Science and the Enlightenment

I. Science and Superstition--exist together, even in the leading scientists of the Age of Enlightenment (and they still exist together in the minds of modern people people, as well)

A. Superstition--exists to explain phenomenon that cannot be readily explained



B. Scientific method--develop thesis, design experiment to test thesis, and make sure the results can be replicated.




C. Copernicus--published study that argued that the earth revolved around the sun; scientific orthodoxy at the time (1543) held just the opposite being true.

1. Heliocentric cosmology--Copernicus was the first European astronomer to argue for the sun being at the center of the universe. This previously had been argued by the Greek astronomer Heracliedes of Pontus and in the medieval period by Nicole Oresme and Nicolas Cusanus

2. Publication--Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium colestium (On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres) the year that he died at the age of 70.

3. Effect--despite the turmoil in the Roman Catholic world, Copernicus’ work was initially well-received; its calculations regarding the revolution of the earth around the sun became the basis for the gregorian calendar (still in use today).

4. Dispute--Copernicus’ calculations were questioned, even by Galileo Galilei, because the did not work for a round orbit (only for the elliptical orbit, as demonstrated by the mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler)



D. Galileo Galilei

1. Invented the telescope in 1609, which enabled him to see the craters and mountains, and led him to conclude that the material that made up the moon was much like the material that composed the earth.

2. Advanced Copernican notions about the universe, although he claimed that Copernicus’ calculations were inaccurate because he rejected Kepler’s argument about the elliptical orbit of celestial objects



3. Inquistion—one of the most prominent victims of the Inquisition, Galileo was force to recant (take back) his belief in the Copernican system, and he was held under house arrest for the rest of his life.

II. Counter-Reformation

A. Adoption of the Aristotelian model—the belief that everything and everyone had its place in the scheme of things (“God’s plan”)—a fixed hierarchy of the celestial bodies, and a fixed hierarchy for all of the people on earth.



1. Giordono Bruno—burned at the stake for arguing that there were in infinite number of worlds (solar systems)


2. Rene Descartes—the repression suffered by Galileo and especially by Bruno made Descartes suppress his findings that foreshadowed later discoveries by Newton

B. Protestants and literacy—Protestantism appealed to the growing middle class—both merchants and ambitious craftsmen—who looked to use knowledge to better their own lives, even if it was just to read the Bible.

1. Translating the Bible—on of the earliest accomplishments of the Protestant movement was to translate the Bible from Latin to a variety of vernacular languages.

a. King James Bible


2. Gutenberg—is credited with “inventing” moveable type in 1439, but evidence now indicates that this “invention” was in reality an evolutionary process.



a. Gutenberg Bible

b. Using moveable type made printing cheaper, and dropped the cost of books. This coincided with more people becoming literate, and increased the demand for books of all types

3. Protestantism could only spread by challenging the censorship practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, but when this censorship ended it permitted a plethora of voices to be heard—and even voices who questioned whether God existed at all. And if one could question the existence of God, by what right could kings claim to rule?


III. The Enlightenment—the turmoil caused by the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation caused many intellectuals to feel that their societies were deficient, and should be reconstituted according to rational principles, borrowed from the scientific method.

A. Anti-clerical—most Enlightenment thinkers were anti-clerical, meaning that they saw priests and ministers as mis-leaders of the people, perpetrators of the belief in superstition.



1. Edward Gibbon—wrote The Fall of the Roman Empire, where he placed the blame for the decline of Rome on the government’s adoption of Christianity



B. Reformers, not Revolutionaries—these thinkers tended to come from the upper classes, and though of “the people” as little more than sheep to be led.



1. Voltaire—most famous as a satirist, but like most of the men (and they were almost entirely all men) of the Enlightenment he was proficient at a number of things. Perhaps the harshest critic of priests, yet



2. Denis Diderot—the main author of the Encyclopedie, an attempt to present all knowledge in a series of 14 volumes; although the work was highly influential, only 4,000 sets of the volumes was initially sold.



