One page summary of world historyPart 1of theStudent's Friendbegins with the one-page summary of world history reproduced below.For a printer friendly, pdf version,click here.For a discussion of the question, "Did geography give Eurasia an advantage?"click here

Overview: waves of world historyWorld history is the story of human experience. It is a story of how people, ideas, and goods spread across the earth creating our past and our present. To help us better understand this experience, we will divide history into four main eras: prehistory, ancient times, middle ages, and modern times. Our story begins during prehistory in east Africa where human life began. From Africa humans spread to Eurasia (Europe and Asia), to Australia, and finally to the Americas. Human migration was one of the great waves of history.During most of history, most humans made their living by hunting and gathering. Then about 12,000 years ago, people in the Middle East learned how to raise a wild wheat plant, and agriculture was born -- another great wave of history. No longer were humans constantly on the move searching for food. People could settle in one place, build cities, and make inventions like the plow, wheel, and writing. The complex societies that resulted are what we call civilization, another wave of history and the start of ancient times. In terms of a human lifetime, waves of change moved slowly, and much stayed the same amid the changes.Waves of history were channeled over the earth by geography. The first civilizations arose in river valleys where rivers provided fresh water for raising crops and transportation for moving crops to market. Beginning in Mesopotamia, civilization spread west to Egypt and east to India. These three civilizations formed an early international trading network that eventually extended across the connected lands of Eurasia and North Africa, a vast region that lies in a temperate climate zone where most of the world's people have lived since prehistoric times. More people meant more ideas, more inventions, and more diseases than in other parts of the world. Waves of change took longer to reach sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas because they were separated from Eurasia by physical barriers of desert and ocean.As agriculture replaced hunting and gathering, human population increased. People in civilized societies divided themselves into unequal social classes with priests and kings at the top. Wealthy landowners collected rent payments from poor farmers, men came to dominate women, and slavery became common. In the grasslands of central Eurasia, nomadic people chose not to settle down and raise crops. They lived by herding animals from pasture to pasture with the seasons. They learned to ride horses, developed cavalry skills, and attacked settled communities. Sometimes these nomadic raiders conquered great civilizations.During ancient times people in Eurasia invented many things that still define civilization today such as money, armies, iron, math, literature, democracy, and major world religions -- to name a few. Ancient times lasted for roughly 4,000 years, ending about 500 AD after nomadic raiders brought down great classical civilizations in India, China, and the Mediterranean. The middle ages followed and lasted a thousand years.Change spread to new places mostly through trading contacts. Some people welcomed change, while others avoided change and tried to maintain traditional ways. In the late middle ages, China was a superpower with the greatest navy in the world until China's rulers chose to reduce contact with the outside world and dismantled the fleet. This choice opened the door for Europeans to make the great voyages of discovery that connected the world and began the modern era around the year 1500. Change was moving faster now.Three centuries later, Europeans learned how to power machines by burning fuels, unleashing the Industrial Revolution -- another great wave of history. Change moved even faster. At first, Europeans used their machines to dominate other peoples of the world who lacked advanced technology. Then Europeans turned their machines on each other, launching two suicidal world wars that ended European world dominance.The stream of time flows on. As always, we humans face challenges to our survival, but in our time the challenges are global. Modern technology is consuming the world's resources, threatening the earth's environment, and it has produced weapons that could end human life. The world is tied together through communications and trade, but the world remains divided between the "haves" and the "have nots."History created our past and our present, but the future is up to us. There is no instruction manual for the future, but we do have a guide that shows how the world works and how humans behave. That guide is history.

2001 - 2011 michael g. maxwell - maxwell learning l.l.c.

Age of DiscoveryFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected fromAge of discovery)This article is about 16th century geographic exploration. For the computer wargame, seeGlobal Diplomacy.

Cantino planisphere1502, earliest surviving chart showing the explorations ofColumbusto Central America,Corte-Realto Newfoundland,Gamato India andCabralto Brazil.Tordesillasline depicted,Biblioteca Estense,ModenaTheAge of Discovery, also known as theAge of Exploration, was a period starting in the early 15th century and continuing to the 17th century during which Europeans explored Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. Thefall of Constantinoplein 1453 severed European trade links by land with Asia leading many to begin seeking routes east by sea and spurred the age of exploration.[1][2]Historians often refer to the 'Age of Discovery'[3][4]as the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternativetrade routesto "the East Indies", moved by the trade ofgold,silverandspices.[5]The Age of Discovery can be seen as a bridge between theMiddle Agesand theModern era, along with its contemporaryRenaissancemovement, triggering theearly modern periodand the rise of Europeannation states. European overseas expansion led to the rise ofcolonial empires, with the contact between the Old and New Worlds producing theColumbian Exchange: a wide transfer of plants, animals, foods, human populations (includingslaves),communicable diseases, and culture between theEasternandWesternhemispheres, in one of the most significantglobalevents concerning ecology, agriculture, and culture in history.European explorationallowed the global mapping of the world, resulting in a new world-view and distant civilizations acknowledging each other, reaching the most remote boundaries much later.Contents[hide] 1Overview 2Background 2.1Medieval travel (12411438) 3Atlantic Ocean (14191507) 3.1Portuguese exploration 3.1.1Portuguese exploration after Prince Henry 3.2Spanish exploration: Columbus & the "West Indies" 3.3Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) 3.4A New World: Americas 3.4.1The "True Indies" and Brazil 4Indian Ocean (14971513) 4.1Gama's route to India 4.2The "Spice Islands" and China 5Pacific Ocean (15131529) 5.1Discovery of the Pacific Ocean 5.2Subsequent developments to the east 5.3First circumnavigation 5.4Westward and Eastward exploration met 6Inland Spanishconquistadores(15191532) 6.1Corts' Mexico and the Aztec Empire 6.2Pizarro's Peru and the Inca Empire 7New trade routes (15421565) 8Northern European involvement (159517th century) 8.1Exploring North America 8.2Search for a Northern Route 8.2.1Barentsz' Arctic exploration 8.3Dutch Australia and New Zealand 9Russian exploration of Siberia (15811660) 9.1Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir 9.2Siberian river routes 9.3Russians reach the Pacific 10Global impact 10.1Economic impact in Europe 11See also 12References 12.1Bibliography 12.1.1Primary sources 12.1.2Books 12.1.3Web sources 13Further reading 14External links

Overview[edit]

Map with the main travels of the age of discoveries, 14821524. See details in expandable table:[show]Major discoveries

The Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418, under the sponsorship ofPrince Henry. In 1488Bartolomeu Diasreached the Indian Ocean by this route. In 1492 theSpanish monarchsfundedChristopher Columbus's plan to sail west to reach the Indies by crossing the Atlantic. He landed on an uncharted continent, then seen by Europeans as anew world, America. To prevent conflict between Portugal and Spain, theTreaty of Tordesillaswas signed dividing the world into two regions of exploration, where each had exclusive rights to claim newly discovered lands.In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded byVasco da Gamareached India by sailing around Africa, opening up direct trade with Asia. Soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward, to the valuablespice islandsin 1512, landing in China one year later. Thus, Europe first received news of eastern and western Pacific within a one year span around 1512. East and west exploration overlapped in 1522, when Portuguese navigatorFerdinand Magellanled a Spanish expedition West, achieving the first circumnavigation of the world, while Spanishconquistadorsexplored inland the Americas, and later, some of the South Pacific islands.Since 1495, the French and English and, much later, theDutchentered the race of exploration after learning of these exploits, defying the Iberian monopoly on maritime trade by searching for new routes, first to the north, and into the Pacific Ocean around South America, but eventually by following the Portuguese around Africa into the Indian Ocean; discovering Australia in 1606, New Zealand in 1642, and Hawaii in 1778. Meanwhile, from the 1580s to the 1640s Russians explored and conquered almost the whole ofSiberia.

Background[edit]See also:Early world mapsandChronology of European exploration of Asia

Ptolemy's world map(2nd century) in a 15th-century reconstructionEuropean medieval knowledge about Asia beyond the reach ofByzantine Empirewas sourced in partial reports, often obscured by legends,[6]dating back from the time of the conquests ofAlexander the Greatand his successors. Another source wereRadhanite Jewish trade networksof merchants established as go-betweens between Europe and the Muslim world during the time of theCrusader states.In 1154Arab geographerMuhammad al-Idrisicreated a description of the world andworld map, theTabula Rogeriana, at the court of KingRoger II of Sicily,[7][8]but still Africa was only partially known to either Christians, Genoese and Venetians, or the Arab seamen, and its southern extent unknown. There were reports of great African kingdoms beyond theSahara, but the factual knowledge was limited to the Mediterranean coasts and little else since the Arab blockade of North Africa precluded exploration inland. Knowledge about the Atlantic African coast was fragmented and derived mainly fromoldGreek and Roman maps based on Carthaginian knowledge, including the time ofRomanexploration ofMauritania. TheRed Seawas barely known and only trade links with theMaritime republics, theRepublic of Veniceespecially, fostered collection of accurate maritime knowledge.[9]Indian Ocean trade routes were sailed by Arab traders. Between 1405 and 1421 Chinese third Ming emperorYonglesponsored a series of long rangetributary missionsunder the command ofZheng He(Cheng Ho).[10]The fleets visitedArabia,East Africa, India,Malay ArchipelagoandThailand. But the journeys, reported byMa Huan, a Muslim voyager and translator, were halted abruptly after the emperor's death[11]and were not followed up, as the ChineseMing Dynastyretreated in thehaijin, a policy ofisolationism, having limited maritime trade.By 1400 a Latin translation ofPtolemy'sGeographiareached Italy coming from Constantinople. The rediscovery of Roman geographical knowledge was a revelation,[12]both for mapmaking and worldview,[13]although reinforcing the idea that the Indian Ocean was landlocked.Medieval travel (12411438)[edit]

