9.1: The Reasons for European Exploration Problems of sea travel
Travel by sea was limited and diffi cult in the early 1400s.
• Ships could not navigate accurately, often ending up very far from where they had planned to go.
• Many sailors were afraid of the unknown. Some believed that the earth was fl at and they would sail off the edge if they went too far. Others believed the seas were full of monsters.
In this
topic, you will learn about:
The problems faced by sailors
The reasons why Europeans began to explore the world beyond Europe
How Europeans saw the world in the 1400s
Reasons to explore Europeans began to explore the wider world from the mid-1400s onwards for several reasons:
1. The infl uence of the Renaissance: People were eager to learn and were questioning their existing beliefs. In particular, the rediscovery of the Geographia by the Roman writer Ptolemy changed how people understood the world.
2. The stories of Marco Polo: Polo was a fourteenth-century Italian who had travelled to China and wrote about the great wealth and incredible things he had seen. His book made people want to see these wonders for themselves.
3. New trade routes: The trade in silks and spices (needed to help preserve and fl avour food) from the East was very profi table. After the Black Death, Europe’s population grew rapidly and became wealthier. Explorers and traders could grow very rich if they could fi nd ways to get more goods to Europe more quickly.
