1. Early European Exploration
1. What was life in Europe like before the Age of
European Exploration?
2. Why did Europeans explore?
3. How did European exploration change the
world?
Textbook reference ch.2 sec.3-4
2. How does Change in Europe lead to
Exploration?
• Feudalism
• Manor
• Christianity
• Renaissance
• Astrolabe
What was life like in Europe before the Age of
Exploration?
3. Between the 9th and 15th centuries many European
societies were organized like this chart. It is
important to note that not all areas shared this
organizational model and many historians doubt the
usefulness of looking at Europe in this way.
5. A Feudal Manor or the Manorial System
What chance did a peasant have of someday owning
their own “manor house” during the middle ages?
6. Christianity became the center of European political
and social life during the middle ages. The desire to
spread the religion became one of the main motives
for European exploration
7. The Renaissance- The rebirth of European
society. How could the advances in the arts and
sciences lead to exploration?
9. How does Global Change lead to European
Exploration?
• First Global Age- The amount of long-distance trade and travel increase
dramatically throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in the 1400s
• Silk Way (Road)- Trade routes that connected China to the Middle East
• Caravan- Groups of people traveled together for safety on trade routes
• Trade Routes- During the first global age Muslim traders connected the
Eastern hemisphere by moving goods to and from Asia, Africa, and Europe. How would
it benefit Europeans to develop their own trade routes by sea, instead of relying on the
existing trade routes?
• Islam- Like Christianity, Islam became an influential religion and connected people
economically as it spread from the Middle East outward to Africa in the west and India
in the east. How would it benefit a trader to become a Muslim and convert to Islam?
• Crusades- (1100-1300) A series of wars fought between Christians and Muslims
to control the Muslim-held Holy Lands in the Middle East. How could thousands of
Europeans leaving their villages to venture into the Middle East lead to an increased
desire to explore?
10. Trade Routes in the Middle Ages- How did the
existence of these Routes increase Europe’s desire for
exploration? How could bypassing these existing
routes and creating their own, benefit Europe?
13. Early European Explorers
• Columbus- First European to encounter the Western World
• Magellan- Led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world
• Balboa- First European to encounter the Pacific Ocean
• da Verrazzano- First European to map and explore the Atlantic coast of
North America
• da Gama- First European to establish trade with Asia by sailing south
around Africa and into India
• Circumnavigate- To sail around the world
14. Reasons for early European exploration of the
West: God, Glory, and Gold
15. I Can
• Explain the reasons for European exploration
• Identify the contributions of key individuals
who participated in European exploration
