Europeans didn’t all of a sudden get down researching merely because they could ; there were many motivations that led to European geographic expedition and enlargement in the 15th and 16th centuries. They made people face the unsafe journey to the new settlements. a journey which killed about one half of the people who tried it. Peoples were led by strong motivations. and even if non all were precisely rather as of import to European enlargement. all of them played a portion in it.
Taking in head the mediaeval attitudes of people at the clip. faith can be taken as a really of import motivation. This was the major cause for the Crusades in the early Middle Ages. and the spirit of distributing Christianity didn’t dice out. Alternatively. it changed to concentrate on the Muslims in Spain ( eventually thrown out of Granada by the Spanish Catholic Kings in 1492. that twelvemonth taging the terminal of the Reconquista ) . every bit good as on the different folks in Africa and new civilizations in the Americas. Religion took on an of import function as several sovereigns encouraged and sponsored geographic expedition. many keeping they did so for Christianity. even if wealth was their figure one end.
Religion. even if of import. wasn’t the major cause. The motivation which most influenced geographic expedition and which was most of import wasn’t religious. but economical. Many people left Europe in order to fly from their poorness in Europe. where the nobility controlled all the lands. In the new lands. they could seek do a new luck. The hunt of spices ( really cherished at the clip. and really expensive ) was besides really of import. every bit good as the hunt for gold. Material net income was clearly what moved most people and made them desire to research. for this in bend led to rivalry between states. as researching states gained wealth in the New World. Of class. other states imitated them. besides desiring wealth and power. It is clear that the desire to turn rich was what moved most of the people into the new lands… Not the desire to distribute faith like a good selfless Christian would hold done.
However. the desire for material net income. even if the most of import 1. wasn’t the lone motor apart signifier faith. Due to the enlargement of the Ottoman Turks. Europe was cut off from Asia. This led to a desire to happen a shorter trading path. particularly for the trade of spices and silks. every bit good as natural stuffs that could be used for new medical specialties to bring around unwellnesss. Besides. another motivation to maintain in head was the Renaissance attitude of rediscovery. in which people were funny and started researching.
Even if these were of import. and did play a major function in European geographic expedition ( without the openness of head from the Renaissance it would hold been more hard for people to make bold traverse the Atlantic ) . it is rather obvious that the major motivation was material wealth. Peoples saw new possibilities in the new lands. new ways to do net incomes. new untasted lands to settle and get away from their former lives and a new country to derive natural stuffs from. It was money which “inspired” people and made them travel on. non some sudden strong. low religious desire to merely distribute the love of God.