3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau—wrote The Social Contract, which argued that people should be governed by the general will of the populace

4. John Locke—wrote Two Treatise on Government which were important to the development of ideas about how a more representative government could be brought about (particularly influential on the Declaration of Independence)




5. Adam Smith—most famous for The Wealth of Nations, the much-cited if little read justification for the development of capitalism. Smith argued that the “Invisible hand” of the market would best guide political economy, and that it needed no interference from man; we are now living through one of the troughs that Smith did not realize was one of the costs of allowing the Invisible Hand guide the economy.

IV.     Social and Economic Life

        A.     The Bourgeoisie--This refers to class between the nobility (whether minor, or more well off) and the peasants and urban workers who made up the lower class (the proletariat--although strictly speaking, peasant would not match the Marxist conception of the proletariat).

                1.   Class structures within society--in part because of the inheritance from the feudal system, European society is stratified by social class, which in turn has some effect on how economic class plays out, as well. The gentry, for instance, does not work (Downton Abbey, Prince Harry, etc.).

                2.   Factory system increasing influence in Western European societies--the factory system was not created in England, but we do see its earliest, fullest development there. The factory system gains favor in England just as developments like enclosure take place, pushing peasant off land they had occupied for generations, and creating a new class of people not tied to the land who become the workers in these factories.

                3.  Formation of Joint-Stock companies--the Dutch East India Company (whose acronym in Dutch was VOC) was the earliest joint-stock company. A joint-stock company allows groups to pool their resources in order to capitalize companies. This allows the investors to share risks (and rewards, called dividends). The VOC was initially put together to challenge Portugal's trade with Asia. This allowed the VOC to finance the construction of numerous ships, which were able to quickly wrest control of the Asian trade from the Portuguese.

                4.  Specialized markets called stock exchanges are organized--stock markets permit the buying and selling of shares of stock, and therefore allow investors to find companies to invest in, in order to reap financial rewards.

                5.  Retired executives purchased large estates and were called “Gentry"--the most successful of these investors were able to use the money they made to buy land, live on their estates, and do no work.

   B.      Peasants and Laborers--in this changing society, some classes faired better than others, unsurprisingly.

                1.  Difficulties for those on the lower income level of society--the enclosure movement (turning farm land into pasture, to supply factories with wool and leather--and factory workers with mutton and beef) turned many former peasants into factory workers. This meant that a lot of poor people moved into cities (where the factories were located), and with that came disease and crime.

                2.  Over-use of environmental resources--all of this turmoil in European society was accompanied by a population boom, as European populations continued to recover from the bubonic plague.

               3.  Migrations into towns from rural areas.

      C.     Women and Family

                1.  Traditional roles and gender expectations

                2.  Delayed marriage due to affordability.

V.    Political Innovations

        A.   Monarchies in England and France

                1.  The English Civil War, King Charles and Cromwell--The forces unleashed by Henry VIII's decision to break with Rome led to the events of the English Civil War. When Charles I attempted to lead the Church of England back into the Church of Rome, he met fierce opposition, resulting in his beheading and the leader of the Roundheads, Oliver Cromwell, to emerge as the leader of the government.

                2.  The Glorious Revolution of 1688--with the re-establishment of the monarchy after the fall of Cromwell's Protectorate, the seeming likelihood of the accession to the throne of another Roman Catholic monarch (James II son over his Protestant daughter Mary) led to Parliament inviting Mary's husband, William of Orange, to overthrow their king.

                 3.  The Bill of Rights--Established the supremacy of Parliament over the monarch in England.

                4.  The Estates General and the building of the Palace of Versailles.

          B.      Warfare and Diplomacy

               1.  The Thirty Years War--initially spurred by the failure of the Peace of Augsburg, the war continued because princes and kings saw it as a means of furthering their holdings; it became one of the most destructive wars in history.

              2.  The British Royal Navy had surpassed all other European naval powers--the result of the alliance between the Netherlands and Great Britain against Spain was that Great Britain became the pre-eminent naval power in the world--a position the country would hold on to well into the 20th century.

              3.  The War of the Spanish Succession included British naval forces and the

                        Austrian and Prussian land forces.

