The Age of Exploration (15th-17th Century) Trivia Word Search

Sponsored by Walter Raleigh, this English colony on the Carolina coast mysteriously vanished in the late 1580s.

This Portuguese navigator became the first European to round the southern tip of Africa in 1488.

This French navigator explored the St. Lawrence River in the 1530s and claimed the region for France.

King _ _ _ _ II of Portugal initially rejected Columbus's proposal before later sponsoring African exploration.

After Magellan's death, this Basque navigator completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1522.

European explorers prized the Moluccas for nutmeg and cloves, nicknaming this archipelago the _ _ _ _ _ Islands.

This Spanish explorer led the first European expedition down the entire length of the Amazon River.

Ferdinand Magellan named this ocean for its relatively calm waters after his fleet rounded South America.

Vasco da Gama's fleet met a hostile welcome at this Swahili-coast port in 1498, then found a friendlier one at Malindi.

Magellan was killed in 1521 in a battle on this small Philippine island against a local chieftain's forces.

Portuguese shipwrights developed this fast ship type, able to sail closer to the wind than earlier vessels.

Sponsored by Spain, this Genoese navigator crossed the Atlantic in 1492 seeking a western route to Asia.

In 1492, cartographer Martin Behaim built the oldest surviving example of this spherical world map.

Spanish explorers in South America chased rumors of this mythical city of gold, never finding it.

Portugal's Corte-Real brothers explored this icy island, reached by Norse sailors centuries before.

Portuguese navigator Diogo Cao explored the mouth of this major West African river in 1482.

Once native to the Americas but long extinct there, these animals returned with Spanish explorers in the 1500s.

_ _ _ _ _ _ de Albuquerque, a Portuguese admiral, seized Goa and Malacca to build an Indian Ocean trading empire.

One of the five ships in Magellan's original fleet shared its name with the patron saint of Spain.

This Florentine explorer argued Columbus's discoveries were a wholly new continent -- later named after him.

European contact spread this deadly disease, devastating Indigenous populations with no prior immunity.

Russian expansion across this vast, resource-rich region began in earnest in the late 16th century.

This Filipino chieftain's forces killed Ferdinand Magellan in battle; he is honored today as a national hero.

This Spanish conquistador led the conquest of the Inca Empire, capturing its emperor at Cajamarca in 1532.

This Spanish conquistador conquered the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521.

Hernando de _ _ _ _ led the first documented European expedition to reach the Mississippi River, in 1541.

Columbus's first landfall in the Americas was this Bahamian island, which he renamed San Salvador.

Frobisher and Hudson both searched in vain for a Northwest _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to Asia through North America.

Accurately measuring this coordinate at sea remained an unsolved problem throughout the Age of Exploration.

Indigenous peoples introduced European explorers to this plant, later smoked and traded across the Atlantic.

Juan Ponce de Leon named this peninsula for the Spanish phrase for 'flowery,' reflecting the season he landed.

This handheld instrument let sailors estimate their latitude by measuring the angle of the sun or a star.

Pizarro and Almagro's conquest of the Inca Empire centered on the region that is now this South American country.

Spain built these large, armed cargo ships to carry silver and goods across the Atlantic from its colonies.

Francisco Pizarro conquered this South American empire, centered in the Andes, in the early 1530s.

Columbus's flagship on his 1492 voyage was named Santa _ _ _ _ _, honoring the Virgin Mary.

Portuguese traders established this settlement on the southern Chinese coast in 1557.

This Aztec emperor ruled when Cortes and his soldiers arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1519.

Adapted from Islamic astronomers, this instrument let sailors measure a star's angle above the horizon.

Sailing for England out of Bristol in 1497, this Italian-born navigator reached the coast of North America.

The Spanish viceroyalty built atop conquered Aztec territory was officially known as New _ _ _ _ _.

This was the smallest of Columbus's three ships on his first Atlantic crossing in 1492.

Queen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I of England knighted Francis Drake aboard his ship after his circumnavigation voyage.

This Spanish port city controlled all official trade with Spain's American colonies through a royal trading house.

Named for a Seville convent of Our Lady of Victory, this was the only ship of Magellan's fleet to complete the circumnavigation.

Magellan's fleet landed on this Pacific island, later a US territory, in 1521 before reaching the Philippines.

This English courtier sponsored the ill-fated Roanoke colony without ever settling in the Americas himself.

