Nekeisha Maxie
Chapters 8, 9, 10
Chapter 8
Highways are being built in Africa and Asia.
-Process of globalization
-Global commerce
Exchange of goods between different demographics: Silk Roads
-“for two thousand years, goods, ideas, technologies, and diseases made their way across Eurasia on several routes of the silk roads” p. 219
-Silk is the highest commodity across Eurasia
-Sea roads: sea-based commerce in the Indian Ocean
-Sand roads: exchange across the Sahara
-Monopolized products (imports and exports)
- The American Web: “ Transcontinental interactions within the American web were more modest than those of the Afro-Eurasia hemisphere. The most intense areas of exchange and communication occurred within the Mississippi valley, Mesoamerica, and Andean regions
-Trade between different countries became more important than ever in 500–1500 c.e.
-Communication and exchange across Eurasia was important
- Goods, cultures, and disease in transit
Significance of Trade:
-Altered consumption
-Encouraged specialization
-Diminished economic self-sufficiency of local societies
-Traders often became a distinct social group
-Sometimes was a means of social mobility
-Provided prestige goods for elites
-Sometimes the wealth from trade motivated state creation
-Religious ideas, technological innovations, plants and animals, and disease also spread along trade routes
The network of commerce is a feature of the third-wave civilizations.
-Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia
-The Growth of the Silk Roads
-Eurasia is often divided into inner and outer zones with different ecologies
-Outer Eurasia: relatively warm, well-watered (China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean)
-Inner Eurasia: harsher, drier climate, much of it pastoral (eastern Russia, Central Asia)
Creation of classical civilizations and imperial states in 500–0 b.c.e. included efforts to control pastoral peoples
-By early centuries of the Common Era, there was a network of transcontinental exchange, often brokered by pastoral peoples
-In seventh and eighth centuries, the Byzantine Empire, Abbasid dynasty, and Tang dynasty created a belt of strong states
In thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Mongol Empire controlled almost the entirety of the Silk Roads
Goods in Transit
-A vast array of goods traveled along the Silk Roads, often by camel
-Mostly luxury goods for the elite
-At first, China had a monopoly on silk technology
-Led to drain of resources from Roman Empire to east
-Romans regarded silk as morally decadent
-By the sixth century c.e., other peoples produced silk
Byzantine Empire, Korea, Japan, India, Persia
-Silk was used as currency in Central Asia
-Silk was a symbol of high status
-Sumptuary laws restricted silk clothing to the elite in China and the Byzantine Empire
-Silk was linked to the sacred in Buddhism and Christianity
-Silk industry only developed in Western Europe in twelfth century
-Peasants in the Yangzi River delta of southern China produced market goods (silk, paper, porcelain, etc.) instead of crops
Cultures in Transit
-Cultural transmission was more important than exchange of goods
-Spread along Silk Roads through Central and East Asia
-Conversion was heavy in the oasis cities of Central Asia
-Monasteries provided rest stops for merchants
-Many of the Central Asian cities became centers of learning and commerce
-Spread much more slowly among Central Asian pastoralists
-Monasticism is central to Buddhism, but pastoralists are nomads
-Shi Le, ruler of the nomadic Jie people (ruled northern China after collapse of Han), accepted conversion along with thousands of others, thanks to the monk Fotudeng
-Buddhism was transformed during its spread
-Monasteries became rich and involved in secular affairs
-Mahayana form of Buddhism flourished
-Picked up Greek influences
Disease in Transit
-The major population centers of the Afro-Eurasian world developed characteristic disease patterns and ways to deal with them
-Long-distance trade meant exposure to unfamiliar diseases
-Early case: great epidemic in Athens in 430–429 b.c.e.
-534–750 c.e., bubonic plague from India ravaged Mediterranean world
-The Black Death spread thanks to the Mongol Empire’s unification of much of Eurasia (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries)
-Killed one-third of European population between 1346 and 1350
-Similar death toll in China and parts of the Islamic world
-Disease exchange gave Europeans an advantage when they reached the Western Hemisphere after 1500
-Peoples of the Americas had little immunity to European and African diseases
Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean
-The Mediterranean Sea was an avenue for commerce from the time of the Phoenicians.