TheSilk Roadandspice traderoutes later blocked by theOttoman Empirein 1453 spurring exploration to find alternative sea routes

Marco Polotravels (12711295)A prelude to the Age of Discovery was a series of European expeditions crossingEurasiaby land in the late Middle Ages.[14]Although theMongolshad threatened Europe with pillage and destruction, Mongol states also unified much of Eurasia and, from 1206 on, thePax Mongolicaallowed safe trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China.[15][16]A series of Europeans took advantage of these to explore eastwards. Most were Italians, as trade between Europe and the Middle East was controlled mainly by theMaritime republics. The closeItalianlinks to theLevantraised great curiosity and commercial interest in countries which lay further east.Christian embassies were sent as far asKarakorumduring theMongol invasions of Syria, from which they gained understanding of the world. The first of these travelers wasGiovanni de Plano Carpini, dispatched byPope Innocent IVto theGreat Khan, who journeyed toMongoliaand back from 1241 to 1247.[15]About the same time, Russian princeYaroslav of Vladimirand subsequently his sonsAlexander NevskyandAndrey II of Vladimirtraveled to the Mongolian capital. Though having strong political implications, their journeys left no detailed accounts. Other travelers followed, like FrenchAndr de Longjumeauand FlemishWilliam of Rubruck, who reached China through Central Asia.[17]The most famous traveler, however, wasMarco Polo. This Venetian merchant dictated an account of journeys throughout Asia from 1271 to 1295, describing being a guest at theYuan Dynastycourt ofKublai KhaninTravels, and it was read throughout Europe.[18]In 1291, in a first Atlantic exploration attempt, merchant brothersVadino and Ugolino Vivaldisailed from Genoa with two galleys but disappeared off the Moroccan coast, feeding the fears of oceanic travel.[19][20]From 1325 to 1354, aMoroccanscholar fromTangier,Ibn Battuta, journeyed from North Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, having reached China. After return, he dictated an account of his journeys to a scholar he met in Granada, theRihla("The Journey"),[21]the unheralded source on his adventures. Between 1357 and 1371 a book of supposed travels compiled byJohn Mandevilleacquired extraordinary popularity. Despite the extremely unreliable and often fantastical nature of its accounts it was used as a reference[22]for the East, Egypt, and the Levant in general, asserting the old belief that Jerusalem was thecenter of the world.Following the period ofTimurid relations with Europe, in 1439Niccol de' Contipublished an account of his travels as a Muslim merchant to India and Southeast Asia and, later in 14661472, Russian merchantAfanasy NikitinofTvertravelled to India, which he described in his bookA Journey Beyond the Three Seas.These overland journeys had little immediate effect. TheMongol Empirecollapsed almost as quickly as it formed and soon the route to the east became far more difficult and dangerous. TheBlack Deathof the 14th century also blocked travel and trade.[23]The rise of theOttoman Empirefurther limited the possibilities of European overland trade.Atlantic Ocean (14191507)[edit]See also:Maritime history of EuropeandPortuguese discoveries

Genoese(red) andVenetian(green) maritime trade routes in the Mediterranean andBlack SeaFrom the 8th century until the 15th century, theRepublic of Veniceand neighboringmaritime republicsheld the monopoly of European trade with the Middle East. Thesilkandspice trade, involvingspices,incense,herbs,drugsandopium, made these Mediterranean city-states phenomenally rich. Spices were among the most expensive and demanded products of the Middle Ages, as they were used inmedieval medicine,[24]religiousrituals,cosmetics,perfumery, as well asfood additivesandpreservatives.[25]They were all imported from Asia and Africa. Muslim tradersmainly descendants of Arab sailors fromYemenandOmandominated maritime routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East and shipping for trading emporiums in India, mainlyKozhikode, westward toOrmusinPersian GulfandJeddahin theRed Sea. From there, overland routes led to the Mediterranean coasts. Venetian merchants distributed then the goods through Europe until the rise of theOttoman Empire, that eventually led to thefall of Constantinoplein 1453, barring Europeans from important combined-land-sea routes.[1][2]Forced to reduce their activities in the Black Sea, and at war with Venice, theGenoesehad turned to north African trade of wheat,olive oil(valued also as energy source) and a search for silver and gold. Europeans had a constantdeficit in silver and gold,[26]as coin only went one way: out, spent on eastern trade that was now cut off. Several European mines were exhausted,[27]the lack ofbullionleading to the development of a complex banking system to manage the risks in trade (the very first state bank,Banco di San Giorgio, was founded in 1407 at Genoa). Sailing also into the ports ofBruges(Flanders) and England, Genoese communities established then in Portugal,[28]who profited from their enterprise and financial expertise.European sailing had been primarily close to landcabotage, guided byportolan charts. These charts specified proven ocean routes guided by coastal landmarks: sailors departed from a known point, followed acompassheading, and tried to identify their location by its landmarks.[29]For the first oceanic exploration Western Europeans used thecompass, progressive new advances incartographyandastronomy. Arab navigation tools like theastrolabeandquadrantwere used forcelestial navigation.Portuguese exploration[edit]See also:Portuguese discoveriesandEuropean exploration of Africa

Saharan trade routesc. 1400, with the modernNigerhighlighted

Voyage ofBartolomeu Dias(148788)In 1297, with thereconquistacompleted, kingDinis of Portugaltook personal interest in exports and in 1317 he made an agreement with Genoese merchant sailorManuel Pessanha(Pesagno), appointing him firstAdmiralof thePortuguese navy, with the goal of defending the country against Muslim pirate raids.[30]Outbreaks ofbubonic plagueled to severe depopulation in the second half of the 14th century: only the sea offered alternatives, with most population settling in fishing and trading coastal areas.[31]Between 1325 and 1357Afonso IV of Portugalencouraged maritime commerce and ordered the first explorations.[32]TheCanary Islands, already known to Genoese, were claimed as officially discovered under patronage of the Portuguese but in 1344 Castile disputed them, expanding their rivalry into the sea.[33][34]In 1415,Ceutawasconqueredby the Portuguese aiming to control navigation of the African coast. Young princeHenry the Navigatorwas there and became aware of profit possibilities in theTrans-Saharan traderoutes. For centuriesslave and goldtrade routes linking West Africa with the Mediterranean passed over the Western Sahara Desert, controlled by the moors of North Africa.Henry wished to know how far Muslim territories in Africa extended, hoping to bypass them and trade directly with West Africa by sea, find allies in legendary Christian lands to the south[35]like the long-lost Christian kingdom ofPrester John[36]and to probe whether it was possible to reach theIndiesby sea, the source of the lucrativespice trade. He invested in sponsoring voyages down the coast ofMauritania, gathering a group of merchants, shipowners and stakeholders interested in new sea lanes. Soon the Atlantic islands ofMadeira(1419) andAzores(1427) were reached. In particular, they were discovered by voyages launched by the command of PrinceHenry the Navigator. The expedition leader himself, who established settlements on the island of Madeira, wasJoo Gonalves Zarco.[37]At the time, Europeans did not know what lay beyondCape Non(Cape Chaunar) on the African coast, and whether it was possible to return once it was crossed.[38]Nautical myths warned of oceanic monsters or an edge of the world, but Prince Henry's navigation challenged such beliefs: starting in 1421, systematic sailing overcame it, reaching the difficultCape Bojadorthat in 1434 one of Prince Henry's captains,Gil Eanes, finally passed.A major advance was the introduction of thecaravelin the mid-15th century, a small ship able to sailwindwardmore than any other in Europe at the time.[39]Evolved from fishing ships designs, they were the first that could leave the coastalcabotagenavigation and sail safely on the open Atlantic. Forcelestial navigationthe Portuguese used theEphemerides, which experienced a remarkable diffusion in the 15th century. They were astronomical charts plotting the location of the stars over a distinct period of time. Published in 1496 by the Jewish astronomer, astrologer, and mathematicianAbraham Zacuto, theAlmanach Perpetuumincluded some of these tables for the movements of stars.[40]These tables revolutionized navigation, allowing to calculatelatitude. Exactlongitude, however, remained elusive, and mariners struggled to determine it for centuries.[41][42]Using the caravel, systematic exploration continued ever more southerly, advancing on average one degree a year.[43]SenegalandCape Verde Peninsulawere reached in 1445 and in 1446,lvaro Fernandespushed on almost as far as present-daySierra Leone.In 1453 thefall of Constantinopleto the hands of theOttomanswas a blow to Christianity and the established business relations linking with the east. In 1455Pope Nicholas Vissued thebullRomanus Pontifexreinforcing previousDum Diversas(1452), granting all lands and seas discovered beyond Cape Bojador to kingAfonso V of Portugaland his successors, as well as trade and conquest against Muslims and pagans, initiating amare clausumpolicy in the Atlantic.[44]The king, who had been inquiring Genoese experts about a seaway to India, commissioned thenFra Mauro world map, which arrived in Lisbon in 1459.[45]In 1456Diogo Gomesreached theCape Verdearchipelago. In the next decade several captains at the service of Prince Henry - including the GenoeseAntonio da Noliand VenetianAlvise Cadamosto- discovered the remaining islands which were occupied still during the 15th century. The Gulf of Guinea would be reached in the 1460s's.

