Early European History Part 109

[20] See page 571.

[21] Not to be confused with his countryman, Roger Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth century. See page 573.

[22] See page 436.

[23] See page 541.

[24] A similar plague devastated the Roman world during the reign of Justinian.

[25] From _Jacques_, a common French name for a peasant.

CHAPTER XXVI

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION [1]

218. MEDIEVAL GEOGRAPHY

THE GEOGRAPHICAL RENAISSANCE

There was also a geographical Renaissance. The revival of the exploring spirit led to the discovery of ocean routes to the Far East and the Americas. In consequence, commerce was vastly stimulated, and two continents, hitherto unknown, were opened up to civilization. The geographical Renaissance, which gave man a New World, thus cooperated with the other movements of the age in bringing about the transition from medieval to modern times.

MEDIEVAL IGNORANCE OF GEOGRAPHY

The Greeks and Romans had become familiar with a large part of Europe and Asia, but much of their learning was either forgotten or perverted during the early Middle Ages. Even the wonderful discoveries of the Northmen in the North Atlantic gradually faded from memory. The Arabs, whose conquests and commerce extended over so much of the Orient, far surpa.s.sed the Christian peoples of Europe in knowledge of the world.

GEOGRAPHICAL MYTHS

The alliance of medieval geography with theology led to curious results.

Map makers, relying on a pa.s.sage in the Old Testament, [2] usually placed Jerusalem in the center of the world. A Scriptural reference to the "four corners of the earth" [3] was sometimes thought to imply the existence of a rectangular world. From cla.s.sical sources came stories of monstrous men, one-eyed, headless, or dog-headed, who were supposed to inhabit remote regions. Equally monstrous animals, such as the unicorn and dragon, [4]

kept them company. Sailors' "yarns" must have been responsible for the belief that the ocean boiled at the equator and that in the Atlantic--the "Sea of Darkness"--lurked serpents huge enough to sink ships. To the real danger of travel by land and water people thus added imaginary terrors.

THE COSMAS MAP

Many maps prepared in the Middle Ages sum up the prevailing knowledge, or rather ignorance, of the world. One of the earliest specimens that has come down to us was made in the sixth century, by Cosmas, an Alexandrian monk. It exhibits the earth as a rectangle surrounded by an ocean with four deep gulfs. Beyond this ocean lies another world, the seat of Paradise and the place "where men dwelt before the Flood." The rivers which flow from the lakes of Paradise are also shown. Figures holding trumpets represent the four winds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GEOGRAPHICAL MONSTERS From an early edition of Sir John Mandeville's _Travels_. Shakespeare (_Oth.e.l.lo_, I, iii, 144-145) refers to: "The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders."]

THE HEREFORD MAP

A map made about seven hundred years later, and now preserved in Hereford Cathedral, shows the earth as a circular disk with the ocean surrounding it. In the extreme east--that is, at the top--lies Paradise, Jerusalem occupies the center, and below it comes the Mediterranean, liberally supplied with islands. The Black Sea appears as a narrow body of water, and even the British Isles are strangely distorted to fit the circle. Such a map could have been of little use to travelers; it simply satisfied a natural curiosity about the wonders of the world.

OPENING UP OF ASIA

The crusades, more than anything else, first extended geographical knowledge. As a religious movement they led to pilgrimages and missions in Oriental lands. With the pilgrims and missionaries went hard-headed traders, who brought back to Europe the wealth of the East. The result, by 1300 A.D., was to open up countries beyond the Euphrates which had remained sealed to Europe for centuries. This discovery of the interior of Asia had only less importance than that of the New World two centuries later.

LEGEND OF PRESTER JOHN

What specially drew explorers eastward was the belief that somewhere in the center of Asia existed a great Christian kingdom which, if allied to European Christendom, might attack the Moslems from the rear. According to one form of the story the kingdom consisted of the Ten Tribes of Israel, [5] who had been converted to Christianity by Nestorian missionaries. [6]

Over them reigned a priest-king named Prester (or Presbyter) John. The popes made several attempts to communicate with this mythical ruler. In the thirteenth century, however, Franciscan friars did penetrate to the heart of Asia. They returned to Europe with marvelous tales of the wealth and splendor of the East under the Mongol emperors.

THE POLOS IN THE EAST, 1271-1295 A.D.

The most famous of all medieval travelers were Nicolo and Maffeo Polo, and Nicolo's son, Marco. These Venetian merchants set out for Asia in 1271 A.D., and after an adventurous journey reached the court of Kublai Khan at Peking. [7] The Mongol ruler, who seems to have been anxious to introduce Christianity and European culture among his people, received them in a friendly manner, and they ama.s.sed much wealth by trade. Marco entered the khan's service and went on several expeditions to distant parts of the Mongol realm. Many years pa.s.sed before Kublai would allow his useful guests to return to Europe. They sailed at length from Zaitun, a Chinese seaport, skirted the coast of southeastern Asia and India, and then made their way overland to the Mediterranean. When the travelers reached Venice after an absence of twenty-four years, their relatives were slow to recognize in them the long-lost Polos.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES THE WORLD ACCORDING TO COSMAS INDICOPLEUSTES, 535 A.D.