         C.     Paying the Piper

              1.  Colonies bring in wealth for the mother country--part of the reason for the race for colonies European countries take part in from this time period until the 20th century was the economic benefits that derived from having access to both raw materials and a market for manufactured goods. Trade was seen not as beneficial for all who partook in it, but as a race with both winners and losers.

              2.  Inflation rises throughout Europe.

The Protestant Reformation and the Challenge to the Old Order

I. Reshaping Society through Religion

A. Protestant Challenges to the Social Order

1. Martin Luther--German monk who challenged the practice of the Roman Catholic Church to sell "indulgences" (the forgiveness of sins in return for a donation to the "good works" of the Church. While initially the so-called 95 Theses was not very radical in tone, Luther's refusal to withdraw the Theses led eventually to his excommunication from the Church. Luther was protected from any physical repercussions from the church by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. Luther espoused the belief that eternal salvation could not be purchased through the Church, but was instead a gift obtained through God's grace and faith in his son, Jesus Christ. Luther went about setting up churches in Saxony, and eventually married, as well.

2. John Calvin--a French lawyer and theologian, broke with the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. Calvin left France for Geneva shortly thereafter, when religious tensions in France led to a round of persecution against "protestants"; Calvin initially settled in Geneva, Switzerland, but controversy there led to his leaving Geneva for Strasbourg, although he eventually returned to Geneva, and accomplished much of the work he is known for at that location. The religious doctrine most closely associated with Calvin is the idea of predestination; that a person is chosen at birth (or even before) to ascend to heaven, and no amount of good works, indulgences, or even faith in God will change one's destiny.

3. The Peasant’s War of 1525 — Many interpreted the call for greater spiritual freedom as offering freedom in other areas as well. In southern and central Germany, Luther and Zwingli’s anticlerical message resonated with heavily taxed peasants who lived on lands owned by the church or Catholic lords. Many peasants rose in rebellion, attacking convents, monasteries, and castles, and claiming to be following the Word of God. They were joined by urban workers, who looted church property. An ex-priest, Thomas Muntzer (1468?–1525), led the movement in central Germany, promising to chastise the wicked and clear the way for the Last Judgment.  Leaders of the reform movement turned against the rebels, and Catholic and Protestant princes joined to crush Muntzer and his supporters. Across Germany, rebels were hunted down and more than 100,000 were killed. Luther tried to mediate, criticizing both the rebels and the princes for their excesses. He saw Muntzer as a dangerous man doing the “devil’s work.” Luther connected the Lutheran church with the German princes and established political authority. When the Holy Roman Emperor declared Catholicism the state religion, the princes protested and the empire fragmented.

4. Anabaptists — In Zurich, laypeople, many of them artisans and members of the middle and lower classes, attempted to conform themselves to the New Testament descriptions of early Christian communities. Embracing a simple but radical message, they rejected the validity of infant baptism and called for the rebaptizing of adults. Many of these Anabaptists (literally “rebaptizers”) were pacifists who rejected civil authority. Zwingli condemned them in 1529, and when they remained resistant, condemned them to death; however, Anabaptism still spread through southern Germany. In 1534, one group seized control of Munster, proclaiming themselves a community of saints, but they were overthrown by a combined Catholic and Protestant army. In northwest Europe, under the pacifist Dutchman Menno Simons (1469–1561), the Anabaptist movement survived.

B. New Forms of Discipline

1. Reading the Bible — Middle-class urban reformers urged greater conformity and stricter moral behavior. Rulers and clergy encouraged Bible reading and hard work, piety, and attendance at sermons. Many saw the poor as lacking personal virtue, and greater emphasis was placed on the regulation of marriage. Luther’s German translation of the Bible became standard, and a Bible-centered culture took root, with 200,000 copies printed over twelve years. Bibles became central in urban, literate households, and Catholic Bibles in German also circulated. In England, the church executed William Tyndale (1495–1536), who translated the Bible into English, for heresy.

