Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Actually I would argue that the Age of Exploration could not have occurred without the Crusades. The ideas and knowledge brought back to Europe during the Crusades triggered the Renaissance. It also stimulated a desire for exotic trade goods that, up to that point, had to travel through the Islamic middleman that made them very expensive in Europe. Finding a seaborne trade route around the Muslim controlled Silk Road was the main reason for the Age of Exploration.