Ap European History

AP Euro Unit 14 Terms

Prester John: Europeans were attracted to lands outside of their known realm and thus a surge in stories occurred in the Middle Ages. Some stories spoke of terrible places while others, like the magical kingdom of Prester John, located in Africa, spoke of mysterious Christian kingdoms. An apostle of Jesus – Thomas, supposedly founded this, along with some others like a Christian community in India.

The Travels of John Mandeville: One of the stories that came out of the Middle Ages; It spoke of lands, that were never seen by the author, which contained mounds of precious stones and gold.

Marco Polo: he was the son of Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, who were medieval merchants from Venice. They, along with Marco, traveled into the East in 1271 to reach the court of the Mongol ruler-Khubilai Khan. Marco wrote of his journey and experiences in his very descriptive and informative story called “Travels.”

"God, Glory, and Gold": These are the most common motives for the numerous travels into the New World. Christianity was not the first motive of voyagers, but it was high on their list. They also wanted fame, glory, for their name to go down in history and for their status in life to be increased. The hope of finding gold or other precious metals or items to make one wealthier was probably the biggest motive.

Lateen Sails and Square Rigs: Europeans turned to incorporating lateen sails and square rigs in their designs since they were in need of improved ships. They could construct faster and more mobile ships that could sail into the wind while also having the ability to fight in naval warfare and carry loads over long distances with these improvements.

Compass and Astrolabe: While previous sailors used their knowledge of the Pole Star to navigate, this mean of navigating could not be used in the southern hemisphere. To be able to navigate without fear in the New World, the voyagers used the invention of the compass and the astrolabe. This along with...