What the European rulers were interested in hearing from their explorers in large part was information that would solidify their claims to new territories and lead to successful future voyages. Thus, the reports played important roles back in Europe as monarchs competed with each other and explorers vied for current and accurate intelligence on the activities of their rivals.

The different countries of Europe had much in common in the so-called age of exploration. For example, most experienced large population growths during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, and most people in Europe— perhaps 70 to 80 percent—belonged to the landless peasant class. Each nation had also developed larger merchant classes that could invest the capital necessary to provide ships and provisions for overseas expeditions.

Yet there were important differences among the Europeans who sponsored voyages to the New World...