Earth, the world we live in today, as everyone knows and acknowledges for granted is spherical or round. However, this indisputable fact was not entirely considered the truth by many of the great philosophers and thinkers of the 16th century, who believed that the earth was flat or quadrilateral. For the majority of people, it would have taken a physical form of evidence to convert their beliefs. Therefore, this evidence was proved by the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan.
In Northern Portugal, during 1480, Ferdinand Magellan was born into a noble Portuguese family. However, both of his parents had unfortunately met their death during Magellan’s young age. Therefore, young Magellan had found himself in the service of royalty at an early age (“World Biography.”). Magellan was only the age of 12 when he began serving the queen of Portugal as a page; a position of employment for youths in royal courts. In addition, as a young member of Queen Leonora’s School of Pages in Lisbon, Magellan was supported to be educated on subjects that would greatly aid him in the future, such as mapmaking(cartography), astronomy, and celestial navigation of learning how to steer ships based on the positions of the stars ("World Biography."). Hence, the death of his parents had allowed him the opportunity to become adequately educated to learn about the various Portuguese expeditions in India and Africa, including those conducted by Christopher Columbus, opportunities of taking part in various sea voyages and experience in battles.
Around this time of the 15th century, spices were valuable and at the center of the world economy. However, since no spices could be cultivated in the cold and arid Europe ("Ferdinand Magellan." History.), no effort wa...
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... of seafaring navigation, and this process had made the world a much smaller place. Furthermore, European geographic knowledge was expanded immensely by Magellan’s expedition, and his ambitious voyage around the world provided the Europeans with far more than just spices. Also, he discovered the Strait of Magellan, and named the Pacific Ocean (“Ferdinand Magellan”). Moreover, mapmakers gained more knowledge about the shape and size of South America and the Pacific Ocean, and knew more about the location of Asia in relation to Europe and the Americas. This mapping proved invaluable source to European understanding of the world. The most important geography is Magellan’s realization/understanding of full extent of the earth, which was something that significantly helped in the development of future geographic explorations and the resulting knowledge of the world today.
The Exploration Era was a time period when countries and people made journeys overseas to find “the New World.” With the help of the printing press, the discoveries of the Americas were known globally making people curious to explore it themselves. In the map “Distribution of Columbus’ Letter” (Document D), it shows where the letter was published and where it was translated to different. This is due to the printing press. Along with the many documents, the news of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries of “India” or the New World had sparked the curiosity of people all over the world. People became more interested in geography and seeing what’s out there along with the different resources. The New World discovery opened up a new trade route and different trade items. This would create pros and cons like economic growth and slavery. In addition the exploration of the Europeans helped us gain knowledge and get a picture of the Americas. In the “Henricus Martellus’ World Map, 1489” (Document E), it shows the world as they knew it with Europe, Africa, and Asia. The “Martin Waldseemuller's World Map, 1507” was an updated, more correct version of the world we see today. Waldseemuller’s map includes the Americas and was much bigger than Martellus’. The printing press had helped Waldseemuller use this new knowledge to create a map that would depict something
Magellan was psycho and would do whatever he had to to get things his way. Magellan’s one of many dreams was to convert everyone to christianity and if they denied his request they were punished . One time Magellan went as far as setting a village on fire until it burned down because they wouldn't covert. Magellan’s way or no way he thought . Kill a couple people here and there but as long as everyone else converts it's okay for him to do all these things because he's Magellan. Magellan also has tried mutiny on his crew members that helped him get as far as he did in his journey . Anything to get his way he would do it without
A mostly non violent conflict that occasionally flared into brutality. And indirectly contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire that spent two digit tonnes of gold on importing spices annually, which later helped spread the plague to Italy. Later in the 16th century the English and Dutch stepped up to compete in spice trade and global violence. Some regimes were established to control nutmeg and mace production. Locals were enslaved for workforce, power was ruthlessly enforced by mercenary samurai warriors hired in Japan and problematic villages razed. Spices commanded such high prices because of the mystery surrounding them as well as their string flavors and strong, pleasant scents. Battles were fought over control od the spice trade, especially by the Portuguese, but in the end, as people grew tired of over spiced food, and the mystery surrounding the spice’s origins were discovers, spices greatly decreased in value. However, the spice trade influenced explores to go out in search of new trade routes to cut out Muslim middlemen, discovering new routes to Asia and even the discovery of the
It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of Portugal, but he was refused. In 1485, Columbus took his son Diego and went to Spain to get some help.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who was in part one of the main participants in the “Age of Discovery.” Columbus growing up studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. As Columbus got older he started to
Nicolaus stayed in Torun, and finished his elementary education there. In 1488 he went to Wloclawek cathedral school where he got his proper humanist education. In 1491, he enrolled in the University of Kracow. It is believed that this university ignited Nicolaus’ interest in astronomy, astrology and mathematics. Records from the library during his stay confirm his budding interests ...
