An American history . was set down as part of Norse history. It wascarried eastward to the Orkney Islands. Two Italians ofnoble birth, the brothers Nicola and Antonio Zeno, heard thestory while visiting the Orkneys and resolved to explore theWest. The narrative left us by the Zenos tells of a visit toa great island in the West; of long wanderings in sea fog;of a western country which has not been identified; and ofexploring the coasts of Greenland. That is all we know ofthe earliest visit of the Italians to North America. THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 12. The Renaissance and Exploration. Ho
An American history . was set down as part of Norse history. It wascarried eastward to the Orkney Islands. Two Italians ofnoble birth, the brothers Nicola and Antonio Zeno, heard thestory while visiting the Orkneys and resolved to explore theWest. The narrative left us by the Zenos tells of a visit toa great island in the West; of long wanderings in sea fog;of a western country which has not been identified; and ofexploring the coasts of Greenland. That is all we know ofthe earliest visit of the Italians to North America. THE PROLOGUE TO AMERICAN HISTORY 12. The Renaissance and Exploration. However, the timehad come when ItaHans were to outdo all other peoples inmaking voyages and discoveries. Italy was then in the midstof that great awakening which we call the Renaissance. Aftera long neglect of thought, Europe rediscovered the dehght ofit, chiefly through rediscovering the classic writers of Greeceand Rome. One of the signs of the time was a passion forknowledge; another was the spirit of adventure. Thus. 0 Region of the Norse Discoveries (Southern Europeans, probably had no knowledge o£it,)^ THE KNOWN WORLD IN 1492 arose the Italian enthusiasm for travel, which the Zenos wereby no means the first to feel. Long before, Marco Polo hadset his countrymen a famous example. Lured eastward bythe tales of Arab traders, he made his way through Persia,across India, to China. His reports of the wonders of thosecountries — the silks, the spices, the gold and precious stones,the temples and palaces — opened to his countrymen a visionof magnificence which captivated their imagination. 13. The Problem of India. Trade between Italy and Indiahad long been carried on by the Arabs over caravan routesthrough western Asia. In the fifteenth century, however. 8 AMERICAN HISTORY the Turks, rude soldiers who despised commerce, conqueredmost of the Arabian world. They even entered Europe and in1453 fixed their capital at Constantinople. By these Turkishconquests overland trade betwee
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