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When Did the Age of Exploration Begin?

HistoryGeography

Quick Answer

The Age of Exploration is generally considered to have begun in the early 15th century, around 1415, when Portugal Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored voyages along the West African coast.

The Full Story

The Age of Exploration (or Age of Discovery) was driven by European desires for direct trade routes to Asia spice markets, bypassing Ottoman-controlled overland routes. Portugal led the way: Henry the Navigator established a navigation school and sponsored expeditions down the African coast from 1415. Key milestones followed rapidly: Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488; Columbus reached the Americas in 1492 (seeking a western route to Asia); Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498; and Magellan expedition circumnavigated the globe in 1519-1522. Spain and Portugal divided the "New World" between them with the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. The era transformed global trade, culture, and demographics but also brought devastating consequences for indigenous populations through colonisation, disease (smallpox killed an estimated 90% of Native Americans), and the transatlantic slave trade.

Key Facts

1.The Portuguese caravel, a small, manoeuvrable sailing ship, was the technological breakthrough that made exploration of the African coast possible — it could sail closer to the wind than any previous European vessel.
2.Columbus 1492 voyage was just 33 days from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas — far shorter than he expected because he did not know the Americas existed.
3.European diseases, particularly smallpox, killed an estimated 90% of indigenous populations in the Americas within the first century of contact.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"The Age of Exploration — How Europe Mapped the World"