Portuguese sailors had to cross this imaginary line circling the globe on their voyages down the African coast.

This conquistador partnered with Pizarro to conquer Peru before the two fell out and fought each other.

Rumors of gold in this legendary West African city helped draw European explorers toward the Sahara's edge.

Cortes ruled New Spain as captain general until 1535, when Antonio de Mendoza became its first _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

This triangular sail, borrowed from Arab and Mediterranean ships, let caravels sail closer into the wind.

This conquistador led a major expedition through the American Southwest searching in vain for cities of gold.

This Cossack leader began Russia's conquest of Siberia for the Tsar in the 1580s.

Founded in 1607, this was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

This Portuguese navigator led the first circumnavigation of the globe (1519-1522) but died before it finished.

King _ _ _ _ _ _ I of Portugal sponsored both Vasco da Gama's voyage to India and Cabral's landing in Brazil.

Known as the 'Father of New France,' this French explorer founded Quebec City in 1608.

This Indian coastal territory, conquered by Albuquerque in 1510, became the capital of Portugal's Asian empire.

King _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ II of Aragon co-sponsored Columbus's voyages together with his wife Isabella.

Sailors relied on this magnetized instrument, already known for centuries, to keep a steady heading on open water.

Albuquerque's 1511 conquest of this Malay port city gave Portugal control of a key spice-trade chokepoint.

Also called the Spice Islands, this archipelago was the world's only source of nutmeg and cloves in the 1500s.

This Portuguese captain, blown off course en route to India in 1500, landed in Brazil and claimed it for Portugal.

Navigators consulted printed tables like this one to calculate star positions and plan their course at sea.

Prince _ _ _ _ _ of Portugal sponsored the early voyages that launched the Age of Exploration.

Columbus's fleet made its final resupply stop at these Spanish Atlantic islands before crossing to the Americas.

Sailing for the Dutch East India Company in 1606, this navigator was the first recorded European to sight Australia.

This Portuguese capital served as the launching point for da Gama's fleet on its voyage to India.

This was the name of Magellan's own flagship, distinct from the Victoria, which completed the circumnavigation.

Hernan Cortes toppled this Mesoamerican empire, centered on the city of Tenochtitlan, between 1519 and 1521.

Juan Ponce de _ _ _ _ led the first Spanish expedition to Florida in 1513 and was Puerto Rico's first governor.

This Andean staple crop, unknown in Europe before the Columbian Exchange, later became a European dietary staple.

Ferdinand Magellan navigated a narrow channel near South America's southern tip that now bears his name.

This Inca emperor was captured and later executed by Pizarro's forces at Cajamarca in 1532.

Samuel de Champlain founded this Canadian city, later the capital of New France, in 1608.

In 1541-42, Francisco de Orellana became the first European to navigate the full length of this great river.

This English navigator made three Arctic voyages searching for a Northwest Passage in the 1570s.

Dias first called Africa's southern tip the Cape of Storms; King John II renamed it the Cape of Good _ _ _ _.

Pedro Alvares Cabral's 1500 landing gave Portugal a claim to this South American territory.

Portugal's 1415 capture of this North African city is often cited as the symbolic start of the Age of Exploration.

Vasco da Gama's fleet reached this Indian port city in 1498, opening a direct sea trade route to Asian spices.

This Flemish cartographer's 1569 map projection, still used today, was designed to aid sea navigation.

Columbus explored this island in 1492, initially mistaking it for part of mainland Asia.

Queen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I of Castile personally sponsored Columbus's 1492 voyage alongside her husband Ferdinand.

Along with the Nina and the Santa Maria, this caravel completed Columbus's first transatlantic fleet.

These mid-Atlantic Portuguese islands served as a key waypoint for ships heading toward Africa and the Americas.

This English sea captain became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, completing the voyage in 1580.

This Dutch navigator's 1642 voyage was the first to reach New Zealand and the island now named for him.

Magellan's expedition named this South American region after encountering unusually tall local people.

Cortes's conquest of the Aztec Empire laid the foundation for the Spanish colony that became this modern country.

Vasco da _ _ _ _ opened Portugal's sea route around Africa to India, reaching Calicut in 1498.

This Dutch navigator searched repeatedly for a Northeast Passage to Asia; an Arctic sea is now named after him.

A 1529 treaty signed in this Spanish city set the line dividing Portuguese and Spanish claims in Asia.

This English navigator explored a great bay bearing his name before his crew mutinied and set him adrift.