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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

XXIII. GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

Medieval Geography   * Aids to Exploration   * To the Indies Eastward—Prince Henry and Da Gama   * The Portuguese Colonial Empire   * To the Indies Westward: Columbus and Magellan   * The Indians   * Spanish Explorations and Conquests in America   * The Spanish Colonial Empire   * French and English Explorations in America   * The Old World and the New

 

MEDIEVAL GEOGRAPHY

THE GEOGRAPHICAL RENAISSANCE

There was also a geographical Renaissance. The revival of the exploring spirit led to the discovery of ocean routes to the Far East and the Americas. In consequence, commerce was vastly stimulated, and two continents, hitherto unknown, were opened up to civilization. The geographical Renaissance, which gave man a New World, thus cooperated with the other movements of the age in bringing about the transition from medieval to modern times.

MEDIEVAL IGNORANCE OF GEOGRAPHY

The Greeks and Romans had become familiar with a large part of Europe and Asia, but much of their learning was either forgotten or perverted during the early Middle Ages. Even the wonderful discoveries of the Northmen in the North Atlantic gradually faded from memory. The Arabs, whose conquests and commerce extended over so much of the Orient, far surpassed the Christian peoples of Europe in knowledge of the world.

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy