Portuguese and Spanish Maritime Exploration (15th-16th Centuries)
Portuguese Maritime Exploration
From the mid-15th century, the Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, encouraged the development of navigation skills and the exploration of the African coast. Portugal’s aim was to gain access to Sudan’s gold supplies and trade with India. Initially, there was competition with Castile in this region, but it was resolved with the signing of the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479. The treaty granted Castile the right to conquer the Canary Islands, while Portugal was allowed to explore the African coast south of Cape Bojador.
Over the course of a series of exploratory journeys along the African coast, the Portuguese occupied the Madeira, Azores, and Cape Verde archipelagos. They reached Cape Bojador in 1431 and the Gulf of Guinea in 1460. Finally, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. Then, in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India. Along the African and Asian coasts, the Portuguese founded colonies and built forts to oversee the trade in Sudanese gold and slaves and also to monopolize the spice trade with India and the silk trade with China.
Castile and the Discovery of America
America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, a sailor who may have been born in Genoa. His aim, based on his conviction that the world was round, was to sail westwards across the Atlantic to reach India. He first presented his project to King John II of Portugal in 1484, but the king rejected it. It was then offered to the Catholic Monarchs, who accepted it in their Capitulations of Santa Fe (1492).
Columbus set sail with three ships from the port of Palos (Huelva). He stopped at the Canary Islands and, on October 12, 1492, he landed on the Caribbean island of Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador. Before returning, he reconnoitered the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola and was struck by their potential wealth.
He returned to the New World on three further occasions before his death in 1506. He died believing that he had reached the Indies, which was the name used at the time to refer to Insulindia, South, and Southeast Asia. These territories were given this name and their inhabitants were called Indians.
Sharing the World and New Expeditions
The discovery of new lands beyond the ocean had an immediate impact across Europe. The Catholic Monarchs were granted sovereignty over the Indies by the Pope, and, to avoid conflict with the Portuguese crown, they agreed on the areas of influence of their respective countries in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). This treaty established a frontier 370 leagues to the west of the Cape Verde Islands: the lands located to the west of this line would belong to Castile and those to the east, to Portugal. As a result, Portugal staked its claim to Brazil in 1500.
During the 16th century, the successors to the Catholic Monarchs granted a ‘license to explore’ to other sailors, who then explored the American coasts. Then, in 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Southern Sea, which was later renamed the Pacific Ocean. Between 1519 and 1522, Magellan and Elcano completed the first voyage around the world, thereby demonstrating that the Earth was round.