ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Era of European Discoveries</title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2004-2006 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb/tldisc.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Biographies </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on September 24th 2004, lst revised on June 11th 2006 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Era of European Discoveries </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/nhb/hddisc.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "150"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <A NAME = "canton"><B>Canton</B></A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "capeofgoodhope"><B>Cape of <BR> Good Hope</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "capehoorn"><B>Cape Hoorn</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "cipangu"><B>Cipangu</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "circumnavigation"><B>Circumnavigation</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "conquistadores"><B>Conquistadores</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Darien</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "dhow"><B>Dhow</B></A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "eic"><B>E.I.C.</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "eldorado"><B>El Dorado</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "galleon"><B>Galleon</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "goldcoast"><B>Gold Coast</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "india"><B>India</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "junk"><B>Junk</B></A> <BR> <A NAME = "letterofmarque"><B>Letter of Marque</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Lima, <BR> Viceroyalty of</B> <BR><BR><BR> <B>Moluccas</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "navigatorsschool"><B>Navigators' School</B></A> <BR><BR><BR> <B>New Spain, <BR> Viceroyalty of</B> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "nepassage"><B>North East <BR> Passage</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "nwpassage"><B>North West <BR> Passage</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "plantation"><B>Plantation</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "scurvy"><B>Scurvy</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> Silver Fleet <BR> <A NAME = "slavetrade"><B>Slave Trade</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> Spice Islands <BR> <B>Swahili Coast</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Terra Australis</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "treatyoftordesillas"><B>Tordesillas, <BR> Treaty of</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "treasurefleet"><B>Treasure Fleet</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "voc"><B>V.O.C.</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "westindies"><B>West Indies</B></A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "wic"><B>W.I.C.</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "treatyofzaragoza"><B>Zaragoza, Treaty of</B></A> <BR> </font></TD> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> or Guangdong, the only seaport through whing Ming and Qing Dynasty China per- <BR> mitted overseas trade. Located on the Pearl River. <BR> discovered by Bartolomeo Diaz in 1482; not precisely the southern tip of Africa, <BR> but close to it, and easily recognizable (Tafelberg). In the era of monopolistic <BR> colonial companies, the Cape of Good Hope marked the limit of chartered terri- <BR> tory (<A HREF = "hddisc.html#eic">E.I.C.</A>, <A HREF = "hddisc.html#voc">V.O.C.</A> territory began at the Cape). Although discovered in 1482, <BR> European settlement only began in 1652. <BR> Southern tip of Tierra del Fuego, an island off the southern end of the American <BR> continent. In 1616, Dutch navigator Willem Schouten was the first to sail around <BR> this route; he named the cape after the city of Hoorn in Holland. In the era of <BR> sailing, Passage around the Cape Hoorn was much more difficult than around the <BR> <A HREF = "hddisc.html#capeofgoodhope">Cape of Good Hope</A>, due to strong winds and high waves. <BR> According to Marco Polo's travelogue, an island nation east of China so rich <BR> that they had roofs of silver and gold. Commonly identified with Japan (Chinese <BR> pronunciation Jebenguo); in Kyoto there actually exist temples the roofs of which <BR> are covered with leaf-gold respectively leaf-silver. Columbus used Marco Polo's <BR> account in order to gain the credit necessary to finance his expedition - and <BR> then found himself under pressure to deliver. <BR> sailing around the globe. The first to attempt so as Portuguese navigator Ferdi- <BR> nand Magellan 1519; he was killed in the Philippines in 1521. Juan Sebastian <BR> Elcano (del Cano) completed the first circumnavigation in 1522. Sir Francis Drake was the <BR> first English navigator to circumnavigate the globe, Olivier van Noort the first <BR> Dutchman to do so. <BR> Spanish for conquerors. From the beginning of systematic overseas exploration, <BR> the Spanish and Portuguese regarded discovery and claim of possession one <BR> and the same. Conquistadores were more or less authorized adventurers <BR> conquering overseas territories for the kings of Spain respectively Portugal. <BR> The most famous conquistadores were Francisco de Albuquerque (Goa, <BR> Malacca), Hernan Cortes (Aztec Empire) and Francisco Pizarro (Inca Empire). <BR> Region on the isthm of Panama. Darien respectively Panama became a crucial <BR> junction for the Spanish Colonial Empire. Until the mid 18th century, all communi- <BR> cation and legitimate