Replica ofcaravelship introduced in mid-15th century for oceanic explorationPortuguese exploration after Prince Henry[edit]In 1460Pedro de Sintrareached Sierra Leone. Prince Henry died in November that year after which, given the meager revenues, exploration was granted to Lisbon merchantFerno Gomesin 1469, who in exchange for the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea had to explore 100 miles each year for five years.[46]With his sponsorship, explorersJoo de Santarm,Pedro Escobar, Lopo Gonalves,Ferno do P, and Pedro de Sintra made it even beyond the hired. They reached the southern Hemisphere and the islands of the Gulf of Guinea, includingSo Tom and PrncipeandElminaon the Gold Coast in 1471. In the Southern hemisphere, they used theSouthern Crossas the reference for celestial navigation.There, a thrivingalluvialgold trade was found among the natives and Arab and Berber traders and in 1481, the recently crownedJoo IIdecided to buildSo Jorge da Minafactory. In 1482 theCongo Riverwas explored byDiogo Co,[47]who in 1486 continued toCape Cross(modernNamibia).The next crucial breakthrough was in 1488, whenBartolomeu Diasrounded the southern tip of Africa, which he named "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas), anchoring atMossel Bayand then sailing east as far as the mouth of theGreat Fish River, proving that the Indian Ocean was accessible from the Atlantic. SimultaneouslyPro da Covilh, sent out traveling secretly overland, had reachedEthiopiahaving collected important information about the Red Sea and Quenia coast, suggesting that a sea route to the Indies would soon be forthcoming.[48]Soon the cape was renamed by kingJohn II of Portugal"Cape of Good Hope" (Cabo da Boa Esperana), because of the great optimism engendered by the possibility of a sea route to India, proving false the view that had existed sincePtolemythat the Indian Ocean wasland-locked.Spanish exploration: Columbus & the "West Indies"[edit]See also:Voyages of Christopher ColumbusandEuropean colonization of the Americas

The four voyages ofChristopher Columbus14921503Portugal's neighbouring fellow Iberian rival,Castile, had begun to establish its rule over theCanary Islands, located off the west African coast, in 1402, but then became distracted by internal Iberian politics and the repelling of Islamic invasion attempts and raids through most of the 15th century. Only late in the century, following the unification of the crowns of Castile and Aragon and the completion of thereconquista, did an emerging modern Spain become fully committed to the search for new trade routes overseas. TheCrown of Aragonhad been an important maritime potentate in the Mediterranean, controlling territories in eastern Spain, southwestern France, major islands likeSicily,Malta, and theKingdom of NaplesandSardinia, with mainland possessions as far as Greece. In 1492 thejoint rulersconquered theMoorish kingdom of Granada, which had been providing Castile with African goods through tribute, and decided to fundChristopher Columbus's expedition in the hope of bypassing Portugal's monopoly on west African sea routes, to reach "the Indies" (east and south Asia) by travelling west.[49]Twice before, in 1485 and 1488, Columbus had presented the project to kingJohn II of Portugal, who rejected it.On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed fromPalos de la Fronterawith three ships; one largercarrack,Santa Mara, nicknamedGallega(the Galician), and two smallercaravels,Pinta(the Painted) andSanta Clara, nicknamedNia. Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands, where he restocked for what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean, crossing a section of the Atlantic that became known as theSargasso Sea.Land was sighted on 12 October 1492, and Columbus called the island (nowThe Bahamas)San Salvador, in what he thought to be the "West Indies". Columbus also explored the northeast coast ofCuba(landed on 28 October) and the northern coast ofHispaniola, by 5 December. He was received by the nativecaciqueGuacanagari, who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind.

Replicas ofNia,PintaandSanta MaraatPalos de la Frontera, SpainColumbus left 39 men and founded the settlement ofLa Navidadin what is now present-dayHaiti.[50]Before returning to Spain, he kidnapped some ten to twenty-five natives and took them back with him. Only seven or eight of the nativeIndiansarrived in Spain alive, but they made quite an impression on Seville.[51]On the return, a storm forced him to dock inLisbon, on 4 March 1493. After a week in Portugal, he set sail for Spain, entering the harbor ofPaloson 15 March 1493. Word of his "discovery" of new landsrapidly spread throughout Europe.[52]Columbus and other Spanish explorers were initially disappointed with their discoveriesunlike Africa or Asia the Caribbean islanders had little to trade with the Spanish ships. The islands thus became the focus of colonization efforts. It was not until the continent itself was explored that Spain found the wealth it had sought.Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)[edit]Main article:Treaty of Tordesillas

The 1494Tordesilhas Treatymeridian (purple) and the laterMaluku Islandsantimeridian(green), set at theTreaty of Zaragoza (1529)Shortly after Columbus arrival from the "West Indies", a division of influence became necessary to avoid conflict between Spanish and Portuguese.[53]On 4 May 1493, two months after Columbus arrival, theCatholic Monarchsgot abull(Inter caetera) fromPope Alexander VIstating that all lands west and south of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of theAzoresor the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Spain and, later, all mainlands and islands then belonging to India. It did not mention Portugal, which could not claim newly discovered lands east of the line.KingJohn II of Portugalwas not pleased with the arrangement, feeling that it gave him far too little landpreventing him from reaching India, his main goal. He then negotiated directly with KingFerdinandand QueenIsabellaof Spain to move the line west, allowing him to claim newly discovered lands east of it.[54]An agreement was reached in 1494, with theTreaty of Tordesillasthat "divided" the world between the two powers. In this treaty the Portuguese "received" everything outside of Europe east of a line that ran 270leagueswest of theCape Verdeislands (already Portuguese), and the islands discovered byChristopher Columbuson his first voyage (claimed for Spain), named in the treaty asCipanguandAntilia(CubaandHispaniola), this gave them control over Africa, Asia and eastern South America (Brazil). The Spanish received everything west of this line, territory that was still almost completely unknown, and proved to be mostly the western part of the American continent plus the Pacific Ocean islands.A New World: Americas[edit]

Detail of 1507Waldseemller mapshowing the name "America" for the first time.Very little of the divided area had actually been seen by Europeans, as it was only divided by a geographical definition rather than control on the ground. Columbus's first voyage spurred maritime exploration and, from 1497, a number of explorers headed west.That yearJohn Cabot, also a commissioned Italian, gotletters patentfrom KingHenry VII of England. Sailing fromBristol, probably backed by the localSociety of Merchant Venturers, Cabot crossed the Atlantic from a northerly latitude hoping the voyage to the "West Indies" would be shorter[55]and made a landfall somewhere in North America, possiblyNewfoundland. In 1499Joo Fernandes Lavradorwas licensed by the King of Portugal and together withPro de Barcelosthey first sightedLabrador, which was granted and named after him. After returning he possibly went to Bristol to sail in the name of England.[56]Nearly at the same time, between 1499 and 1502 brothersGasparandMiguel Corte Realexplored and named the coasts ofGreenlandand also Newfoundland.[57]Both explorations signaled in 1502Cantino planisphere.The "True Indies" and Brazil[edit]In 1497, newly crowned KingManuel I of Portugalsent an exploratory fleet eastwards, fulfilling his predecessor's project of finding a route to the Indies. In July 1499 news spread that the Portuguese had reached the "true indies", as a letter was dispatched by the Portuguese king to the Spanish Catholic Monarchs one day after the celebrated return of the fleet.[58]While Columbus engaged in two new trips to explore the "West Indies" (Central America), coming into conflict with the Spanish crown, asecond Portuguesearmadawas dispatched to India. The fleet of thirteen ships and about 1,500 men leftLisbonon 9 March 1500. It was headed byPedro lvares Cabralwith a crew of expert sailors includingBartolomeu Dias,Nicolau Coelhoand scrivenerPro Vaz de Caminha. To avoid the calms off the coast ofGulf of Guinea, they sailed in a southwesterly direction, in a large "volta do mar". On 21 April a mountain was visible, then namedMonte Pascoal; on 22 April they landed on the coast ofBrazil, and on 25 April the entire fleet sailed into the harbor calledPorto Seguro. Cabral perceived that the new land lay east of the line of Tordesillas, and at once sent an envoy to Portugal, with the important tidings described in a (now famous)carta de Pro Vaz de Caminhaletter. Believing the newly discovered lands to be an island, they named itIlha de Vera Cruz(Island of the True Cross).[59]Some historians contend that the Portuguese knew of the South American bulge before while sailing the "volta do mar" techniquehence the insistence of John II in moving to west line of Tordesillasso his landing in Brazil may not have been an accident.[60]At the invitation of king Manuel I of Portugal,Amerigo Vespucci[61]a Florentine who had been working for a branch of theMedici BankinSevillesince 1491, fitting oceanic expeditions and travelling twice toThe GuianaswithJuan de la Cosain the service of Spain[62]participated as observer in these exploratory voyages to the east coast of South America. The expeditions became widely known in Europe after two accounts attributed to him, published between 1502 and 1504, suggested that the newly discovered lands were not India but a "New World",[63]theMundus novus, Latin title of a contemporary document based on Vespucci letters toLorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, which had become widely popular in Europe.[64]It was soon understood that Columbus had not reached Asia, but rather found a new continent: the Americas.America was namedin 1507 bycartographersMartin WaldseemllerandMatthias Ringmann, probably after Amerigo Vespucci.Indian Ocean (14971513)[edit]Gama's route to India[edit]See also:Portuguese India Armadas

Vasco da Gama's 14971499 travel to India (black). Previous travels ofPro da Covilh(orange) andAfonso de Paiva(blue), and their common route (green)Protected from direct Spanish competition by the treaty of Tordesillas, Portuguese eastward exploration and colonization continued apace. Twice, in 1485 and 1488, Portugal officially rejectedChristopher Columbus's idea of reaching India by sailing westwards. KingJohn II of Portugal's experts rejected it, for they held the opinion that Columbus's estimation of a travel distance of 2,400 miles (3,860km) was undervalued,[65]and in part becauseBartolomeu Diasdeparted in 1487 trying the rounding of the southern tip of Africa, therefore they believed that sailing east would require a far shorter journey. Dias's return from theCape of Good Hopein 1488, andPro da Covilhtravel toEthiopiaoverland indicated that the richness of theIndian Seawas accessible from the Atlantic. A long-overdue expedition was prepared.Under new kingManuel I of Portugal, on July 1497 a small exploratory fleet of four ships and about 170 men leftLisbonunder command ofVasco da Gama. By December the fleet passed theGreat Fish Riverwhere Dias had turned backand sailed into unknown waters. On 20 May 1498, they arrived atCalicut. The efforts of Vasco da Gama to get favorable trading conditions were hampered by the low value of their goods, compared with the valuable goods traded there. Two years after departure, Gama and a survivor crew of 55 men returned in glory to Portugal as the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.In 1500, a second larger fleet of thirteen ships and about 1500 men was sent to India. Under command ofPedro lvares Cabralthey made a first landfall on the Brazilian coast; later, in the Indian Ocean, one of Cabral's ships reachedMadagascar(1501), which was partly explored byTristo da Cunhain 1507;Mauritiuswas discovered in 1507,Socotraoccupied in 1506. In the same yearLoureno de Almeidalanded inSri Lanka, the eastern island named "Taprobane" in remote accounts ofAlexander the Great's and 4th-century BCE GreekgeographerMegasthenes. On the Asiatic mainland the firstfactories (trading-posts)were established at Kochi and Calicut (1501) and thenGoa(1510).The "Spice Islands" and China[edit]

