MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Bartolomeu Dias, Flat Earth, Atlantic Ocean
19 May 2018
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Outline Lecture Ten - Europe’s Quest for Trade
Key Focus of Lecture:
1) Motives behind the European push for exploration
2) Why slow and incremental development of this process?
I) The Appetite for Spice
a) Major Maritime Breakthroughs in late 15th century
i) 1488—Portuguese pilot Bartholomew Dias rounds the Cape of Good
Hope
- Southern tip of Africa
- Confirmed a new maritime route to India rather than travelling the long
way or “the edge of a flat earth”
ii) 1492 Columbus sails across Atlantic
- Received commission from king and queen (isabella and ferdinand) to
sail across the atlantic, sailing off canary islands
- Spanish attempt at exploration
-
On first journey, thought he arrived at an outer island of japan →
sapangu. Realized it was a region not on any european or arab maps
iii) 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas
-
Entailed pope alexander the 6th drawing a new line in terms of what
the Portuguese and Spanish would have access to → important in
terms of who controls what geographically
-
Line was originally drawn between 100 west of these cape verde
islands → everything west would be spanish domain, and east of
portuguese
-
Treaty extended line 350 miles to the west → Brazil fell into
Portuguese domain
- Portuguese and spanish influence in the Americas
- Without the line, all of americas would be under Spanish
control
iv) 1498 Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, India
- Reached the destination Europeans sought after
-
Said he was looking for christians and spices → carried letter from
portuguese king, addressed to a prester john
b) What incentives had led to these breakthroughs?
i) Extend Christendom to outflank the spread of Islam
-
Dar al-Islam (abode of islam) → christian europeans were aware of
this, islam was starting to envelope europe
(1) Prester John myth
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Imagined a christian leader in the east
- Establish christian alliance against the spread of islam
-
Vasco da gama found christians, but were gnostics →
belonging to sect of Saint Thomas (due to persecution of
orthodox christianity, many escaped to places as far as India)
- Had them burned at the stake for heresy
ii) Search for natural resources, esp. land to cultivate cash crops
-
Conquistadors from spain and portugal were members of the lower
aristocracy → certain claims to nobility but no control of land
- Idea was that they would develop own feudal estates
iii) Trade incentives: Gold down the African coast and Asian spices
-
Catalan map → Mansa Musa holding gold: perception of the
resourcefully rich west africa
- Spice trade
-
Middlemen → many obstacles: in mediterranean,
commissioned for trading, and ottoman competitors. Had to
bypass these obstacles
- Maritime transport was a lot more effective (economically and
physically) than land transport
c) The Demand for Pepper and other Spices
i) Conspicuous consumption and social class
(1) By the 12th century, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon conspicuous
markers of wealth
- Possession of these spices represented/indicated social class
- Luxury items from india and spice islands through
mediterranean (venice, etc.)
(a) Ritual of displaying the “spice platter” during meals
- Visual consumption - for display, guest to admire how rich host
is
(b) Spices given as coveted gifts like precious jewels
(2) Spices as ultimate “status symbols”
- Displayed and then consumed if wealthy
- Amount of spice used or willing to add to a dish, revealed
social status
- Spicier the dish, the more respect the host would receive
-
Indispensable to elite → spices (other nobles would look down
on you if you didn’t possess an immense amount of spice)
ii) Medieval Europe’s dependence on Asian imports
(1) To be fashionable was to be everything “oriental” or Asian
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Outline lecture ten - europe"s quest for trade. Confirmed a new maritime route to india rather than travelling the long way or the edge of a flat earth : 1492 columbus sails across atlantic. Received commission from king and queen (isabella and ferdinand) to sail across the atlantic, sailing off canary islands. On first journey, thought he arrived at an outer island of japan sapangu. Realized it was a region not on any european or arab maps: 1494 treaty of tordesillas. Entailed pope alexander the 6th drawing a new line in terms of what the portuguese and spanish would have access to important in terms of who controls what geographically. Line was originally drawn between 100 west of these cape verde islands everything west would be spanish domain, and east of portuguese. Treaty extended line 350 miles to the west brazil fell into. Portuguese and spanish influence in the americas.
