S a result of the Age of Exploration, Western European nations A) became more and more isolated. B) opened up Asia for Western dominance. C) controlled more and more international trade. D) established the feudal system of landholding.

The answer is C.

The Age of Exploration encompasses from the 15th century to approximately the end of the 18th century, and it was characterized by the imperialist expansion of Western European nations around the world. During this period, mercantilism was the economic policy of European powers and, since it stressed the importance of the possession of precious metal for the wealth of a Nation-State, it encouraged them to look for gold and silver in distant regions. Therefore, the European powers needed to establish colonies in order to achieve this goal. These colonies became important nodes of the new global market that was taking shape and the European powers controlled all of it, producing a wide transfer of metals, species, slaves, food, plants, and animals among other commercial goods and communicable diseases between different parts of the world.