Evaluate the extent to which economic factors led to state-sponsored maritime exploration during the period 1450-1750. (4-6 sentence response)

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the end of the Middle Ages, new economic and political theories began to be generated worldwide based on the accumulation of capital and the conquest of new territories to exploit them economically: mercantilism.

Mercantilism prompted European nations to compete with each other for which of them accumulated greater wealth and conquered greater territories: this promoted maritime exploration, since all wanted to acquire new territories not previously explored.