• The Crusades weakened the feudal nobility (craft industries and commerce developed in cities, leading to the rise of wealthy merchants).
  
  
• Spices were introduced to Europe through the Crusades.
  
  
• Led by the Portuguese and the Spanish, Europeans ventured beyond the Mediterranean into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
  
  
• Advances in shipbuilding technology made it possible to build large sailing ships by combining the strengths of Viking ships and Mediterranean vessels.
  
  

  Introduction of the compass and navigational instruments from the Islamic world. Columbus discovered the New World (1492). Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India (1498). Magellan's voyage around the world (1519) proved that the Earth is round. Firearms were introduced to Tanegashima, Japan (1543).

The Rise of England

• Anglo-Spanish War ? the English navy defeated the Spanish Armada (1588).
  
  
• England monopolized the wealth of the Americas.
  
  

Queen Elizabeth I reigned (1558-1603)

"England is a paradise for women, a purgatory for men, and a hell for horses."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)