Question

In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Europeans used previously existing technologies and new technologies to engage in voyages of discovery. Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which European overseas expansion in this period relied on previously existing technologies and new technologies

Answer 1

The European expansion overseas during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries made great use of the existing technologies of the time, such as the existing methods of ship-building and navigation.

However, it was also dependent on new technologies to a large extent. This is evident when we look at the type of technology that explorers relied on the most. The Age of Exploration was responsible for many new inventions that allowed the exploration of faraway places to occur. These items include the astrolabe, the magnetic compass, the caravel, the sextant and Mercator's projection.