Summary of Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582, and it corrected the errors in the Julian calendar. It took more than two centuries to transition to the new calendar throughout Europe.

Sujets

• Adventure
• Interest group (disambiguation)

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 20 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669355014
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Laurence Bergreen's Over the Edge of the World
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15 Insights from Chapter 16 Insights from Chapter 17
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582, and it corrected the errors in the Julian calendar. It took more than two centuries to transition to the new calendar throughout Europe.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The first circumnavigation of the globe was accomplished by a ship called Victoria, which was captained by Ferdinand Magellan. It was a tale of desolation and anguish, but it also marked the exploration of the entire globe.

#2

The voyage demonstrated that the earth is round, that the Americas are separate from India, and that oceans cover most of the earth’s surface. But it also demonstrated that the earth is a world of unceasing conflict, both natural and human.
Insights from Chapter 3

#1

On June 7, 1494, Pope Alexander VI divided the world in half, bestowing the western portion on Spain, and the eastern on Portugal. The result was a furious race to claim new lands and control the world’s trade routes.

#2

The Treaty of Tordesillas, which was signed in 1494, created the official border between Spain and Portugal, and their respective claims to empires. It was difficult to determine where the line of demarcation should be, as cosmologists did not yet know how to determine longitude.

#3

The Treaty of Tordesillas, which was based on a profound misunderstanding of the world, allowed Spain and Portugal to compete to establish their global empires. It was not even a line drawn in the sand; it was written in water.

#4

The spice trade was central to the Arab way of life. Arabs developed sophisticated methods of extracting essential oils from aromatic spices used for medical and other therapeutic purposes. They formulated elixirs and syrups derived from spices, including julab, from which the word julap derives.

#5

The lure of spices impelled sober, cautious financiers to back highly risky expeditions to unknown parts of the globe. The best and perhaps the only reason to risk going to sea was the prospect of getting rich in the Spice Islands.

#6

Prince Henry, the king’s son, was in charge of the academy at Sagres, where he attracted navigators, shipwrights, astronomers, pilots, cosmographers, and cartographers. They designed a new type of ship, the small, maneuverable caravel, which became the vessel of choice for exploration.

#7

The Portuguese empire was ruled by King Manuel I, who was indifferent to those who had risked their lives to advance the cause of the Portuguese empire. The Jews of Portugal distinguished themselves as scientists, artisans, merchants, scholars, and doctors.

#8

Magellan’s ancestry is unclear. In 1567, his heirs began arguing over his estate, and he was never given the chance to lead a major expedition for Portugal. He spent the next eight years trying to establish a Portuguese presence in India.

#9

Magellan, still ambitious, sought to make himself useful to the Portuguese crown. He involved himself in the Portuguese struggle to dominate North Africa, and in 1513, he seemed to find an ideal opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty and usefulness to the crown when the city of Azamor, in Morocco, suddenly refused to pay its annual tribute to Portugal.

#10

The charges against Magellan were, on their face, absurd. He had served the king for many years, and was still in need of the king’s support. He demanded that the king increase his allowance, but the king refused.

#11

After he was rejected by the Portuguese king, Magellan decided to emigrate to Spain. He believed that he could do what the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus had claimed to do, but had never actually accomplished: reach the fabulous Indies by sailing westward across the ocean.

#12

The Age of Discovery, which was when Europe began exploring the world, also coincided with the spread of printed books and pamphlets across Europe, as well as the spread of handwritten presentation copies compiled by professional scribes for the libraries of nobility.

#13

The timing of Magellan’s arrival in Spain was auspicious, but his overall prospects were mixed. He had renounced his loyalty to Portugal, but he remained an outsider in Spain, on probation and under suspicion. He married a Portuguese woman and gained a financial stake because of her dowry.

#14

The Casa de Contratación, or House of Commerce, was the body that oversaw all Spanish expeditions to the New World. It was controlled by one man, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, who was not a navigator or an explorer. He had served as Queen Isabella’s chaplain and had managed Columbus’s expeditions even before the Casa came into existence.

#15

The Treaty of Tordesillas, which was signed in 1493, posed some obstacles for the proposed expedition. It allowed Spain or Portugal the freedom of the seas to reach lands belonging to either empire. However, the clause was open to many interpretations, and Magellan might sail into conflict with Portugal if he attempted to take advantage of it.

#16

Magellan had a meeting with the king’s Flemish ministers to discuss the prospect of an expedition to the Spice Islands. He had letters from his friend Francisco Serrão, a Portuguese explorer, describing the riches of the Spice Islands.

#17

The Spice Islands were located far to the east of their true position, which was within the Spanish hemisphere. Magellan’s map showed a waterway extending through South America toward the Spice Islands, which was nearly the same mistake that Columbus had made over and over during his four voyages.

#18

After the meetings at Valladolid, the potential coleaders of the expedition presented a list of demands to the crown. They were requests for an exclusive franchise on the Spice Islands for a full ten years, 5 percent of the rent and proceeds from any lands they discovered, and the right to trade for their own accounts.

#19

The Treaty of Tordesillas gave Spain all of the lands that Magellan discovered, except for those that belonged to Portugal. King Charles I of Spain wanted to Overtake the elderly king of Portugal, and he wanted Magellan to grant him lands that lay within the Spanish Hemisphere.

#20

The fleet was called the Armada de Molucca, after the Indonesian name for the Spice Islands. The ships were pitch black, and their sterns rose high out of the water, towering as much as thirty feet over the waves. They were among the most complex machines of their day.

#21

The king and his advisers were willing to give up a significant portion of the profits because they saw the lure of extraordinary profits. If successful, or even partly successful, a fleet returning from the Indies could yield a profit of 400 percent.