The voyages of Magellan and other Iberians in the 15th and 16th centuries were a major turning point in history. The voyages led to changes in economy, politics, and technology, and developed interaction between different people. After their discoveries, the way people viewed the world dramatically changed. The expeditions had an incredible global impact.
The voyages of the Iberians had tremendous economic and political impacts. Those who ruled the Mediterranean no longer held the power; rather, it was those who held the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The voyages of Vasco da Gama and Bartholomeu Dias opened Indian Ocean trade. New trade routes were created, and the gold and slave trades began to boom. A global economy was beginning to shape. Spain and Portugal emerged as two major powers; dividing the newly discovered areas of the world between them in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Imperialism became a major part of politics. People used any excuse they could to conquer the new lands, in search for riches.
The Iberian voyages led to great technological advancements. The field of navigation was greatly affected by this "Age of Exploration." Instruments such as the astrolabe, magnetic compass, and the cross-staff were improved. Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator set up a navigational institution at Sagres. Portuguese mariners developed the caravel around this time. The caravel was a small, strong, maneuverable ship designed for ocean voyages. It's small size also allowed for movement in shallow coastal waters and upriver. Also during this time, Prince Henry's explorers discovered that they could return to Portugal faster by using the westerly winds.
Another result of the Iberian voyages was the interaction of new peoples. New contacts all over the globe came to be. Both Spain and Portugal tried to influence these people with Christianity. Portuguese trading forts on the shores of Africa and Asia developed from Portugal exploration.
The voyages of the Iberians had tremendous economic and political impacts. ... The Iberian voyages led to great technological advancements. ... Another result of the Iberian voyages was the interaction of new peoples. ... The most significant change resulting from the Iberian voyages how people viewed the world. ... The results of the Iberian voyages were immense. ...
Many factors influenced Western Europe's ability and desire to launch voyages of discovery; these include motivation, religion, technology, competition and luck. ... Several factors contributed to Portugal becoming the European pioneer in maritime exploration, these included geographical position along the West coast of the Iberian Peninsula, a development of a complex maritime economy, the third factor that allowed Portugal to be a forerunner in exploration was its monarchy. ... Prince Henry the Navigator was a religious man, and there were a number of factors that influenced his voyages...
Henry rarely left the comfort of the Iberian Peninsula, but rather had others take his stead in the face of danger and for the name of Portugal. One such adventurer and writer was Gomes Eannes de Azurara, who during the voyages of 1452-1453 chronicled the discovery and conquest of Guinea by request of King Alfonso V. ... The religion that Henry based his voyages on, and by how Gomes Azurara rationalized his journey, was the main tool that Henry intended to economically benefit Portugal only. ... staying close to the Iberian peninsula where he is protected and revered as a great navigator of...
It is well known that before the Portuguese voyages of discovery in the early fifteenth century, slavery in western Europe had declined from it's prominence in the latter stages of the Roman Empire to a marginal place in European social and economic life. But the Portuguese trader's explorations of Africa's Atlantic coast introduced them to the continent's indigenous slave trade, and by the fifteen hundreds, thousands of African slaves were interring the Iberian Peninsula each year. ... The introduction of sugar cultivation for the eastern Mediterranean to Madeira and the C...