Cartography The sea voyages of the Europeans in this era could not have taken place without a revolution in the craft of cartography, or map making.At sea, the mariner's astrolabe helped ships determine their latitude by aligning the instrument with the sun or a known star.
Borrowing the basic principles of the Islamic astrolabe, the Portuguese created the mariner's astrolabe, an instrument whose functions were limited to and designed specifically for the purpose of navigation. To address these religious matters they developed the astrolabe which enabled them to solve "300 types of problems in astronomy, geography, and trigonometry." Through Muslim Spain, the astrolabe entered Christian Europe. Muslims schools were expected to pronounce daily prayer times, calculate the exact time of the holy month of Ramadan, and provide the faithful with the direction of Mecca for the purpose of prayer. Europeans adapted, improved, and synthesized the use of technologies and knowledge deriving from many cultures.Ī mariner's astrolabe.Islamic civilization had long possessed the need for astronomical and geographic knowledge. The advancements that enabled them to do this, however, did not originate in a vacuum. Beginning with Portugal and Spain, European countries would commission the exploration, charting, and colonization of a huge portion of the world. The most significant change in global trade between 14 was the rise and involvement of the Europeans. European technological developments in cartography and navigation built on previous knowledge developed in the classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds.
The Atlantic System would emerge as the premier trade system in this era. The fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottomans and Vasco DaGama’s maritime route to the Indian Ocean lessened Europe’s dependence upon Silk Road trade. In Africa, the incorporation of West Africa into the Atlantic system drew the focus of trade from Trans-Saharan to the west. Attempts by Portugal and Spain to monopolize trade in the Indian Ocean led to the down fall of the Swahili cities and the fall of Malacca. Despite this new level of global connectivity, this era saw major disruptions and changes in trade networks. In the Pacific, the Spanish colony of Manila connected the New World with Asia markets much of the New World's silver ended up in China. Silver from the New World was minted into the peso de ocho, a widely accepted currency that connected major trade systems. Inaugurated a network of global trade that connected both hemispheres.