Trade
- Europeans sought out to find a way around the middleman to deal directly with Asia
- European limited to trade across land and through middlemen, which heavily taxed the goods and increased their price to increase profits
- Stories about Christian Crusaders in the Middle East, India, China increased curiosity about the region's people, science/ tech advancements, and spices/ goods
Renaissance & Reformation
- Renaissance prompted search for new knowledge and what lay beyond the shores of the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas
- Reformation motivated missionaries to search for new converts
Political centralization (Spain, France, & England)
- government had more control of its resources to organize opportunities for traders to expand their markets
Portugal's motivations
- Prince Henry the Navigator
  - joined Portuguese attack on Ceuta in 1945 and returned to Portugal with spices, precious metals, opportunities to spread Christianity, and desire to expand Portugal's shipping reaches
  - started a school devoted to navigation
    - maritime revolution which led to creation of astrolabe and magnetic compass
    - influenced Bartolomeu Dias passed the tip of Africa and Vasco da Gama sailed to India
God, Gold, Glory
- God
  - sought new converts for Christianity
- Gold
  - limited economic and political choices led to desire to find commerce in other places
- Glory
  - exploration for adventure