Laura Handly

EF Block
12/7/09
Chapter Fifteen Vocabulary

Thor Heyerdahl (378) – in 1947 this historian argued that Easter Island and Hawaii were
actually settled from the Americas

dhows (379) – seasonal winds known as monsoons were so predictable during this time
that these boats were less difficult and dangerous in ancient times than elsewhere

Zheng He (380) – 1371-1433, an imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted b the Ming
emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the
Indian ocean, from southeast Asia to Africa

Chinese “treasure ships” (381) – carried rich silks, precious metals, and other valuable
goods intended as gifts for distant rulers; in return, those rulers sent back gifts of equal or
greater value to the Chinese emperor

the Vikings (381) – the greatest mariners of the Atlantic in the early Middle Ages, these
northern European raiders and pirates used their small, open ships to attack coastal
European settlements for several centuries; they discovered and settled one island after
another in the North Atlantic during these warmer than usual months

Mansa Musa (381) – the ruler of the West African empire of Mali, passed through Egypt
on his lavish pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, told of voyages to cross the Atlantic
undertaken by his predecessor, Mansa Muhammad

Arawak (381) – Amerindian peoples who inhabited the Grater Antilles of the Caribbean at
the time of Columbus

why Italian states didn’t lead exploration of Atlantic (383) – the trading states of Venice
and Genoa preferred to continue the system of alliances with the Muslims that had given
their merchants privileged access to the lucrative trade from the East; also the ships of the
Mediterranean were ill suited to the more violent weather of the Atlantic

Henry the Navigator (383) – 1394-1460, Portuguese prince who promoted the study of
navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa

caravel (384) – a small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and
Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic

Order of Christ (384) – led by Prince Henry (the Navigator), a military religious order that
received the exclusive right to promote Christianity in all the lands that were discovered,
and the Portuguese emblazoned their ships’ sails with the crusaders’ red cross
Fernao Gomes (386) – 1469, a prominent Lisbon merchant who purchased from the Crown
the privilege of exploring 350 miles of new coast a year for five years in return for a
monopoly of the trade he developed there

Gold Coast (386) – region of the Atlantic coast of West Africa occupied by modern Ghana,
named for its gold exports to Europe from the 1470s onward

Bartolomeu Dias (386) – Portuguese explorer who in 1488 led the first expedition to sail
around the southern tip of Africa from the Atlantic and sight the Indian Ocean

Vasco da Gama (386) – Portuguese explorer, in 1497-1498 he led the first naval expedition
from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route

Christopher Columbus (388) – Genoese mariner who in the service of Spain led
expeditions across the Atlantic, reestablishing contact between the peoples of the
Americas and the Old World and opening the way to Spanish conquest and colonization

Treaty of Tordesillas (388) – 1494, drew an imaginary line down the middle of the North
Atlantic Ocean; lands east of the line in Africa and southern Asia were Portugal’s, lands
west in the Americas were Spain’s

Ferdinand Magellan (389) – Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-
1522 that was the first to sail around the world

manikongo (390) – the king of Kongo who sent delegates to Portugal, established a royal
monopoly on trade with the Portuguese and expressed interest in missionary teachings

Goa (392) – on the west coast of India, fell to a well-armed fleet in 1510, becoming the
base from which the Portuguese menaced the trading cities of Gujarat and Calicut, along
with other Malabar Coast cities

conquistadors (394) – early sixteenth century Spanish adventurers who conquered Mexico,
Central America, and Peru

Hernan Cortes (394) – Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec
Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain

Moctezuma II (394) – last Aztec emperor, overthrown by Hernan Cortes

smallpox (395) – disease Europeans brought that aided in their successful capture of
Tenochtitlan in 1521, the disease weakened and killed more of the city’s defenders than
died in the fighting

Francisco Pizarro (398) – Spanish explorer who led the conquest of the Inca Empire of
Peru in 1531-1533