America's national memory is filled with icons and symbols, avatars of deeply held, yet imperfectly understood, beliefs. The role of history in the iconography of the United States is pervasive, yet the facts behind the fiction are somehow lost in an amorphous haze of patriotism and perceived national identity. Christopher Columbus, as a hero and symbol of the first order in America, is an important figure in this pantheon of American myth. His status, not unlike most American icons, is representative not of his own accomplishments, but the self-perception of the society which raised him to his pedestal in the American gallery of heroism.
Around the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Europe was a place in need of inspiration. Marco Polo, a merchant, and still a simple man, was this source of inspiration. He was an ordinary boy during his childhood, living a similar life to the other boys his age. Although his intentions might not have been as significant as his impact, he was very influential. Marco Polo served as an influence to many later explorers. Whether it was through his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which focused mainly on descriptions of spices and commercial goods and many other interesting trade items he encountered in his travels, he sparked an interest and desire of not only Europe, but later explorers as well . Marco Polo was viewed to have had definite charm and also having much capability. He has also proven that he was a tough man. This is evident because of the many voyages he survived, which included occurrences of bandit ambushes, disease, and not to mention the fatigue of the travel. There have been many who believe that Marco Polo was not intellectually equipped, meaning that he was not a very educated man, as no European probably was at the time . But as always, there is of course some speculation on the many aspects of the life of Marco Polo. Many people have their own beliefs of whom the real Marco Polo was and what he accomplished. There will be mention on some of the alleged negative, yet also positive aspects of his life. Despite all the accusations or assumptions of Marco Polo, history was affected as a result of his existence. He still remains an important figure in history.
To the "politically correct," the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America is no cause for celebration. And even before 1992 began, their protests resulted in a significant victory: the naming of an American Indian as co-grand marshal in the 1992 Rose Parade. Parade officials caved in to critics, who denounced the tournament committee when it first named as grand marshal Cristobal Colon, a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus. But the actual target of those critics was not simply Colon; it was Western civilization.
Christopher Columbus was the first European to land in America, right? Wrong. It was, in fact, the Viking Leif Erikson. He was born in Iceland to Erik the Red and moved to Greenland during his childhood. Erikson’s first important voyage was to Norway. His most very important voyage, though, was the voyage back to Greenland in which he found North America, but at that time named the place “Vinland.” After founding Vinland, he never returned and remained in Greenland. There is even a holiday named after Leif Erikson.
Christopher Columbus is a name that has been spoken in every history class across the nation. He is known as one of the most important sailors in history. Columbus primarily sailed by using a type of navigation known as “Dead Reckoning”. Dead Reckoning is a type of navigation in which a sailor marks his or her position by recording the distance sailed and by starting at a known point (Pickering, Keith A. “Columbus and Dead Reckoning (DR) Navigation” The Columbus Navigation Homepage). Though he used dead reckoning most of the time, he did occasionally use celestial navigation. Celestial Navigation is when a sailor uses celestial bodies such as the stars and the planets to navigate and measure his latitude, because Columbus had visited several other lands where new navigation techniques were being discovered he was a little more familiar with them than other sailors in his era were. (Pickering, Keith A. “Columbus and Celestial Navigation” The Columbus Navigation Homepage) Columbus used a variety of different tools to try and navigate with celestial navigation. Two of the tools he used were the quadrant and the astrolabe. After several attempts with both of the devices, however, he was still unsuccessful with all of his attempts. (Pickering, Keith A. “Columbus and Celestial Navigation” The Columbus Navigation Homepage)
Christopher Columbus was, “the first European Explorer to find the Americas”(Venner 1). Columbus was sent by the leaders of Spain to discover a road to Asia so that they could become richer. When Columbus started his journey he was headed to Asia, but instead he ended up discovering a new land. In this new land the Europeans were met with natives of the island which they thought were Indians. After his first trip and sharing his discoveries people's view of the world was completely changed. Before Christopher Columbus made his trip people thought that the world was flat, but after people knew about the land that was discovered they believed it was in fact round. This shows Columbus is the father of Globalization because he introduced a new world to the Europeans.
“In the middle ages, Europe knew less about the earth than did some of the ancients, for the commercial decline of Rome brought about the contraction of geographical knowledge.” [Pohl 6]. During this time period, men began to disregard authority and learned to rely directly on their own investigations. This is the seed that brought about men like Columbus and Vespucci. The period of the Renaissance is the fertile ground that brought about changes in the world of inquiry and scientific achievement in Europe. “This new spirit of inquiry received its chief impetus from the invention of the printing press whose importance outweighed even the greatest political event of the time.”[Pohl 9]. Printing led to the overthrow of authority and allowed the men of the period to come into immediate contact with each ...
Time after time, science and technology have proven that we live on a spherical planet. Now that we have access to space, the easiest way to prove the Earth is a sphere is to leave it and view it
Christopher Columbus, born in 1451, was the oldest son of Domenico Colombo. A controversial figure blamed for the eradication of the natives in the island he “discovered”, Columbus nonetheless should be credited with opening Europe’s eyes and ears to the Caribbean. Throughout his lifetime Columbus made 4 pilgrimages to the New World.