re: #136 Romantic Heretic

Remember Ferdinand Magellan?

Left Spain with 5 ships and 270 men. One ship made it home and 19 survivors.

Didn’t stop other explorers.

I’m thinking that this interest in exploring is exaggerated in European cultures. Probably has something to do with the intense competition during the Renaissance. Every city-state and nation was trying to one up on the others.

China tried once, to my knowledge. But internal politics killed that.

The European Roman Catholic Church also played a large role in the rise of European exploration as many of the journeys were seen as essentially missions trips to not only discover new land but convert any of the locals who may be present.