The Age of Discovery began in the 15th century as European knowledge of the world was limited. The Portuguese launched expeditions to find trade routes to Asia but instead discovered new territories in Africa and the Americas. Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored Portuguese voyages down the African coast. Christopher Columbus sought to reach Asia by sailing west and instead reached the Bahamas in 1492 while sailing for Spain. His voyages led to ongoing European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

1. THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

2. AGE OF DISCOVERY
The knowledge the Europeans had
about the world in the 15th
century was
very limited:
-They knew very well the lands around
the Mediterranean and Black Sea
-They knew a lot about Asia, as a
consequence of the merchants’ trips
through the Silk Road
-They didn’t know much about the
interior of Africa
-They didn’t know about the existence
of America and Oceania
The Europeans (mainly Portugal and
Castile) launched several expeditions
to find new trade routes to Asia and
this led to the “discovery” of a big
amount of unknown territories.
Genoese map made in 1457

3. REASONS FOR THE DISCOVERIES
THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (1453)
In 1453 the Ottoman Turks conquered
Constantinople and closed the terrestrial
route to Asia
TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS
- Portulan charts: maps of the coasts,
which included indications to use the
compass and the estimated distances
between different places
-Inventions that improved navigation,
such as the compass, the quadrant and the
astrolabe
- Use of caravels: They existed before the
15th century and had some advantages:
more spacious (because they didn´t need
oarsmen. This left more space for cargo and
allowed longer voyages), faster (they moved
with wind) and could carry cannons to
defend the crew from pirates
Portulan chartFall of Costantinople,
conquered by the Ottoman
Turks
Compass
Quadrant
Astrolabe
Caravels

4. Prince Henry the
Navigator (1394-
1460), patron of
Portuguese
exploration
The Portuguese were the first to try to find a new route
to Asia. Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored voyages to
explore the coast of Africa and financed navigators and
cartographers (map-makers ). As a result of this, the
Portuguese discovered several archipelagoes in the
Atlantic Ocean and territories on the African coast:
-1420: Madeira Islands
-1427: Azores Islands
-1434: they reached Cape Bojador
-1455-56: Cape Verde Islands
-1462: exploration of the Gulf of Guinea
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
They mapped the coast of Africa and created trading
posts along the African coasts to develop trade there.
1479: Treaty of ALCAÇOVAS: Castile and Portugal signed
an agreement that recognized the Castilian sovereignty
over the Canary Islands, but gave the exclusive
exploration of the African coasts to Portugal.
1488: Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope
1498: Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in India.
CAPE BOJADOR
MADEIRA
AZORES
GULF OF GUINEA
CAPE VERDE

5. PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

6. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS´S PROJECT
Christopher Columbus notes on
his copy of The travels of Marco Polo
Columbus’ s mistakes:
-he miscalculated the diameter of the Earth
-he thought that the Earth was smaller than it is.
This is why he had a lot of problems to find the
money he needed for his voyage to the Indies. His
project was rejected in Portugal, in Castile, France
and England. Finally, he used his friendship with a
monk of la Rábida Monastery to get the help of the
Catholic Monarchs
CASTILIAN DISCOVERIES
Unknown origin: he may have been a Genoese,
Portuguese, Catalan, Jewish sailor or a pirate. We
don’t know much about him, because he hid his past
Reading books, he prepared a navigation project to
the Indies following a route to the West, which meant
crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

7. COLUMBUS´S IDEA OF THE WORLD, INSPIRED ON TOSCANELLI´S MAP

9. COLUMBUS´S MAP, DRAWN IN 1490

10. Finally, the Catholic Monarchs agreed on
financing Christopher Columbus´ voyage and
they signed a contract with him, the
Capitulations of Santa Fe: if Columbus reached
the Indies, he would receive some rewards:
- Viceroy and governor of the discovered
lands
-10% of the wealth discovered
-Admiral of the Ocean Sea
Finally, Columbus started his voyage in August
1492 and found land on the 12th October: they
reached Guanahaní, in the Bahama Islands and
called it San Salvador.
THE CATHOLIC MONARCHS
CAPITULATIONS OF SANTA FE

11. COLUMBUS ´S VOYAGES

12. FOURTH VOYAGE
(May 1502- November 1504)
THIRD VOYAGE
(May 1498- November 1500)
SECOND VOYAGE
(September 1493-June 1496)
FIRST VOYAGE
(August- October 1492)

13. Signed between the Catholic
Monarchs and the king of
Portugal under the arbitration
of Pope Alexander VI. It drew an
imaginary line 370 leagues to
the West of Cape Verde Islands
that divided the world into two
parts: the lands to the East
would belong to Portugal and
the lands to the West would
belong to Castile. That’s why
part of South America (Brazil)
belonged to Portugal.
TREATY OF TORDESILLAS (1494)

14. JUAN DE LA COSA’S MAP, 1500
It included Columbus´s and Vasco da Gama´s discoveries. It´s the oldest
representation of America

15. JUAN DE LA COSA’S MAP, 1500

16. THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION VOYAGE
MAGELLAN-ELCANO EXPEDITION

17. CONSEQUENCES
OF THE
DISCOVERIES
- Beginning of
globalization
process
- Extraordinary progress in science: geography, navigation,
natural science
- Creation of overseas empires, Europe’s supremacy and
exploitation of the colonized peoples
-Contact with other peoples
- Exchange of products: richer and more
varied diet

18. BEGINNING OF THE GLOBALIZATION PROCESS
Relationships between different
parts of the world, that shared
products, people and knowledge.

19. PRE-COLUMBIAN PEOPLES
AZTEC CIVILIZATION: Present Mexico
MAYA CIVILIZATION: Yucatan Peninsula
INCA CIVILIZATION: Andes Mountains
The Europeans came into contact
with different indigenous civilizations.
They were called Amerindians
(American Indians), but at present
they are called Pre- Columbian
peoples.

20. CHICKENPOX MEASLES SMALLPOX
DISEASES BROUGHT BY THE EUROPEANS TO AMERICA
These diseases became lethal for the indigenous peoples at
the beginning of colonization and a demographic
catastrophe took place, especially in Central America and
the Caribbean Sea.
The Europeans started bringing black slaves from Africa to
replace the dead.

21. EXCHANGE OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS BROUGHT FROM AMERICA

22. PRODUCTS BROUGHT FROM EUROPE TO AMERICA

23. OVERSEAS EMPIRES
The Europeans created
colonial empires and
imposed their supremacy
over the new lands
discovered.