-Venice was a center of commerce by 1000 c.e.
-Linked Europe to the much greater trade network of the Indian Ocean
-The Indian Ocean network was the world’s most important until after 1500.
Transportation was cheaper by sea than by land
-Made transportation of bulk goods possible (textiles, pepper, timber, rice, sugar, wheat)
Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World
-Indian Ocean trade started in the age of the First Civilizations
-Indus Valley writing may have been stimulated by cuneiform
-Malay sailors reached Madagascar in the first millennium b.c.e.
-Introduced language and crops (bananas, coconuts, cocoyams)
-Merchants from Roman Empire settled in southern India and East African coast
-Growing trade in eastern Indian Ocean and South China Sea
-Chinese traders reached India by 100 c.e.
-Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism in Southeast Asia
-Two great encouragers for the Indian Ocean exchange:
-Economic and political revival of China
-Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279) reestablished an effective and unified state
-Chinese products flooded into Indian Ocean network
-China provided a vast market for Indian and Southeast Asian goods
-China developed larger ships and the magnetic compass
-Rise of Islam in seventh century c.e.
-Muslims (and Jewish and Christian subjects) established trade communities from East Africa to southern China
-Scale East African slave trade to work Iraqi plantations and salt mines
Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia and Srivijaya
-Ocean commerce transformed Southeast Asia and East Africa
-Introduction of foreign religious ideas
-Southeast Asia: location between China and India made it important
-Malay sailors opened an all-sea route between India and China through the Straits of Malacca ca. 350 c.e.
-Malay kingdom of Srivijaya emerged from competition, dominated trade from 670 to 1025 c.e.
-Gold, access to spices, and taxes on ships provided resources to create a state
-Srivijaya became a major Buddhist center
-Sailendras kingdom (central Java) was also influenced by India
-Massive building of Hindu and Buddhist centers (eighth–tenth centuries)
-Burma, the Khmer state of Angkor, etc. also show Indian culture
Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa and Swahili Civilization
-Swahili civilization of East Africa developed from blend of Bantu with commercial life of the Indian Ocean (especially Islamic)
-Growing demand for East African products (gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, some slaves, iron, wood products)
-African merchant class developed, with towns and kingships
-Swahili civilization flourished on East African coast between 1000 and 1500 c.e.
-Very urban, with cities of 15,000–18,000 people
-Accumulated goods from the interior and traded for Asian goods
-Most of trade was in Arab ships; Swahili craft traveled coastal waterways
-Swahili was written in Arabic script, with Arabic loan words
-Society was heavily Islamicized (account of Ibn Battuta)
-Islam and Swahili culture didn’t reach much beyond coast until the nineteenth century
-Swahili region traded with the interior, had an impact
-Trade with interior for gold led to emergence of Great Zimbabwe (flourished in 1250–1350 c.e.)
Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara
-Commercial Beginnings in West Africa
-Trans-African trade was also based on environmental variation
-North Africa manufactured goods
-Agricultural peoples further south grew crops, mined gold
-Emergence of urban clusters in the early centuries c.e.
Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West Africa
-The camel in early centuries c.e. was a turning point
-Made it possible to cross the Sahara
-Regular trans-Saharan commerce by 300–400 c.e.
-Merchants especially wanted gold from West Africa (along with ivory, kola nuts, slaves)
-Peoples of Sudan received horses, cloth, dates, manufactured goods, salt in return
-The Sahara became a major international trade route
-Military forces all had a reputation for great riches
-Slavery was present in West Africa
-Most slaves were women
-Development of civilization, male slaves were used as officials, porters, craftsmen, miners, agricultural laborers
-Slaves came from societies raided farther south
-5,500 slaves a year came from across the Sahara between 1100 and 1400
- Most slaves were sold in North Africa
-African slaves only became common in Europe starting in 1440s (Atlantic slave trade)
-Islam was established in towns
An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere
-There was no sustained interaction between the Western and Eastern hemispheres before the voyages of Columbus.