Replica ofFlor de la Marcarrackhousing the Maritime Museum ofMalaccaIn 1511,Afonso de AlbuquerqueconqueredMalaccafor Portugal, then the center of Asian trade. East of Malacca, Albuquerque sent several diplomatic missions:Duarte Fernandesas the first European envoy to thekingdom of Siam(modernThailand).Getting to know the secret location of the so-called "spice islands"theMaluku Islands, mainly theBanda, then the single world source ofnutmegandcloves, main purpose for the travels in the Indian seahe sent an expedition led byAntnio de Abreuto Banda, where they were the first Europeans to arrive in early 1512.[66]Abreu then left forAmbon Islandwhile his vice-captainFrancisco Serrosank offTernate, where he obtained a license to build a Portuguese fortress-factory: the Fort of So Joo Baptista de Ternate, which founded the Portuguese presence in theMalay Archipelago.In May 1513Jorge lvares, one of the Portuguese envoys, reached China. Although he was the first to land onLintin Islandin thePearl River Delta, it wasRafael Perestrelloa cousin of the famedChristopher Columbuswho became the first European explorer to land on the southern coast of mainland China and trade inGuangzhouin 1516, commanding aPortuguesevessel with a crew from a Malaysian junk that had sailed fromMalacca.[67][68]Ferno Pires de Andradevisited Canton in 1517 and opened up trade with China; in 1557 the Portuguese were permitted to occupyMacau.To enforce a trade monopoly,Hormuzin thePersian Gulfwas seized byAfonso de Albuquerquein 1507 and 1515, who also entered intodiplomatic relationswithPersia. In 1513 while trying to conquerAden, an expedition led by Albuquerque cruised theRed Seainside theBab al-Mandab, and sheltered atKamaranisland. In 1521, a force underAntnio CorreiaconqueredBahrainushering in a period of almost eighty years of Portuguese rule of the Gulf archipelago.[69]In the Red Sea,Massawawas the most northerly point frequented by the Portuguese until 1541, when a fleet underEstevo da Gamapenetrated as far asSuez.Pacific Ocean (15131529)[edit]

Vasco Nez de Balboa's travel to the "South Sea", 1513Discovery of the Pacific Ocean[edit]In 1513, about 40 miles south ofAcand, in present dayColombia, SpanishVasco Nez de Balboaheard unexpected news of an "other sea" rich in gold, which he received with great interest.[70]With few resources and using information given bycaciques, he journeyed across theIsthmus of Panamawith 190 Spaniards, a few native guides, and a pack of dogs.Using a smallbrigantineand ten nativecanoes, they sailed along the coast and made landfalls. On September 6, the expedition was reinforced with 1,000 men, fought several battles, entered a dense jungle and climbed the mountain range along theChucunaque Riverfrom where this "other sea" could be seen. Balboa went ahead and, before noon September 25, he saw in the horizon an undiscovered sea, becoming the first European to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. The expedition descended towards the shore for a short reconnaissance trip, thus becoming the first Europeans to navigate the Pacific Ocean off the coast of New World. After traveling more than 110km (68mi), Balboa named the bay where they ended upSan Miguel. He named the new seaMar del Sur(South Sea), since they had traveled south to reach it. Balboa's main purpose in the expedition was the search for gold-rich kingdoms. To this end, he crossed through the lands ofcaciquesto the islands, naming the largest oneIsla Rica(Rich Island, today known asIsla del Rey). He named the entire groupArchipilago de las Perlas, which they still keep today.Subsequent developments to the east[edit]In 15151516 the SpaniardJuan Daz de Solssailed down the east coast of South America as far asRo de la Plata, which he named shortly before he died, while trying to find a passage to the "South Sea".At the same time, the Portuguese in Southeast Asia made thefirst European report on the western Pacific, having identifiedLuzoneast ofBorneoand named its inhabitants the "Lues", in the modernPhilippines.[71]First circumnavigation[edit]

Route ofMagellan-Elcanoworld circumnavigation (15191522)By 1516 several Portuguese navigators, conflicting with King Manuel I of Portugal, had gathered inSevilleto serve the newly crownedCharles I of Spain. Among them were explorers Diogo andDuarte Barbosa,Estvo Gomes,Joo SerroandFerdinand Magellan, cartographersJorge ReinelandDiogo Ribeiro, cosmographers Francisco andRuy Faleiroand the Flemish merchantChristopher de Haro. Ferdinand Magellanwho had sailed in India for Portugal up to 1513, when theMaluku Islandswere reached, kept contact withFrancisco Serroliving there[72][73]developed the theory that the islands were in theTordesillasSpanish area, supported on studies by Faleiro brothers.Aware of the efforts of the Spanish to find a route to India by sailing west, Magellan presented his plan to Charles I of Spain. The king and Christopher de Haro financed then Magellan's expedition. A fleet was put together, Spanish navigators such asJuan Sebastin Elcanojoined the enterprise. On August 10, 1519, departed from Seville a fleet of five shipsflagshipTrinidadunder Magellan's command,San Antonio,Concepcion,SantiagoandVictoria, the first being acaravel, and all others rated ascarracksor "naus"with a crew of about 237 men from several nations, with the goal of reaching the Maluku Islands by traveling west, trying to reclaim it under Spain's economic and political sphere.[74]

Victoria, the single ship to have completed the first worldcircumnavigation. (Detail fromMaris PacificibyOrtelius, 1589.)The fleet sailed further and further south, avoiding the Portuguese territories in Brazil, and become the first to reachTierra del Fuegoat the tip of the Americas. On October 21, starting inCape Virgenes, began an arduous trip through a 373-mile (600km) long strait that Magellan namedEstrecho de Todos los Santos, modernStrait of Magellan. On November 28, three ships entered the Pacific Oceanthen namedMar Pacficobecause of its apparent stillness.[75]The expedition managed to cross the Pacific. Magellan died in thebattle of Mactanin thePhilippines, leaving the SpaniardJuan Sebastin Elcanothe task of completing the voyage, reaching theSpice Islandsin 1521. On September 6, 1522Victoriareturned to Spain, thus completing the firstcircumnavigationof the globe. Of the men who set out on five ships, only 18 completed the circumnavigation and managed to return to Spain in this single vessel led by Elcano. Seventeen other arrived later in Spain: twelve captured by the Portuguese in Cape Verde some weeks earlier and between 1525 and 1527, and five survivors of theTrinidad.Antonio Pigafetta, aVenetianscholar and traveler who had asked to be on board and become a strict assistant of Magellan, kept an accurate journal that become the main source for much of what we know about this voyage.This round-the-world voyage gave Spain valuable knowledge of the world and its oceans which later helped in the exploration and settlement of thePhilippines. Although this was not a realistic alternative to the Portuguese route around Africa[76](theStrait of Magellanwas too far south, and the Pacific Ocean too vast to cover in a single trip from Spain) successive Spanish expeditions used this information to travel from the Mexican coast viaGuamtoManila.Westward and Eastward exploration met[edit]

View fromTernatetoTidoreislands in theMaluku, where Portuguese Eastward and Spanish Westward explorations ultimately met and clashed between 1522 and 1529[77][78]

