Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/668

 612 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE matter and a new inspiration. Even more, perhaps, than the crusades the voyages of discovery aroused the spirit of adventure and represented energy and enterprise. The Atlantic was now destined to replace the Mediterranean as the chief waterway of Europe, and the states bordering on it rose successively to national greatness and took the lead as maritime powers, first Portugal and Spain, then the Dutch and English. These changes came about gradually and were largely in the future, but they give us further reason for closing our survey of the Middle Ages about the year 1500. Vasco da Gama's voyage marked the beginning of that European political and economic exploitation of the Far East and of Africa which is a prominent feature of modern history. The voyage of Columbus is not only one of the boundary stones betwaen the Middle Ages and modern times; it also reminds us that American history opens as medieval history closes.