Prince Henry of Portugal (called the Navigator) organised the coasting of West Africa and attacked Ceuta in . After that, more expeditions were organised, and the Portuguese established a trading station in Cape Bojador in Africa. Africans were captured and enslaved, and gold dust yielded the precious metal. In Spain, economic reasons encouraged individuals to become knights of the ocean.
The memory of the Crusades and the success of the Reconquista fanned private ambitions and gave rise to contracts known as capitulaciones . Under these contracts the Spanish ruler claimed rights of sovereignty over newly conquered territories and gave rewards to leaders of expeditions in the form of titles and the right to govern the conquered lands.