-American trade networks were not as dense as Afro-Eurasian ones.-Important limitations: lack of domesticated large mammals, wheeled vehicles, large oceangoing ships
-Geographical or environmental obstacles, including north/south orientation
-Local and regional commerce flourished, but not long-distance trade
-Cahokia was at center of a widespread trading network
-Chaco canyon culture also interacted with Mesoamerica
-Amazon and Orinoco river exchange networks
-Chincha people traded along Pacific coast of South America
There was a major trade network in Mesoamerica.
Maya and Teotihuacán traded by land
Maya traded by sea on both coasts (with dugout canoes)
Aztecs of fifteenth century had professional merchants (pochteca)
There was a major trade network in the Andes.
Inca trade during fifteenth century was run by the state
Reflections: Economic Globalization—Ancient and Modern
-The interconnections of the modern era have their roots in much earlier patterns.
-But premodern networks had important differences:
-Most people still produced for their own consumption
-Far fewer wageworkers and trade was in luxury goods
The world of third-wave civilizations was more balanced and multicentered than that of the modern era.
-Relationships among major civilizations were much more equal
-Perhaps the twenty-first century is returning to that pattern
Chapter 9
-This is nothing new in Chinese history
-China was a major player among the third-wave civilizations.
-A China-centered “world order” encompassed most of eastern Asia
-China’s borders reached far into Central Asia
-China’s economy and technological innovation had effects throughout Eurasia
-China was also changed by its interactions with non-Chinese peoples.
-Nomadic military threat
-International trade as catalyst of change
The Reemergence of a Unified China
-The Han dynasty collapsed around 220 c.e.
-Led to 300 years of political fragmentation
-Nomadic incursion from the north
-Conditions discredited Confucianism in many eyes
-Beginning of vast environmental change
A “Golden Age” of Chinese Achievement
-The Sui dynasty (589–618) reunified China
-Sui rulers vastly extended the canal system
-Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties built on Sui foundations
-Established patterns of Chinese life that lasted into twentieth century
-Poetry, landscape painting, ceramics of high order
-Birth of Neo-Confucianism (Confucian revival with added elements of Buddhism and Daoism)
-Six major ministries were created, along with the Censorate for surveillance over government
-Proliferation of schools and colleges
-Large landowners continued to be powerful, despite state efforts to redistribute land to the peasants
- “economic revolution” under the Song
-Great prosperity and rapid population growth (from 50 million–60 million people during Tang dynasty to 120 million by 1200)
-China was the most urbanized region in the world
-Dozens of cities with population over 100,000
-Capital Hangzhou had more than a million people
-Provided a cheap transport system that bound China together
-Iron industry greatly increased output
-Invention of print (both woodblock and movable type)
-Best navigational and shipbuilding technology in the world
-Invention of gunpowder
-Production for the market rather than for local consumption was widespread
-Cheap transportation allowed peasants to grow specialized crops
-Government demanded payment of taxes in cash, not in kind
-Growing use of paper money and financial instruments
Women in the Song Dynasty
-The era wasn’t very “golden” for women
-During the Tang dynasty, elite women in the north had had greater freedom (influence of steppe nomads)
Literature highlighted the subjection of women
-Foot binding started in tenth or eleventh century c.e.
-Was associated with images of female beauty and eroticism
-Kept women restricted to the house
-Textile production became larger scale, displacing women from their
-Traditional role in the industry and women found other roles in cities
-In some ways the position of women improved
-Property rights expanded and more women were educated, in order to raise sons better
China and the Northern Nomads: A Chinese World Order in the Making
-There have been two enduring misconceptions of Chinese history:
-Chinese civilization was impressive but largely static
-China was a self-contained civilization
For most of its history, China’s most enduring interaction with foreigners was in the north, with the peoples of the steppes.
-Northern nomads typically lived in small kinship-based groups
-Pastoral societies needed grain and other farm products from China
Leaders wanted Chinese manufactured and luxury goods
-Steppe pressure and intrusion was a constant factor in Chinese history for 2,000 years
-Nomads often felt threatened by the Chinese
-Chinese military attacks on the steppes
-China needed the nomads
-Steppes provided horses and other goods
-Nomads controlled much of the Silk Roads
The Tribute System in Theory
-Chinese understood themselves as the center of the world (“middle kingdom”), far superior to the “barbarian” outsiders
-Believed that barbarians could become civilized Chinese
-Establishment of “tribute system” to manage relations with non-Chinese peoples
-Non-Chinese authorities must acknowledge Chinese superiority
-The system apparently worked for centuries
The Tribute System in Practice
-But the system disguised contradictory realities
-Xiongnu confederacy (established around 200 b.c.e.)
