New Worlds:
The Great Voyages
of Discovery

By Ronald H. Fritze

Christopher Columbus and the Great Age of Discovery
HIST 351  ~  Fall 2010

Chapter 1:
Worldviews Before the Age of Exploration

1. How did ancient and medieval people conceive of the physical geography of the earth?

2. What were the Marvels of the East?

3. What was the nature and size of Africa?

4. What was the nature and size of the Atlantic Ocean?

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Washington Irving
• Cosmas Indicopleustes
• Erastothenes
• Claudius Ptolemy
• Zonal Theory
• Torrid Zone
• Crates of Mallos
• Marinus of Tyre
• Megasthenes
• Ctesias
• Prester John
• Monstrous Races
• Anthrophagi
• Cynocephali
• Terrestrial Paradise
• Fountain of Youth
• Ethiopia
• Circumnavigation of Africa
• Leif Ericsson
• Mappae Mundi
• St. Brendan
• Antillia

Chapter 2:
Trade and Contact Between Europe, Asia, and Africa before the 1490s

1. What were the three things that motivated long distance travel through most of human history and how did they differ?

2. Describe the nature and the routes of trade between the ancient Mediterranean world and India?

3. What and where was the Silk Road and how did it operate?

4. Describe the trade between the Mediterranean and Asia before the Crusades?

5. What was the Pax Mongolica and how did it effect trade between the Mediterraean and the Far East?

6. Describe Marco Polo’s career and the influence of his book.

7. What caused the end of the Pax Mongolica and how was trade effected?

8. Describe the Mediterranean world’s trade with Africa south of the Sahara?

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Frankincense
• Myrrh
• King Solomon
• Ptolemaic Dynasty
• Eudoxus and Hippalus
• Monsoon winds
• Venice
• Genghis Khan
• John of Plano Carpini
• William of Rubruck
• Rabban Sauma
• Marco Polo
• Kublai Khan
• Mameluke Turks
• Ottoman Turks
• Wangara
• Mansa Musa

Chapter 3:
Late Medieval European Exploration of the Atlantic and Africa before 1492

1. What were the foundations of the trade of the western Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages?

2. Describe the discovery and early settlement of the Canary Islands.

3. How did Portugal and its Avis dynasty become involved in exploration?

4. Describe the technology of navigation, mapmaking, and ship design that Europeans possessed prior to 1492.

5. How did Portugal explore the Atlantic prior to 1492?

6. Describe the phases and progress of the Portuguese exploration of the African coast through the voyage of Bartolome Dias.

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Acre
• Vivaldi Brothers
• Gadifer de la Salle
• Jean de Bethencourt
• Joao I
• Ceuta
• Prince Henry the Navigator
• Quadrant
• Mappa mundi
• T-O map
• Zonal map
• Portolan charts
• Galley
• Cog
• Caravel
• Lateen sails
• Nao
• Cape Bojador
• Madeira
• Azores
• Cape Verde Islands
• Ferdinand van Olmen
• Martin Behaim
• Corte Real family
• Gil Eannes
• Nuno Tristao
• Alvise de Cadamosto
• Fernao Gomes
• El Mina
• Diogo Cao
• Pero da Covilha

Chapter 4:
The Great Voyages of the 1490s: Columbus, Cabot, and Gama

1. Describe the career of Christopher Columbus. What was his family background, how did he formulate his geographical ideas, and how were his ideas accepted in Portugal and Spain. Describe his first voyage of exploration.

2. What was John Cabot’s background? Describe his career in England and his voyages to the west. What were the immediate results of his discovery?

3. Describe Vasco da Gama’s background and his voyage to and from India. Compare and contrast Gama’s voyage with Columbus’s.

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Bartolome Perestrelo
• Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli
• Joao II
• Duke of Medinaceli
• Talavera Committee
• Juan Perez
• Sante Fe Capitulations
• Palos
• Martin Alonso Pinzon
• Cipangu
• Mangi
• Hispaniola
• Caribs
• Treaty of Tordesillas
• Bristol
• Henry VII
• Sebastian Cabot
• Manuel I
• Malindi
• Calicut
• Zamorin

Chapter 5:
Chapter Five: Comprehending the Americas: Outlining the Coastline for a Way to Asia

1. What were the results of Columbus’s second, third, and fourth voyages? Describe his changing relations with the Spanish monarchs.

2. Who were the other people who explored South America and what did they discover?

3. Describe the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. What did it show about the potential of a sea route to Asia going around South America?

4. Describe the voyages of exploration along the North American coast and the searches for the Northwest and Northeast Passages?

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Navidad
• Orinoco River
• Francisco Roldan
• Francisco Bobadilla
• Alonso de Ojeda
• Andalusian Voyages
• Amerigo Vespucci
• Waldseemuller Map
• High Voyage
• Great South Sea
• Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• Sebastian Elcano
• Sir Francis Drake
• Juan de la Cosa Map
• Juan Ponce de Leon
• Giovanni da Verrazano
• Jacques Cartier
• Martin Frobisher
• Henry Hudson
• Muscovy Company
• Willem Barents

Chapter 6:
Conquests

1. Describe the Portuguese conquest of the Indian Ocean trade routes. How were they able to do it and what advantages did they possess over their enemies?

2. Describe the Spanish conquest of Mexico. What were their strategies for conquering the Aztecs? What advantages did they possess over their enemies? What was the great significance of the discovery and conquest of the Aztec empire?

3. Compare the Spanish conquest of Peru with the conquest of Mexico. How were they alike and how were they different?

4. Discuss the Spanish quests for El Dorado and their exploration of the Southeast and Southwest of the present day United States. What motivated these efforts?

5. How did the French, English, and Dutch react to the Spanish and Portuguese conquests and trading empires?

 
Terms  (definition and significance):

• Pedro Cabral
• Brazil
• Cochin
• Carreira de India
• Francisco de Almeida
• Malacca
• Goa
• Hormuz
• Battle of Diu
• Aden
• Battle of Ksar-el-Kebir
• Francisco de Cordoba
• Juan de Grijalva
• Hernan Cortes
• Dona Marina
• Montezuma
• Tenochtitlan
• Tlaxcala
• Panfilo Narvaez
• La Noche Triste
• Francisco Pizarro
• Diego de Almagro
• Atahualpa
• Cajamarca
• Potosi
• Chibchas
• La Florida
• Cabeza de Vaca
• Hernando de Soto
• Cibola
• Seven Cities of Gold
• Quivara
• Francisco Vazquez de Coronado
• Jean Ribaut
• San Juan de Ulloa
• East India Company

Conclusion

What were the consequences of the Age of Exploration as discussed in the Conclusion?

Christopher Columbus and the Great Age of Discovery
HIST 351  ~  Fall 2010