Saavedra's failed attempts to find a return route from the Maluku to New Spain (Mexico) in 1527Soon after Magellan's expedition, the Portuguese rushed to seize the surviving crew and built a fort inTernate.[77]In 1525,Charles I of Spainsent another expedition westward to colonize theMaluku Islands, claiming that they were in his zone of theTreaty of Tordesillas. The fleet of seven ships and 450 men was led byGarca Jofre de Loasaand included the most notable Spanish navigators:Juan Sebastin Elcanoand Loasa, who lost their lives then, and the youngAndrs de Urdaneta.Near theStrait of Magellanone of the ships was pushed south by a storm, reaching 56 S, where they thought seeing "earth's end": soCape Hornwas crossed for the first time. The expedition reached the islands with great difficulty, docking atTidore.[77]The conflict with the Portuguese established in nearby Ternate was inevitable, starting nearly a decade of skirmishes.[79][80]As there was not a set eastern limit to Tordesillas line, both kingdoms organized meetings to resolve the issue. From 1524 to 1529 Portuguese and Spanish experts met at Badajoz-Elvas trying to find the exact location of theantimeridianof Tordesillas, which would divide the world into two equal hemispheres. Each crown appointed threeastronomersandcartographers, threepilotsand three mathematicians.Lopo Homem, Portuguese cartographer and cosmographer was in the board, along with cartographerDiogo Ribeiroon the Spanish delegation. The board met several times, without reaching an agreement: the knowledge at that time was insufficient for anaccurate calculation of longitude, and each group gave the islands to its sovereign. The issue was settled only in 1529, after a long negotiation, with the signing ofTreaty of Zaragoza, that attributed the Maluku Islands to Portugal and thePhilippinesto Spain.[81]Between 1525 and 1528 Portugal sent several expeditions around the Maluku Islands.Gomes de Sequeiraand Diogo da Rocha were sent north by the governor of TernateJorge de Menezes, being the first Europeans to reach theCaroline Islands, which they named "Islands de Sequeira".[82]In 1526, Jorge de Meneses docked onWaigeoisland, Papua New Guinea. Based on these explorations stands thetheory of Portuguese discovery of Australia, one among several competing theories about the early discovery of Australia, supported by Australian historianKenneth McIntyre, stating it was discovered byCristvo de Mendonaand Gomes de Sequeira.In 1527Hernn Cortsfitted out a fleet to find new lands in the "South Sea" (Pacific Ocean), asking his cousinlvaro de Saavedra Cernto take charge. On October 31 of 1527 Saavedra sailed fromNew Spain, crossing the Pacific and touring the north ofNew Guinea, then namedIsla de Oro. In October 1528 one of the vessels reached Maluku Islands. In his attempt to return to New Spain he was diverted by the northeasttrade winds, which threw him back, so he tried sailing back down, to south. He returned to New Guinea and sailed northeast, where he sighted theMarshall Islandsand theAdmiralty Islands, but again was surprised by the winds, which brought him a third time to the Moluccas. This westbound return route was hard to find, but was eventually discovered byAndrs de Urdanetain 1565.[83]Inland Spanishconquistadores(15191532)[edit]Rumors of undiscovered islands northwest ofHispaniolahad reached Spain by 1511 and kingFerdinand II of Aragonwas interested in forestalling further exploration. While Portuguese were making huge gains in the Indian Ocean, the Spanish invested in exploring inland in search of gold and valuable resources. The members of these expeditions, the "conquistadors", came from a variety of backgrounds including artisans, merchants, clergy, lesser nobility and freed slaves. They usually supplied their own equipment in exchange for a share in profits, having no direct connection with the royal army, and often no professional military training or experience.[84]In the Americas the Spanish found a number of empires that were as large and populous as those in Europe. However, small bodies ofconquistadors, with large armies ofindigenous Americansgroups, managed to conquer these states. During this time,pandemicsof European disease such assmallpoxdevastated the indigenous populations. Once Spanishsovereigntywas established, the Spanish focused on the extraction and export of gold and silver.In 1512, to rewardJuan Ponce de Lenfor exploringPuerto Ricoin 1508, king Ferdinand urged him to seek these new lands. He would become governor of discovered lands, but was to finance himself all exploration.[85]With three ships and about 200 men, Lon set out from Puerto Rico on March 1513. In April they sighted land and named itLa Floridabecause it wasEaster(Florida) seasonbelieving it was an island, becoming credited as the first European to land in the continent. The arrival location has been disputed betweenSt. Augustine,[86]Ponce de Len InletandMelbourne Beach. They headed south for further exploration and on April 8 encountered a current so strong that it pushed them backwards: this was the first encounter with theGulf Streamthat would soon become the primary route for eastbound ships leaving the Spanish Indies bound for Europe.[87]They explored down the coast reachingBiscayne Bay,Dry Tortugasand then sailing southwest in an attempt to circleCubato return, reachingGrand Bahamaon July.Corts' Mexico and the Aztec Empire[edit]See also:Spanish conquest of YucatnandSpanish conquest of Guatemala

Route of Corts inland progress 15191521In 1517Cuba's governorDiego Velzquez de Cullarcommissioned a fleet under the command ofHernndez de Crdobato explore theYucatn peninsula. They reached the coast whereMayansinvited them to land, but were attacked at night and only a remnant of the crew returned. Velzquez then commissioned another expedition led by his nephewJuan de Grijalva, who sailed south along the coast toTabasco, part of the Aztec empire. In 1518 Velzquez gave the mayor of the capital of Cuba,Hernn Corts, the command of an expedition to secure the interior of Mexico but, due to an old gripe between them, revoked the charter.In February 1519 Corts went ahead anyway, in an act of open mutiny. With about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons he landed in Yucatn, inMayanterritory,[88]claiming the land for the Spanish crown. FromTrinidadhe proceeded toTabascoand won a battle against the natives. Among the vanquished wasLa Malinche, his future mistress, who knew both (Aztec)Nahuatl languageand Maya, becoming a valuable interpreter and counselor. Through her, Corts learned about the wealthyAztec Empire.In July his men took overVeracruzand he placed himself under direct orders of new kingCharles V of Spain.[88]There Corts asked for a meeting with Aztec EmperorMontezuma II, who repeatedly refused. They headed toTenochtitlanand on the way made alliances with several tribes. In October, accompanied by about 3,000Tlaxcaltecthey marched toCholula, the second largest city in central Mexico. Either to instill fear upon the Aztecs waiting for him or (as he later claimed) wishing to make an example when he feared native treachery, they massacred thousands of unarmed members of the nobility gathered at the central plaza and partially burned the city.

Map of the island cityTenochtitlnand Mexico gulf made by one of Corts' men, 1524,Newberry Library, ChicagoArriving in Tenochtitlan with a large army, on November 8 they were peacefully received by Moctezuma II, who deliberately let Corts enter the heart of the Aztec Empire, hoping to know them better to crush them later.[88]The emperor gave them lavish gifts in gold which enticed them to plunder vast amounts. In his letters to Charles V, Corts claimed to have learned then that he was considered by the Aztecs to be either an emissary of the feathered serpent godQuetzalcoatlor Quetzalcoatl himselfa belief contested by a few modern historians.[89]But he soon learned that his men on the coast had been attacked, and decided to hostage Moctezuma in his palace, demanding a ransom as tribute to Charles V.Meanwhile, Velasquez sent another expedition, led byPnfilo de Narvez, to oppose Corts, arriving in Mexico in April 1520 with 1,100 men.[88]Corts left 200 men in Tenochtitlan and took the rest to confront Narvaez, whom he overcame, convincing his men to join him. In Tenochtitln one of Corts's lieutenants committeda massacre in the Main Temple, triggering local rebellion. Corts speedily returned, attempting the support of Moctezuma but the Aztec emperor was killed, possibly stoned by his subjects.[90]The Spanish fled for the Tlaxcaltec during theNoche Triste, where they managed a narrow escape while their backguard was massacred. Much of the treasure looted was lost during this panicked escape.[88]Aftera battle in Otumbathey reached Tlaxcala, having lost 870 men.[88]Having prevailed with the assistance of allies and reinforcements fromCuba, Cortsbesieged Tenochtitlnand captured its rulerCuauhtmocon August 1521. As the Aztec Empire ended he claimed the city for Spain, renaming it Mexico City.Pizarro's Peru and the Inca Empire[edit]

Francisco Pizarro's route of exploration during the conquest ofPeru(15311533)A first attempt to explore western South America was undertaken in 1522 byPascual de Andagoya. Native South Americans told him about a gold-rich territory on a river called Pir. Having reachedSan Juan River (Colombia), Andagoya fell ill and returned toPanama, where he spread news about "Pir" as the legendaryEl Dorado. These, along with the accounts of success ofHernn Corts, caught the attention of Pizarro.Francisco Pizarrohad accompaniedBalboain the crossing of theIsthmus of Panama. In 1524 he formed a partnership with priestHernando de Luqueand soldierDiego de Almagroto explore the south, agreeing to divide the profits. They dubbed the enterprise the "Empresa del Levante": Pizarro would command, Almagro would provide military and food supplies, and Luque would be in charge of finances and additional provisions.On 13 September 1524, the first of three expeditions left to conquerPeruwith about 80 men and 40 horses. The expedition was a failure, reaching no farther than Colombia before succumbing to bad weather, hunger and skirmishes with hostile locals, where Almagro lost an eye. The place names bestowed along their route,Puerto deseado(desired port),Puerto del hambre(port of hunger) andPuerto quemado(burned port), attest to the difficulties of their journey. Two years later they began a second expedition with reluctant permission from the Governor of Panama. In August 1526, they left with two ships, 160 men and several horses. Upon reaching San Juan River they separated, Pizarro staying to explore the swampy coasts and Almagro sent back for reinforcements. Pizarro's main pilot sailed south and, after crossing the equator, captured a raft fromTumbes. To his surprise, it carried textiles, ceramic and much-desiredgold,silver, andemeralds, becoming the central focus of the expedition. Soon Almagro joined with reinforcements and they resumed. After a difficult voyage facing strong winds and currents, they reachedAtacameswhere they found a large native population underIncarule, but they did not land.Pizarro remained safe near the coast, while Almagro and Luque went back for reinforcements with proof of therumored gold. The new governor outright rejected a third expedition and ordered two ships to bring everyone back to Panama. Almagro and Luque grasped the opportunity to join Pizarro. When they arrived at theIsla de Gallo, Pizarro drew a line in the sand, saying:"There lies Peru with its riches; Here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian."Thirteen men decided to stay and became known asThe Famous Thirteen. They headed forLa Isla Gorgona, where they remained for seven months before the arrival of provisions.They decided to sail south and, by April 1528, reached the northwestern PeruvianTumbes Regionand were warmly received by localTumpis. Two of Pizarro's men reported incredible riches, including gold and silver decorations around the chief's house. They saw for the first time aLlamawhich Pizarro called "little camels". The natives named the Spanish "Children of the Sun" for their fair complexion and brilliant armors. They decided then to return to Panama to prepare a final expedition. Before leaving they sailed south through territories they named such as Cabo Blanco, port of Payta, Sechura, Punta de Aguja, Santa Cruz, andTrujillo, reaching the ninth degree south.In the spring of 1528 Pizarro sailed for Spain, where he had an interview with kingCharles I. The king heard of his expeditions in lands rich in gold and silver and promised to support him. TheCapitulacin de Toledo[91]authorized Pizarro to proceed with theconquest of Peru. Pizarro was then able to convince many friends and relatives to join: his brothersHernndo Pizarro,Juan Pizarro,Gonzalo Pizarroand alsoFrancisco de Orellana, who would later explore theAmazon River, as well as his cousinPedro Pizarro.Pizarro's third and final expedition left Panama for Peru on 27 December 1530. With three ships and one hundred and eighty men they landed near Ecuador and sailed to Tumbes, finding the place destroyed. They entered the interior and established the first Spanish settlement inPeru,San Miguel de Piura. One of the men returned with an Incan envoy and an invitation for a meeting. Since the last meeting, the Inca had begun acivil warandAtahualpahad been resting in northern Peru following the defeat of his brotherHuscar. After marching for two months, they approached Atahualpa. He refused the Spanish, however, saying he would "be no man's tributary." There were fewer than 200 Spanish to his 80,000 soldiers, but Pizarro attacked and won the Incan army in theBattle of Cajamarca, taking Atahualpa captive at the so-calledransom room. Despite fulfilling his promise of filling one room with gold and two with silver, he was convicted for killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro, and was executed.In 1533, Pizarro invadedCuzcowith indigenous troops and wrote to the king Charles I: "This city is the greatest and the finest ever seen in this country or anywhere in the Indies... it is so beautiful and has such fine buildings that it would be remarkable even in Spain." After the Spanish had sealed theconquest of Peru,Jaujain fertileMantaro Valleywas established as Peru's provisional capital, but it was too far up in the mountains and that Pizarro founded the city ofLimaon 18 January 1535, which Pizarro considered one of the most important acts in his life.New trade routes (15421565)[edit]

