Was the age of exploration motivated solely by gold and glory?

 The age of Discovery became a starry time for European colonizers who explored and conquered New unknown lands, energetic Merchants dashing Sailors greedy lovers of easy game and Stern Knights went on a quest for fabulous treasures and Immortal glory in unknown worlds, what prompted them to face danger and what trials awaited them on the way.

 one of the reasons for the search for new trade routes and lands was the catastrophic shortage of spices used for cooking dishes and extending their shelf life, this was due to the ottoman occupation of most of the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Balkans in the 15th century the hostility of the Ottoman Turks to the Genoese and the venetians whose ships were the main carriers of spices and other Oriental Goods minimized getting spices by the Europeans and encouraged the latter to seek new ways of supplying vital provisions another factor that stimulated the search for new lands was the lack of gold and silver coins in the late Middle Ages European market mythologized legends about fabulous treasures and deposits of gold silver and gems in India and China have seduced European Kings and Aristocrats who sought to possess a portion of these Treasures at this time scientific progress led to the spread of Eratosthenes idea among European scientists about the sphericity of the earth among such Advanced thinkers were the Italians from Mauro Paulo tosca Nelli and the German Martin Baheim, each of them developed its own version of the globe map these ideas inspired many future discoverers to seek away to India and China Westward the completion of the Reconquista with the defeat of the Emirate of Granada allowed the Spanish rulers Isabella and Ferdinand to receive considerable revenues and trophies this success warmed up their conquering appetite and at the same time ignited their desire to establish Catholicism in more new territories.

After the expulsion of the Muslim armies from the Iberian Peninsula most of the Hidalgo remained unemployed these poor Knights desperately sought to continue gaining Fame and money with their weapons so they quickly joined the ranks of discoverers new types of ships such as the caravel and the Carrick which were faster and more mobile, than their predecessors and with good capacity contributed to the geographical discovery the Portuguese were the first to explore the still unknown islands in the Atlantic Ocean their “King Henry the Navigator”, generously financed the development of cartography and the Voyages of his subjects off the coast of Africa through these campaigns the Portuguese King hoped to find a way to India and China as well as to overcome Arab piracy in Atlantic Waters near Africa Portuguese Sailors surveyed and colonized Madeira and the Azores and explored the coasts of Western Sahara, they subsequently discovered the islands of Cape Verde and explored the coasts of Senegal and The Gambia looking for the southern route to India.

“Bartolomeo Diaz”, surrounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, and became the first European to enter the Indian Ocean from the southern side the Baton of discoveries was continued with a fateful Expedition led by the energetic Genoese Navigator “Christopher Columbus”, this ambitious sailor as a Young Man became obsessed with sailing to the shores of India and China by the Western route after correspondence with Paulo tosca Nelli in 1492, he succeeded in igniting his idea with ‘Queen Isabella’ of Spain, she provided the Genoese with much of the funds for his expedition together with her King husband she promised to make “Christopher Viceroy” of all lands he would find leaving him 10 of all the jewels spices and other merchandise found on the newly discovered lands. In August, three ships, ‘La Santa’, ‘Maria Nina’ and ‘Pinta’, left Andalucia for adventures and discoveries. On 12 October Columbus was the first European to visit the Bahamas then he sailed for Cuba and Hispaniola present-day Haiti, on these islands the Spaniards made contact with local tribes and conducted a failed search for gold deposits in addition the members of the Columbus expedition for the first time saw tobacco, Maize and some native flora and fauna, they took them along with several local Indians who were taken to Spain, early the following year in March 1493 Columbus returned to Spain with two ships where he was given a ceremonial reception after Columbus first voyage Spain and Portugal signed the ‘Treaty of Tordecias’, according to it the Spanish gained territories in their conquering interests west of the 49 meridians of the Western Hemisphere and the Portuguese had territories to the east accordingly Spain was assigned the Western direction of the search for India and China and Portugal got the Eastern one as far as the southern coast of Africa during Columbus second Expedition, He had 17 ships and nearly 2000 men under his command the Spaniards on his voyage discovered some Lesser Antilles and established themselves in Cuba and Haiti.