-Chinese emperor had to recognize political equality of the Xiongnu
-Turkic empires of Mongolia were similar
-Uighurs rescued Tang dynasty from an internal revolt in the 750s
-Several steppe states took over parts of northern China
Cultural Influence across an Ecological Frontier
-Nomads who ruled parts of China often adopted Chinese ways especially the Jurchen
-Chinese culture did not have great impact on steppe nomads
-Pastoral societies retained their own cultural patterns
-Interaction took the form of trade, military conflict, negotiations, extortion, and some cultural influence
-Steppe culture influenced the parts of northern China that were ruled frequently by nomads
-Tang dynasty: fad among northern Chinese elites for anything connected to “western barbarians”
Coping with China: Comparing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan
-The emerging states and civilizations of Korea, Vietnam, and Japan also had tributary relationships with China.
-Civilizations were shaped by proximity to China but did not become Chinese
-Similar to twentieth-century Afro-Asian societies that accepted elements of Western culture while maintaining political/cultural independence
Korea and China
-Interaction with China started with temporary Chinese conquest of northern Korea during the Han dynasty, with some colonization
-Korean states emerged in fourth–seventh centuries c.e.
-Seventh century: the Silla kingdom allied with Tang dynasty China to bring some political unity
-Chinese interference provoked military resistance
-China made do with a tributary relationship after 688
-Korea generally maintained political independence under the Silla (688–900), Koryo ((918–1392), and Yi (1392–1910) dynasties
-China provided legitimacy for Korean rulers
-Capital city Kumsong modeled on Chinese capital Chang’an
-Chinese luxury goods, scholarship, and religious influence
-Confucianism had negative impact on Korean women, especially after 1300
-Ended “free choice” marriages
-Discouraged practice of a woman raising her children in her parents’ home, often joined by husband
-Ended practice of plural marriage for men so some wives were reduced in rank to concubinage
-Chinese cultural influence had little effect on Korea’s serflike peasants or large slave population
-1400s, Korea developed a phonetic alphabet (hangul)
Vietnam and China
The experience of Vietnam was broadly similar to that of Korea
But Vietnam’s cultural heartland in the Red River valley was part of the Chinese state from 111 b.c.e. to 939 c.e.
-Great rebellion of Trung sisters (39–43 c.e.)
-Rebellion in early tenth century c.e. established Vietnam as separate state
-Remained tributary to China
-Vietnamese rulers adopted the Chinese approach to government
-Examination system helped undermine established aristocrats
-Elite remained deeply committed to Chinese culture
-Much of distinctive Vietnamese culture remained in place
-Language, cockfighting, betel nuts, greater roles for women
-Kept nature goddesses and a “female Buddha” in popular belief
Japan and China
-Japan was never invaded or conquered by China, so borrowing of Chinese culture was voluntary
-Main period of cultural borrowing was seventh–ninth centuries c.e., when first unified Japanese state began to emerge
-Seventeen Article Constitution
-Proclaimed Japanese ruler as Chinese-style emperor
-Encouraged Buddhism and Confucianism
-Identified moral rulers as foundation for social harmony
-Two capital cities (Nara and then Heian) were founded, both modeled on Chinese capital (Chang’an)
-Elements of Chinese culture took root in Japan
-Several schools of Chinese Buddhism
-Art, architecture, education, medicine, religious views
-Japanese borrowings were selective
-Japan never created an effective centralized and bureaucratic state
-Local authorities developed their own military forces (samurai)
-Buddhism never replaced native belief system
-Distinctive literary and artistic culture
-Unique writing system mixed Chinese characters with phonetic symbols
-Highly refined aesthetic court culture, especially in Heian period (794–1192)
-Elite women escaped most of Confucian oppression
-Began to lose status in the twelfth century, with rise of warrior culture
China and the Eurasian World Economy
Spillovers: China’s Impact on Eurasia