Portuguesetrade routes (blue) and the rivalManila-Acapulco galleonstrade routes (white) established in 1568In 1543 three Portuguese traders, accidentally became the first Westerners to reach and trade with Japan. AccordingFerno Mendes Pinto, who claimed to be in this journey, they arrived atTanegashima, where the locals were impressed byfirearms, that would be immediately made by the Japanese on a large scale.[92]The Spanish conquest of thePhilippineswas ordered byPhilip II of Spain, andAndrs de Urdanetawas the designated commander. Urdaneta agreed to accompany the expedition but refused to command andMiguel Lpez de Legazpiwas appointed instead. The expedition set sail on November 1564.[93]After spending some time on the islands, Legazpi sent Urdaneta back to find a better return route. Urdaneta set sail from San Miguel on the island ofCebuon June 1, 1565, but was obliged to sail as far as38 degrees North latitudeto obtain favourable winds.

PortuguesecarrackinNagasaki,Nanban artattributed toKan Naizen, 15701616 JapanHe reasoned that thetrade windsof the Pacific might move in agyreas the Atlantic winds did. If in the Atlantic, ships made theVolta do marto pick up winds that would bring them back from Madeira, then, he reasoned, by sailing far to the north before heading east, he would pick up trade winds to bring him back to North America. His hunch paid off, and he hit the coast nearCape Mendocino, California, then followed the coast south. The ship reached the port of Acapulco, on October 8, 1565, having traveled 12,000 miles (20,000km) in 130 days. Fourteen of his crew died; only Urdaneta and Felipe de Salcedo, nephew of Lpez de Legazpi, had strength enough to cast the anchors.Thus, a cross-Pacific Spanish route was established, between Mexico and the Philippines. For a long time these routes were used by theManila galleons, thereby creating a trade link joining China, the Americas, and Europe via the combined trans-Pacific andtrans-Atlanticroutes.Northern European involvement (159517th century)[edit]

In 1570 (May 20) Gilles Coppens de Diest atAntwerppublished 53 maps created byAbraham Orteliusunder the titleTheatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered the "first modern atlas". Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; the atlas continued to be in demand till about 1612. This is the world map from this atlas.Nations outside Iberia refused to acknowledge the Treaty of Tordesillas. France, the Netherlands andEnglandeach had a longmaritime traditionand had been engaging inprivateering. Despite Iberian protections, the new technologies and maps soon made their way north.In 1568 theDutchrebelled against the rule ofPhilip II of Spainleading to theEighty Years' War. War between England and Spain also broke out. In 1580 Philip II became King of Portugal, as heir to the Crown. The combined empires were simply too big to go unchallenged by European rivals.Philip's troops conquered the important trading cities ofBrugesandGhent.Antwerp, then the most important port in the world, fell in 1585. Protestant population was given two years to settle affairs before leaving the city.[94]Many settled inAmsterdam. Those were mainly skilled craftsmen, rich merchants of the port cities and refugees that fled religious persecution, particularlySephardi Jewsfrom Portugal and Spain and, later, theHuguenotsfrom France. ThePilgrim Fathersalso spent time there before going to the New World. This mass immigration was an important driving force: a small port in 1585, Amsterdam quickly transformed into one of the most important commercial centers in the world. After the defeat of theSpanish Armadain 1588 there was a huge expansion of maritime trade.The emergence of Dutch maritime power was swift and remarkable: for years Dutch sailors had participated in Portuguese voyages to the east, as able seafarers and keen mapmakers. In 1592,Cornelis de Houtmanwas sent by Dutch merchants to Lisbon, to gather as much information as he could about theSpice Islands. In 1595, merchant and explorerJan Huyghen van Linschoten, having traveled widely in the Indian Ocean at the service of the Portuguese, published a travel report in Amsterdam, the"Reys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten"("Report of a journey through the navigations of the Portuguese in the East").[95]This included vast directions on how to navigate between Portugal and the East Indies and to Japan. That same year Houtman followed this directions in the Dutch first exploratory travel that discovered a new sea route, sailing directly from Madagascar toSunda Straitin Indonesia and signing a treaty with theBantenSultan.Dutch and British interest fed on new information led to a movement of commercial expansion, and the foundation of English (1600), and Dutch (1602)chartered companies. Dutch, French, and English sent ships which flouted the Portuguese monopoly, concentrated mostly on the coastal areas, which proved unable defend such a vast and dispersed venture.[96]Exploring North America[edit]

Map ofHenry Hudson's 16091611 voyages to North America for theDutch East India Company(VOC)The 1497 English expedition led by Italian VenetianJohn Cabot(Giovanni Caboto) was the first of a series of French and English missions exploring North America. Spain put limited efforts into exploring the northern part of the Americas, as its resources were concentrated in Central and South America where more wealth had been found.[97]These expeditions were hoping to find an oceanicNorthwest Passageto Asian trade.[97]This was never discovered, but other possibilities were found and in the early 17th century colonists from a number of Northern European states began to settle on the east coast of North America.In 1524, ItalianGiovanni da Verrazzanosailed at the behest ofFrancis I of France, who was motivated by indignation over the division of the world between Portuguese and Spanish. Verrazzano explored the Atlantic Coast of North America, fromSouth CarolinatoNewfoundland, and was the first recorded European to visit what would later become theVirginia Colonyand the United States. In the same yearEstevo Gomes, a Portuguesecartographerwho'd sailed in Ferdinand Magellan's fleet, exploredNova Scotia, sailing South throughMaine, where he enteredNew York Harbor, theHudson Riverand eventually reachedFloridain August 1525. As a result of his expedition, the 1529Diogo Ribeiroworld map outlines the East coast of North America almost perfectly. From 1534 to 1536, French explorerJacques Cartier, believed to have accompanied Verrazzano to Nova Scotia and Brazil, was the first European to travel inland in North America, describing theGulf of Saint Lawrence, which henamed "The Country of Canadas", afterIroquois names, claiming what is now Canada for Francis I of France.[98][99]

Henry Hudson's shipHalve Maenin theHudson RiverEuropeans explored the Pacific Coast beginning in the mid-16th century.Francisco de Ulloaexplored the Pacific coast of present-day Mexico including theGulf of California, proving thatBaja Californiawas a peninsula[100]Despite his discoveries, the myth persisted in Europe that California was anisland. His account provided the first recorded use of the name "California".Joo Rodrigues Cabrilho, a Portuguese navigator sailing for theSpanish Crown, was the first European to set foot in California, landing on September 28, 1542 on the shores ofSan Diego Bayand claiming California for Spain.[101]He also landed onSan Miguel, one of theChannel Islands, and continued as far asPoint Reyes. After his death the crew continued exploring as far north asOregon.The EnglishFrancis Drakesailed along the coast in 1579 somewhere north of Cabrillo's landing sitethe actual location of Drake's landing was secret and is still undetermined[102]and claimed the land for England, calling itNova Albion. The term "Nova Albion" was therefore used on many European maps to designate territory north of the Spanish settlements.[103]Between 1609 and 1611, after several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospectiveNortheast Passageto India, Kingdom of England'sHenry Hudson, under the auspices of theDutch East India Company(VOC), explored the region around present-day New York City, while looking for a western route to Asia. He explored theHudson Riverand laid the foundation forDutch colonizationof the region. Hudson's final expedition ranged farther north in search of theNorthwest Passage, leading to his discovery of theHudson StraitandHudson Bay. After wintering in theJames Bay, Hudson tried to press on with his voyage in the spring of 1611, but his crew mutinied and theycast him adrift.Search for a Northern Route[edit]