They proceeded to occupy these territories forcibly baptise and enslave the local inhabitants, there wasn't any gold in sufficient quantity as well as spices gradually many participants and organisers of this Expedition realized that the found Islands have nothing in common with China and India and will not bring significant revenues this caused disappointment of the Spanish authorities, subsequently Columbus despite his discovery of the new world fell into dis Favor with the monarchs meanwhile the Portuguese convinced of their chosen course sent an expedition of four ships to India. In July 1497 led by “Vasco de Gama”, this small flotilla passed without much trouble to the Cape of Good Hope but already near Mozambique the Portuguese experienced difficulties due to lack of knowledge of local Waters they managed to bribe several Arab pilots who showed them the way to Zanzibar and India, in India Europeans were struck by the wealth of goods in local markets however there was almost no demand for their goods so the Expeditions were able to buy only a small amount of spices however the cost effectiveness of this trip was still 600 percent due to the lack of a huge markup from Arab spice suppliers during the voyage.

The Portuguese often clashed with Arab traders who controlled the spice trade in the region these tensions prompted the Portuguese to choose an armed occupation of the land in subsequent Expeditions the Portuguese returned home in August 1499, losing two ships and about 65 percent of their personnel the next Portuguese expedition to India numbering 17 ships was led by ‘Pedro Cabral’, among its participants was ‘Bartolomeo Diaz’ a researcher from Africa initially the Expedition took a somewhat excessive Westward course to bypass the equatorial current which ran in the opposite direction to the Expedition, thus in April 1500 Pedro Cabral and his team accidentally discovered the coasts of Brazil and proclaimed it the possession of Portugal this marked the beginning of the further Portuguese colonization of these territories.

 After sailing to India the Portuguese established trading posts in Calicut and Kochi and purchased over 100 tons of spices however the Trading Post in Calicut was destroyed by the locals led by Arab Merchants for which the Portuguese took Vengeance looting and destroying all Arab ships and Merchant shops that they encountered the Expedition returned home, in July 1501 and in addition to significant financial dividends gave the Portuguese faith in establishing their own hegemony in the Indian Ocean meanwhile Spain settled islands in the Caribbean Sea and the coast of Central America, however since the rich deposits of silver and gold in America have not yet been found and the spices were certainly not there the Spaniards decided to revive the project of a maritime trade route to Eastern Asia through the Western Direction They gained help from ‘Ferdinand Magellan’, an ambitious Portuguese man who was well acquainted with navigation in the Indian Ocean and had been transferred to the service for Spanish Monarch ‘Charles of Habsburg’, in August 1519 a flotilla of five ships led by Magellan set out for the unknown in search of a western route to the spice lands the Portuguese King ‘Manuel’ learned of this Expedition fearing for his Monopoly he ordered all Portuguese ships to destroy Spanish ships in the sphere of Portuguese influence at first the Spanish ships safely passed almost the entire Atlantic Sea but had to Winter in southern Patagonia due to problems, with finding the strait which according to Magellan and cartographers of the time should have been to the north, at this time the captains of the three ships rebelled but Magellan quickly quelled the Rebellion as he had the support of the crew the Expedition then wandered for a long time through The Mazes of the strait which would later be named after Magellan three ships came out of it into the unknown ocean, Magellan named The Ocean Pacific because in the first weeks of the Expedition the weather was really calm however the sailors were subsequently forced to endure famine water shortages hellish storms scurvy and other illnesses.

 in March 1521 the Expedition reached the Philippines where Magellan decided to establish ties with the locals and buy spices from them however Ferdinand was involved in local feuds during which he was killed the voyage was on the verge of a complete Fiasco because except for the deceased captain no one had knowledge of the geography of the local islands and the Indian Ocean they barely made it to the Malaka’s and bought spices there then the Spanish separated the ship Trinidad with spices with was to return to the East and swim to the Spanish colonies on the American coast of the Pacific Ocean, the flagship Victoria Laden with spices and now led by The Basque ‘Sebastian Del Canoe’, was to break through the Indian Ocean in which the Portuguese Squadron sailed with the task of destroying the Spaniards overcoming hunger fatigue illnesses and Portuguese pursuers Victoria's 18-man crew sailed for Spain, on 6 September 1522 thus the Western route to Asia was opened and the Spanish led by ‘Sebastian Elcano’ made the first circumnavigation of the world in the late 16th century the Netherlands won its independence from the Spanish Empire since then due to its high level of urbanization technological development and trade, the Republic has rapidly become a wealthy and advanced Nation with a large Merchant Fleet the Dutch Merchants too sought to join the super profitable spice trade but lacking a large enough Navy decided to explore the northern routes to Asia.

