Final answer:
The quest for new trade routes to Asia by European rulers in the late fifteenth century was a multifaceted endeavor influenced by economic factors, religious motivations, and political ambitions to break the Italian monopoly on the spice trade and spread Christianity.
Step-by-step explanation:
European rulers embarked on quests for new trade routes to Asia in the late fifteenth century primarily due to economic, political, and religious motivations. The Silk Road, once a vibrant trade artery, had become expensive and perilous, marred by middlemen and conflict. When the Ottomans seized Constantinople in 1453, European access to these routes was further compromised. This encouraged explorers like Christopher Columbus to seek oceanic passages.
Moreover, the drive to spread Christianity and challenge the Italian states' dominance in trade with the Muslim world was significant. Religious zeal, alongside resentment towards the monopolization of the spice trade by Venetians and Genovese merchants, compelled nations like Spain and Portugal to find new routes. The Age of Exploration was marked by Portugal's success in navigating the west coast of Africa, and Spain's westward journey to the Americas, albeit inadvertently, instead of reaching Asia directly.
The end of the Pax Mongolica and subsequent tariffs imposed by the new powers of the region made overland trade routes exceedingly treacherous and costly. This economic imperative to secure direct access to the lucrative markets of the East, circumventing middlemen, initiated the epoch of maritime exploration. This era paved the way for the first global age and the intertwining of continents and cultures through trade, ideas, and colonial conquests.