OTHER EXPLORERS

                                                       Vasco Nuñez de Balboa                                                                                                                                                                                 Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean (in 1513), crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

In 1500, Balboa sailed with Rodrigo de Bastidas from Spain to Colombia, South America. They searched for treasures (pearls and gold) along the northern coast of South America and in the Gulf of Uraba (near San Sebastian). They were forced to abandon their leaky ship in Hispaniola. The penniless Balboa tried, unsuccessfully, to farm for a living.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Amerigo Vespucci                                                                                                                                                                                     Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1,000 A.D. and Christopher Columbus had already “discovered” several Caribbean and Central American islands, yet it’s Vespucci’s name that prevailed. Early accounts of Vespucci’s voyages, now believed to have been forgeries, had quickly spread throughout Europe. In 1507, using these letters as his guide, a German cartographer created a new map, naming the territory now known as South America in Vespucci’s honor. For the first time, the word “America” was in print.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Ferdinand Magellan                                               Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth (1519-1522). Magellan also named the Pacific Ocean (the name means that it is a calm, peaceful ocean).

Magellan was born in Northern Portugal (either in Sabrosa or in Oporto). His parents, Pedro Ruy de Magalhaes and Alda de Mezquita, were members of the nobility (they were wealthy and powerful).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Juan Sebastián Elcano                                      Elcano was born in 1476 to Domingo Sebastián Elcano I and Catalina del Puerto. He had three brothers: Domingo Elcano II, a Catholic priest, Martín Pérez Elcano, and Antón Martín Elcano.

Elcano settled in Seville and became a merchant ship captain. After violating Spanish laws by surrendering a ship to Genoan bankers in repayment of a debt, he sought a pardon from the Spanish king, by signing on as a subordinate officer for the Magellan expedition to the East Indies                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Printing press

The Invention of the Printing Press

in Design & Printing, General

Most of us tend to take printed materials for granted, but imagine life today if the printing press had never been invented. We would not have books, magazines or newspapers. Posters, flyers, pamphlets and mailers would not exist. The printing press allows us to share large amounts of information quickly and in huge numbers. In fact, it is so important that it has come to be known as one of the most important inventions of our time. It drastically changed the way society evolved. In this article, we will explore how the printing press came about, as well as how it affected culture.

Life before the printing press

Before the printing press was invented, any writings and drawings had to be completed painstakingly by hand. It wasn’t just anyone who was allowed to do this. Such work was usually reserved for scribes who lived and worked in monasteries. The monasteries had a special room called a “scriptorium.” There, the scribe would work in silence, first measuring and outlining the page layouts and then carefully copying the text from another book. Later the illuminator would take over to add designs and embellishments to the pages. In the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, books were usually only owned by monasteries, educational institutions or extremely rich people. Most books were religious in nature. In some cases, a family might be lucky enough to own a book, in which case it would be a copy of the Bible.

• Early Opinions About Books
• How Were Books Made in Earlier Times?
• A Look at Medieval Manuscripts
• Changes in the History of Printing and Books

Inspiration and invention of the printing press

Around the late 1430s, a German man named Johann Gutenberg was quite desperate to find a way to make money. At the time, there was a trend in attaching small mirrors to one’s hat or clothes in order to soak up healing powers when visiting holy places or icons. The mirrors themselves were not significant, but Gutenberg quietly noted how lucrative it was to create mass amounts of a cheap product. During the 1300s to 1400s, people had developed a very basic form of printing. It involved letters or images cut on blocks of wood. The block would be dipped in ink and then stamped onto paper. Gutenberg already had previous experience working at a mint, and he realized that if he could use cut blocks within a machine, he could make the printing process a lot faster. Even better, he would be able to reproduce texts in great numbers. However, instead of using wood blocks, he used metal instead. This was known as a “movable type machine,” since the metal block letters could be moved around to create new words and sentences. With this machine, Gutenberg made the very first printed book, which was naturally a reproduction of the Bible. Today the Gutenberg Bible is an incredibly valuable, treasured item for its historical legacy.

• Who Was Johann Gutenberg?
• Finding Inspiration for the Printing Press
• Creating the Printing Press
• How Gutenberg Built His Press
• Quick Notes on Gutenberg’s Press

How the printing press works

With the original printing press, a frame is used to set groups of type blocks. Together, these blocks make words and sentences; however, they are all in reverse. The blocks are all inked and then a sheet of paper is laid on the blocks. All of this passes through a roller to ensure that the ink is transferred to the paper. Finally when the paper is lifted, the reader can see the inked letters that now appear normally as a result of the reversed blocks. These printing presses were operated by hand. Later towards the 19th century, other inventors created steam-powered printing presses that did not require a hand operator. In comparison, today’s printing presses are electronic and automated, and can print far faster than ever before!

• Printing Presses in the 18th Century
• The Concept of Movable Type
• How the First Printing Press Functioned
• See How a Modern Printing Press Works

Impact of the printing press

Gutenberg’s invention made a dramatic impact when it reached the public. At first, the noble classes looked down on it. To them, hand-inked books were a sign of luxury and grandeur, and it was no match for the cheaper, mass-produced books. Thus, printed materials were at first more popular with the lower classes. When word spread about the printing press, other print shops opened and soon it developed into an entirely new trade. Printed texts became a new way to spread information to vast audiences quickly and cheaply. Academics benefited from this dissemination of scholarly ideas and even politicians found that they could garner the public’s interest through printed pamphlets. An important side effect was that people could read and increase their knowledge more easily now, whereas in the past it was common for people to be quite uneducated. This increased the discussion and development of new ideas. Another significant effect was that the printing press was largely responsible for Latin’s decline as other regional languages became the norm in locally printed materials.

• Impact of the Printing Revolution
• Changes Brought About by the Printing Press
• Societal Effects of the Printing Press
• What Effects Did the Printing Press Have?                     

                                                          

Medieval institutions in spain.

In the western part of the peninsula appeared three major political centers: the kingdoms of Portugal, León and Castile. Portugal followed a distinct history and León and Castile lived a complex process in which both crowns were united and disunited along the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Finally Ferdinand III of Castile took place the definitive union in 1230.

The territorial organization of the kingdom was very complex. Within the kingdom of Castile was the kingdom of Galicia, the lordship of Biscay and Álava and Guipúzcoa. So the king had the titles of King of Castile, Leon, lord of Biscay ...

The political history of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was really complex and was full of crisis. The strengthening of royal power by Alfonso XI got the approval of the Ordinance of Alcala in 1348, was followed by a brutal civil war crisis between Pedro I the Cruel and Henry II of Castile. The victory of the latter brought a new dynasty, the Trastámara, power and strengthening ("enriqueñas grants") nobiliar power.

Castilla failed to annexation of Portugal in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385).

In the fifteenth century, the reigns of John II and Henry IV saw major internal conflicts in which the nobility reinforced their positions. A Henry IV was succeeded by his sister Isabella of Castile, the future Isabella. The king looked assisted in his action by various central government institutions: the Royal Council, the Court, in charge of the administration of justice, and the Royal Treasury, responsible for taxes.

In these centuries were built two key institutions for the real power: a permanent Royal Army and increasingly complex bureaucracy, consisting of lawyers, experts trained in universities.

In the twelfth century (1188) were born Courts, estates assembly composed of representatives of the nobility, clergy and towns. The agency had no legislative power but decided on extraordinary taxes and had the ability to petition the king.

The local administration was based on the institution of councils. Councils Councils or terminated under the control of urban oligarchies (nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie)