditions were harmful to the Chinese state; [[Hongxi Emperor]] ended further expeditions and [[Xuande Emperor]] suppressed much of the information about Zheng He's voyages.