There were two main events occurring in Europe that led to the Age of Exploration.
The Crusades. The Crusades were a series of holy wars between Catholic Europe and the Islamic Middle East. While the Crusades failed to return territory in the holy land to the Europeans, it did open up trade routes with the East, as food, goods, technologies, and ideas spread along the Silk Road between Europe and Asia. Among these goods were navigational tools and technologies and better weapons technology like gunpowder. Other key inventions made their way to Europe as well like the printing press, adapted from a Korean invention called moveable type.
The Renaissance. The Renaissance began in the late 15th century in Italy. Soon, new ideas about government, society, and exploration spread throughout Europe. With the new and improved weapons from the East, as well as a desire to spread Christianity (this was a direct result of losing the Crusades), governments were jumping to fund explorers to find and conquer new lands. This would allow European empires to grow beyond the boundaries of Europe and rival their Eastern contemporaries.
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