THE HEREFORD MAP, 1280 A.D.]

MARCO POLO'S BOOK

The story of the Polos, as written down at Marco's dictation, became one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages. In this book Europe read of far Cathay (China), with its wealth, its huge cities, and swarming population, of mysterious and secluded Tibet, of Burma, Siam, and Cochin- China, with their palaces and paG.o.das, of the East Indies, famed for spices, of Ceylon, abounding in pearls, and of India, little known since the days of Alexander the Great. Even c.i.p.ango (j.a.pan) Marco described from hearsay as an island whose people were white, civilized, and so rich in gold that the royal palace was roofed and paved with that metal. The accounts of these countries naturally made Europeans more eager than ever to reach the East.

219. AIDS TO EXPLORATION

THE COMPa.s.s

The new knowledge gained by European peoples about the land routes of Asia was accompanied by much progress in the art of ocean navigation. First in importance came the compa.s.s to guide explorers across the waters of the world. The Chinese appear to have discovered that a needle, when rubbed with a lodestone, has the mysterious power of pointing to the north. The Arabs may have introduced this rude form of the compa.s.s among Mediterranean sailors. The instrument, improved by being balanced on a pivot so that it would not be affected by choppy seas, seems to have been generally used by Europeans as early as the thirteenth century. It greatly aided sailors by enabling them to find their bearings in murky weather and on starless nights. The compa.s.s, though useful, was not indispensable; without its help the Northmen had made their distant expeditions in the Atlantic.

NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS

The astrolabe, which the Greeks had invented and used for astronomical purposes, also came into Europe through the Arabs. It was employed to calculate lat.i.tudes by observation of the height of the sun above the horizon. Other instruments that found a place on shipboard were the hour- gla.s.s, minute-gla.s.s, and sun-dial. A rude form of the log was used as a means of estimating the speed of a vessel, and so of finding roughly the longitude.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ASTROLABE]

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN NAVIGATION

During the last centuries of the Middle Ages the charting of coasts became a science. A sailor might rely on the "handy maps" (_portolani_) which outlined with some approach to accuracy the bays, islands, and headlands of the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Manuals were prepared telling the manner about the tides, currents, and other features of the route he intended to follow. The increase in size of ships made navigation safer and permitted the storage of bulky cargoes. For long voyages the sailing vessel replaced the medieval galley rowed by oars. As the result of all these improvements navigators no longer found it necessary to keep close to the sh.o.r.e, but could push out dauntlessly into the open sea.

MOTIVES FOR EXPLORATION

Many motives prompted exploration. Scientific curiosity, bred of the Renaissance spirit of free inquiry, led men to set forth on voyages of discovery. The crusading spirit, which had not died out in Europe, thrilled at the thought of spreading Christianity among heathen peoples.

And in this age, as in all epochs of exploration, adventurers sought in distant lands opportunities to acquire wealth and fame and power.

THE COMMERCIAL MOTIVE

Commerce formed perhaps the most powerful motive for exploration. Eastern spices--cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger--were used more freely in medieval times than now, when people lived on salt meat during the winter and salt fish during Lent. Even wine, ale, and medicines had a seasoning of spices. When John Ball [8] wished to contrast the easy life of the lords with the peasants' hard lot, he said, "They have wines, spices, and fine bread, while we have only rye and the refuse of the straw." [9] Besides spices, all kinds of precious stones, drugs, perfumes, gums, dyes, and fragrant woods came from the East. Since the time of the crusades these luxuries, after having been brought overland by water to Mediterranean ports, had been distributed by Venetian and Genoese merchants throughout Europe. [10] But now in the fifteenth century two other European peoples--the Portuguese and Spaniards--appeared as compet.i.tors for this Oriental trade. Their efforts to break through the monopoly enjoyed by the Italian cities led to the discovery of the sea routes to the Indies. The Portuguese were first in the field.

220. TO THE INDIES EASTWARD: PRINCE HENRY AND DA GAMA

PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR, 1394-1460 A.D.

In the history of the fifteenth century few names rank higher than that of Prince Henry, commonly called the Navigator, because of his services to the cause of exploration. The son of a Portuguese king, he devoted himself during more than forty years to organizing scientific discovery. Under his direction better maps were made, the astrolabe was improved, the compa.s.s was placed on vessels, and seamen were instructed in all the nautical learning of the time. The problem which Prince Henry studied and which Portuguese sailors finally solved was the possibility of a maritime route around Africa to the Indies.

EXPLORATION OF THE AFRICAN COAST