Vikings Exploration
Who led a Viking group from Greenland to North America?
Leif Erickson
From which Italian city‑state did the merchant‑explorer Marco Polo hail?
Venice
Which nation sponsored Bartolomeu Dias’s exploration?
Portugal
Columbus was an explorer from which European country?
Italy
What is the Reconquista
What nickname did this explorer earn for his fortunate adventures?
The Lucky
Roughly how many years before Columbus did Marco Polo travel and document his journeys?
~150 years
What major geographic discovery did Dias accidentally make in 1488?
The Cape of Good Hope, the way around Africa into the Indian Ocean
What was Columbus’s plan for reaching India that differed from traditional routes?
Sail directly west
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
What did the Vikings call their North American settlement that didn’t last long?
Vinland
In which region did Marco Polo spend over two decades, later chronicling his experiences in a book?
China
Dias’s route eventually connected Europe to which South Asian country?
India
Which king did Columbus first approach for funding, and what was his response?
King of Portugal, King John II
After finishing the Reconquista, why were Ferdinand and Isabella willing to finance Columbus’s expedition?
They needed money!
Near which modern country’s coast was Vinland likely located?
Canada
Name two innovations or goods Europeans learned about through Marco Polo’s writings.
Examples include eyeglasses, paper money, the postal service, or gunpowder
Did Dias make his discovery before or after Columbus' voyage?
Before
Name the two Spanish monarchs who ultimately sponsored Columbus’s voyage and state which long conflict they had just completed.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
Which European kingdom refused Columbus’s request for support before he sought Spanish backing?
Portugal
What happened to the Viking settlement in Vinland after it was founded?
It was abandoned
Which empire controlled Europe’s connections to Asia and the rest of the world in the late 1400s, prompting Europeans to seek sea routes?
The Ottoman Empire
Why were Europeans motivated to find sea routes around Africa instead of overland routes to Asia?
The enemy of Christian Europe, the Ottoman Empire controlled the Silk Road.
What were the names of the three ships Columbus sailed on his 1492 voyage?
Niña, Pinta, Santa María
Who did Isabella and Ferdinand reconquer Spain from?
The Moors