The development and interchange of navigational information and technology between the maritime communities of Iberia, North-Western Europe and Asia, 1500-1620

Abstract

This thesis examines the development of navigational technology and its subsequent transmission through various means to the emergent maritime powers of Northwestern Europe. Since the fifteenth century the Portuguese, and to a lesser extent the Castillians had sought to impose a bureaucratic system of commercial security to prevent the exploitation by foreigners of the technical and cartographic knowledge available within their hydrographical agencies, navigation schools, and official trading monopolies. Some controversies over this are reviewed, but it is concluded that the most important feature of this technology was its international nature, even though until the 1540's this was disguised by Iberian security. This meant Portuguese sailors could share in a productive series of technical interchanges with Asian mariners after 1500.Possibly by the late sixteenth century they had come to rely too heavily on Asian information, Luso-Asian cartographers, and Asian pilots. This meant that once Northern Europe; powers had obtained translations of Iberian navigation manuals, and taken Iberian experts into their service, they could quickly attain such proficiency as to sail directly into Asian or Pacific waters and themselves participate in similar interchanges. This proved significant technically and politically because the Iberians were unable to place an effective security blanket on the interchange of navigational information in Asia. Asian waters had been typified by some long -standing traditions of relatively free interchange of such technology between seamen of different civilisations. Just as this mutually enriched Asian traditions, so it was also exploited by the Iberians and later European rivals. These interchanges are examined in chapters on the Arab, Indian, Indonesia, Pacific, Chinese, and Japanese interchanges. They hastened the development of a world economy, and the decline of the sixteenth century Portuguese Empire and monopoly of Asia's oceanic trade.