Then in the 15th century Italian investors worked with Portuguese mariners to establish plantations in the Atlantic Islands. Italian mariners had organized sugar plantations in Palestine and the Mediterranean Islands since 12 century. Because the European demand for sugar was so strong, establishing sugar plantations in the Atlantic Islands was very temptingĪ. They also called often to the Canary islands inhabited by the indigenous Guanche people which Italian and Iberian mariners had visited since the earlier 14th century.ģ. By the 14th century they had discovered the inhabited Azores and Madeiras Islands.Ī. Originally seeking fish, seals, whales, timber and lands where they could grow wheat to supplement the small resources of Portugal.Ģ.
It wasn't until the 13th century when Portuguese seamen ventured away from the coasts and into the Atlantic Ocean.
1) Portuguese explorers where most prominent in the search from fresh resources to exploit and lands to cultivate.Ī.
