Why was Prince Henry called Henry the Navigator?
Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) was a prince from Portugal, the third son of King John I of Portugal. He was called Infante Dom Henrique in Portuguese. He was never a navigator himself. He got his name because he organized many ocean voyages on which lands were found.
What is Prince Henry the Navigator known for?
The Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) launched the first great European voyages of exploration. He sought new lands and sources of revenue for his kingdom and dynasty and searched for eastern Christian allies against Islam.
What were Prince Henry the Navigator accomplishments?
Prince Henry sponsored explorations that accomplished much for Portugal. Not only did his expeditions succeed in mapping much of the coast of west-Africa, but they also succeeded in spreading Christianity, defeating Muslims (enemies of the Portuguese at the time), and establishing new trade routes.
Did Henry the Navigator have a wife?
Prince Henry the Navigator was never married, so he left no legitimate children.
What did the Portuguese do in order to try to create a trading post empire?
Portuguese mariners built the earliest trading -post empire. They did not want to conquer territories, but to control trade routes by forcing merchant vessels to call at fortified trading sites and pay duties there.
What good was most sought after by European merchants?
Luxury goods from south and east Asia were always among the most sought-after commodities in Europe, stretching all the way back to Roman times. Spices were worth far more than their weight in gold, and Chinese goods like porcelain and silk were also highly prized.
What is the silver drain?
“silver drain”: Term often used, along with “specie drain”, to describe the siphoning of money from Europe to pay for the luxury products of the East, a process exacerbated by the fact that Europe had few trade goods that were desirable in Eastern markets; eventually, the bulk of the world’s silver supply made its way …
Why was the silver drain important?
The Silver Drain was the concept of how most of the silver in late 1500’s to early 1600’s ended up in China. The silver was also used as the standard Spanish coin, also known as a “piece of eight”. This series of exchanges is important because it created a global network of exchange.
What factors contributed to the silver drain?
The major factors that contributed to the global silver trade between 1550 and 1800 were competition for power, increasing demand for Asian goods, and prevalence of currency.
What changed in China due to the silver trade?
In China, the demand for silver initially drove the global economy. Then, by 1750, silver glutted the Chinese market, bringing its price down and leading to inflation.
Why is silver so important to China?
In exchange, the Chinese traded their popular goods such as silk and porcelain. China had a high demand for silver due to its shift from paper money to coins in the early period of the Ming Dynasty. Hence silver became of high value because it was a valid currency that could be processed abroad.