On 5 June 1594 the Dutch explorer ‘Willem Varentz’, set out to find a Northern sea route three weeks later he reached the shores of Novios Emelia, and explored it but further Eastward advances were prevented by icebergs, in August the Dutch Travelers were forced to return home during his third voyage ‘Berenice’, discovered the islands of Spitzbergen, but was covered with ice while attempting to continue his voyage east of Novios Emilia, The Travelers decided to Winter in this cold arctic tundra but in such harsh conditions only a small part of them survived the captain himself died of scurvy on Novios Emilia in the early 17th century taking advantage of the Portuguese weakening the Dutch East India Company was able to establish itself in several trading posts in India Java and the southern Malacca Islands from where it operated the spice trade to explore the Uncharted seas and Conquer new lands the Dutch sent the ‘Willem Jenson’ Expedition during this trip the Dutch explored the west coast of New Guinea and visited the cape York Peninsula becoming the first Europeans to land in Australia, another attempt to discover the Northern sea route to Asia was the voyage of one of the most Restless Travelers ‘Henry Hudson’, the Englishman first sailed the baron sea then joined the Dutch East India Company as head of a Dutch Expedition Henry explored the shores of ‘Newfoundland Labrador’ the Northeast Atlantic coast of the modern United States Manhattan, and the Hudson River named after him. This Expedition became the first brick of the establishment of the Dutch colonies in North America in 1610 Hudson joined the English king service and organized a voyage in search of the northern route to the east as far as North America the Expedition ended in rebellion and failure and Henry himself disembarked by the rebels in the Hudson Bay died of hunger and cold in the tropical Seas, the work of Jenson was continued by ‘Abel Tasman’, he during his first voyage sailed the southern Seas of Australia discovered the island which was later named ‘Tasmania’, explored the western coast of New Zealand some islands of Tonga and Fiji and the northern side of New Guinea, during his second voyage Tasman explored the coast of West Guinea the Gulf of Carpentaria and the coastline of Northeast Australia, however these finds in his time were not appreciated because in the open lands Abel Tasman did not find spices precious metals or jewels great geographical discoveries led to the formation of new trade routes the penetration of Europeans into new territories and their acquaintance with new cultures worlds plants and animals at the same time they led to further colonization by Europeans of the open lands and the destruction or enslavement of most of the local inhabitants in addition the world was shaken by the price Revolution the disintegration of feudal relations and the acceleration of capitalism due to the discovery of Rich deposits of silver and gold in America.

The 13th century was remembered as the time when huge expanses of Eurasia were conquered by the Mongols ‘Genas Khan’, and his descendants captured central eastern and western Asia as well as Eastern Europe, the grandson of Genas Khan ‘Batuan’ murderously went through Europe destroyed armies and territories of Ruthenia as well as some of the Polish and Hungarian kingdoms European rulers were concerned about the prospect of a possible Mongol conquest so they decided to be the first to establish diplomatic contacts and better explore a potential enemy Europeans were also interested in the Mongols as allies against the Muslim states of the Middle East Mongolians were also seen as potential future Christians, due to their religious tolerance and the decline of traditional religions this led to the travel of the first Diplomat missionaries ‘Jovan Dean Del Carpine’ and ‘William of rck’, these monks visited Western and Central Asia but their diplomatic plans failed, nevertheless they brought to Europe a variety of evidence about the lands and Treasures of China central Asia and Persia their story sparked the desire for travel of a young Venetian Merchant ‘Marco Polo’, in 1272 he set out on a journey to the east with his uncle and father who had already had the experience of such a journey Marco Polo visited Palestine the Empire of Trebizond the Transcaucasia Baghdad Persia the hot deserts and harsh mountain ranges of Central Asia he also visited the former Mongol capital of Karakorum and the residence of kublan in Shendu, according to Marco himself the Mongol ruler felt Sympathy for the Venetian gave him gifts and made him his assistant and governor of the Chinese city of Y Joe, subsequently Polo managed to get permission from the Mongol con to continue his journey he visited the cities of southern China and Burma Marco then boarded a ship circled southeast Asia India and returned home with a bag of spices and Oriental jewellery.

