Why People Wanted to Explore New Sea Routes

The Age of Exploration

Why people wanted to explore new sea routes

1. Trade was the main reason for exploration. Rich people wanted spices like p_____, c______and c______. In the days before fridges, spices were used to p______and flavour food. Many spices were also used to make m______. Most of these spices came from the Spice Islands to the South of India. Wars between Christians and M______blocked existing trade routes to the East. This made Europeans anxious to find new sea routes that would make trade with the East cheaper and easier. 2. Many Christian rulers felt it was their duty to convert all people to C______. They were anxious to conquer new lands so they could convert the people who lived there to Christianity. 3. European rulers were also interested in the g____ and s______that might be found in the undiscovered land. 4. The Renaissance was a time of l______when people hoped to improve their k______of the world. 5. Big improvements in ships and navigation meant that sailors could now go further out into the seas to find new lands.  A new type of ship called the c______was created in Portugal. These used triangular l______sails which allowed the ship to t_____ (zig zag) into the wind. They were cl______built; their sides were made of overlapping boards, which made the ships very strong.  Sailors used an as______to calculate l______, the distance in degrees north or south of the e______.  The c______told the direction the ship was heading. In the 15th century compasses were put in a g______case and put on an iron stand on deck. This made it more accurate.  A l___ and l____ was used to measure speed.

Life at sea Life at sea was tough. Ships could easily be wrecked by s______. Conditions on board were cramped. Food and water were often scarce, especially on long voyages. Lack of fresh fruit and vegetables (Vitamin C) led to a disease called s______. Water was stored in barrels but it went foul if it was left too long this led to a disease called d______or t______. Some uneducated sailors feared imaginary sea m______. Others were afraid that the sea would boil near the e______, or that the ship might fall off the edge of a flat world. Disease was a big killer. Captains often carried twice the number of men needed because they knew so many would die of illnesses.

Portuguese Exploration The first European nation to look for new trade routes were the Portuguese. Portuguese rulers wanted to find a sea route to A____ and the S______I______. Portuguese sailors sailed down the coast of A______looking for a route to the East. Prince Henry the N______never went on a voyage of discovery himself. He was the third son of King J______I of Portugal. He was very interested in ships and voyages and hoped that exploration would make Portugal a wealthy nation. He set up a s______for sailors at S______. It was here that a new type of ship called the c______was developed. At this school he brought the best mapmakers, ship builders, navigators and sailors together. The maps of the coast made by Portuguese ships were called p______charts.

Bartolomew Diaz In 14__ Diaz led an expedition down the coast of Africa. In January 1488 they were caught in a violent storm that pushed them away from the coast and out into the A______Ocean. When they saw land again it was north of them. Diaz realised that, at last they had sailed around the tip of Africa. He named it the Cape of S______. Diaz wanted to go onwards to I______but the crew refused to go any further. The Portuguese king renamed the cape the Cape of G_____ H_____ because there was great hope that they could find a way east to India.

Vasco da Gama It would be another 10 years before anyone managed to sail around Africa and into the I______O______. Da Gama set off with a crew of 172, some prisoners on death row who were realised to make up the crew. After he rounded the tip of Africa he got an A____ pilot to guide his three ships to C______in India. Da Gama filled his ships with spices and silks and returned a wealthy man. The Portuguese had now discovered a new and profitable trade route between Europe and Asia. Armed Portuguese ships began to guard this new route.