Summary of Carrie Gibson's Empire's Crossroads

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The story of the modern Caribbean begins in a small port town in northern North Africa, almost within sight of the Iberian peninsula. On 25 July 1415, the feast day of St. James, Prince Henry of Portugal led a fleet of around 200 ships down the Tagus River to Atlantic Ocean.

#2 The Portuguese were struggling to get wheat and gold from Ceuta. The small kingdom was dependent on imports, and could not produce enough to meet its needs. It was trying to access a steady, dependable source of grain and gold.

#3 The legend of Prester John, a Christian king who had traveled to a faraway land, was used to encourage the search for him and his treasure. The story compelled people to search for him and his gold.

#4 Henry the Navigator contributed to the rise of Portugal’s maritime dominance in the fifteenth century, which resulted in part from his triumph in Ceuta. He was a leading ship owner, and he pushed Castile to invade Granada in 1419 and 1434, but that battle would not be fought for decades yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822539679

IRB Media

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Insights on Carrie Gibson's Empire's Crossroads

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The story of the modern Caribbean begins in a small port town in northern North Africa, almost within sight of the Iberian peninsula. On 25 July 1415, the feast day of St. James, Prince Henry of Portugal led a fleet of around 200 ships down the Tagus River to Atlantic Ocean.

#2

The Portuguese were struggling to get wheat and gold from Ceuta. The small kingdom was dependent on imports, and could not produce enough to meet its needs. It was trying to access a steady, dependable source of grain and gold.

#3

The legend of Prester John, a Christian king who had traveled to a faraway land, was used to encourage the search for him and his treasure. The story compelled people to search for him and his gold.

#4

Henry the Navigator contributed to the rise of Portugal’s maritime dominance in the fifteenth century, which resulted in part from his triumph in Ceuta. He was a leading ship owner, and he pushed Castile to invade Granada in 1419 and 1434, but that battle would not be fought for decades yet.

#5

Around the time of Henry’s foray into North Africa, there were profound changes in maritime techniques in the Mediterranean. The Portuguese and other European sailors, who had rounder hulls than their Arab counterparts, were able to sail farther than ever before.

#6

As the Portuguese began to explore the oceans, they realized that there were patterns that would allow them to go beyond the Pillars of Hercules into the unknown, and return in one piece. They began to expand their loop, catching the winds they needed.

#7

By 1482, when Diogo Cão pushed inland and made contact with the kingdom of Kongo, there was already a good deal of commerce with the people along the coast. These Africans, like the Portuguese, were quite happy to trade.

#8

Columbus was from a family of weavers, which was a disadvantage in a city where the wealthy made their fortunes in trading. He wanted to become a sailor, and he planned to do so through the sea.

#9

The slave trade was not limited to people from the Islamic world. Slaves in this period varied in background – there were Germanic and Slavic people, Tartars from the Black Sea, Saracens, and even Jews.

#10

The port of Genoa was not as important as it had been previously, as the rhythms of trade were changing. Genoa could no longer look to the East for trade, and its merchants began to finance European royal houses and Atlantic expeditions.

#11

Columbus’s move to Portugal around 1476 was an astute one. He had left a port on the decline for one that was not only on the rise, but also on the cutting edge of navigational knowledge. Sailors returned from voyages with tales of coastal Africa and of the Atlantic islands.

#12

By his calculations, Columbus believed he could navigate a passage to the East. He just needed to convince someone to fund it. The Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile had married in 1469, and in 1474 they began to rule as one the two kingdoms that would give them control of most of the Iberian peninsula.

#13

The Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella began the Reconquista, which was the final push to push Muslims out of Granada. They made a triumphant entrance into Granada on 6 January 1492, and the same day, almost 800 years of Muslim rule on the Iberian peninsula was brought to an end.

#14

The Spanish crown was eager to find a route to Asia, and they recruited Columbus to find it. He demanded the title of admiral in addition to viceroy over