Describe the conditions in Europe in the fifteenth century.

1. Objectives • Describe the conditions in Europe in the fifteenth century. • Analyze how the changes taking place in Europe affected the inhabitants. • Describe the major developments on the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the Renaissance.

2. Terms and People • Middle Ages − period in European history from the 5th century through the 14th century marked by an absence of effective central government • Renaissance − period in European history lasting from the 14th to the 16th century, which ushered in a more secular age and encouraged freedom of thought, the importance of the individual, and renewed interest in classical learning

3. Terms and People(continued) • reconquista − prolonged battle, ending in 1492, that reestablished Spanish Christian rule on the Iberian Peninsula after 700 years of Muslim dominance • Prince Henry the Navigator − leader who directed Portuguese efforts to sail into the Atlantic, spread Christianity, and outflank Muslim domination of trade

4. How did Europeans begin to explore more of the world? New ideas swept through Europe during the 1400s, causing enormous cultural, economic, and technological changes. Europeans began to look beyond their shores on a quest of exploration and discovery that would change Europe and much of the world.

5. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the early years of the Middle Ageswere marked by: • the absence of an effective central government. • the constant threat of famine, disease, and foreign invasion.

6. Europe was recovering from the effects of the bubonic plague, which had killed about a third of all Europeans during the 1340s. But as new institutions and ideas slowly took hold, a new civilization emerged in Europe. Most of the surviving population lived in the countryside, and the economy was overwhelmingly agricultural.

7. AS But cities and towns were growing, especially in northern Italy and the Netherlands. Artisans produced cloth, tools, and other goods in city workshops. Cities also were centers of trade.

10. The kingdoms were often at war over land and power. The most important kingdoms in Western Europe were Castile, Portugal, France, and England. Each was ruled by a monarch who depended on the elite class to do much of the governing.

11. Despite their rivalries, many Europeans united in the common cause of capturing and controlling the Holy Land. During the latter half of the Middle Ages, European Christians and Southwest Asian Muslims fought one another in a series of religious wars known as the Crusades. In the end, the Muslims defeated the Christian Crusaders.

12. But the Crusades had lasting effects that benefitted the people of Europe. • Europeans became aware of distant lands and different ways of life. • Soldiers returned home with exotic goods. • Demand for these products soared, and European traders expanded their businesses into Asia.

13. Trade Routes in Europe, 1000−1300

14. By the mid-1400s, the European Renaissancehad begun, and during this period: • trade with and knowledge of other lands expanded. • the wealth generated from trade fueled further exploration. • the development of the printing press made books more widely available. • literature promoted new ideas.

15. Christian Europeans felt hemmed in by the superior wealth, power, and technology of the Muslims, whose realm included: • North Africa. • areas around the southern and eastern Mediterranean Sea. • parts of Eastern Europe and Southeast, Southwest, and Central Asia.

16. In some places, violent conflicts continued between Christians and Muslims. On the Iberian Peninsula, the kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, and Portugal were waging the reconquista. They hoped to drive out the Muslim Moors, who had ruled Iberia for centuries.

17. In 1469, the marriage of Prince Ferdinand and Queen Isabella united Aragon and Castile to create Spain. In 1492, the monarchs won the reconquistaby capturing the Muslim stronghold of Granada. Spain and Portugal were now well-situated to seek new trades routes and expand European influence.

18. Starting in 1419, Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator led early efforts at exploration and expansion of trade. • He founded a school of navigation. • He sponsored expeditions down the west coast of Africa.

19. Technological innovations helped the Portuguese take the early lead in sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. • Sailors used the compass, the astrolabe, and the quadrant to determine their location and direction. • Shipbuilders created the sturdy caravel, capable of sailing hundreds of miles.