2. Public Relief for the Poor — In Catholic and Protestant states, secular governments began to take over public charity from the church in an era of increasing poverty and less tolerance for the poor. Moralists condemned the sloth and crime that was associated with vagabonds. Protestant magistrates in urban areas appointed officials to certify the genuine poor and distribute funds to them. During the 1520s, cities in the Low Countries, Italy, and Spain prohibited begging. Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives wrote a treatise urging authorities to establish public poor relief, and national laws followed in Spain and England.

3. Reforming Marriage — Seeking order and discipline, Protestant reformers denounced sexual immorality and glorified the family. Magistrates closed brothels and established marriage courts, and fines were put in place for fornication, adultery, and violent behavior. Prior to the Reformation, marriage had largely been a private affair between families, where promises made between couples with witnesses present were recognized by the church. Government control was now asserted over marriage, first in Protestant, then in Catholic countries. The first generation of Protestant women attained a high level of marital equality, but for the most part women’s role in society did not change, although the closing of convents did confine women more to the household and family in Protestant areas.

C. Catholic Renewal

1. The Council of Trent and Its Rejection of Protestantism — In the 1540s, the Catholic church acted dramatically to fend off the Protestant threat. Pope Paul III convened a council at Trent in 1545, which met sporadically for twenty years. It had the goal of renewing religious devotion, clarifying doctrine, and reforming clerical morality. Italian and Spanish clergy predominated among the 255 bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. The council condemned central Protestant doctrines on salvation, the Eucharist, clerical authority over the laity, and interpretation of the Bible. Divorce was rejected, and indulgences confirmed. Bishops had to be residents of their dioceses, and more seminaries were established. The council reduced hope for reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants, as Catholics focused on rolling back dissent.    

2. New Religious Orders — The Catholic Reformation also prompted the formation of new religious orders, the most important being the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), who were established by a Spanish nobleman, Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) . A soldier in wars against France, Loyola was injured in battle in 1521 and during his recovery read the lives of the saints and decided to serve the church. A charismatic and active figure, he attracted followers, and his order was recognized in 1540. The Jesuits vigorously defended papal authority and established hundreds of colleges. They were particularly active globally as missionaries. Jesuits helped to restore confidence in the church, although they also had a reputation for controversy and for having a great deal of political influence. 

3. Missionary Zeal — Missionary activity became especially important in the face of the Protestant challenge. Some missionary work was repressive and coercive, while at other times it offered welcome reason and faith. Catholic missionaries focused on winning over local elites and establishing schools. Initially involving very little racial discrimination, distinctions based on race or language became more common in the Americas and Africa. In Asia, elites were especially targeted by missionaries under Portuguese protection. Missionaries admired Asian civilization; the Jesuit Francis Xavier preached in India and Japan and converted many. In Asia and the Americas, these activities converted many and were successful.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

II. Striving for Mastery

A. Courtiers and Princes

1. Princely Power, Patronage, and the Arts — Courts, which functioned as centers for state building and the projection of power, also became centers of intrigue, cultural activity, and patronage. Political and cultural elites grew up around courts, as typified by the work of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), an immensely talented artist who worked at the Florentine court and for the pope.

2. The Court of Francis I — Italian artists also flocked to the French court of Francis I (r.1515–1547), the largest in Europe. There were 1,622 people, many of them artists, musicians, and performers at the French court, by 1535. The court moved around between palaces but was centered in a renaissance palace built at Fontainbleau. It took 18,000 horses to move the French court from place to place.

3. Ariosto, Castiglione, and Courtier Ethics — Two Italian writers, Ariosto (1474–1533) at the Este court in Ferrara, and Castiglione (1478–1529), a servant of the duke of Urbino and the pope, composed poetry (Ariosto) and a dialogue (Castiglione) representing court culture as the highest synthesis of Christian and classical values. Gentlemen at court were urged to speak in refined language and carry themselves with nobility and dignity in serving their prince and their lady. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a courtier whose essay, The Prince, urged another, more pragmatic, ethic on rulers, encouraging princes to be feared rather than loved. Rulers were urged to keep a firm grip on power through deceit and manipulation if necessary.

