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European
traders, eager to bypass the Muslim-controlled overland routes to the land
of silk and spices, began a search for direct sea routes to the Indies earlier
this century. Portugal and Spain took the lead in launching these voyages.
In these last years of the 1400's, Christopher Columbus, a sea captain from
Genoa, the Italian city-state, claims to have reached the Indies on voyages
westward across the ocean. Columbus has been sailing on behalf of Ferdinand
and Isabella of Spain. Portuguese traders remain skeptical of the claim.
For
more information on the brave explorers of the 1400's, click
here.
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