 After 20 years of wandering his hyperbolic Tales are considered by some Modern historians to be a fabrication but they are what gave medieval Europeans the idea of the fabulous Riches of India and China at the beginning of the age of great discoveries the Portuguese Navigators were particularly successful Portuguese explorers led by Vasco de Gama, Pedro cabal and Fernandez lavador, opened sea routes to India Brazil and the labrador Peninsula Portugal had the highest colonization activity in South and Southeast Asia the Portuguese first established trading posts in Calicut and coochi and then began building additional fortifications, ‘Alons de Albuquerque’ was extremely proactive and violent his first independent military Expedition took place in 1507 during this Expedition the shores of the Persian Gulf were explored and simultaneously Muskat and Ormus were conquered these steps were necessary to disrupt Persia's trade with India and give the Portuguese a monopoly on the European Spice Market later alons became the governor of Portuguese India and captured cakut and Goa the Portuguese under his leadership soon captured malaka these campaigns paved the way for further research and colonization of the maluku islands by the Portuguese as well as for trade links with China and Japan in addition Albuquerque's activities created the Portuguese Colonial Empire in the Spanish Colonial Empire the idea of transporting spices to Europe across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans arose after the conquest of Central America and the Inca State one of the first sea faers to seek a safe and convenient route from New Spain to the maluku islands was the cousin of nnan Cortez Alvaro de savedra seron however his Expeditions faced an epidemic of scurvy storms and treacherous underwater currents the greatest threat however was the Hostile Portuguese that dominated the Seas of Southeast Asia at the time in order to gain access to the spices King Philip II of Spain decided to seize and colonize the land in 1564 a Spanish Expedition led by andrees De ordona and Miguel Lopez deazi left the territory of present day Mexico and reached the island of seu in April of the following year there the Spanish established a fort and a church mission and the islands themselves were given the name Philippines in honor of the then king of Spain the Expedition subsequently split some of the Mariners along with andr de ordona returned to New Spain for reinforcements while another called colonized the island and fought Chinese Pirates Spanish conquistadors conquered the other islands of the Philippines as well and on one of them founded the future capital of the Philippines Manila The Voyage of savedra andr De ordona and legaz allowed the Spaniards to colonize lands in Southeast Asia and put an end to the Portuguese Monopoly on Asian spices this weakened Portugal to such an extent that Spain was later able to capture it through a dynastic crisis the two journeys of Christopher Columbus who reached the Caribbean islands and mistook them for the coasts of China and India revived the flow of European exploration of unknown territories as the western and southern routes to the east were monopolized by Spain and Portugal under the terms of the Treaty of toras English and French Sailors were forced to seek other routes in order to avoid the more powerful Spanish and Portuguese armadas in the tropical Seas the pioneers of these countries first chose the Northwestern route to India and China as in the case of Columbus these Expeditions were often led by Italians one of these immigrants was Giovani kaboto a genoise merchant and Navigator he traveled through the Middle East and even visited Mecca to learn more information about spices from Arab spice traders in 1494 he immigrated to England where his name sounded as John cavitt after the discovery of Columbus Bristol Merchants assisted by Henry iith of England equipped an expedition led by John cat on 20 May 1497 jaavan at the head of a small ship Matthew which had only 18 crew members sailed West trying not to go southerly of the 50 parallel 5 Weeks Later cat reached the northern edge of newfinland he landed on the coast and declared the land the property of the king of England John then explained explored the Eastern shores of New Finland and found a huge aquatorium that had struck Travelers with an enormous amount of fish back in England cat reported the discovery of the bay rich with fish and that he had allegedly visited China Henry VII awarded him with £10 and granted him a lifetime annual payment of20 in early May 1498 a second Expedition led by cabat left Bristol with a fleet of five ships it is believed that John died while sailing and the leadership passed to his son Sebastian even less is known about this Expedition than the previous one it is known from later correspondents that the English ships reached the mainland of North America in 1498 and continued their Journey along its East Coast far to the Southwest Sebastian cabat returned to England in 1498 we know from Spanish sources that kabat's second expedition was a geographical success the map of Juan de laosa shows a long coastline North from Hispanola and Cuba and the Sea aquatorium to the south from New Finland is marked as the sea discovered by the Englishmen John and Sebastian Cabots voyages under English Flags began the era of English Expeditions and subsequent colonization of North America note that as a result of contradictory information in the primary sources among historians there is no single view of life and travel of kaboto the Florentine Navigator Amero Vespucci made a significant contribution to the exploration of the new world initially he was organizing Christopher Columbus third trip he went to sea for the first time as a member of a Spanish Expedition led by Alonzo de oeda during this Voyage the