Exploring the Spanish Monarchy's desire to expand their empire

The following questions will help you with the background knowledge necessary to think about what key elements of Spain's worldview led to the desire to expand the Spanish Empire. 

These questions are due Wednesday, March 7th.

Working with a partner in a google doc and answering in complete sentences, please use your Our Worldviews textbook to find responses to the the following questions:

P. 98-115

1. What is “Expansionism”?

2. Why did Western European countries want new trade routes?

3. How did new ideas in geography change man’s view of the earth and lead to exploration?

4.   How did travel writers create interest in trade?

5. What technological advances aided navigation?

6. What was a carrack?

7. What was a caravel?  What was the value of both a carrack and a caravel?

8. Define cartography.  How did this contribute to navigation?

9. Define circumnavigate.  How was this  a new concept?

P. 102-108

1. Who was Henry the Navigator? What practices did he establish for explorers?

2. What factors allowed Portugal, France and Spain and England  to become the leading players in the Age of Exploration (or Age of Pillage and Plunder depending on your perspective)?

3. What did the Navigational Astrolabe allow a ship to do? How did this make navigation different from before?

4. Briefly, what, when, and for what country did each of these explorers find?

• Bartholomew Diaz
• Vasco da Gama
• Christofolo Columbus
• Amerigo Vespucci
• Ferdinand Magellan 

P. 236-239    

1. What modern countries can now be found on the Iberian Peninsula?

2. What  legacy did the Romans leave  the Iberian  Peninsula that dominated and changed the area  for centuries?

3. What was the Reconquista?

4. Who were the  “conquistadors”?

5. Who were the Moors?

6. How long did the wars between the Moors and the Kingdoms of  Spain last?

7. What were the two biggest reasons why the Spanish rulers wanted to defeat the Moors?

8. What were two significant beliefs and values of the Conquistadors?

9. Who captured the last Muslim kingdom and when?

10. What finally unified the  two largest kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula?

11. What did Christians believe  led them to conquer the Moors?

12. A citizen was considered a loyal citizen only if he did what?

13. After the Reconquista, how did the rulers of Spain Ferdinand and Isabella use this to their advantage?

14.  What was the Spanish Inquisition?

15.  What were the punishments if a person was found guilty by the Inquisition?

16. What eventually happened to all Jews and Muslims?

17. Describe the time in history of the Reconquista.

18.  How did this allow the Spanish rulers to  look to exploration to new lands?

19. What areas did they look to? Why?

20.  Who is Christopher Columbus and what did he do? What nationality was he?

21. What were the religious, economic, and political motives as to why the Spanish monarchy wanted to expand their empire?

22.  What attitudes did the Spanish have that justified the harsh treatment of the people they conquered and forced to convert to Catholicism?

P. 242-243

1. What areas did the Islamic Empire control? What did they not control?

2. Define: Cordoba

3. What were the two most important legacies or contributions that the Muslims had on the Spanish?

P. 254-255

1. What did Ferdinand and Isabella do to have the power to rule Spain as they wished?

2. What was The Cortes?

3. How did Ferdinand and Isabelle reduce the power of The Cortes?

4. How did they get the support of the merchants?

5. How did they stop the cities from becoming too powerful?

6. Why did Ferdinand and Isabelle want to control the Roman Catholic Church?

7. How did they get the Pope to give them the power to do this?

P. 256


1. What were some domestic issues that  were problems for the Monarchy?

2. Describe these problems.

3. How did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella build the most powerful  and wealthy country in Europe by the 16^th century?