The Spanish and Portuguese take a sudden interest in overseas maritime expeditions in the fifteenth century because They sought to gain control of the spice trade and use its profits in the struggle against Islam.
INTERPRETATION -
In the mid 15th century after the Ottoman Empire defeated Byzantium, they cut the European spice trade. The Spanish decided to try and to India by sailing west--accidentally discovering the Americas--and the Portuguese went south around the south of Africa and up to India.
In order to control spice trade, the Portuguese established small forts to resupply ships and conquered cities in east Africa. Spice trade was the trade between ancient civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe.
The Portuguese and Spanish established themselves by building forts and trading out of them. Portugal established a pepper monopoly by 1504, and the importance of spice relied on the fact that spices were useful to mask the flavor of rancid or spoiled meat. For instance, meat was preserved by salting it.
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