Why did Europeans in th 1400s seek a trade route to asia?

Question

Anyone know T_T?

Answer 1

Short answer -- the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in1453

What almost everyone is missing so far is that the Europeans ALREADY were trading with Asia BEFORE the 1400s, and had a perfectly fine trade route!

So why did they need to look for a NEW one?

What Hetzer mentions may have played a role, but not the KEY role. The effort to find a new route was keyed instead by a major event in European (and world history):
the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. This closed the major land route to Asia. Forced to look for another route, Europeans turned to the sea, with tremendous repercussions.

The Portuguese led the way as they began to sail around Africa; Spain, competing with them, finally listened to the suggestion of a Genoese sailor named Christopher Columbus, who believed he could sail west across the Atlantic to reach Asia. (Many told him it was too dangerous because the distance was too great -- they actually were far more accurate in their calculations than Columbus... but his mistake paid off!)

A key to this effort was that it was not just individuals but young NATION-states (like Portugal and Spain), seeking to establish their power and wealth and able to undertake grander projects than small groups of individuals could.


Footnote (more on 'why had none of this been tried before?') -- the timing was good for such an effort. In earlier centuries Europeans lacked the technology required for such long open sea trips (for that matter no one in the world was able to do so), but improvements in shipbuilding and development of the compass now made it possible. (Also, the expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1492 --another pice in the struggle between Europe and the Islamic powers-- turned Spain's attention to exploration and the wealth to be gained thereby.)

Answer 2

Asia offered exotic goods that Europe could not provide, but they didn't want go through the Middle East. The Middle Eastern countries back then had a tax on European traders, and after the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottomans, they sought after new routes in which would cost less. The Europeans wanted in on the rich Indian Ocean Trade, and soon took control of the trade (this also led to the creation of joint-stock companies like the East Trading Company and the VOC). Although this was a success (as this led to the European dominance of the Indian Ocean Trade), it also unintentionally led to the discovery the Americas. This is also why Native Americans were called Indians, because Columbus thought he was in India. The Spanish were the first to exploit the riches of America, and as a result produced 2/3 of the world's universal silver currency (the other third mostly came from Japan, as silver was one of their few natural resources).

Answer 3

The main reason was that overland routes to Asia were very unreliable. Convoys would get hijacked by maruding bands of guerillas, terrain was difficult to cross, and hardships such as disease and starvation were always an issue. A sea route circumvented a lot of the problems that were encountered by an overland route. Ships could dock at colonies on the way there and back to resupply, the waters were not very much travelled then, and it was safer to sail, if one could avoid the storms. Not to mention, one loaded ship could bring back a whole convoys worth of goods in just one successful journey. In the end, it was just a better way to do business.

Answer 4

Spices came to Europe through a series of middlemen, and were very expensive. So they decided to cut out the middlemen and try to find the source.

Answer 5

Spices is key, and to get wealthy off the trade.

Answer 6

to find more trade or to become more rich or something. sorry i cant remember. hope this helps

Answer 7

for spices