many of China’s technological innovations spread beyond its borders
salt production through solar evaporation
papermaking
printing (though resisted by the Islamic world)
gunpowder invented ca. 1000, but used differently after it reached Europe
Chinese textile, metallurgical, and naval technologies also stimulated imitation and innovation (e.g., magnetic compass)
Chinese prosperity stimulated commercial life all over Eurasia
On the Receiving End: China as Economic Beneficiary
China learned cotton and sugar cultivation and processing from India
China was transformed around 1000 by introduction of new rice strains from Vietnam
technological creativity was spurred by cross-cultural contact
e.g., printing was stimulated by Buddhism (first printed book, in 868 c.e., was the Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist text)
growing participation in Indian Ocean trade
foreign merchant settlements in southern Chinese ports by Tang era
sometimes brought violence, e.g., massive massacre of foreigners in Canton in the 870s
transformation of southern China to production for export instead of subsistence
China and Buddhism
Buddhism was India’s most important gift to China
China’s only large-scale cultural borrowing until Marxism
China was the base for Buddhism’s spread to Korea and Japan
Making Buddhism Chinese
Buddhism entered China via Silk Roads in first–second centuries c.e.
had little appeal at first
Indian culture was too different from Chinese
Buddhist monasticism seemed to dishonor Chinese family values
concern for individual salvation seemed selfish
China’s philosophy was “this-worldly”
Buddhism took root 300–800 c.e.
collapse of the Han dynasty ca. 200 c.e. brought chaos and discrediting of Confucianism
nomadic rulers in northern China favored Buddhism
Buddhism was comforting
monasteries provided increasing array of social services
Buddhists appeared to have access to magical powers
serious effort to present Buddhism in a form accessible to the Chinese
dharma was translated as dao
“morality” was translated as filial submission
it was Mahayana form of Buddhism that became popular
Pure Land School was especially popular
Sui and early Tang dynasties gave state support to Buddhism
Sui emperor Wendi (r. 581–604) had monasteries built at base of China’s five sacred mountains
used Buddhism to justify his military campaigns
monasteries became very wealthy
Buddhism was never independent from state authorities
Losing State Support: The Crisis of Chinese Buddhism
-Growth of Chinese Buddhism provoked resistance and criticism
-Deepening resentment of the Buddhist establishment’s wealth
-Monastic celibacy and withdrawal undermined the Confucian-based family system
-260,000 monks and nuns forced to return to secular life
-Thousands of monasteries, temples, and shrines confiscated or destroyed
-Buddhists forbidden to use precious metals or gems for their images
-Buddhism did not vanish from China; it remained an important element of popular religion
Reflections: Why Do Things Change?
-Change and transformation are constants in human history.
-Explaining why and how societies change is historians’ most central issue
The case of China illustrates the range of factors that drive change.
-World historians tend to find contact with strangers to be the primary source of change
-The history of China and East Asia helps illustrate this view
Chapter 10
-Christianity had provided common ground for postclassical societies in western Eurasia
-Byzantium continued Roman imperial traditions
-West tried to maintain links to classical world
-Roman Catholic Church of the West established independence from political authorities; Eastern Orthodox Church did not
-Western church was much more rural than Byzantium
-Western Europe emerged, at an increasing pace after 1000, as a dynamic third-wave civilization
-Western Europe was a hybrid civilization: classical, Germanic, Celtic
-500 c.e., only about one-third of all Christians lived in Europe
-Branches have survived throughout Afro-Eurasia; other branches were eliminated by spread of alternative religions
Eastern Christendom: Building on the Past
-The Byzantine Empire has no clear starting point.
-Some scholars date its beginning to 330 c.e., with foundation of Constantinople
-Formal division of Roman Empire into eastern and western halves in late fourth century c.e.
