Italian Renaissance decisively contributed to usher in the age of European domination.

Text 6 to answer questions 40 and 41. “The advances achieved in Italy and its environs show that, in terms of cultural and economic development, Europe was already diverging from the rest of the world before the end of the fifteenth century. However, the decisive breakthrough that prefigured the age of European domination was not the Italian Renaissance so much as the Iberian age of exploration. Beginning in the reign of Henrique the Navigator (1415-60), sailors from Portugal began to venture further away from Europe—first southwards, following the West African coast, and then all the way across the Atlantic, Indian and finally the Pacific oceans. These extraordinarily ambitious and hazardous voyages created a network of new oceanic trade routes that would rapidly transform the global economy from a patchwork of regional markets into a single world market. […]. The Portuguese did not arrive with many products of their own to offer Asian consumers (though they did bring some slaves and gold from West African outposts). That was not the point. Nor did they come as conquerors, intent on acquiring territory or new subjects for their king. What the Portuguese had was a series of technological advantages that made their bid to establish a new and superior trade network viable. […]. The Portuguese were not wrong that China presented a genuine economic opportunity. […]. Yet the Portuguese overplayed a weak hand. Simão de Andrade showed a crass disregard for local sensibilities. Without the consent of imperial officials, he built a fort at Tunmen, hanged a Portuguese sailor in violation of Chinese law, excluded non- Portuguese ships from the harbour and, when challenged, knocked a mandarin’s hat off. […]. Why then did the Portuguese ultimately prevail, to the extent of establishing Macau as a part of their network in 1557—an acquisition they proceeded to retain in their possession for more than 400 years? […]. First, the Chinese prohibition on trade proved unenforceable. New men arrived from Portugal—Leonel de Souza and Simão d’Almeida— who succeeded in establishing a foothold in the Guangdong trade. With the right incentives, officials […] could be turned from foes into business partners. Second, while the Chinese had won the early naval encounters, they had appreciated the superiority of Portuguese ships and cannon. Crucially, as compared with indigenous East Asian pirates, the Portuguese came to be regarded as the lesser evil. […]. After 1601, Portuguese and Chinese forces would fight together to repel new interlopers, from the Netherlands”.