Iberian ship development, 1400–1600

Iberian kingdoms made major contributions in maritime innovation to the Age of Discovery. The exploration and colonization of the world by Spain and Portugal was made possible by the ships that the Iberians developed and sailed.

Improvements in ship technology allowed for the continuing expansion of Iberian trade and Iberian influence in the world. Developments in shipbuilding continued so long as there existed a demand to cross the seas. Expansion into new lands introduced, for example, Mesoamerican goods to Iberian society. Shipbuilding had been continually evolving since the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when EuropeanChristians were in conflict with Muslim powers and the boundary between the two kingdoms kept getting pushed southward. When the boundary crossed the sea to Africa, Iberian Kingdoms needed improved ships to travel there to continue the Reconquista, and later to establish colonies.

Due to centuries of constant conflict, warfare and daily life in the Iberian Peninsula were interlinked. Small, lightly equipped armies were maintained at all times. The near-constant state of war resulted in a need for maritime experience, ship technology, power, and organization. The Crown of Aragon, Portugal, and later Castile, to put their efforts into the sea.

Due to geography, Iberian countries had greater access to the sea than did much of Europe; this allowed the Iberian kingdoms to become a people of mariners and traders. These people had the motivation to move; they were close to the wealth of Africa and the Mediterranean. Expansion and development of ship technology were due to commercial, military and religious endeavors.

By 1411, Portugal was no longer fighting Castile. In 1415, it conquered Ceuta, its first overseas colony. The crusades cemented trade and external alliances. Portugal wanted to protect its coast from Muslim raids and secured their base in the Mediterranean. They were able to attack Muslim commerce while taking part in the trade of gold, slaves, and ivory that tended to be part of all As a seafaring people in the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Portuguese became natural leaders of exploration during the Middle Ages. Faced with the options of either accessing other European markets by sea, by exploiting its seafaring prowess, or by land, and facing the task of crossing Castile and Aragon territory, it is not surprising that goods were sent via the sea to England, Flanders, Italy and the Hanseatic league towns.

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