IMPACT OF VOYAGES, DISCOVERIES, AND RENAISSANCE ON

GEOGRAPHICAL THOUGHT

Component-I(A) - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof. Masood Ahsan Siddiqui Department of Geography,

Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi
Paper Coordinator, if any [Link] Bansal Department of Geography,
Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi
Content Writer/Author (CW) [Link] Bansal Department of Geography,
Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi
Content Reviewer (CR) Dr. Janki Jiwan Assistant Professor
Department of Geography,
Shaheed Bhagat Singh
College, University of Delhi

Language Editor (LE)

Component-I (B) - Description of Module

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Geography

Paper Name Geographical Thought

Module Name/Title Impact of voyages, discoveries and Renaissance on

Geographical Thought
Module Id GEOG/04

Pre-requisites

Objectives To understand the Impact of voyages, discoveries and

Renaissance on Geographical Thought
Keywords Voyages, Discoveries, Renaissance, Geographical thought
IMPACT OF VOYAGES, DISCOVERIES, AND RENAISSANCE ON GEOGRAPHICAL
THOUGHT
Taruna Bansal
1. Introduction
The sudden increase of explorations and voyages in Europe in the fifteenth century is regarded as
one of the major turning points of history. This happened as Europeans started discovering the
earth surface through the sea. Their main motive was to find trading partners, new goods and
even new routes for trade, especially by sea. The age of exploration is also known as the age of
discoveries and it is said that it initiated in the early fifteenth century and lasted till the latter half
of the seventeenth century. The most important characteristic of this age of that unlike Chinese
explorations these voyages was planned and supported by the local governments or by big
merchant companies in the search of new sea routes; thus were directed to the open oceans.
There were two motives behind this exercise. The first being the zeal to spread
Christianity as a faith throughout the world and secondly, to restock the supplies of precious
stones and metals as well as spices in Europe. In addition, some explore went into the open
waters to simply know the unknown. Whatever, the reason or motive be, this age of exploration
or discovery had a long-lasting influence on the geographical knowledge. This is because the
knowledge gained through these experiences helped in the advancement of geographical thinking
over time. Moreover, this age can be seen as a bridge between the Medieval and the Modern
periods along with its contemporary Renaissance movement.

2. Birth of the Age of Explorations

Many European nations were looking for new trade routes, especially for spices and silk. When
the Ottoman Empire took over Constantinople in 1453, Europe suffered a setback as it blocked
important trade routes like North Africa and the Red Sea for Europe, thus limiting their trade.
The Portuguese, Spanish, Italians and others have been plying the Mediterranean Sea for long
but the first of the journey towards wider exploration came from Portugal. They moved beyond
the known routes and ports. The first among them was Prince Henry the Navigator. He started
with voyages to the Canary Islands along the African coast and reached the Madeira Islands in
1419 and the Azores in 1432. He even established the first institute of geographic research at
Sargres near Cape St. Vincent in 1418. In 1434 under the captainship of Gil Eannes one of his
ships crossed the Equator only to find that water was not boiling and nobody turns black; a myth
was broken. In 1441, they reached as far as today’s Mauritania. Between 1444 and 1448
numerous voyages were sent to southern parts of Africa and these brought positive results; as
Guinea coast and Cape Verde Islands were discovered in 1455-56.
Over the next few decades, they travelled farther south along the African coast and
reached the Cape of Good Hope in 1490 under the able leadership of Bartholomew Dias. Vasco
da Gama’s great voyage took place between 1497 and 1499 and he discovered India in 1498;
less than a decade later. In 1511 Portuguese reached Malacca and established their base. Their
explorations continued as they reached Japan in 1542, Macao in 1557 and Taiwan (Formosa) in
1590.
Due of so many discoveries the Age of Discoveries became a very important part of
History as now it was also looked upon as a transition from Middle Ages to the Modern era. The
most important developments that occurred during this period which needs to be examined are:
a) Discovery of New World or Lands
b) Scientific and Technological Development
c) Improvement in Cartography and map making
 Figure 1: The Impact of the Age of Exploration

a) The Discovery of the New World:

During the early 15th century till the 18th-century European ships traveled around the world to
search for new lands for trade. As Portuguese were exploring Africa, the Spanish also started
dreaming of finding trade routes to the Far East. The first among them was taken by
Christopher Columbus in 1492. In his first journey he went to discover India, instead reached
the island of San Salvador (the Bahamas). His expeditions opened the door of the Americas to
the Spanish. At the same time, the Portuguese also reached the New World when Pedro Alvares
Cabral discovered Brazil. This resulted in a conflict between Spain and Portugal and to seize off
this conflict the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between them in 1494. This Treaty divided the
world between these two countries; the dividing line was either 270 leagues west of the Azores
or 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde. According to this, Portugal had exclusive rights on the
lands right of the line while Spain had rights on the land left to it. Portugal, therefore, gained
access to the entire Indian Ocean, while Spanish had open access to the entire New World west
of the Atlantic (James and Martin, 1972).
Over the next few decades, British, French, and Dutch also started seeking new trade and
sea routes. Among the most famous explorers of this period were- John Cabot, Yermak, Juan
Ponce de Leon, Ferdinand Magellan, William Barents, Abel Tasman, Captain James Cook,
Amerigo Vespucci, William Jansz, etc. The brief history of these explorers in presented in Table
1 and discussed hereafter.
Table 1
Explorers and the New Lands discovered by them in the Age of Discovery
[Link]. Name Time Nationality Area explored
1 Prince Henry the Navigator 1394-1460 Portugal Madeira Islands and the
Azores
2 Bartholomew Daiz 1450-1500 Portugal Cape of Good Hope
3 John Cabot 1450-1499 Italy Newfoundland
4 Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 Italy America
5 Amerigo Vespucci 1454-1512 Italy America
6 Juan Ponce de Leon 1460-1521 Spain Florida, USA
7 Pedro Alvares Cabral 1467-1520 Portugal Brazil
8 Vasco da Gama 1469-1524 Portugal India
9 Ferdinand Magellan 1480-1521 Portugal Circumference of Earth
10 William Barents 1550-1597 Dutch North Shores of Europe
11 William Jansz 1570-1630 Dutch Coast of Australia
12 Abel Tasman 1603-1659 Dutch Tasmania and New Zealand
13 Captain James Cook 1728-1779 Britain Pacific Ocean

The explorers and discovers have been discussed in a chronological manner.

1. Prince Henry the Navigator: Prince Henry was a Portuguese prince who was also a
patron of explorers. He sent a number of voyages to the southern part of African coast as
is credited to have discovered Madeira Islands and Azores. He even established the first
institute for geographic research at Sagres in 1418.
2. Bartholomew Diaz: Diaz was a Portuguese explorer who became the first explorer to
round the southern tip of Africa; thus opening the sea route via Cape of Good Hope.
3. John Cabot: John Cabot was an Italian explorer. He was the first European to search for
the North-West passage. John Cabot discovered the Island of Newfoundland in 1497.
4. Christopher Columbus: He was an explorer and trader from Italy who sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean, to discover India so that trade could be done, instead of crossed the
Atlantic Ocean and discovered the America on October 12, 1492.
5. Amerigo Vespucci: He voyaged and wrote about the America. He explored the east
coast of South America between 1499 and 1502. His exploration journey along the
eastern coastline of South America convinced him that new continents had been
discovered. In 1507, this new continent was named as “America” after Vespucci’s first
name.
6. Juan Ponce de Leon: He was a Spanish explorer famous for being the first one to reach
Florida. He established the oldest European settlement in Puerto Rico and discovered the
warm current Gulf Stream.
7. Pedro Alvares Cabral: He was a Portuguese navigator and explorer, who discovered
Brazil (1500).
 8. Vasco da Gama: He discovered the ocean route from Portugal to India. He was the first
explorer who discovered and sailed directly from Europe to India, through Cape of Good
Hope in Africa.
9. Ferdinand Magellan: Another Portuguese maritime explorer, Ferdinand Magellan
(1480-1521), led the first successful attempt to circum-navigate the earth. He was the first
to cross all the meridians of the globe. He becomes the first person to lead an expedition
sailing westward from the Europe to Asia and to cross the Pacific Ocean.
10. William Barents: He was a Dutch navigator and explorer, a leader of early expeditions
to far north. The Barents Sea is named after him.
11. Willem Jansz: He was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. He is known to the first
European who landed in Australia.
12. Abel Tasman: Abel was one of the greatest Dutch navigators and explorers. He was the
first to travel in Australian and South Pacific Waters. He discovered New Zealand in
1642.
13. Captain James Cook: He was an English navigator and cartographer. He made three
voyages to the Pacific Ocean, accurately charting many areas and recording several
islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. His most notable
accomplishment was the discovery of the east coast of Australia.; he even discovered the
Hawaiian Islands.
The Age of Exploration, which was rooted in new technologies and ideas, came to end in
the early seventeenth century. Growing out of the Renaissance and these included advances in
cartography; navigation is shipbuilding, besides the discovery of new lands. Obviously,
geography was the most benefitted field of discipline during this period.
Although the travels had become very popular in Arab period itself, a number of other
developments gave impetus to the explorations; they included-
a) Colonization
b) Use of Magnetic Campus
c) Improvement in the art of navigation
Figure 2: T-O Map Figure 3: Ancient Globe
Figure 4: Sea Routes used by Voyagers