-Western empire collapsed in fifth century; eastern half survived another 1,000 years
-Eastern empire contained ancient civilizations: Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Anatolia
-Byzantine advantages over western empire
-Access to the Black Sea; command of eastern Mediterranean
-Stronger army, navy, and merchant marine
-Continuation of late Roman infrastructure
-Conscious effort to preserve Roman ways
The Byzantine State
-Byzantine Empire was much smaller than the Roman Empire
-It remained a major force in eastern Mediterranean until around 1200
-Reformed administrative system: generals had civil authority in the provinces, raised armies from peasants
-Political authority was tightly centralized in Constantinople
-Mostly concerned with tax collection and keeping order
-Territory shrank after 1085, as western Europeans and Turks attacked
The Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence
-Church was closely tied to the state: caesaropapism
-Byzantine emperor was head of both the state and the Church
-Orthodox Christianity deeply influenced all of Byzantine life
-Common people engaged in theological disputes
-Astern Orthodoxy increasingly defined itself in opposition to Latin Christianity
-Latin Christianity was centered on the pope, Rome
-Important East/West cultural differences (language, philosophy,theology, church practice)
-Issue of authority: growing claims of popes to be final authority for all Christians
-Schism in 1054, with mutual excommunication
-Crusades (from 1095 on) worsened the situation
-During Fourth Crusade, Westerners sacked Constantinople (1204) and ruled Byzantium for next 50 years
Byzantium and the World
-Byzantium had a foot in both Europe and Asia, interacted intensively with neighbors
-Continuation of long Roman fight with Persian Empire and weakened both states, left them open to Islamic conquests
-Persia was conquered by Islam; Byzantium lost territory
-Invention of “Greek fire” helped Byzantines survive
-Byzantium was a central player in long-distance Eurasian trade
-Byzantine gold coins (bezants) were a major Mediterranean currency for over 500 years
-Byzantine crafts (jewelry, textiles, purple dyes, silk) were in high demand
-Missionaries Cyril and Methodius created a written language for the Slavs (Cyrillic script) to aid transmission
The Conversion of Russia
-Most important conversion was that of Prince Vladimir of Kiev
-Orthodoxy transformed state of Rus; became central to Russian identity
-Moscow finally declared itself to be the “third Rome,” assuming role of protector of Christianity after fall of Constantinople
Western Christendom: Constructing a Hybrid Civilization
-Western Europe was on the margins of world history for most of the postclassical millennium.
-European geography made political unity difficult
-Coastlines and river systems facilitated internal exchange
-Moderate climate enabled population growth
In the Wake of Roman Collapse: Political Life in Western Europe, 500–1000
-Traditional date for fall of western Roman Empire is 476 c.e.
-With Roman collapse: large-scale centralized rule vanished
-Europe’s population fell by 25 percent because of war and disease
-Long-distance trade outside of Italy shriveled up
-Germanic peoples emerged as the dominant peoples in West
-Germanic peoples who established new kingdoms had been substantially Romanized already
-Established distinct ethnic identities and had militarized thanks to contact with Rome
-Germanic rulers adopted Roman-style written law
-Several Germanic kingdoms tried to recreate Roman-style unity
-Charlemagne (r. 768–814) acted “imperial”
-Revival of Roman Empire on Christmas Day 800 (coronation of Charlemagne); soon fragmented
Another revival of Roman Empire with imperial coronation of Otto I of Saxony (r. 936–973)
-His realm was later known as the Holy Roman Empire
In the Wake of Roman Collapse: Society and the Church, 500–1000
-Highly fragmented, decentralized society
Great local variation and landowning warrior elite exercised power
Social hierarchies and lesser lords and knights became vassals of kings or great lords
-Serfdom displaced slavery
-Serfs owed services and goods to lords
-Catholic Church was a major element of stability
-Hierarchy modeled on that of the Roman Empire and became very rich
-Similar process to spread of Buddhism among nomads
-Pope Gregory’s instructions to missionaries in England
-Amulets, sacred wells, and festivals were preempted by Christianity
-Europe was Christian (with pagan elements) by 1100
-Church and ruling class usually reinforced each other
Accelerating Change in the West: 1000–1300
-A series of invasions in 700–1000 hindered European development
Muslims, Magyars, Vikings
-Weather improved with warming trend that started after 750
-High Middle Ages: time of clear growth and expansion
