Technological Innovations

Although land-based empires were important during this period, various

inventions allowed Europeans to venture long distances on the ocean. The magnetic compass, originally created in China for fortune telling, helped steer a ship in the right direction, as described by Alexander Neckham. The astrolabe, improved by Muslim navigators in the 12th century, let sailors find out how far north or south they were from the equator. The caravel, a small, three-masted sailing ship developed by the Portuguese in the 15th century, allowed sailors to survive storms at sea better than earlier-designed ships. Cartography, or mapmaking, and knowledge of current and wind patterns also improved navigation.

Demographic pressures pushed Europeans into exploration and trade. As the population grew, not all workers in Europe could find work or even food. Not all sons of the wealthy could own land because primogeniture laws gave all of each estate to the eldest son. In the early 17th century, religious minorities searched for a place to settle where people were tolerant of their dissent. All of these groups, as well as those just longing for adventure and glory, were eager to settle in new areas. Those who left their homelands in search of work, food, land, tolerance, and adventure were part of a global shift in demographics.