B. Dynastic Wars

1. The Valois versus the Hapsburgs — The French Valois and Spanish Hapsburg families fought each other for domination of Europe. The Italian Wars over French claims that began in 1494 escalated into a general conflict that involved the Ottomans and the major Christian monarchies from 1494 to 1559. Both families were Catholic, and they fought over the Low Countries and Italy. After a defeat at the hands of Charles V and his capture at the battle of Pavia in 1525, the Valois French king Francis I was forced to renounce all claims to Italian territory. However, he immediately repudiated the treaty and continued the conflict. When the pope allied with the French, Charles sacked Rome in 1527. Charles made extensive use of German Protestant mercenaries, and their attack on Rome was brutal and spurred Catholic reform. In 1559, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis ended the conflict, as the French gave up their claim to Italy and the French king Henry II married his sister and daughter into the Hapsburg family. Other Europeans were drawn into this long conflict, often switching sides to gain religious or political advantage.

2. The Extension of Ottoman Power — The Ottomans seized the opportunity the conflict provided to expand. Suleiman the Magnificent (Suleiman I, r.1520–1566) destroyed the Hungarian army in 1526 and lay unsuccessful siege to Vienna. Francis I forged an alliance with the Ottomans in 1535, scandalizing many Christians but reflecting the opportunistic spirit of the times. Ottoman help and Protestant challenge at home prevented Charles V from defeating the Valois.

C. Financing War

1. The Challenge of Meeting Wartime Expenses — The cost of war increased as technology and firepower developed and governments devalued currency to pay for the conflict. Charles V had the largest army and supported it with gold and silver mined or looted from the new world. Still, expenses exceeded income and Charles accumulated a heavy debt, as did other monarchs of the era. Bankruptcy loomed for many states despite the expansion of revenue sources and the devaluation of currency. Hapsburg and Valois monarchies looked to bankers to finance their expenses.

2. The Fugger Financial Empire — The Fugger bank, based in Augsburg, Germany, built a financial empire based on supporting monarchy. Jakob Fugger (1459–1525) built a financial relationship with Maxmillian I, Charles V’s grandfather. In 1519, Fugger arranged through a consortium of Italian and German bankers to secure Charles V’s election as Holy Roman Emperor.  A long relationship developed between the bank and Europe’s largest wealthiest monarchy. Between 1527 and 1547, the bank’s assets doubled, due largely to its management of Hapsburg debt.

D. Divided Realms

1. France — Religious differences challenged political unity in some states. In France, Francis I cracked down on Protestantism after 1534 but did not root it out. Calvinism continued to grow in France in the 1540s and 1550s as noble families converted and protected other Protestants. Francis and his successor Henry II (r.1547–1559) maintained a balance of power between Catholics and Calvinists, but after Henry’s death, four decades of savage religious war followed.

2. England and Scotland — Henry VIII’s church remained ambiguous. Edward VI (r. 1547–1553) encouraged the growth of Calvinist Protestantism, but he died at fifteen, and when his Catholic half-sister Mary Tudor (r. 1553–1558) became queen she restored Catholicism and persecuted Protestants, executing some three hundred. Others fled to the continent. When Anne Boleyn’s Protestant daughter Elizabeth succeeded Mary (r. 1558–1603), Protestantism regained momentum and became ingrained in the English church. In Scotland, where the monarchy was challenged by strong nobles, Protestantism took root in the 1550s as the Calvinist reformer John Knox (1514–1572) returned from exile. The queen, Mary of Guise, married to James V until his death in 1542, surrounded herself and her daughter Mary Stuart with Catholic French advisors, strengthening the anti-French loyalties of many Protestants in the nobility. In 1558, Knox published an attack on Mary’s reign, and she was deposed by the nobility. Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) fled to England, and her infant son James was installed as king.