trade with Pacifc Spanish America went via the isthm. A <BR> Scottish attempt to colonize arien and wrest it from Spanish control (1698-1699) <BR> failed, partially due to the unhealthy climate. <BR> type of sailboat used by Arab and Swahili traders in the Indian Ocean. When the <BR> Portuguese arrived in the late 15th / early 16th century, their <A HREF = "hddisc.html#galleon">galleons</A> and their <BR> superior cannons made them masters of the ocean. <BR> (English) East India Company; established in 1600, it enjoyed a monopoly for <BR> English trade east of the <A HREF = "hddisc.html#capeofgoodhope">Cape of Good Hope</A>. Insignificant until it acquired <BR> Bombay in the 1660es; following the Battle of Plassey 1757 it quickly rose to <BR> becom the dominant force in India. The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-1858 forced <BR> the E.I.C. into bankrupcy. <BR> Spanish conquistadores were told by the Chibcha of Panama of a legendary <BR> land rich in gold further to the south, across the sea (most probably a reference <BR> to the Inca Empire). Many Spaniards went on a quest to find this El Dorado, even <BR> after the discovery and conquest of the Inca Empire. <BR> type of sailship used by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers of the 16th <BR> century. Compared to contemporary Arab and Chinese sailships (<A HREF = "hddisc.html#dhow">dhows</A>, <A HREF = "hddisc.html#junk">junks</A>) <BR> the galleon could store larger amounts of goods, was better suited for sailing <BR> across open oceans and still competitive in her speed. Her high boards gave <BR> the Portuguese the advantage over their Arab and Malay rivals in naval fighting. <BR> Following the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, the Portuguese learned from their <BR> Moroccan captives about the lucrative Trans-Sahran trade; Moroccan traders <BR> brought salt to the Niger valley and in return obtained gold. The Portuguese <BR> scheme to explore the west coast of Africa was motivated by the search for a <BR> sea route to the land where the African gold originated. The respective stretch <BR> of the West African coast, where they succeeded in obtaining gold, hence was <BR> called <A HREF = "hddisc.html#goldcoast">Gold Coast</A>, stretching from the eastern Ivory Coast to the coast of Togo <BR> and (modern) Benin. Since the early 17th century, the Dutch, Danes, English, <BR> Brandenburgers, Swedes and French competed for the Gold Coast trade. <BR> The Discoverers of the late 15th century, assuming the world to be round, <BR> dreamt of establishing new routes to India, of which they knew from the feats <BR> of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo. For them, India was not a state, but a <BR> civilization; the discoverers of the late 15th century did not distinguish between <BR> India and China, regarded the latter part of the first. Moreover, when Columbus <BR> arrived in the Caribbean, he was convinced that he had reached an archipelago <BR> belonging to India, hence the West Indies and the (Amer)Indians. <BR> type of sailboat used by Chinese and Japanese traders, until into the 20th century. <BR> Document issued by the kings of England, France or the govt. of the Dutch repub- <BR> lic, authorizing the recipient (a captain of a sailship) to take ships from other <BR> countries outside European waters. Originally a measure directed against Spain <BR> and Portugal, who, in the <A HREF = "hddisc.html#treatyoftordesillas">Treaties of Tordesillas</A> and <A HREF = "hddisc.html#treatyofzaragoza">Zaragoza</A> (1494, 1525) had <BR> split the world outside Europe amongst themselvs, treatis which were not recog- <BR> nized by the French, English and Dutch. <BR> Spanish South America including Panama. An administrative unit, established in <BR> 1550, capital Lima. In the 18th century, New Granada (1717) and La Plata (1774) <BR> were split off. The city of Lima had a privilege, requiring all goods legally imported <BR> into the Viceroyalty to be offered on her market first. <BR> also called the Spice Islands, small group of islands located in northeastern <BR> Indonesia, land of origin of the best quality spices. In the 16th century the Portu- <BR> guese and the Spanish competed for the islands; in the early 17th century the <BR> Dutch (<A HREF = "hddisc.html#voc">V.O.C.</A>) established her control over the islands. <BR> In 1424, Portuguese prince Henry (nicknamed the Navigator) founded a school for <BR> navigators in Sagres, Algarve. Graduates soon undertook the exploration of the <BR> West African coast. click <A HREF = "../../period/disc/hnavigator.html">here</A> for more information <BR> In colonial times, name for Spanish Mexico, including Texas, California and <BR> Central America except for Panama. Capital Mexico city; until the independence <BR> of Mexico in 1821, the Philippines were administrated as an annex to New Spain. <BR> a perceived route by sea, along the north coast of Siberia, to the Pacific (i.e. to <BR> China). Dutch merchants attempted to open a trade route to China, before they <BR> challenged Portuguese control of the Indian Ocean (Willem Barentsz.) The Dutch <BR> navigators of the 16th century failed; the first to succeed sailing through the NE <BR> passage was Swede Nordenskj&ouml;ld, in 1878-1879, in a ship specially de- <BR> signed to survive the prssure of ice when frozen in. <BR> a perceived route by sea or by a combination of navigable rivers, past or through <BR> North America providing a trade route to the Pacific Ocean (thus to China and <BR> India), sought by the Dutch, French and English in the late 16th and early 17th <BR> century. Among those looking for it were Henry Hudson and Samuel de <BR> Champlain. <BR> Europe itself had hardly any plantations. The Portuguese early developed sugar <BR> plantations, at first on Madeira, later on Sao Tome and then in Brazil; the English <BR> cultivated tobacco on plantations in Virginia and on St. Kitts; then Portuguese <BR> Jews founded sugar plantations on suitable Caribbean islands, and the French <BR> brought coffee s another plantation product; other such products included cotton, <BR> cocoa. The plantations were owned by persons of European origin and worked <BR> by a slave labour force, consisting mostly of African slaves and their descen- <BR> dants. <A HREF = "../../economy/plants/plantindex.html">here</A> for more information <BR> a disease caused by a diet which is characterized by a lack of vitamin C. Sailors <BR> often were at sea for months at a time, their diet consisting of double-baked <BR> bread, cheese, dried meat, fish, water and rum. Later the Dutch and English <BR> sailships carried Sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) to provide their sailors with <BR> vitamins, and the Dutch settled farmers (Boers) at the <A HREF = "hddisc.html#capeofgoodhope">Cape of Good Hope</A>, to <BR> grow vegetables half way en route to India. <BR> see under Treasure fleet <BR> forcing he native American population to work for the Spanish conquerors proved <BR> little effective, as the native Americans died in large numbers and the workforce <BR> again and again had to be repleted. Bartolome de las Casas criticized the abuse <BR> of the native population and, in his book "In defense of the Indio", remarked that <BR> the African negroes were better suited for <A HREF = "hddisc.html#plantation">plantation</A> labour. On the markets of <BR> Africa, slaves were a traded commodity, and the <A HREF = "hddisc.html#slavetrade">import of slaves</A> from Africa to the <BR> Americas began in the early 16th century. As Africa lay in the Portuguese sector, <BR> according to the <A HREF = "hddisc.html#treatyoftordesllas">Treaty of Tordesillas</A>, Spain, until the late 18th century, depen- <BR> ded on foreigners for the import of slaves (Asiento Trade). The British abolished <BR> slave rade in 1807, slavery in 1834; others followed. <BR> see under Moluccas <BR> coast of East Africa, where the Swahili cities are located - Mombasa, Lamu, Kilwa, <BR> Zanzibar, Sofala. The Swahili were an ethnix mixture of Arabs, Persians, Indians <BR> and negroes, Islam the dominant religion, Swahili a Bantu language with many <BR> Arab loanwords. The Swahili engaged in overseas trade with India and Arabia; <BR> the Swahili cities were the endpoints of caravan routes from Africa's interior. <BR> The Swahli cities were visited by Ibn Battuta (1330es) and Zheng He (early 15th <BR> century), long before the Portuguese "discovered" them. The Portuguese sacked <BR> Kilwa (1505) and built a fortress in Mombasa. <BR> Latin expression, translates to the "land of the south". On early world maps <BR> shown as a land mass connected to the South Pole. Long believed to be the <BR> legendary <A HREF = "hddisc.html#eldorado">El Dorado</A> the Spaniards were looking for. Australia receivd her name <BR> from Terra Australis; in 1642, Abel Tasman proved Australia to be an island. <BR> signed by Spain, Portugal in 1494, mediated by Pope Alexander VI. (= Rodrigo <BR> Borgia, a Spaniard). The treaty divided the world outside of Europe in a Spanish <BR> and a Portuguese half, the line determined assigning yet undiscovered Brazil <BR> to Portugal, the remainder of South America to Spain. In 1525 the arrangement <BR> was completed by the Treaty of Zaragoza, establishing another such line in the <BR> east. Spain and Portugal, for the most part, respected these treaties; the other <BR> European naval powers rejected them. <A HREF = "../../period/disc/tordesillas.html">here</A> for more information <BR> annual fleet of ships transporting gold and silver from the Spanish Americas <BR> (mainly from Mexico and from Alto Peru (= Bolivia) to Spain. Also called Silver <BR> Fleet; a target for privateers (pirates). The fleet could only offload her cargo in <BR> Palos near Sevilla (Palos had a privilege). Most treasure fleets were sunk, <BR> some were captured by pirates, some reached their destination. <BR> (Dutch) United East India Company, established in 1602, c. 1620 they established <BR> a dominant position in the Indian Ocean trade, especially in the Dutch East <BR> Indies (modern Indonesia). Also controlled Ceylon, the Cape Colony, tempora- <BR> rily Mauritius and Taiwan. Went bankrupt in 1797, her assets were taken over <BR> by the Dutch government. click <A HREF = "../../region/lowcountries/voc.html">here</A> for more information <BR> another name for the Caribbean islands, including Belize and the Guyanas <BR> (historically plantation country). <BR> Dutch West Indian Company, established 1621, took Brazil from the Portuguese <BR> 1630-1654, acquired Nieuw Amsterdam 1625, Caribbean islands 1631-1636. The <BR> loss of Brazil 1654 was a severe setback from which the compny never fully <BR> recovered. click <A HREF = "../../region/lowcountries/vwc.html">here</A> for more information <BR> see under <A HREF = "hddisc.html#treatyoftordesillas">Treaty of Tordesillas</A> <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? "/" + file : file; referer = (document.referrer) ? document.referrer : ""; document.write("<script type=\"text/javascript\" "); document.write("src=\"" + path_to_counterfile + "?chCounter_mode=js&status=" + cstatus + "&visible=" + visible); document.write("&seite=" + file + "&referer=" + referer + "&res_width=" + screen.width + "&res_height=" + screen.height + "\"></" + "script>"); //--> </script> <!-- End of CH Counter --> <BR> </body> </html>