Age of Exploration

Ptolemy’s map c. 150 a.d.,

Maps as artifacts

• T-O map• Jerusalem at

center• East at top• 1300 a.d.

• T-O map• Jerusalem at

center• East at top• 1300 a.d.

Portugese Foundations• 1432

Portuguese navigators discover the Azores. 1441Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish slave trade.ca. 1450Prince Henry the Navigator establishes a Naval observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy, and cartography.

• 1432 Portuguese navigators discover the Azores. 1441Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish slave trade.ca. 1450Prince Henry the Navigator establishes a Naval observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy, and cartography.

Genoese map c. 1457

Coasting Africa• 1453

Turks overrun Constantinople, shutting off the overland trade route. 1470-84Portuguese explorations discover Africa's Gold Coast and the Congo River.1487 Bartholomeu Dias barely touches the Cape of Good Hope.

• 1453Turks overrun Constantinople, shutting off the overland trade route. 1470-84Portuguese explorations discover Africa's Gold Coast and the Congo River.1487 Bartholomeu Dias barely touches the Cape of Good Hope.

Portuguese Map of Africa, ca. 1558, by BastiamLopez. British Library. Add. 27303. Lopez

Getting to China• 1492

Columbus sets sail.1494 The Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal for the alleged purpose of spreading Christianity. 1497-98Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India.1497 John Cabot sites "new found land" while searching for Northwest Passage. 1504Venice proposes a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Turkey.

• 1492Columbus sets sail.1494 The Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal for the alleged purpose of spreading Christianity. 1497-98Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India.1497 John Cabot sites "new found land" while searching for Northwest Passage. 1504Venice proposes a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Turkey.

Competition intensifies• 1511

Portugal defeats the Arabs in a major naval battle at the Straits of Sunda, taking control of the Spice Islands as the center of Far East trade. (The Straits lie between Java and Borneo, now Indonesia.)1512England begins construction of double-deck warships.

• 1511Portugal defeats the Arabs in a major naval battle at the Straits of Sunda, taking control of the Spice Islands as the center of Far East trade. (The Straits lie between Java and Borneo, now Indonesia.)1512England begins construction of double-deck warships.

Mapping a New World• 1519

Magellan begins his journey to circumnavigate the world with five ships and 270 men.1521 April 27, Magellan killed by natives in the Philippines. 1522September 6, eighteen of Magellan's crew and one ship return.

• 1519Magellan begins his journey to circumnavigate the world with five ships and 270 men.1521 April 27, Magellan killed by natives in the Philippines. 1522September 6, eighteen of Magellan's crew and one ship return. 1520's - Agnese, Battista, World Map, Magellan's Track

New France

• 1534 Jacques Cartier enters the St. Lawrence River. Land in Great Lakes claimed for France

• 1534 Jacques Cartier enters the St. Lawrence River. Land in Great Lakes claimed for France

The English Sail

• 1577Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England. He circumnavigates the globe.

• 1609Henry Hudson explores present-day New York and Hudson River and claims them for England.

• 1577Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England. He circumnavigates the globe.

• 1609Henry Hudson explores present-day New York and Hudson River and claims them for England.