3. The German States — In Germany, Protestant princes formed the Schmalkaldic League in 1531, which included most imperial cities. Emperor Charles V was supported by the Bishops and some Catholic princes, but war with the Ottomans and French kept him from dealing with divisions in Germany until 1541, when he convened an Imperial Diet at Regensberg. When the Diet broke down, Charles went to war with the League in 1547. He suppressed Protestantism in southern Germany with Spanish and German troops and then destroyed the fragmented Schmalkaldic League at Muhlberg in Saxony, capturing the leading Protestant princes. Protestant resistance to the restoration of Catholic worship led Protestant princes to regroup and drive Charles out of Germany, resulting in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which recognized the Lutheran church, accepted the secularization of church lands, and established the principle that the religion of princes would determine religion within German states. Calvinists and Anabaptists were excluded and persecuted, but the peace held until 1618. Charles V resigned many of his thrones in 1555 and 1556, leaving the Netherlands, Burgundy, and Spain to his son Phillip II and his Austrian lands to his brother Ferdinand. He retired to a monastery.

Weekly Assignment 2

From information covered in this week's lecture, what were the economic aspects of the Portuguese trading empire: what was being traded, where, and by whom?--and how profitable was the trade. Your response to these questions should be at least 2 pages long, machine produced with conventional one inch margins in 12 point font, and is due at the beginning of class on January 17.

The Legend of Vasco da Gama

A. Henry the Navigator--younger son of ruling Aviz family. Became head of the religious military organization Order of Christ in 1420. Portuguese nobility, fired by the long, successful struggle against Islam in the Iberian peninsula, and were looking for allies to extend this struggle to retake Jerusalem from Islamic control--preferably with a partner east of the Holy City.

1. Legend of “Prester John”--a supposed long-lost Christian king, located somewhere in Africa (or maybe Asia--nobody is really sure). Henry’s plan seems to have been to seek out the kingdom of Prester John, and ally with it to “free” the Holy Land.

a) Basis in reality?--there were, of course, Christians in eastern Africa (the Coptic Church in both Egypt and Ethiopia), as well as Christians in the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, and India--none of them called Prester John, of course.

2. Systematic exploration--the Portuguese began a systematic exploration of the African Coast to look for the “western Nile” (apparently the Senegal River) that would take them to the kingdom of Prester John.

B. Benefits of Arab Contact

1. Navigational tools--from their Muslim contact, Portuguese sailors had learned to use an astrolab and a compass, and to build a modified ship they called the caravel, which had a lateran sail that allowed the ship to tack better--necessary to navigate on the open ocean (particularly against the wind)

2. Navigational maps--as the exploration process progressed, Portuguese mapmakers grew more skilled, and gathered more information, to draw more accurate maps. These new maps included not only more accurate depictions of land masses, but also indications of the direction and strength of trade winds and sea currents

3. Knowledge of Arab trade routes--Portuguese were also hoping to tap into some of the wealth the Arabs generated from their trade with Africa and Asia. 

II. The Expeditions

A. To the “Western Nile”

1. Cape Bojador--the southernmost point known to Europeans to this time. It was a fairly unattractive place, port along the Atlantic coast with Sahara Desert as its hinterland. It eventually was discovered that sailing well into the Atlantic--out of the sight of land--was a better route.

a) Porto Santo (1419)-- “Discovered” by an expedition that got caught in a storm and blown off course; became an important launching point for future expeditions.

b) Madeira Islands (1420)--became an important source for wood to construct ships (madeira is portuguese for wood); it is colonized, and becomes an important source for industrial agricultural products.

2. Tangiers--Portuguese disasterous attack one this city, held by Berbers. Portuguese army surrounded and forced to surrender; only way to save the army was to send youngest Aviz brother, Prince Fernando, into captivity. He died in captivity four years later. This tragedy seemed to spur Prince Henry on, however.

3. Cabo Branco (Cape Blanco)--an expedition to “make peace” with Africans ended up capturing a number of them, including a chief named Adahu, who provided the Portuguese with much information.

B. The Atlantic Islands and the Development of Slavery--the Portuguese colonized the islands they “discovered” in the Atlantic, probably because they used these as stations during expeditions. Using the model of the islands of the Mediterranean, plantation agriculture using slave labor was quickly developed--particularly the cultivation of sugar cane, which used slave labor; many slaves from Africa were used to cultivate sugar cane in the Mediterranean, and the importation of African slaves to work the plantations on these Atlantic islands seemed a natural progression.

