The Age of Exploration – four great voyages
HistoryAncient & Medieval WorldAges 12–13
Use it with your class: students open it from a link or a QR code, with no account needed.
Next in Ancient & Medieval World
An interactive world map with a timeline you can drag from 1480 to 1530. Drag the marker or press Play to watch the ships of Dias, Columbus, da Gama and Magellan set out one by one and sail their real routes, with distance travelled and completed voyages tracked live. Click a route to see its start year, destination and outcome, or turn on the consequences layer to see how these voyages reshaped world trade.
Lesson: The voyages of discovery and the rise of capitalist relations of production in Western Europe
What it shows
In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, sturdier ships, the compass and better charts let European sailors cross open oceans in search of a sea route to the spices, silk and gold of Asia. The map follows four voyages: Bartolomeu Dias rounding the Cape of Good Hope (1487–1488), Christopher Columbus reaching the Caribbean (1492), Vasco da Gama reaching Calicut in India (1497–1498) and Magellan's expedition completing the first circumnavigation (1519–1522). Each route follows its real path. The consequences layer links the voyages to growing world trade, European merchant wealth and the colonisation of the Americas and Africa.
How to use
Set Starting year on the timeline to 1486 and press Play to watch the four fleets leave in order; lower Timeline speed to follow a single route closely. Choose one voyage in Route shown to trace its path, destination and the percentage completed, then return to All to compare the routes. Turn on Show consequences of the voyages to discuss how the new sea routes changed world trade.
Parameters you can change
- Starting year on the timeline 1480–1525 year
- Route shown All, B. Dias, C. Columbus, V. da Gama, F. Magellan
- Show consequences of the voyages
- Timeline speed 0.2–3 ×
Questions to explore
- Which voyage proved that the Earth can be sailed around, and how many years did it take?
- Where did Columbus believe he had arrived, and where had he actually landed?
- Why did the Portuguese sail south around Africa while Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic?
