Final answer:
The European Age of Exploration was driven by the urge to boost wealth, seek new trade routes, enhance navigation technologies, spread Christianity, and establish new markets. Competition among European powers led to the discovery and colonization of new lands, and the period marked the beginning of globalization.
Step-by-step explanation:
Factors in European Exploration of 15th and 16th Centuries
In the 15th and 16th centuries, key factors prompted European nations to explore new territories. The search for new sources of wealth was a major driver, as the discovery of the Americas highlighted the potential for expansion and exploitation of resources. Additionally, the desire to find new trade routes and circumvent middlemen trade operators incentivized nations to explore the high seas. Innovations in navigation and shipbuilding, buoyed by knowledge from the Middle East and North Africa's golden age, enabled longer voyages. The Age of Exploration was also propelled by religious motivations; expanding Christianity was both a cause and a justification for exploration and colonization.
Competition among emerging European powers such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, England, and France led to a rush to claim new lands and establish colonies. This period also saw the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade and the establishment of the Columbian Exchange, which significantly impacted global demographics, economies, and environments. The proliferation of global trade marked the early modern era, with European nations forging maritime trade networks previously dominated by Asian trade via the Indian Ocean. Internal consolidations of power and political ambitions further fueled England and France's entries into the exploration race, despite initial hesitations due to internal conflicts and the Protestant Reformation.
The combination of economic, religious, political, and technological motives during the European Age of Exploration laid the groundwork for the ensuing centuries of colonization, with lasting impacts on the world order and the advent of globalization as we understand it today.