1599 map of Arctic exploration byWillem Barentszin his third voyageFrance, the Netherlands, and England were left without a sea route to Asia, either via Africa or South America. When it became apparent that there was no route through the heart of the American continent, attention turned to the possibility of a passage through northern waters, which English called theNorthwest Passage. The desire to establish such a route motivated much of the European exploration of both coasts of North America and in Russia. In Russia the idea of a possible seaway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific was first put forward by the diplomatGerasimovin 1525, although Russian settlers on the coast of theWhite Sea, thePomors, had been exploring parts of the route as early as the 11th century.In 1553 English explorerHugh Willoughbywith chief pilotRichard Chancellorwere sent out with three vessels in search of a passage by London'sCompany of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands. During the voyage across theBarents Sea, Willoughby thought he saw islands to the north, and islands calledWilloughby's Landwere shown on maps published byPlanciusandMercatorinto the 1640s.[104]The vessels were separated by "terrible whirlwinds" in theNorwegian Seaand Willoughby sailed into a bay near the present border between Finland and Russia. His ships with the frozen crews, including Captain Willoughby and his journal, were found by Russian fishermen a year later.Richard Chancellorwas able to drop anchor in theWhite Seaand trudge his way overland to Moscow andIvan the Terrible's Court, opening trade with Russia and the Company of Merchant Adventurers became theMuscovy Company.Barentsz' Arctic exploration[edit]5 June 1594, DutchcartographerWillem Barentszdeparted fromTexelin a fleet of three ships to enter theKara Sea, with the hopes of finding theNortheast PassageaboveSiberia.[105]At Williams Island the crew encountered apolar bearfor the first time. They managed to bring it on board, but the bear rampaged and was killed. Barentsz reached the west coast ofNovaya Zemlyaand followed it northward, before being forced to turn back in the face of largeicebergs.The following year,Prince Maurice of Orangenamed him Chief Pilot of a new expedition of six ships, loaded with merchant wares that the Dutch hoped to trade with China.[106]The party came acrossSamoyed"wild men" but eventually turned back upon discovering theKara Seafrozen. In 1596, the States-General offered a high reward for anybody whosuccessfullynavigated theNortheast Passage. The Town Council ofAmsterdampurchased and outfitted two small ships, captained byJan RijpandJacob van Heemskerk, to search for the elusive channel, under the command of Barents. They set off on May, and on June discoveredBear IslandandSpitsbergen, sighting its northwest coast. They saw a large bay, later calledRaudfjordenand enteredMagdalenefjorden, which they namedTusk Bay, sailing into the northern entrance ofForlandsundet, which they calledKeerwyck, but were forced to turn back because of a shoal. On 28 June they rounded the northern point ofPrins Karls Forland, which they namedVogelhoek, on account of the large number of birds, and sailed south, passingIsfjordenandBellsund, which were labelled on Barentsz's chart asGrooten InwyckandInwyck.

Crew of Willem Barentsz fighting apolar bearThe ships once again reached Bear Island on 1 July, which led to a disagreement. They parted ways, with Barentsz continuing northeast, while Rijp headed north. Barentsz reachedNovaya Zemlyaand, to avoid becoming entrapped in ice, headed for theVaigatch Straitbut became stuck within the icebergs and floes. Stranded, the 16-man crew was forced to spend the winter on the ice. The crew used lumber from their ship to build a lodge they calledHet Behouden Huys(The Kept House). Dealing with extreme cold, they used the merchant fabrics to make additional blankets and clothing and caughtarctic foxesin primitive traps, as well as polar bears. When June arrived, and the ice had still not loosened its grip on the ship,scurvy-ridden survivors took two small boats out into the sea. Barentsz died at sea on 20 June 1597, while studying charts. It took seven more weeks for the boats to reachKolawhere they were rescued by a Russian merchant vessel. Only 12 crewmen remained, reaching Amsterdam in November two of Barentsz' crewmembers later published their journals,Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, who had accompanied him on the first two voyages, andGerrit de Veerwho had acted as the ship's carpenter on the last.In 1608,Henry Hudsonmade a second attempt, trying to go across the top of Russia. He made it toNovaya Zemlyabut was forced to turn back. Between 1609 and 1611, Hudson, after several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospective Northern Sea Route to India, explored the region around modern New York City while looking for a western route to Asia under the auspices of theDutch East India Company(VOC).Dutch Australia and New Zealand[edit]

The route ofAbel Tasman's 1642 and 1644 voyages inNew Holland (Australia)in the service of the VOC (Dutch East India Company)Terra Australis Ignota(Latin, "the unknown land of the south") was a hypothetical continent appearing on European maps from the 15th to the 18th centuries, with roots in a notion introduced byAristotle. It was depicted on the mid-16th-centuryDieppe maps, where its coastline appeared just south of the islands of the East Indies; it was often elaborately charted, with a wealth of fictitious detail. The discoveries reduced the area where the continent could be found; however, many cartographers held to Aristotle's opinion, likeGerardus Mercator(1569) andAlexander Dalrympleeven so late as 1767[107]argued for its existence, with such arguments as that there should be a large landmass in the Southern Hemisphere as a counterweight to the known landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere. As new lands were discovered, they were often assumed to be parts of this hypothetical continent.Juan Fernandez, sailing from Chile in 1576, claimed he had discovered the Southern Continent.[108]Luis Vez de Torres, aGaliciannavigator working for the Spanish Crown, proved the existence of a passage south of New Guinea, now known asTorres Strait.Pedro Fernandes de Queirs, a Portuguese navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown, saw a large island south of New Guinea in 1606, which he named La Australia del Espiritu Santo. He represented this to the King of Spain as the Terra Australis incognita.

Duyfkenreplica, Swan River, AustraliaDutchnavigator and colonial governor,Willem Janszoonwas the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia. Janszoon sailed from the Netherlands for the East Indies for the third time on December 18, 1603, as captain of theDuyfken(orDuijfken, meaning "Little Dove"), one of twelve ships of the great fleet ofSteven van der Hagen.[109]Once in the Indies, Janszoon was sent to search for other outlets of trade, particularly in "the great land of Nova Guinea and other East and Southlands." On November 18, 1605, theDuyfkensailed fromBantamto the coast of westernNew Guinea. Janszoon then crossed the eastern end of theArafura Sea, without seeing theTorres Strait, into theGulf of Carpentaria. On February 26, 1606, he made landfall at thePennefather Riveron the western shore ofCape Yorkin Queensland, near the modern town ofWeipa. This is the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent. Janszoon proceeded to chart some 320km of the coastline, which he thought was a southerly extension of New Guinea. In 1615,Jacob le MaireandWillem Schouten's rounding of Cape Horn proved thatTierra del Fuegowas a relatively small island.In 16421644Abel Tasman, also a Dutch explorer andmerchantin the service of the VOC, circumnavigatedNew Hollandproving that Australia was not part of the mythical southern continent. He was the first known Europeanexpeditionto reach the islands ofVan Diemen's Land(nowTasmania) and New Zealand and to sight theFijiislands, which he did in 1643. Tasman, his navigator Visscher, and his merchant Gilsemans also mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand and thePacific Islands.Russian exploration of Siberia (15811660)[edit]Main articles:Russian conquest of Siberia,Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir,Siberian river routes, andRussian explorers

Siberian river routeswere of primary significance in the process of exploration.In the mid-16th century theTsardom of Russiaconquered the Tatar khanates ofKazanandAstrakhan, thus annexing the entireVolga Regionand opening the way to theUral Mountains. The colonisation of the new easternmost lands of Russia and further onslaught eastward was led by the rich merchantsStroganovs. TsarIvan IVgranted vast estates near the Urals as well as tax privileges toAnikey Stroganov, who organized large scale migration to these lands. Stroganovs developed farming, hunting, saltworks, fishing, and ore mining on the Urals and established trade withSiberiantribes.Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir[edit]Around 1577,Semyon Stroganovand other sons of Anikey Stroganov hired aCossackleader calledYermakto protect their lands from the attacks ofSiberian KhanKuchum. By 1580 Stroganovs and Yermak came up with the idea of the military expedition to Siberia, in order to fight Kuchum in his own land. In 1581 Yermak began his voyage into the depths ofSiberia. After a few victories over the khan's army, Yermak's people defeated the main forces of Kuchum onIrtysh Riverin a 3-dayBattle of Chuvash Capein 1582. The remains of the khan's army retreated to thesteppes, and thus Yermak captured theSiberia Khanate, including its capitalQashliqnear modernTobolsk. Kuchum still was strong and suddenly attacked Yermak in 1585 in the dead of night, killing most of his people. Yermak was wounded and tried to swim across the Wagay River (Irtysh's tributary), but drowned under the weight of his ownchain mail. The Cossacks had to withdraw from Siberia completely, but thanks to Yermak's having explored all the main river routes in West Siberia, Russians successfully reclaimed all his conquests just several years later.

Yermak Timofeyevichand his band of adventurers crossing theUral Mountainsat Tagil, entering Asia from EuropeSiberian river routes[edit]In the early 17th century the eastward movement of Russians was slowed by the internal problems in the country during theTime of Troubles. However, very soon the exploration and colonization of the huge territories of Siberia was resumed, led mostly by Cossacks hunting for valuablefursandivory. WhileCossackscame from the Southern Urals, another wave of Russians came by the Arctic Ocean. These werePomorsfrom theRussian North, who already had been makingfurtrade withMangazeyain the north of the Western Siberia for quite a long time. In 1607 the settlement ofTurukhanskwas founded on the northernYenisei River, near the mouth ofLower Tunguska, and in 1619Yeniseyskyostrogwas founded on the mid-Yenisei at the mouth of theUpper Tunguska.Between 1620 and 1624 a group of fur hunters led byDemid PyandaleftTurukhanskand explored some 1,430 miles (2,300km) of the Lower Tunguska, wintering in the proximity of theVilyuyandLenarivers. According to later legendary accounts (folktales collected a century after the fact), Pyanda discovered the Lena River. He allegedly explored some 1,500 miles (2,400km) of its length, reaching as far as centralYakutia. He returned up the Lena until it became too rocky and shallow, and portaged to theAngara River. In this way, Pyanda may have become the first Russian to meetYakutsandBuryats. He built new boats and explored some 870 miles (1,400km) of the Angara, finally reaching Yeniseysk and discovering that the Angara (aBuryatname) andUpper Tunguska(Verkhnyaya Tunguska, as initially known by Russians) are one and the same river.In 1627Pyotr Beketovwas appointed YeniseivoevodainSiberia. He successfully carried out the voyage to collect taxes fromZabaykalyeBuryats, becoming the first Russian to step inBuryatia. He founded the first Russian settlement there, Rybinsky ostrog. Beketov was sent to the Lena River in 1631, where in 1632 he foundedYakutskand sent his Cossacks to explore theAldanand farther down the Lena, to found new fortresses, and to collect taxes.[110]Yakutsk soon turned into a major starting point for further Russian expeditions eastward, southward and northward.Maksim Perfilyev, who earlier had been one of the founders of Yeniseysk, foundedBratskyostrog on the Angara in 1631, and in 1638 he became the first Russian to step intoTransbaikalia, travelling there from Yakutsk.[111][112]

