The Age of Discovery Long Questions:
2015: (Higher Level Only) Source Question 30 Marks
Source D
Source F:
An edited extract from Antonio Pigafetta’s account of Magellan’s voyage around the world:
On Wednesday, 28 November 1520, we entered into the Pacific sea, where we remained three months and twenty days without taking in provisions or other refreshments. We only ate old biscuits reduced to powder and full of grubs, and stinking from the dirt which the rats had made on it and we drank water that was yellow and stinking. We also ate the oxhides which were very hard because of the sun, rain, and wind. We left them for four or five days in the sea, and then we put them on the embers, and so ate them; also the sawdust of wood, and rats but enough of them were not to be got. Besides the above-named evils, this misfortune which I will mention was the worst, it was that the upper and lower gums of most of our men grew so much that they could not eat, and in this way nineteen died. I really think the likes of this voyage will not be seen again. Besides those who died, twenty-five or thirty fell ill of other sicknesses, both in the arms and legs, and other places, in such manner that very few remained healthy. However, thanks be to the Lord, I had no sickness. During those three months and twenty days, we ran fully four thousand leagues in the Pacific sea. This was well named Pacific, for during this same time we met with no storm, and saw no land except two small uninhabited islands, in which we found only birds and trees. www.archive.org
A. Sources D and E:
(i) Source D shows Prince Henry the Navigator. Mention one way he contributed to developments in sea travel during the age of exploration.
(ii) Name the Portuguese sailor who led the expedition to India, 1497 shown by a red line in Source E. (2)
(iii) Why did the expedition shown in source E keep so close, for the most part, to the African coast? (2)
(iv) Why did sailors go on voyages of discovery such as that shown in Source E? (2)
B. Source F:
(i) Why did the sailors have such a poor diet during their journey across the Pacific Ocean? (2)
(ii) How did they try to prepare the oxhides for eating? (2)
(iii) According to the writer, what was the worst misfortune? (2)
(iv) What do you think the writer meant when he wrote, ‘I really think the likes of this voyage will never be seen again’? (2)
(v) Many of the sailors on Magellan’s voyage died from scurvy. What caused this disease? (2)
C. Write an account of one of the following:
(a) The impact of exploration on the native populations in the New World.
(b) The benefits to European countries from such explorations.
(c) Conflicts between European countries as a result of the voyages. (12)
2014 (Higher Level Only) Q.6
(i) Give two reasons why rulers were prepared to sponsor voyages during the Age of Exploration. (2)
(ii) Explain the purpose of two of these aids to navigation. Astrolabe; Logbook; Log and Line; Sand-Glass. (2 x 2)
(iii) Identify two features of the caravel, which made it better than other sailing ships. (2 x 2)
(iv) Write an account of the contribution to the Age of Exploration of two of the following:
(a) Portugal’s contribution to the Age of Exploration.
(b) Hernando Cortes and the conquest of Mexico.
(c) The main effects of the voyages of exploration. (10 x 2)
2013 Q.4 People In History (B)
(i) A named leader on a voyage during the Age of Exploration. (20)
2012 Documents Question No.1:
Source:
DOCUMENT 1:
Extract from the eyewitness account of Antonio Pigafetta, diarist on Magellan’s voyage of discovery in the sixteenth century.
The natives shot so many arrows at us and hurled so many bamboo spears (some of them tipped with iron) at the captain that we could scarcely defend ourselves. Seeing that, the captain sent some men to burn their houses in order to terrify them. When they saw their houses burning, they were roused to greater fury. So many of them charged down upon us that they shot the captain through the right leg with a poisoned arrow. So, he ordered us to retire slowly, but the men took to fight, except six or eight of us who remained with the captain. The natives continued to pursue us, and picking up the same spear four or six times, hurled it at us again and again. Recognising the captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet off his head twice, but he always stood firmly like a good knight. An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but he immediately killed him with his lance .Then, trying to lay hand on sword, he could only draw it out halfway, because he had been wounded in the arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw that, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him on the left leg which caused the captain to fall face downward, when immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide.
‘The Death of Magellan, 1521,’ www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001)
Question:
(a) DOCUMENT 1
Extract from the eyewitness account of Antonio Pigafetta, diarist on Magellan’s voyage of discovery in the sixteenth century.
(i) In what way had the natives made their spears even more dangerous? (1)
(ii) According to the document, why did the captain send men to burn the natives’ houses? (2)
(iii) Does the writer respect the captain? Give one piece of evidence to support your answer. (2)
(iv) Give one advantage and one disadvantage of eyewitness accounts for historians. (2)
2012 Q.3 Short Questions (3 Questions):
(viii) Give two reasons why rulers were willing to sponsor voyages during the Age of Exploration.
(ix) Name and explain one instrument of navigation used during the Age of Exploration.
(x) Name the civilisation conquered by the Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
Note: In this section there are a number of multiple answer questions. For these I will only give one potential answer, however this may not be the only correct answer-For other potential answers visit the State Examinations Comission
2011Q.3 Short Questions (3 questions)
(vii) Explain why there was a great demand for spices in Europe around the year 1500.
(viii) Name two developments in boat-building or navigation which made possible longer sea voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries.
(ix) What was decided by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?
2010 Q.5 Source Question
Source
SOURCE D:
Privileges Granted by Their Catholic Majesties FERDINAND and ISABELLA to Columbus, 30th of April 1492.
You, Christopher Columbus, with some of our vessels (ships) and men, are commanded to discover and subdue some Islands and Continent in the ocean… Therefore it is but just and reasonable, that since you expose yourself to such danger to serve us, you should be rewarded for it. Our will is, that you, Christopher Columbus, shall be our Admiral, Viceroy, and Governor in the Islands and Continent you discover and conquer… and that for the future, your sons and successors may call themselves Dons, Admirals, Viceroys, and Governors of them; and that you may freely decide all causes, civil and criminal, as you shall think fit in justice, and that you have power to punish offenders.
SOURCE E:
X
Question
A. Source D:
(i)What command was given to Columbus? (2)
(ii) What rewards did the King and Queen grant Columbus? (2)
(iii) Why were rulers such as Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain willing to sponsor voyages of exploration? (2) (iv) Mention two dangers faced by sailors on voyages such as these. (2)
(v) Name two instruments which helped sailors to navigate while at sea during the age of exploration. (2)
B. Source E:
(i) Columbus returned to Spain with some inhabitants of the land he discovered (marked X). Why did Columbus call these men Indians? (2)
(ii) Name two new products brought from the New World to Europe by explorers or traders. (2)
(iii) Suggest two effects which voyages of exploration had on the native people of the New World. (4)
C. Write an account of one of the following:
(i) Achievements of the Portuguese voyages of exploration.
(ii) The conflict between European powers as a result of the voyages of exploration.
(iii) The Spanish conquest of either Mexico or Peru. (12)