Before Columbus's voyages, where had Europeans gained experience in colonization?

Before Christopher Columbus's voyages in the late 15th century, the European experience with colonization, though limited as compared to what followed in the Age of Discovery, included several important and formative ventures.

1. The Crusades: Between the 11th and 13th centuries, European Christians launched military campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean aiming to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim control. These Crusades were not colonial in the modern sense but did involve the establishment of small Christian states, such as the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which required administrative governance and settlement.

2. The Reconquista: This was a series of campaigns by Christian states in the Iberian Peninsula to recapture territory taken by Muslims. By the late 15th century, this had resulted in the consolidation of Spain and had provided experience in military conquest, re-population, and integration of diverse cultures.

3. The Hanseatic League: A commercial and defensive alliance of merchant guilds and their market towns, it dominated Baltic maritime trade for three centuries from the 13th century onwards. Although not a colonization in a strict sense, the league established trading posts and exerted economic control which laid the groundwork for later colonial enterprise in terms of commerce and administration.

4. The Norse Settlements: Norsemen, also known as Vikings, established settlements in various parts of the North Atlantic, including Greenland and a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland (L'Anse aux Meadows), long before Columbus. These were among the earliest European settlements in the New World, albeit they did not last long.

5. The Atlantic islands: By the 15th century, the Portuguese began exploring the Atlantic Ocean, discovering and colonizing the uninhabited Azores and Madeira Islands. These became important bases for further exploration and the development of trading networks.

6. The Mediterranean: Venice, Genoa, and other maritime republics established colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean Sea, including on islands like Cyprus and Crete, as well as in coastal areas of the Balkans and Black Sea.

These activities provided Europeans with various forms of colonial experience, involving military conquest, economic exploitation, religious conversion, and governance of newly acquired territories, all of which influenced later colonial ventures initiated in the wake of Columbus's voyages.