Short answers, pulled from the story.
The joint rulers of Castile and Aragon funded Christopher Columbus's expedition in 1492. On the 3rd of August 1492 Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera to begin his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored the Portuguese systematic exploration of the Atlantic coast of Africa beginning in 1418. He invested in voyages down the coast of Mauritania and established settlements on Madeira in 1419 and the Azores in 1427.
Ferdinand Magellan's fleet departed from Seville on the 10th of August 1519 with five ships and a crew of about 237 European men. The Victoria returned to Spain on the 6th of September 1522 completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Portugal and Spain in 1494. This agreement granted Portugal control over Africa Asia and eastern South America while giving Spain everything west of a line drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands.
Religious orders such as the Franciscans Dominicans Augustinians and Jesuits partook in most missionary endeavours in the New World. Their presence increased by the late 16th and 17th centuries as they sought to reassert their power and revive Catholic culture.