1. Madeira Islands--sugar cane, and grapes (Madeira wine)

2. Azores Island (1427)

3. Cape Verde Islands (1460)

4. Sao Tome (1470)--all these islands were colonized, in contrast to the “factories” that were established on the African coast as trading outposts.

C. Guineas and Gold--Guinea was the name applied to the land south of the Sahara Desert, and to the people living there. It later became applied to a several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It also became a slang term for the gold coin minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1813, made with gold mined in Guinea--and those coins were often traded for slaves (Guinea slaves)

1. Caravel--in 1441, the first expedition to use the caravel was made, and at a village along the Rio do Ouro several people were kidnapped, taken back to Portugal, and sold as slaves--the beginning of the slave trade in Europe (Arabs had dealt in the African slave trade for hundreds of years to this point).



2. Bay of Arguin (1448)--first Portuguese fort constructed on African coast from which trade was conducted with Africans. The few Portuguese agents in these forts were called “factors,” which is how these establishments became known as “factories.”

3. Cape Verde (1444)--Dinis Dia, inspired by the earlier discovery that the Sahara Desert ended, found the westernmost part of Africa. From this point on, Portuguese merchants became more involved in the exploration process, because of the potential wealth to be gained from establishing trade networks; the Portuguese monarchy was happy to take a cut of the trade proceeds without having to risk anything.

a) Fenao Gomes--one of the merchants who financed their own expeditions. Gomes and his crew “discovered” the Gold Coast (modern Ghana).

D. King Joao II--succeeded his father Afonso V to the throne, he actively supported his own expeditions, and signalled a renewed drive on the part of the Portuguese crown to seek a sea route to Asia; within four years of his gaining the crown, Portuguese expeditions round the Cape of Good Hope.

1. Voyage of Diogo Cao (1482)--Cao discovered that the western coast of the African continent turned south and ran for over a thousand miles before turning again. Cao also became the first European to come into contact with the Kingdom of the Kongo, which became an important trading partner and the first successful effort to convert sub-Saharan Africans to Christianity.

2. Christopher Columbus--was turned down by King Joa in 1484 (and again in 1488).

3. Bartolomeu Dias (1487)--sent on expedition to find the southern cape of Africa. He was successful, but did not at first recognize his feat because his small fleet had been caught in a serious storm as they approached the cape, and passed in the midst of that. He reported back that his fleet had rounded the “Cape of Storms,” but king changed the name to “Cape of Good Hope” because investors would be scared off from an expedition that had to pass by the Cape of Storms.

E. Treaty of Tordesilla (1494)--divided the world outside of Europe into two spheres of influence--Portuguese and Spanish. These spheres were divided by the Pope in a line running north/south from 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.

1. Spanish proposal--after Columbus’ “discovery,” Spain insisted upon dividing world into two different areas for making claims of surzenity, or control. Spain’s proposal was to demarcate the line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.

2. Portuguese response--King Jao insisted that the line be drawn at 370 leagues--why? Why not 200, or 300? Did the Portuguese have information about the existence of a large land mass on the other side of the Atlantic?

III. Voyage of Vasco da Gama

A. Arming the caravel--in preparation for sailing into the Indian Ocean--known to be dominated by Islamic traders, a method was devised to put cannons below deck, behind doors built into the bulkhead. This provided da Gama and his successors an immense advantage, because they were the most heavily armed ships in the Indian Ocean.

B. The Voyage


I. Portuguese Age of Exploration 1415-1530

1. da Gama left in 1497. Hoping to avoid the difficulties faces by Dias, Gama used the trade winds of the Atlantic to his advantage--but still almost missed the Cape of Good Hope.

2. After rounding the Cape, the expedition made slow progress up the east coast of Africa, before finding a local pilot knowledgeable of the Indian Ocean, who guided the fleet across to India.



3. Returned to Portugal in 1499.

IV. The Aftermath

A. Spice trade--after reaching India, Portuguese explorers continued to press eastward, eventually reaching the Spice Islands, China, and Japan.

