The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration, and Settlement, 1450-1650

The Age of Reconnaissance, as J. H. Parry has so aptly named it, was the period during which Europe discovered the rest of the world. It began with Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese voyages in the mid-fifteenth century and ended 250 years later when the "Reconnaissance" was all but complete. Dr. Parry examines the inducements—political, economic, religious—to overseas enterprises at the time, and analyzes the nature and problems of the various European settlements in the new lands. Frontmatter PREFACE (page vii) INTRODUCTION (page 1) PART I. THE CONDITIONS FOR DISCOVERY I ATTITUDES AND MOTIVES (page 19) II COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE AND FINANCIAL BACKING (page 38) III SHIPS AND SHIPBUILDERS (page 53) IV SEAMEN AND SEAMANSHIP (page 69) V PILOTAGE AND NAVIGATION (page 83) VI CHARTS AND MAPS (page 100) VII THE FIGHTING CAPACITY OF MEN AND OF SHIPS (page 114) PART II. THE STORY OF DISCOVERY VIII AFRICA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (page 131) IX THE ATLANTIC AND THE SOUTH SEA (page 146) X THE AMERICAN CONQUESTS (page 162) XI ATLANTIC TRADE AND PIRACY (page 177) XII NEW ROUTES TO THE EAST (page 190) XIII FISHING, FUR-TRADING AND PLANTING (page 207) PART III. THE FRUITS OF DISCOVERY XIV THE LAND EMPIRE OF SPAIN (page 227) XV THE SEA EMPIRES OF PORTUGAL AND HOLLAND (page 242) XVI THE PLANTATIONS AND THEIR TRADES (page 258) XVII MIGRATIONS AND DISPERSALS (page 273) XVIII THE COLONIAL BUREAUCRATS (page 290) XIX THE RIGHTS OF CONQUERORS AND CONQUERED (page 303) CONCLUSION (page 321) MAPS (page 328) NOTES (page 335) NOTES FOR FURTHER READING (page 347) INDEX (page 351) Covers the period during which Europe discovered the rest of the world, beginning with the mid-fifteenth century and ending 250 years later when the "Reconnaissance" was all but complete. The author examines the inducements--political, economic, religious--to overseas enterprise at the time, and analyzes the nature and problems of the various European settlements in the new lands Examines the factors that precipitated the exploration and colonization of the world from 1450 to 1650 and analyzes the resulting political and social consequences J.h. Parry. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 348-351.