- Economics (greed)
- A direct route to Asia
- More silk, porcelain, spices, etc.
- More $$$
- Military/Political Events
- Why go AROUND Africa when you have the silk road?
- The Ottoman empire is in the damn way
- Turkish power over Constantinople
- The Ottoman empire cuts off trade through the easy route
- Underlying Political Factors
- There's a lot of competition among the different European states
- Exploration leads to $$$ and money
- Money makes one more effective at war, so it was widely requested
- Technological adaptations
- Many improvements in naval technology
- Most come from other sources
- Astrolabe (Sextent)
- Calculate the distance from you to the north star and the distance beteween you and the horizon #math
- From middle East
- Adapted for navigating
- Lateen Sail
- From Indian Ocean
- Adapted to European ships and is used to be able to sail against the water
- Cannon
- Based on gunpowder
- Originally used for blowing up castles
- Excellent for extracting goods for merchants in the Indian Ocean
- Cultural/Religious
- Our God is the only real God!
- Let us help you see this!
jan 27 2016 ∞
jan 27 2016 +