Figure 5: Different Countries Voyagers and their Navigation Routes

Figure 6: Ferdinand Magellan’s Circumnavigation of the World (1519-1522)

Figure 7: Vasco da Gama Sea Routes
 Figure 8: James Cook’s voyages from 1768-1779

b) Scientific and Technological Development

Mainly the invention of the printing machine and the works of the scholars like Copernicus,
Kepler, Galileo, and Newton brought the scientific and technological developments in geography
during the age of discoveries.
The printing press was invented; the most popular printer for mass production was
popularized by a German, Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. Until the 15th century the geocentric
approach of the universe was dominant but, during the age of discovery, the heliocentric idea
was strengthened. In this regard, the Polish scholar Copernicus (1473-1543) carried out
numerous observations about the stars, planets, and moons for 32 years. His experiments
provided the first modern version of the heliocentric approach in his book, Derevolutionibus
Orbium Coelestium.
In 1618, Kepler proved that planetary movements take place in elliptical shape and not in
circular one. He was a German mathematician and astronomer (1571-630). He was the founder
of “Celestial Mechanics”, having been the first to explain planetary motion. He gave
fundamental laws of planetary motion. He along with Galileo supported the heliocentric theory
of Copernicus. Galileo (1564-1642) was an Italian physicist, astronomer, and philosopher who
are closely associated with the scientific revolution as his put forward discoveries like
improvements in the telescope along with the first and second laws of motion. He was referred
as the father of modern physics and of science. John Harrison invented pendulum and John
Hadley invented the octant during this age of discovery.
In 1686, Newton presented the law of gravitation. He was the first to show that the
motion of bodies of earth and of celestial bodies was governed by Newtonian laws.
.
c) Improvement in Cartography and Map Making
The Renaissance in Europe provided fresh impetus for widening the existing horizons. There
definite improvement in the field of navigation included a wide adaptation of magnetic
compass. This led to the production of maps based on latest technological advancements. An
example can be cited of the German cartographer Martin Waldseemular. He prepared maps for
both North and South America in 1507. His map was the first world map that shows America as
a separate continent and is called Carta-Marina. There was another new development in map
making –reference can be made of Mercator in particular who came up with the Mercator’s
projection in 1596. The world's first world map was created with fewer distortions and number
of scholars started preparing different thematic maps like Edmund Halley prepared an
isothermal map.

Figure 9: Carta-Marina by Martin Waldseemular

It was during this period that many wrong geographical concepts were corrected. The
shape of the earth was finalized. Sebastian, Munster, Clavierius and Carpenter's works were
highly appreciated because their geographical writings gave a new dimension to the discipline.
In 1500 AD, Jone de la Costa created a map using Columbus's first three trips and also took
reference from John Cabot voyage to North America.

