Questions & Answers: World History – Explorations, Renaissance, and Reformation

Review the exploration accomplished during the careers of Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci.
Before 1400, few Europeans knew anything about the world. When Christopher Columbus read of the exploits of the Italian Marco Polo, however, he was inspired to seek out new trade routes. Also, Prince Henry of Portugal established a navigation institute that encouraged sailors to explore. For a long time, extended sea voyages were restricted by a lack of navigational and seafaring technology; the inventions of the compass, astrolabe, and caravel remedied this situation. There was also a high cost associated with long travels; around 1400, however, new monarchs in France, England, Spain, and Portugal decided that they were willing to pay a high price to get a piece of the spice trade. Finally, the question of a motive for exploration was answered by the increasing fervor for missionary work, as well as the economic necessity of developing new trade routes.
Amerigo Vespucci, from whose name the word “America” was derived, mapped the Atlantic coast of South America and was able to convince stubborn Europeans that these lands were not a part of India.

Discuss and describe the Age of Exploration.
At the same time that the Renaissance was reinvigorating European cultural life, a desire to explore the world abroad was growing. Indeed, the ability to make long voyages was facilitated by the advances in navigational technology made around this time. The main reason for exploration, though, was economic. Europeans had first been introduced to eastern goods during the Crusades, and the exploits of Marco Polo in the 13th century had further whetted the western appetite for contact with distant lands. This increasing focus on exploration and trade caused a general shift in the balance of power in Europe. Land-locked countries, like Germany, found that they were excluded from participating in the lucrative new economy. On the other hand, those countries which bordered the Atlantic (England, France, Spain, and Portugal) were the most powerful players.

Review the exploration accomplished during the careers of Vasco da Gama and Magellan.
Vasco da Gama was the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern tip of what is now South Africa. This made it possible to reach Asia by boat. Balboa explored Central America, and was the first European to view the Pacific Ocean.
Magellan is remembered as the first to circumnavigate the globe. Cortes was a powerful commander who subjugated the Aztecs in what is now Mexico; he used great brutality to achieve his ends. Pizarro, like Cortes, was a conquistador; he conquered the Incas in what is now Peru.

Discuss and describe joint-stock companies at the time of the Age of Exploration.
As exploration created new opportunities for amassing wealth, Portugal enjoyed special favor because of its excellent location and cordial relations with many of the Muslim nations of North Africa. The ruler of Portugal at this time was even known as Prince Henry “the Navigator” (1394-1460). In order to solidify trade arrangements, European rulers began to think about colonizing foreign lands. In order to fund these expensive trips, a new kind of business known as the joint-stock company was developed. In a joint-stock company, a group of merchants would combine their resources to pay for the passage of a vessel. These groups would later be influential in securing colonial charters for many of their agents. One of the most powerful examples was the Muscovy Company of England, which controlled almost all trade with Russia.

Discuss and describe mercantilism at the time of the Age of Exploration.
As foreign trade became the most important part of every nation’s economy, the economic theory of mercantilism became popular. According to mercantilism, a nation should never import more than it exports. Of course, it is impossible for every country to achieve this goal at the same time, and so European countries were in fierce competition at all times. The solution that most nations pursued was to establish colonies, because these could supply resources for export by the mother country without really being considered imports. This rush to colonize had disastrous consequences for the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Africa. Europeans often looted the Native Americans for anything of value, and their need for cheap labor to cultivate the land there spawned the African slave trade.

Identify Cortez and his relationship with the Aztecs.
Hernán Cortez (1485-1547) was a Spanish conquistador. He assisted in the conquest of Cuba, and lived there until 1518, when he was assigned to lead an expedition into Mexico. He and 700 men landed on the Mexican shore and he promptly had his ships burnt, in order to indicate his sincerity about establishing a foothold in the country. Cortez then led his troops into Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. They were received graciously by the Aztec ruler, Montezuma, whom they immediately enslaved. The Aztecs tried to revolt against the Spanish influence, but Cortez formed a coalition with other anti-Aztec groups and brutally eliminated the Aztec uprising. Cortez went on to rule “New Spain” for a number of years.

List major artists, authors and scientists of the Renaissance period.
Artists of the Renaissance included Leonardo da Vinci, also an inventor, Michelangelo, also an architect, and others who focused on realism in their work. In literature, major contributions came from the humanist, authors like Petrarch, Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, and Boccaccio, who believed man should focus on reality rather than on the ethereal. Shakespeare, Cervantes and Dante followed in their footsteps, and their works found a wide audience thanks to Gutenberg’s development of the printing press.
Scientific developments of the Renaissance included the work of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, who challenged the geocentric philosophies of the church by proving the earth was not the center of the solar system.

Define the term “Renaissance” and explain the major characteristics of this historical period.
Renaissance literally means “rebirth.” After the darkness of the Dark Ages and the Black Plague, interest rose again in the beliefs and politics of ancient Greece and Rome. Art, literature, music, science, and philosophy all burgeoned during the Renaissance.
Many of the ideas of the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, spurred by the Medici family. Education for the upper classes expanded to include law, math, reading, writing, and classical Greek and Roman works. As the Renaissance progressed, the world was presented through art and literature in a realistic way that had never been explored before. This realism drove culture to new heights.

Name and briefly define the two phases of the Reformation period.
The Reformation consisted of the Protestant Revolution and the Catholic Reformation. The Protestant Revolution rose in Germany when Martin Luther protested abuses of the Catholic Church. John Calvin led the movement in Switzerland, while in England King Henry VIII made use of the Revolution’s ideas to further his own political goals. The Catholic Reformation occurred in response to the Protestant Revolution, leading to various changes in the Catholic Church. Some provided wider tolerance of different religious viewpoints, but others actually increased the persecution of those deemed to be heretics.

Discuss the major developments of the Scientific Revolution and name at least five scientists who brought it about.
In addition to holding power in the political realm, church doctrine also governed scientific belief. During the Scientific Revolution, astronomers and other scientists began to amass evidence that challenged the church’s scientific doctrines. Major figures of the Scientific Revolution included:
· Nicolaus Copernicus—wrote Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, arguing that the Earth revolved around the sun.
· Tycho Brahe—catalogued astronomical observations.
· Johannes Kepler—developed Laws of Planetary Motions.
· Galileo Galilei—defended the heliocentric theories of Copernicus and Kepler, discovered four moons of Jupiter, and died under house arrest by the Church, charged with heresy.
· Isaac Newton—discovered gravity, studied optics, calculus and physics, and believed the workings of nature could be observed, studied, and proven through observation.

Outline the religious and political occurrences that led to the Reformation period.
From a religious standpoint, the Reformation occurred due to abuses by the Catholic Church such as indulgences and dispensations, religious offices being offered up for sale, and an increasingly dissolute clergy.
Politically, the Reformation was driven by increased power of various ruling monarchs, who wished to take all power to themselves rather than allowing power to remain with the church. They also had begun to chafe at papal taxes and the church’s increasing wealth. The ideas of the Protestant Revolution removed power from the Catholic Church and the Pope himself, playing nicely into the hands of those monarchs, such as Henry VIII, who wanted out from under the church’s control.