Known as the “Spider King,” King Louis XI (1423–1483) was ruler of France from 1461 to 1483. Through a “spider web of conspiracies” (hence his nickname), alliances, and plain brute force, Louis reduced the power of local lords, largely eliminating the feudal system in France and replacing it with a united monarchy.
Henry Hudson (unknown–1611) was the English explorer who “discovered” the river that would named for him. In 1609, Hudson was chosen by the Dutch East India Company to search for a passage to Asia. In September of that year, Hudson landed on the shores of what would become the Hudson River and claimed the lands along it for the Dutch. In addition to exploring the river, Hudson was the first European to land on the island that would become New York. He also explored the Hudson Strait and entered the Hudson Bay, both of which also bear his...
Elizabeth I (1533–1603) ruled England during the early colonization of the Americas. During her reign, explorers like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake explored the Americas for Britain.
Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) was the Spanish explorer and conquistador who conquered the Aztec empire.
Though born in the Republic of Florence (Italy), like many others from the trading city-states on the Mediterranean, Vespucci (1451–1512) became a mariner and explorer for another country. While in the employ of the Medici family of bankers, he was sent to work in the family’s bank in Spain. While there he came to the attention of King Manuel I of Portugal, who hired him to be an observer on several voyages to explore the portion of the Americas acquired through the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. Several published accounts of these voyages...
Bartolomé de Las Casas (ca. 1485–1566) was a Spaniard and a Dominican friar who advocated for the rights of American Indians. Las Casas spoke and wrote about Spanish cruelties perpetrated upon the Indians, convincing the Spanish Council of Valladolid to rule in behalf of humane treatment of the Indians in 1551, and publishing A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1552.
Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1478–1541) was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire.
Christopher Columbus was a sailor and navigator (ca. 1454–1514) born in the Republic of Genoa. He embarked early on a naval career and then, at the age of 21, entered a formal apprenticeship as a merchant/trader. Following the writings of the classical geographer Ptolemy, Columbus, like most of his generation, understood that the world was round, but like Ptolemy, Columbus believed that it was much smaller than it actually is. This error suggested to him that it would be possible to sail westward from Europe and arrive in Asia more easily...
The King of Aragon and Queen of Castile and León, Ferdinand (1452–1516) and Isabella (1541–1504) married in 1469. Their marriage united the three provinces and formed the basis for both a unified Reconquista effort in Spain, which was completed successfully in 1492, and a unified Spanish nation. Their desire to compete with Portugal in Atlantic exploration and trading led to their sponsorship of Christopher Columbus’s voyages, which opened the New World to exploitation and colonization.
As Henry Tudor (1457–1509), King Henry VII was the leading member of the House of Lancaster, one of two contending houses making claim to the English throne. Between 1455 and 1485 the Houses of Lancaster and York fought the “Wars of the Roses,” so called for the color symbolizing each house—white for Lancaster, red for York. In 1485, Henry’s forces defeated those of rival Richard III. Tudor, now King Henry VII, unified the kingdom by marrying Elizabeth of York, forming the House of Tudor (represented by a red and white rose). He remained on...