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At the beginning of the 15th century, Europeans knew little more than Europe
and the lands around the Mediterranean and the Black Seas.

The existence of India, China and Japan was shown by Marco Polos journeys
and the trade routes that brought silk and spices to Europe. However, not very
much was known about these lands.

The rest of the World was a total mystery. Europeans had not explored the
African and Asian interior, and they did not know that America and Oceania
existed.
*journey - viaje
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Marco Polo route
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian trader and explorer who,
together with his father and uncle, was one of the first
Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China and visited
the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
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In the 15th century, European countries made many maritime expeditions.
There were different reasons for this:

Firstly, they needed to find new trade routes to the East. In 1453, the
Turks conquered Constantinople, and took over the Byzantine Empire.
This interrupted the trade routes between Europe and the Far East.
Consequently, Europeans had to look for new routes to Asia, round the
African coast or across the Atlantic Ocean.

Secondly, there were a number of technical advances which improved
navigation:
New maps called portulan charts were developed. They showed
the coastline and any obstacles at sea. Straight lines showed the
shortest distance among different points.
Navigational instruments, such as the compass, the astrolabe and
the quadrant, were developed.
Ships, such as caravels, were improved and, consequently, could
travel longer distances

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Portugal looked for a new sea route to India
around the coast of Africa (15th century). The
Portuguese monarchs and Prince Henry the
Navigator organised various expeditions.

The Madeira Islands were discovered in 1418 and
the Azores in 1431. Later expeditions explored the
African coast.

In 1488, Bartolom Dias rounded the Cape of
Good Hope at the southern trip of Africa, opening
the sea route to the Indian Ocean. In 1498, Vasco
de Gama reached India.

The Portuguese established trading posts along the
new routes. Portugal created a great empire and
became a world power.
*trading posts puestos comerciales
*world power gran potencia
Vasco de Gama
Bartolom Dias
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The Crown of Castile was Portugals biggest rival in the search for new routes to
India.

The Castilians decided to sail to the west across the Atlantic, circumnavigating
the Earth.

This plan was very risky. Crossing the Atlantic was terrifying. It involved sailing a
long way from the coast into unknown waters.
Christopher Columbus with Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile
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Christopher Columbus was a Genoese sailor. He was convinced that he could
reach the eastern coast of Asia by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Columbus thought
that the world was round, although some people still believed that it was flat.
He presented his project to the Catholic Monarchs, who decided to finance the
expedition. On 3 August 1492 an expedition of ninety sailors and three ships, the
Pinta, the Nia and the Santa Mara, left the port of Palos de la Frontera, in
Huelva.
But Columbus calculations were wrong. He thought the Earth was much
smaller than it actually was. Weeks passed without Columbus and his men seeing
signs of land. The crew complained, but Columbus persuaded them to continue.
Finally, they saw land on 12 October 1492. Columbus thought he had reached
Cipango (Japan), but the land belonged to an unknown continent. This continent
was later called Amrica.
*Genoese - genovs
*reach alcanzar
*although aunque
*actually en realidad
*crew tripulacin
*belong pertenecer
*unknown - desconocido Cristopher Columbus
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After the first expedition, Columbus made three more expeditions to explore
and establish Castilian dominion of these territories. On the second voyage, a
faster and safer route to America was found. On his last two voyages, Columbus
explored part of the coast of Central and South America.

In 1504, Columbus finally returned to Spain, where he died two years later, still
firmly convinced that he had reached India.

However, in 1502 an Italian sailor, Americo Vespucci, had already realised that
these lands belonged to a new continent. Later, the continent was named America
in his honour.

*voyage - travesa
Voyages of Cristopher Columbus
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In 1519 an expedition of five boats and 250
sailors left Seville, captained by Fernando de
Magallanes, with his second-in-command,
Juan Sebastin Elcano. Their goal was to find
a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans to the Molucas, or Spice Islands.

In 1520, they found a strait connecting both
oceans. It was later named Strait of
Magallanes. They sailed on to the Philippines.
There, Magallanes was killed in a fight with the
natives, and Elcano took command. The
expedition headed for the Molucas and loaded
up with valuable spices. Then, they sail for
Spain.

After three years, only eighteen men and one
ship, the Victoria, returned. They were the
first to circumnavigate the world and prove
that the Earth was round.
*second-in-command contramaestre
*goal objetivo
*strait estrecho
*both ambos
*head dirigirse
*valuable - valiosas
Juan Sebastin El Cano
Fernando de Magallanes
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Portugal and Spain created great overseas empires.

They were divided between in the Treaty of Tordesillas (1499). A line of
demarcation was established. Portugal received territories east of the line:
Africa, Asia and Brazil, which was discovered later. Castile received territories
west of the line: most of the territories in the Americas.

These explorations marked the beginning of European supremacy over the
rest of the world.
*overseas empire imperios martimos
*resources - recursos
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The discovery brought major progress in science. Knowledge of the lands and
oceans on the planet became more accurate. Many new plant and animal
species were discovered. All this contributed to developments in Geography,
Natural Science and Cartography.

One of the most important consequences of the discoveries was the contact
among different peoples. Knowledge was exchanged. However, diseases
introduced by the Europeans caused a dramatic decline in the indigenous
population of America.

*knowledge conocimiento
*accurate exacto
*diseases enfermedades
*decline - descenso
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery
http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture2c.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/p/polo.shtml
http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/spip.php?article3092