Unit 1

Renaissance: The Origins of a Western Worldview

 Lesson 4

How did the desire and means to explore foster an expansionist worldview?

When Renaissance Europeans had the motivation and the means to go exploring, they began in earnest. They competed with each other to establish trade routes for spices and other goods. Portugal was the first to become involved in organized exploration.

The map in Figure 5.1 shows some of the routes used by Portuguese explorers in the early days of the Age of Expansion.

The map shows that the first explorations went south of Europe to Africa. What might explorers be looking for in Africa?

Watch

Click the link to watch the following video, Henry the Navigator, to learn about early voyages.