shores of South America in the Caribbean Sea were explored as well as the North Coast of Surinam and present day Venezuela subsequently Amero transferred to the service of King Manuel the of Portugal during several Portuguese Expeditions fushi visited the coast of modern Brazil described in detail the local geography flora and fauna only at the end of his voyage activity did Americo travel under his own command to the shores of South America vuchi was one of the first to argue that the open lands were a new part of the world not India or China after a wave of new discoveries by Spanish and Portuguese Navigators most geographers of the time supported this View and at the initiative of the German cartographer of va similar this part of the world was named after America America in the first half of the 16th century Francis I first descended the French throne his conquering ambition stretched from Italy to the lands of the new world the French King generously financed the Voyages of sailors exploring the shores of America in 1523 fr Francis contributed to the voyage of joavan D Verano a Florentine sailor who had served the French the following year the Expedition led by Verano reached the shores of the present-day United States and later explored the Antilles in the Caribbean Sea the next famous French explorer of that time became jacqu Cartier who during his first voyage explored New Finland and the shores of St Lawrence Bay the objective of the French Navigators was to discover the Northeast e route to China as well as to search for gold and other Jewels during this trip the French Travelers established trade contacts with the local Indians the mcmack and the bethon and Cartier proclaimed the lands to be the property of the French King in addition the French captured and brought home the sons of a chief of a coastal iroy tribe on his second voyage to North America Cartier sailed with three ships of 110 Crew He also took two captive Native Americans captured during his first journey they served as his guides and interpreters the Expedition took place along the St Lawrence River exploring its coasts and Islands Jac Cartier visited the iroy village of staka and explored the island which he named Montreal in addition the French met a village of Native Americans which Cartier asked what was the name of the land local residents due to the language barrier did not quite understand the questions and answered Kanata which in their language meant Village French colonists fixed that name for the whole territory of the future Canada Cartier spent the winter in staka where many of his people fell ill with scurvy they recovered when the Native Americans advised them to drink Jam from pine needles and bark of coniferous trees which contained vitamin C Cartier returned to France in in May 1536 taking with him several iroy the purpose of Cartier's third voyage was to establish a French Colony so its composition was larger five ships and according to some sources almost 800 people the French managed to found the colony of Charlesburg Royal near the modern city of Quebec they collected local gemstones the colonists thought that they had found gold and diamonds but it appeared that they mistook deposit of pyite and Courts for them due to the harsh winter scurvy and regular conflicts with the iroy the French were unable to establish themselves for long so the settlements soon fell into decline the Voyages of Verano and Cartier led to further French colonization of future Eastern Canada and some of the islands of the Caribbean Sea in the 18th century all parts of the world were engulfed in rampant British expansion which would have been impossible without the Voyages of pioneers the most prominent navigator at the time was the son of an impoverished Farmer and the future victim of Aboriginal extravagant gastronomic preferences James Cook in 1768 Lieutenant James Cook at the head of the ship Endeavor began the first round theor Voyage to the South Pacific he first arrived in New Zealand and explored its Coastline for more than 3 months discovering that this was two large islands separated by a straight that was later named after him cook then sailed to the east coast of Australia becoming the first European to explore that water area James mapped the area and declared it the property of the British crown cook was also the first explorer of the Great Barrier Reef though this natural ornament resulted in Hull breach and a further challenge for travelers cook and his team then went to Java rounded the Cape of Good Good Hope and returned home Cook's second voyage from 1772 to 1775 was to research New Zealand and explore the southern continent of Antarctica in January 1773 cook became the first ever sea farer to cross the Antarctic Circle but he never reached the coast of Antarctica James was close enough but refused the idea because of the large number of dangerous icebergs deciding that the southern continent was a fiction Captain Cook returned and in 1774 discovered several more islands in the Pacific Cook's third round theor Voyage from 1776 to 1780 was to explore the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean and find new sites for the colonies James discovered several islands in the North Pacific including Hawaii the Expedition headed north to the bearing straight but encountered solid ice so it was forced back to to Hawaii there the captain planned to spend the winter and then continue the Expedition however James Cook died in a clash with the locals the natives quartered his body and gave it back only after the British used Force the famous Captain was buried at Sea and his expedition returned to Britain in October 1780 his travels enabled Europeans to better understand the location of Australia and the islands of Oceania and laid the found foundation for further British colonization of that part of the world.