The European Age of Exploration can be compared to the Renaissance in many ways. Both of these periods had great cultural advancements that greatly impacted the neighboring lands and changed the way people began to think. The emergence of new ideas and technology is relative to the similar aspects of the Renaissance.

In the Renaissance, the idea of Humanism played an enormous role in all aspects of culture, including literature, philosophy, and politics. The beliefs of this age were all revolving around the importance of the human, that man was the center of nature and deserved to be recognized above all everything else. This was a very different idea, completely different from the accepted idea of a superior god that humans would spend their lives appeasing him.

This relates to the Age of Exploration in that an important alternative idea was presented during this period as well. The...