Round-up 6 1

Significant Developments

1 The beginning of European overseas expansion.

2 The changing Renaissance view of the world and mankind.

what you know what you can do

How the discovery of America and the founding of a trading empire in Asia changed the societies of Europe and America.

1 Why Europeans went in search of new trade routes overseas.

2 How the Portuguese established a profitable trading empire.

3 How Spain took possession of America.

4 How Spain changed American society.

5 What effects the discovery of America and the trading contacts in Asia had on Europe and the worldview of the Europeans.

You can distinguish between continuity (things that do not change) and discontinuity (things that do change as a result of an event). You also know that continuity and discontinuity can coexist. In other words, not everything has to change.

1492

1492 > Columbus discovers America

1494 > Columbus’s second voyage of discovery to America

1498 > Vasco da Gama discovers a sea route to India age of explorers and reformers (1500-1600 ad)

1500 1525 1550 1575

1515 > Charles V becomes ruler of the Netherlands 1516 > Charles V crowned King of Spain

1519 > Charles V appointed Holy Roman Emperor 1519-1522 > Magellan sails around the world 1519-1521 > Cortes conquers the Aztecs

1525 > Charles V defeats France 1526 > First treasure fleet sails for Spain 1529 > Turkish siege of Vienna 1531-1534 > Pizarro conquers the Incas

1542 > New Laws for Spanish colonial rule 1542 > Founding of the Spanish viceroyalty of Peru 1545 > Founding of silver mining town Potosì 1559 > Charles V dies 1600

Terms

Aztecs

Powerful people native to present-day Mexico; they founded an advanced civilization. carrack

Battle-ready ship from the fifteenth century, strong enough to make ocean voyages.

Carreira da India

A sea route to India discovered by the Portuguese. conquistadors

Spanish adventurers who took control of large parts of America in the name of their king and who subjugated the indigenous peoples. continuity

A word that describes something that remains the same for a long time throughout history. currency depreciation

Money loses value as the price of goods increases. This means that you can buy less for the same amount of money. discontinuity

A word that describes something that changes throughout history. encomienda

Fief of the Spanish king in Hispanic America, consisting of a certain area and including the indigenous people who lived there. haciendas

Vast Spanish-owned estates in the New World. humanist

Intellectual who looked back on Antiquity as an ideal and believed that man was the measure of all things. Incas

Indigenous people of South America (present-day Peru) who built a large and powerful empire. indigenous peoples

The original inhabitants of a country or region. The indigenous peoples of South America included the Aztecs and the Incas. Columbus called them ‘Indians’ because at first he thought he had reached the Indies. khan

Title of a Mongol or Turkish ruler. merchant capitalism

A system in which merchants invest in trade with distant territories to maximize profits.

Merchant Capitalists

Merchants who invest in trade with distant territories to maximize profits. miscegenation

Mixing of the various population groups (e.g. in Hispanic America).

New Laws

Spanish legislation which stated that the indigenous peoples of Hispanic America were subjects of the king, and therefore had to be treated fairly.

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish empire. Its title is derived from the name of the founding father Osman. It existed between the fifteenth and twentieth century and was governed from the city of Istanbul.

Reconquista

Spanish struggle against the Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula.

Silk Road

Trade route between Asia (most notably China) and Europe, named after the silk fabrics transported from the East by caravan.

Trading Post

A fortified outpost in another country (usually overseas) established for the purposes of trade. transatlantic slave trade Trade network between Europe, Africa and America in which slaves, weapons and silver were traded by Europeans.

Treaty of Tordesillas

An agreement dating from 1494 in which Portugal and Spain divided the undiscovered parts of the world between them: everything west of Cape Verde (islands off the west coast of Africa) would come under Spanish rule, while everything to the east would belong to Portugal.

triangular slave trade

See transatlantic slave trade viceroyalties

Areas in Hispanic America that were governed by a viceroy on behalf of the king.