Introduction
The mid-fifteens and late seventeen periods were comprised of numerous inventions and that is the reason why the period is referred to as the age of discovery. It is during this period that the European scientist drafted the universe sketch, which has currently been adopted. There is also a great connection between the mathematicians, astronomers, and physicians of then and those of the current times. Most of the discoveries have been improving as technology changes. By 1522, the Europeans had managed to go round the world through the waters. The first trans-Atlantic voyage was undertaken by the Portuguese who went around the Cape of Good Hope and later advanced to China. The significance of the age of discovery can be linked to the maritime exploration of the ocean through a single system of navigation. Indeed, the exploration enhanced the growth of European geographical knowledge and consequently led to the rapid expansion of European trade and territorial control. This paper seeks to keenly analyze the origins and motives in the age of discovery.
The intellectual temper of the sixteenth century
Among the intellectual tempers of the sixteenth century include the conservative and loyalty notion among the people. People had the respect of authority to an extent that they never questioned it. This greatly affected the students of science who were less concerned with the research program but rather attempted to establish a neat and consistent phenomenon explanation. Most of the research done around this period was based on a mixture of intuition and reasoning and very little observation hypothesis. It is as a result of this intellectual temper that the scientists found themselves disapproving a fact that was earlier considered and proven to be true (Parry, 2).
Relationship between science and technology
There was a close relationship between pure science and technology in not only learning the geographical knowledge but also in the establishment of modern western civilization. Most of the boundaries established then are still in use even in the modern world (Parry, 1). Inventions were undertaken during this period as the scientist’s sort to attain better and accurate research findings to back their theories, for instance, a telescope was invented to make it possible to measure and observe features at relative distances. There was significant importance which sort to connect technology with science in order to make it practical. The technological attitude also changed positively and became the principal characteristic for science applications. Moreover, the latter played a big role in western civilization. In addition, the reconnaissance between technology and science led to the rapid growth of Europe, and consequently the worldwide conquest (Parry, 16).
The reconnaissance period
The fifteenth century was termed as the reconnaissance period since it marked the beginning of European explorations. During this period, the theories and information obtained were said to be more reliable in the modern world as they were characterized by intensive and extensive studies. The geographical scholarly work exhibited during this period still tends to be of great importance in the modern world (Parry, 9&11).
Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville
The two authors, Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville illustrated the European ignorance on geographical studies since they portrayed it as entertainment information. Mandeville’s writings laid more emphasis on reconnaissance and his core interests revolved around travel and discoveries which popularized the idea of the possible circumnavigation of the globe. On the other hand, Marco Polo travel writings are more reliable as they penetrate the amateurs of geography. His tales revolved around scholastic traditions, which draw information from scriptural and patristic sources (Parry, 8).
Characteristics of the scholastic geographies
Among the characteristics of the scholastic geographies with the mappae-mundi include the symmetry and orthodoxy guiding principles. As a result, they received a lot of criticisms from other scholars who believed on literal evidence i.e. Roger Bacon. The scholastic geographers summarized medieval thoughts and are linked to the later development studies. Roger Bacon differed with them since he had an objective approach towards science problems. He believed in literal evidence to support an argument i.e. an argument on whether the Torrid Zone was habitable or not. He therefore used very little information from the scholastic geographers and instead considered Aristotle and Pliny theories (Parry, 9).
Pierre d’Ailly
Pierre d’Ailly’s Imago Mundi was the leading geographical theorist of his time in 1410, who had diversified writings and his works received huge prestige among the scholars. His work was very influential throughout the fifteenth century. Moreover, he invented new and exciting series of conventional resurgences, which inspired the geographers (Parry, 9).
The view of the Ancients works
Normal educated man believed that the ancients were more civilized and sagacious in conducting their affairs than the contemporaries. The ancients were also believed to be better informed and reasonable in displaying their geographical studies.
Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy was a Hellenized Egyptian who based his studies around the middle of the second century. His works was significant to both geographers and astronomers since he majored on their field. The work also added elaborate and ingenious system of the earth and other heavenly bodies.
How the Reconnaissance lead to advances in science and technology
The reconnaissance improved the geographical knowledge which consequently led to science inventions. Since technology could not be separated from science, the period was characterized with innovations as the scientist sort to ease the difficulties they encountered in their daily operations.
European motives of exploration
The two motives of the European exploration were the acquisitiveness and religious zeal. It is because of these two main purposes that necessitated the exploration process. The two satisfied the need to serve God and his majesty, civilize the uncivilized and increase wealth among the Europeans.
Prince Henry
Prince Henry was a Portuguese political leader who had accumulated a lot of wealth; he possessed great power and authority over the subjects and his word was final. The prince was significant to the explorers since he financed most of their operations. He was also the patron of westward Atlantic exploration. Moreover, he mostly concentrated with the countries which had gold such as Morocco.
Inspirations and encouragement to explore
The Europeans were inspired and encouraged by the existence of gold in the subject countries. To them, the exploration and gold possession increased their wealthy status and consequently their influence. The Portuguese also traded with the indigenous people in order to increase their wealth accumulation. They traded textiles and coral with spices, silk and precious stones from the east. The Portuguese also wanted to dominate trade since by doing so they would increase power and authority to the other countries.
Religious zeal
The religious zeal and the increased love for adventure led to a considerable domination and influence among the different communities. Nevertheless, hope of gain and desire for reputation led to disunity amongst communities. The Europe sent missioners to all over the world in order to counter the increased domination of the East and the Muslim religion. The rivalry between the two belief systems heightened as they all aimed at increasing their influence and dominance in the many countries and communities around the globe (Parry, 22).
The crusaders
The major role of the crusaders was to check Muslim dominance as it threatened the expansion and domination of the Portuguese rule. They were therefore supposed to spread Christianity and its teaching across countries. The crusaders also made reports to their mother countries, which supported them with all what they needed to perform their task. Information such as the availability of gold in the territory was relayed back to the motherland country, which later planned on how to conquer the region.
Other exploration motivators
Expansion of the territorial boundaries was the other major motivator for the European exploration. The conquered territories were to provide extra wealth to the motherland country. Some population group was also to be distributed to those territories and trading materials were obtained from the conquered territories. In addition, people were sold up as slaves in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in exchange of other expensive materials such as gold.
Prince Henry’s motives
Among the Prince Henry’s motives for exploration is curiosity. He wanted to know what lay beyond the Canaries and Cape Bojador. Curiosity also enabled him to find gold which he used when trading with other men. The second motive was to open trading grounds. The expanded profitable ground earned him more wealth and power since he emphasized on trade between Christians (Parry, 35).
Conclusion
The principle object of European exploration was wealth maximization. This is because they later on conquered the territories which had mineral, trade and agricultural potential. The later years of the seventeenth century were characterized by westernization process. The Europeans established schools in the conquered territories which were meant to install civilization to the indigenous community. The process was different to the earlier one since the later paved way to territory conquest and colonialism. Eighteenth century was marked with considerable technological innovations such as the ship’s wheel. In addition, a reliable sea-going chronometer which was meant to measure the longitude was invented during this period. The spherical trigonometry also designed a reliable formula which converted departure into longitude and thus improve the sailing process. It is therefore true to say that the explorations in the eighteenth century had a considerable accurate observation due to the technological advancements. This therefore improved the reliability of the information obtained during the period.
Work cited
Parry, Horace. John. The age of reconnaissance. Los Angeles, University of California Press. 1981. Web.