What was the Renaissance?
The 1500s was a period when Europe changed rapidly, marking the start of modern history. Before this period most learning was controlled by the Church, and people were not permitted to question established Church teaching. Art was usually based on religious subjects, and most scholars trained to become either priests or monks.
During the Renaissance, many highly educated people escaped to Europe from the collapsing Byzantine Empire. They brought with them knowledge and documents that aroused great interest in the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose contributions to civilization had been largely forgotten. Lost arts such as casting statues in bronze were revived. This whole flowering of knowledge and art is now known as the Renaissance.
Why did explorers travel to the East Indies?
The Portuguese were the first European navigators to explore the East. They explored the African coast and then eventually reached India, bringing back cargoes of pepper and other spices. There was a race to find new sources of spices —these sources were then kept secret because of the enormous prices the new spices would fetch in Europe.
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