This tutorial has discussed how the social, political and economic history of Iberia produced two kingdoms, Portugal and Spain, that had the resources and the motivation to pioneer the early exploration of the world's oceans. After nearly seven centuries of war against the Moors, the peoples of Portugal and Spain had developed a strong militant spirit and a tradition of land expansion based on conquest. Portugal, a country of one and a half million people, was comparatively poor and had few options open to it but to pursue a policy of overseas expansion. The expense of pursuing such a policy meant that the voyages of exploration had to be economically viable. Thus initial exploration was on a small-scale, financed by individuals who sought a quick profit from the colonisation and exploitation of the Atlantic Islands, and from the opening up of trade with West Africa. These fifteenth-century navigators persisted in their explorations because they were able to glean more information on the wealth (often exaggerated) of the western Sudan, the gold, ivory and slaves of the Guinea coast, and the successful colonisation of the southern Atlantic. In the latter part of that century the goal of finding the source of the spice trade made discovering a sea-route to India the first priority of the Portuguese monarchy.

The seeking of profit was a primary motivator for exploration but so was the desire to expand Europe's knowledge about the world. Columbus was a good example of how explorers learned from practical seamen the characteristics of the Atlantic wind system and were bold enough to risk everything to prove their accuracy. Another critical motivator in the early days of exploration was Christian conversion. The Portuguese and Spanish still retained the militant spirit nurtured by the long conflict of the Reconquista. This legacy of the Reconquista motivated the Christian monarchs not only to seek out an ally against Islam but also to find vast populations to convert to the Christian faith.

Once the financial benefits of overseas expansion had been proven by the independent expeditions, the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies began to take a more active interest in exploration and financed their own expeditions. These Crown-sponsored voyages had a different goal than just making a quick profit. Instead their intent was to expand their kingdoms' influence by establishing a presence in new territories. Thus, Portugal's King Manuel sponsored Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea-route to India. Portugal then set out to exploit the wealth of India's spice trade by creating a trade monopoly in Asia. The Spanish went a step beyond economic domination to complete political control over the territories in the New World that its subjects discovered and conquered. Both strategies were successful and provided Portugal and Spain with the financial resources that subsidised their various ambitions for empires.

The end of the sixteenth century found the modest resources of Portugal exhausted under the strain of maintaining a global empire. Then disaster struck in 1578 when the young King Sebastian of Portugal was killed during his African crusade. This left the Portuguese throne vacant, an irresistible opportunity for Sebastian's uncle, King Philip II of Spain. Philip II annexed Portugal in 1580. This created a union that gave Philip a new Atlantic seaboard, a fleet to help protect it, and a second empire that stretched from Africa to Brazil, and from Calicut to the Moluccas. Portugal remained a province of the Spanish Empire until 1640. Even after its independence had been regained, Portugal's dominance over the Eastern trade had been lost to the English and Dutch in 1600. The days of empire were clearly finished for Portugal, an unfortunate end for the kingdom that had opened the door for Europe, geographically and psychologically, to the rest of the world. The end of the sixteenth century saw the beginning of the political, economic, and social globalisation of the world, a process that continues to the present day.

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