There were several factors that allowed Europeans to boost commerce with Asian Empires during the 15th-16th centuries. First, ship and navigational technologies developed and progressed, allowing expanded seafaring routes with better ships like carracks and galleons. Second, with the Fall of Constantinople and Venetian domination of Mediterranean commerce, European states like Spain and Portugal decided to expand across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Third, Europeans learned more about the riches of the Orient, as seen through the stories by Marco Polo and his experiences in China. Fourth, the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan proved that the Earth was round, with his ships passing through the Straits of Magellan, through the Pacific Ocean, and landing in the Philippines. One ship returned through the Moluccas, across the Indian Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic, and eventually returning to Spain.
