# Age of Exploration
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: ai_assisted


## TL;DR

The Age of Exploration (15th-17th centuries) was driven by European powers seeking new trade routes to Asia, bypassing Ottoman-controlled land routes. Technological enablers: caravel ships, improved navigation (astrolabe, compass), cartography. Consequences: Columbian Exchange (global transfer of crops, animals, diseases), colonization, globalization.

## Core Explanation

Key voyages: Columbus (1492, reached Americas thinking it was Asia), Vasco da Gama (1498, reached India around Africa), Magellan/Elcano (1519-22, first circumnavigation). Portuguese and Spanish empires divided by Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Columbian Exchange: potatoes, tomatoes, maize to Europe; wheat, horses, smallpox to Americas. Devastating impact on indigenous populations (90% decline in some areas).

## Further Reading

- [Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation (Laurence Bergreen)](https://www.harpercollins.com/products/over-the-edge-of-the-world-laurence-bergreen)