Bartolomeu Dias

The Great Age of Exploration

The Great Age of Exploration is a period between the early 15th to early 17th century, during which Europeans traveled the world using ships to explore the unknown. During this time Europeans sought different trading routes for their own benefits and in the process started to map out the entire world. 

The Start of the Great Age of Exploration

During the 1200's most people in Europe knew very little about the world beyond their own small community. Most people thought that the Earth was flat at time. The best map of the world was over a thousand years old and the Romans knew more about the world than the Europeans at that time.

In the late 1400's European civilizations were still largely feudal, however, the Black Death, a huge outbreak of Bubonic Plague and had wiped out 25% of European Population and the resulting labor shortage helped hasten the decline of Feudalism. This marked the start of a new period in European history called 'Renaissance', meaning rebirth, a time where people left their old medieval ways and adapted to new ways of living.

The leaders of the Renaissance began to search outwards/other lands for their inspiration. This led to an outburst of interest in Geography, Astronomy and Trade. 

The growth of trade, increased desire to learn more about the earth, new invention and a more rapid flow of information combined together to make the Great Age of Exploration.

Trade in the Great Age of Exploration

The idea of getting richer was initially the reason Europeans were interested in world exploration, getting richer by trading Asian luxury items such as silks, spices and jewels.

But trading with Asia was a huge problem in the 15th century. The area between Europe and Asia was controlled by hostile Muslim countries. The Muslim traders were in control of trade between Asia and Europe and could take advantage of that. The Muslim traders would only sell the goods to the Italian city-states of Genoa and Venice.

The Europeans were not happy with this set-up and decided that they must find a direct route to Asia for their own benefit.

This is where Bartolomeu Dias comes in...