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What technology did the Portuguese use?

What technology did the Portuguese use?

Over 500 years ago, the Portuguese consolidated and perfected technology tools such as charts, travel itineraries, needle compasses, ships and caravels. The caravel, a bigger ship with with deeper shallow keel. Had two masts and triangular sails.

Why was Portugal so successful in exploration?

Under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal took the principal role during most of the fifteenth century in searching for a route to Asia by sailing south around Africa. In the process, the Portuguese accumulated a wealth of knowledge about navigation and the geography of the Atlantic Ocean.

What types of ships did the Portuguese use in their trading empire?

By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the main ships in use were the caravels and naus (carrack). Caravels are unique because they are an ‘evolved’ ship. They started as a small, open boat that was used by coastal merchants and fisherman.

What Portuguese invention made exploration of seas and rivers easier?

The caravel (Portuguese: caravela, IPA: [kɐɾɐˈvɛlɐ]) is a small highly-maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward (beating).

What Portuguese inventions fueled global discovery?

Discoveries. The creation of new inventions in Portugal was at its peak during the Age of Discovery. These inventions consisted mainly in the improvement of devices and techniques of ocean navigation and coastal cartography, such as the mariner’s astrolabe and the chart of latitudes.

Why were the Portuguese were the first successful European explorers?

What made Portugal a good starting place for sailors?

What made portugal a good place for sea navigation? Its location on the western coast of Europe made it a perfect place for sailors to start their journeys. Also, Portugal encouraged exploration and even provided money needed for expensive exploration.

What contribution did the Portuguese make to maritime technology in the age of discovery?

Technology: ship design and the compass A caravel with two lateen sail rigs and a headsail. Caravels were invented by the Portuguese, they had more manoeuvrability and were essential to the Age of Exploration.

How did the Portuguese became a world power?

From the late Middle Ages, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal ascended to the status of a world power during Europe’s “Age of Discovery” as it built up a vast empire, including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

How did the Portuguese control the Indian Ocean spice trade?

By the early 16th century the Portuguese had complete control of the African sea route, which extended through a long network of routes that linked three oceans, from the Moluccas (the Spice Islands) in the Pacific Ocean limits, through Malacca, Kerala and Sri Lanka, to Lisbon in Portugal.