1. As on the coast of Africa, the Portuguese established factories to carry out trade, which allowed them to dominate the spice trade to Europe

2. Asciento system--in the early years of Portuguese dominance, they were able to insist that ships that traded in the Indian Ocean buy a license to trade there; as more ships followed the Portuguese example of heavily arming their ships, this became less effective; Portuguese also found it difficult to maintain such a huge empire with fewer than 300 ships and less than 10,000 Portuguese to run it.

3. Succession problems--the fall of the House of Aviz, and the ascension of Philip II of Spain to the throne of Portugal, made the lucrative spice trade a ready target for Philip’s growing list of enemies--particularly the Dutch, who take over much of the Portuguese empire in Asia by 1620.

Cartographical Constructs

For review purposes, use this link to go to the Bridging World History website. From that page, at the lower left-hand corner, you will find the link to the video. It may take more than one attempt to get the video up and running--the website seems not to be running at optimal capacity.

I. The Mercator Map Projection

According to geographer Alberto Rios at Arizona State University:

In the Mercator projection (c. 1569), Greenland, which has 0.8 million square miles, is shown as being equal to Africa, which has 11.6 million square miles. A good discussion of this can be found at the Diversophy site, including the following execerpt: "The Mercator projection creates increasing distortions of size as you move away from the equator. As you get closer to the poles the distortion becomes severe. Cartographers refer to the inability to compare size on a Mercator projection as "the Greenland Problem." Greenland appears to be the same size as Africa, yet Africa's land mass is actually fourteen times larger (see figure below right). Because the Mercator distorts size so much at the poles it is common to crop Antarctica off the map. This practice results in the Northern Hemisphere appearing much larger than it really is. Typically, the cropping technique results in a map showing the equator about 60% of the way down the map, diminishing the size and importance of the developing countries. This was convenient, psychologically and practically, through the eras of colonial domination when most of the world powers were European. It suited them to maintain an image of the world with Europe at the center and looking much larger than it really was. Was this conscious or deliberate? Probably not, as most map users probably never realized the Eurocentric bias inherent in their world view. When there are so many other projections to chose from, why is it that today the Mercator projection is still such a widely recognized image used to represent the globe? The answer may be simply convention or habit. The inertia of habit is a powerful force. A different type of projection is an "Equal-Area" projection. This shows sizes in proportion while sacrificing true shape. The Peters Projection is one type of equal area map. Is it the only one? No, there are hundreds of others, but only a handful of others are in common use. The Mollweide projection, developed in 1805, is commonly used for displaying distributions (people, telecommunications equipment, the world's religions, etc). Karl B. Mollweide (1774-1825) specifically sought to improve upon the weaknesses of the Mercator projection. The Eckert IV is another equal area projection developed in the 1920's by Max Eckert (1868-1938). This has the advantage of less shape distortion near the equator and the poles. A fourth equal-area map is Goode's Homolosine created in 1921 by J. Paul Goode (1862-1932). This interrupted map looks like an orange peel and has less shape distortion than the other equal area maps" Maps, like other historical artifacts and sources, should be used critically. Mercator intended his map to be used for sea navigation--and in that use, it is till without peer, really (which isn't to bad for a map drawn almost 500 years ago. The problems with the Mercator map is that it was not only used for navigation, but informed many people's knowledge of the world. When you think the continent of Africa is only the size of Greenland, you are more likely to minimize the problems that pop up occasionally there--and to dismiss them as unimportant. II. Maps and Bias Like other historical documents, maps usually reflect the biases of their makers. As we can see from the ancient map of Korea: maps often reflect the world view of its maker--or, at least, the view of the world that its creator wanted it to be. While these maps would not be valuable for getting from one country to another--or even around the corner to the country grocery--they are valuable to historians, because they tell us a lot about the worldview of those powerful enough and rich enough to commission a map maker to make a map for them. III. Conclusion History is the study of the human past. Historians, in order to study the past, have to use documents created by humans. These documents and artifacts are not perfect sources, and most have some kind of bias built in to them. Historians approach the study of history with some of their own biases, which they try to control for by making very broad document search; but, in the end, what a historian finds important or unimportant is in part reliant upon her world view--which is, again in part, shaped by the biases she brings to the study of history. History, therefore, is necessarily shaped by not only events of the past, but how those events are interpreted in the present.