3. The Impact of Voyages and Discoveries

The impact of the developments during the age of discovery on Geography was tremendous. A
number of geographical societies constituted in different parts of the world to promote further
research in the discipline. Due to the vast amount of accumulated knowledge, there started
branching of geography into different specialized fields of study. Earlier geography was ‘all-in-
 one’. Many old theories or concept were corrected and reestablished; and many new theories
about the origin of the earth, continents and man-nature relationships were promoted.
Although printing of books had started in the fifteenth century itself, the number
increased during this age. Giovanni Battista Ramusio published his work named Navigationi et
Viaggi between 1550 and [Link] Hakluyt published his first edition on voyages in 1598.
His three-volume collection was published between 1598 and 1600. He is credited to have
introduced ‘new geography’ of the late sixteenth century. He even influenced Theodore de Bry, a
German publisher to come up with the third collection of voyages. These included 25 volumes
which were published between 1590-1634.
The German scholars Varenius (1622-1650) made the most fruitful use of all available
information and knowledge about the earth during the age of discovery and gave the first
scientific, literature in geography in the form of this book entitled ‘Geographia Generalis’.

The Positive Gain of this Period

 Discovery of new lands and completion of the world map.
 The revival of interest in geography from a scientific perspective.
 ‘Academic Freedom’ of geography, i.e; identification as an independent field of study.
 Accumulation of huge amount of data and knowledge and compiling them into books.
 Advancements in the cartographic technique of data representation and map making.
 Beginning of scientific or speculative investigations and generalizations in geography.
 The emergence of various modern schools of thought in geography (German, French,
British, and America).
 Geography acquiring a new definition and methodology.
 Dualism in geography e.g. physical, human; regional or systematic etc.
In short, now answers were searched through logical deductions and it was opined that world
was created especially as the habitat of man. Now, humans were seen as the creators of their
habitat- their activities and the physical character were strongly influenced by environment.

4. End of the Age of Exploration

In spite of large-scale and worldwide explanation and voyages during the age of discovery,
certain parts of the worlds still remained unexpected and untouched. They were the polar areas,
or more specifically the parts of Arctic and Antarctica regions. The scientific exploration of these
regions began only in 20th century.
Further, due to vast knowledge, data and information as accumulated during the age of
discovery, the field of geography could not remain unified. Consequently, the discipline entered
into a long period of dualism, the dichotomies or controversies, as physical versus regional.
Peter Apian made a heart-shaped map in 1530, to remove distortions of earlier maps and
to create more useful maps for navigators and searchers, but there was still a considerable
amount of distortion in the distance on his map. This problem was eventually resolved by
Mercator through Mercator projection (1569). The improved form of Mercator projection
became an ideal solution for the navigators and the sailors because it was able to sail through the
great circle route to reach the desired destination - possibly the shortest route on the earth
surface.
When Edward Wright produced trigonometric tables in 1599, then Mercator projection
was reproduced. Amsterdam became a major center for the publication of Atlas and wall maps.
Later, printing of Atlas and Wall Maps on different scales in France and England became quite
popular. In France, the first atlas producer was Nicholas Sanson D. Abbyville, who founded a
lineage of mapping in the 17th century.
Several new principles were advocated about the origin of the relationship between earth
and continents and human nature. The discovery of classical mapping in the expansion of
European political and economic power in the 15th and 16th centuries played an important role.
The Renaissance saw the revival of another branch of ancient geography, that of
topographic descriptions. Account of voyages provided the raw material for encyclopedic work
on the world or on parts of it, called Chorographic. It was as early in 1459; Fra Manro prepared
a map showing the Indian Ocean open to the south. Martin Behaim was the first cartographer
has devised the world first globe in 1490. This was based on the small estimate of earth
circumference.
These discoveries invention and revolution in the art of map making may be collectively
called the Renaissance which brought about renewed interest in the geographical knowledge and
removed some earlier misconceptions.
Selected References:
 Adhikari, S. (2010) Fundamentals of Geographical Thought, Chaitanya Publishing
House, Allahabad
 El Sayed, EL Bushra and Muhammadain, M.M (1999) Perspectives on the Contributions
of Arabs and Muslims to Geography in A. Buttimer and L. Wallin (eds.) The Geo Journal
Library, pp. 95-113.
 Dikshit, R. D (2011) Geographical Thought: A Contextual History of Ideas, PHI Learning
Private Ltd, New Delhi
 Martin, G. F and James, P. E. (1972) All Possible Worlds: A History of Geographical
Ideas, John Wiley and Sons, New York.