A map ofIrkutskandLake Baikalin its neighbourhood, as depicted in the late 17th centuryRemezov Chronicle.In 1643Kurbat Ivanovled a group of Cossacks from Yakutsk to the south of theBaikal Mountainsand discoveredLake Baikal, visiting itsOlkhon Island. Later Ivanov made the first chart and description ofBaikal.[113]Russians reach the Pacific[edit]In 1639 a group of explorers led byIvan Moskvitinbecame the first Russians to reach the Pacific Ocean and to discover theSea of Okhotsk, having built a winter camp on its shore at theUlya Rivermouth. The Cossacks learned from the locals about the largeAmur Riverfar to the south. In 1640 they apparently sailed south, explored the south-eastern shores of the Okhotsk Sea, perhaps reaching the mouth of theAmur Riverand possibly discovering theShantar Islandson their way back. Based on Moskvitin's account,Kurbat Ivanovdrew the first Russian map of theFar Eastin 1642.In 1643,Vasily Poyarkovcrossed theStanovoy Rangeand reached the upperZeya Riverin the country of theDaurs, who were paying tribute to theManchuChinese. After wintering, in 1644 Poyarkov pushed down the Zeya and became the first Russian to reach theAmur River. He sailed down the Amur and finally discovered the mouth of that great river from land. Since his Cossacks provoked the enmity of the locals behind, Poyarkov chose a different way back. They built boats and in 1645 sailed along theSea of Okhotskcoast to theUlya Riverand spent the next winter in the huts that had been built byIvan Moskvitinsix years earlier. In 1646 they returned to Yakutsk.

A 17th-centurykochin a museum inKrasnoyarsk. Kochi were the earliesticebreakersand were widely used by Russians in theArcticand onSiberianrivers.In 1644Mikhail Stadukhindiscovered theKolyma Riverand foundedSrednekolymsk. A merchant namedFedot Alekseyev Popovorganized a further expedition eastward, andSemyon Dezhnyovbecame a captain of one of thekochi. In 1648 they sailed fromSrednekolymskdown to the Arctic and after some time they roundedCape Dezhnyov, thus becoming the first explorers to pass through theBering Straitand to discoverChukotkaand theBering Sea. All their kochi and most of their men (including Popov himself) were lost in storms and clashes with the natives. A small group led by Dezhnyov reached the mouth of theAnadyr Riverand sailed up it in 1649, having built new boats from the wreckage. They foundedAnadyrskand were stranded there, until Stadukhin found them, coming from Kolyma by land.[114]Subsequently Stadukhin set off south in 1651 and discoveredPenzhin Bayon the northern coast of theOkhotsk Sea. He also may have explored the western shores ofKamchatka.In 164950Yerofey Khabarovbecame the second Russian to explore theAmur River. ThroughOlyokma,TungurandShilka Rivershe reached Amur (Dauria), returned toYakutskand then back to Amur with a larger force in 165053. This time hewas met with armed resistance. He built winter quarters atAlbazin, then sailed down Amur and found Achansk, which preceded the present-dayKhabarovsk, defeating or evading large armies ofDaurianManchuChinese andKoreanson his way. He charted the Amur in hisDraft of the Amur river.[115]Subsequently Russians held on to the Amur Region until 1689, when by theTreaty of Nerchinskthis land was assigned toChinese Empire(it was returned, however, by theTreaty of Aigunin 1858).In 165965Kurbat Ivanovwas the next head ofAnadyrskyostrog afterSemyon Dezhnyov. In 1660 he sailed fromAnadyr BaytoCape Dezhnyov. Atop his earlier pioneering charts, Ivanov is credited with creation of the early map ofChukotkaandBering Strait, which was the first to show on paper (very schematically) the yet undiscoveredWrangel Island, bothDiomede Islandsand Alaska, based on the data collected from the natives of Chukotka.So, by the mid-17th-century Russians established the borders of their country close to modern ones, and explored almost the whole of Siberia, except the easternKamchatkaand some regions north of the Arctic Circle. The conquest of Kamchatka later would be achieved in the early 1700-s byVladimir Atlasov, while the discovery of the Arctic coastline and Alaska would be completed by theGreat Northern Expeditionin 17331743.SeeMajor explorations after the Age of Discoveryfor later exploration.Global impact[edit]Main articles:Columbian Exchange,History of colonialism, andGlobalization

New World crops. Clockwise from top left: 1.Corn(Zea mays) 2.Tomato(Solanum lycopersicum) 3.Potato(Solanum tuberosum) 4.Vanilla(Vanilla) 5. Parrubbertree (Hevea brasiliensis) 6.Cacao(Theobroma cacao) 7.Tobacco(Nicotiana rustica)European overseas expansion led to the contact between the Old and New Worlds producing theColumbian Exchange,[116]named after Columbus. It involved the transfer of goods unique to one hemisphere to another. Europeans broughtcattle,horses, andsheepto the New World, and from the New World Europeans receivedtobacco,potatoesandmaize. Other items becoming important in global trade were thesugarcaneandcottoncrops of the Americas, and the gold and silver brought from the Americas not only to Europe but elsewhere in the Old World.The new trans-oceanic links and their domination by the European powers led to theAge of Imperialism, where European colonial powers came to control most of the planet. The European appetite for trade, commodities, empire and slaves greatly affected many other areas of the world. Spain participated in the destruction of aggressive empires in America, only to substitute for its own and forcibly replaced the original religions. The pattern of territorial aggression was repeated by other European empires, most notably the Dutch, Russian, French and British. Christianity replaced older "pagan" rituals, as were new languages, political and sexual cultures, and in some areas like North America, Australia, New Zealand andArgentina, theindigenous peopleswere abused and driven off most of their lands, being reduced to small, dependent minorities.

PortugueseNanbanjinarriving at Japan much to the surprise of locals, detail fromNanbanpanel fromKan Domain, 15931600Similarly, in coastal Africa, local states supplied the appetite of Europeanslave traders, changing the complexion of coastal African states and fundamentally altering the nature ofAfrican slavery, causing impacts on societies and economies deep inland. (SeeAtlantic slave trade).Aboriginal peoples were living in North America at this time and still do today. There were many conflicts between Europeans and Natives. The Europeans had many advantages over the natives. They gave them diseases that they had not been exposed to before and this wiped out 5090% of their population. (SeePopulation history of American indigenous peoples.)[117]Since being introduced by Portuguese in the 16th century,[118]maizeandmaniochave replaced traditional African crops as the continent's most importantstaple foodcrops.[119]Alfred W. Crosbyspeculated that increased production of maize, manioc, and other American crops "enabled the slave traders drew many, perhaps most, of their cargoes from therain forestareas, precisely those areas where American crops enabled heavier settlement than before."[120]During the 16th-century Chinese economy, theMing Dynastywas stimulated by trade with thePortuguese,Spanish, andDutch. China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as theColumbian Exchange. Trade withEuropean powersand the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paperbanknotesas the commonmedium of exchangein China. During the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining state revenues and indeed the entire Ming economy. This damage to the economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipientLittle Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such asLi Zichengto challengeMingauthority.

Jesuitscholars collaborated extensively with Chinese astronomers, introducingCopernican principles. Top:Matteo Ricci,Adam SchaalandFerdinand Verbiest(162388); Bottom:Paul Siu (Xu Guangqi),Colaoor Prime Minister of State, and his granddaughter Candide HiuNew crops that had come to Asia from the Americas via the Spanish colonizers in the 16th century contributed to the Asia's population growth.[121]Although the bulk of imports to China were silver, the Chinese also purchased New World crops from theSpanish Empire. This includedsweet potatoes,maize, andpeanuts, foods that could be cultivated in lands where traditional Chinese staple cropswheat, millet, and ricecould not grow, hence facilitating a rise in the population of China.[122][123]In the Song Dynasty (9601279), rice had become the major staple crop of the poor;[124]after sweet potatoes were introduced to China around 1560, it gradually became the traditional food of the lower classes.[125]The arrival of the Portuguese to Japan in 1543 initiated theNanban trade period, with the Japanese adopting several technologies and cultural practices, like thearquebus, European-style cuirasses, European ships, Christianity, decorative art, and language. After the Chinese had banned direct trade by Chinese merchants with Japan, the Portuguese filled this commercial vacuum as intermediaries between China and Japan. The Portuguese bought Chinese silk and sold it to the Japanese in return for Japanese-mined silver; since silver was more highly valued in China, the Portuguese could then use Japanese silver to buy even larger stocks of Chinese silk.[126]However, by 1573after the Spanish established a trading base in Manilathe Portuguese intermediary trade was trumped by the prime source of incoming silver to China from the Spanish Americas.[127]Italian JesuitMatteo Ricci(15521610), was the first European allowed into the Forbidden City, taught the Chinese how to construct and play thespinet, translated Chinese texts into Latin and vice versa, and worked closely with his Chinese associateXu Guangqi(15621633) on mathematical work.Economic impact in Europe[edit]Main articles:Commercial Revolution,Renaissance,Renaissance in the Low Countries, andGreat Divergence

World map fromJohannes Kepler'sRudolphine Tables(1627), incorporating many of the new discoveries.As a wider variety of global luxury commodities entered the European markets by sea, previous European markets forluxury goodsstagnated. The Atlantic trade largely supplanted pre-existingItalianandGermantrading powers which had relied on their Baltic, Russian and Islamic trade links. The new commodities also causedsocial change, as sugar, spices, silks and chinawares entered the luxury markets of Europe.The European economic center shifted from the Mediterranean to Western Europe.