Age of Exploration Question

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Again this section of history is dying.

Why did the two Iberian powers take the lead in exploration?? I can see that France and England were in the midst of war, and the Netherlands and Greece were under foreign domination. The Italian cities had the trade monopolies with the Arabs, so they had no initiative to find new ways to trade with the far east.

However, the Hanseatic cities and the Nordic cities had no such restrictions. So why didn't the northern countries/cities attempt to make commercial-minded voyages as did the Iberians in the early 15th century??

 

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Well i have no idea, but just looking at the situation, obviously i think it would be easier for the spanish since they had maps, experience etc. which they probably tried to keep secret for as long as they could anyway. And the portuguese had a lot of experience as well.

 

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Originally posted by BRYCON316
Again this section of history is dying.

Why did the two Iberian powers take the lead in exploration?? I can see that France and England were in the midst of war, and the Netherlands and Greece were under foreign domination. The Italian cities had the trade monopolies with the Arabs, so they had no initiative to find new ways to trade with the far east.

However, the Hanseatic cities and the Nordic cities had no such restrictions. So why didn't the northern countries/cities attempt to make commercial-minded voyages as did the Iberians in the early 15th century??

Some answers might certainly be found in the relative decline of Scandinavia as economic powers. Plus, they had their own wars, trying to free themselves from the Hanseatic League tutelage and wrestling for the control of the Sund. Free cities had to keep land-hungry princes in check.

The "Northern Route" was certainly possible, as the Vikings had shown circa 1000 AD. Unfortunately, the "Northern Route" does not beneficiate from such outposts as were the Azores, or the Canaries, upon which the Portugese and Spanish experimented the culture of sugar and plantation. Those islands could support expeditions and supply fleets. Northern cities could not hope for any friendly port before Greenland (save conquering Iceland), nor could they hope for those islands to support long term expeditions (supplies, etc.). I would also think that what they would have seen would not entice them to go further (not the friendliest places on Earth....)

The natural expansion route for the Spanish and Portugese laid West, for the few experiments in Northern Africa had shown that muslim "states" were difficult to subdue.

Then, of course, one might add technical problems. The type of ship used for navigation in the Baltic is different from the one that was used for North-South trade withing Europe. Navigating the Baltic isn't the same thing as navigating the Atlantic: sailors might not have known the "way" of the Atlantic. Crossing the Atlantic was done by sailors used to its water, on small boats well adapted for this venture.

 

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Basically, the Portuguese had the caravel, which was superior to anything that the northern cities were sailing with?? The northern cities could have gone the old Iceland-Greenland route, even though I assume that Greenland was lost to history by the time of the age of exploration.

Also, would it have been economically viable for the Hansa to colonize or trade in north america?? I figure that they could have exploited the fur trade in Canada, but besides that, I don't see many valuable commodities that could have been sent back to Europe.

 

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Originally posted by BRYCON316
Basically, the Portuguese had the caravel, which was superior to anything that the northern cities were sailing with??

Not superior, per se but more adapted to sailing the Atlantic, and certainly less heavy (thus greater maneuverability in difficult winds) and less costly than the heavy baltic ships.

The northern cities could have gone the old Iceland-Greenland route, even though I assume that Greenland was lost to history by the time of the age of exploration.

Greenland lost ? Perhaps, but perhaps not. The last link was severed in the XIVth century not *that* long before the Age of Exploration. But, as I said, going the Northern route would have meant a much longer journey for any Northern Germany nation, without the possibility to ressuply at a friendly port, without a strong economic incentive or the demographic base of *available* settlers.

Also, would it have been economically viable for the Hansa to colonize or trade in north america?? I figure that they could have exploited the fur trade in Canada, but besides that, I don't see many valuable commodities that could have been sent back to Europe.

This is what-if, and as such, is difficult to answer. The key is not merely commodities to be sent back to Europe, but exotic commodities or gold / silver. Canada could well send wheat to France but this did not compare to the profit to be made with sugar, which was the produce with the fastest growing demand for all XVIth century. (Even Nostradamus wrote a recipe book about sugar!). Westward expansion of sugar plantation in Spain and Portugal was a marked trend since XIVth century, accompanied by the nascent slave trade: other routes of expansion were blocked save from trying to see what there was past the islands in the Atlantic. Moreover, capital was available in the Iberic peninsula, and dynamic forces were at work inherited from the Reconquista (large properties, disposessed peasants, retired soldiers and military leaders, available to seek fortune elsewhere).

The success of Northern colonies was to rest upon their capacity to build complete societies, thus building a market for manufactured products, not in the export of rare / exotic / expensive commodities. Any colony founded by Scandinavian would have to work on those same principles. (Besides, fur was already available in Europe, coming from the Russians).

The English and the French embarked late, but if not for the War of the Roses or the Italian Wars, would they have initiated the same movement ? I doubt it. (But this is another what-if...)