AOE: Lesson - Causes of European Exploration

An image of a Portuguese Caravel using Lateen sails.Causes of European Exploration

By the time the Ottoman Empire replaced the Byzantine Empire as rulers of the Anatolian Peninsula, Western Europe had established a taste for the spices coming out of South Asia. Prior to the rise of the Ottoman Empire, Europeans often traveled through the Anatolian Peninsula to trade with South and East Asian markets.

But with the presence of a more hostile empire blocking the land routes to Asia, Europeans began to look to the seas for new routes for access to Asian goods during the time known as the "Age of Exploration." They were inspired by the Renaissance to come up with new ideas to old questions and were increasingly organized under strong leaders with new wealth. Among two of the strongest nations in Europe at the beginning of the "Age of Exploration" were Portugal and Spain.

Portugal and Spain

Located on the Iberian Peninsula, the nations of Portugal and Spain were (and still are) as far west as one can go in Europe - which meant that they were the farthest away from markets in Asia by land. Fortunately for Portugal and Spain, the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the blockage of land trade routes occurred while new maritime technology reached Europe.

These included:

  • Backstaff: Tool that allowed explorers to determine the altitude of the sun without looking directly into the sun, which protected their eyesight
  • Sternpost Rudder: Controlled and stabilized ships
  • Lateen Sail: Triangular-shaped sail that allowed ships to sail into the wind
  • Mariner’s Astrolabe: Used to determine latitude using the location of the sun/stars and horizon
  • Magnetic Compass: Allowed sailors to determine direction without keeping sight of land
  • Caravel: A 3-mast ship that could alternate between square and triangular (lateen) sails (see image above)
  • Traverse Board: A specialized map for explorers to determine their place and trajectory in the ocean using their speed and direction

"Borrowing" from the navigational breakthroughs of the Chinese, the Muslims, and the Ancient Greeks and Romans, Western Europeans harnessed new technology to take to the seas for long, mysterious journeys bypassing the Anatolian Peninsula to go shopping in Asia. Portugal and Spain were the first and they quickly built a rivalry over who had the right to go where.

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