-European population in 1000 was about 35 million; about 80 million in 1340
-Opening of new land for cultivation
-Growth of long-distance trade, from two major centers
-Northern Europe
-Northern Italian towns
-Great trading fairs (especially in Champagne area of France)enabled exchange between northern and southern merchants
-European town and city populations rose
-Venice by 1400 had around 150,000 people
-New opportunities for women
-A number of urban professions were open to women
-Widows of great merchants could continue husbands’ business
-Opportunities declined by the fifteenth century
-Technological progress may have harmed women
Europe Outward Bound: The Crusading Tradition
-Medieval expansion of Christendom after 1000
-Occurred at the same time that Byzantium declined
-Scandinavian colonies in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland
-Europe had direct, though limited, contact with East and South Asia by thirteenth–fourteenth centuries
-Crusade movement began in 1095
-Most famous Crusades aimed to regain Jerusalem and holy places
-Many waves of Crusaders to the Near East
-Creation of four small Christian states (last fell in 1291)
-Iberian Peninsula Crusade
-Baltic Crusade
-Attacks on Byzantine Empire and Russia
-Crusades had little lasting political or religious impact in the Middle East
-Turkic and Mongol invasions are more important in Islamic history
-Crusades had a significant impact on Europe
-Conquest of Spain, Sicily, Baltic region
-Crusaders weakened Byzantium
-Tens of thousands of Europeans made contact with the Islamic world
-Muslim/Greek scholarship entered Europe
-Deepened the Catholic/Orthodox divide
-Development of anti-Semitism in Europe
-Memory of the Crusades still affects dealings between Western civilization and Islam
The West in Comparative Perspective
-The hybrid civilization of Western Europe was less developed than Byzantium, China, India, or the Islamic world
-Muslims regarded Europeans as barbarians
-Europeans recognized their own backwardness
-Europeans were happy to exchange with/borrow from more advanced civilizations to the east
-European economies reconnected with the Eurasian trading system
-Europeans welcomed scientific, philosophical, and mathematical concepts from Arabs, classical Greeks, and India
-The most significant borrowing was from China
-The compass, papermaking, gunpowder, etc.
-Thirteenth–fourteenth centuries, many Europeans went to China
-European voyages of exploration were in search of the sources of African and Asian wealth
-Europe was a developing civilization like others of the era
-1500, Europe had caught up with China and the Islamic world; surpassed them in some areas
-500–1300 was a period of great innovation
-Greater dependence on horses, use of better equipment
-New reliance on nonanimal sources of energy
-New type of windmill
-Water-driven mills
-Water and wind power were applied to several industries
-Technological borrowing for warfare, with further development
-Europeans were probably the first to use Chinese gunpowder in cannons
-Europe developed a passion for technology
Pluralism in Politics
-Europe crystallized into a system of competing states
-Political pluralism shaped Western European civilization
-Stimulated technological development
-states still were able to communicate economically and intellectually
-Royal-noble-ecclesiastical power struggle allowed urban merchants to win great independence
Reason and Faith
-Distinctive intellectual tension between faith and reason developed
-Intellectual life flourished in the centuries after 1000
-Creation of universities from earlier cathedral schools
-Scholars had some intellectual freedom at universities
-Applied reason to law, medicine, and world of nature
-Twelfth–thirteenth centuries: access to ancient Greek and Arab scholarship
-Dominated Western European thought between 1200 and 1700
-Educationwas the humanities
-Islamic world had deep interaction with classical Greek thought
-Massive amount of translation in ninth–tenth centuries
-Encouraged a flowering of Arab scholarship between 800 and 1200
-Islamic world eventually turned against natural philosophy
Reflections: Remembering and Forgetting: Continuity and Surprise in the Worlds of Christendom
-Many features of medieval Christendom have extended into the modern era.
-Crusading motivated Spanish and Portuguese explorers
-Merchants’ freedom helped lead to capitalism and industrialization
-Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic division of Christianity remains
-Universities were a medieval creation
We need to beware of the notion that the course of medieval European civilization determined the future.
-Some historians have argued that Europe’s global domination in the nineteenth century grew from its unique character after 1000
-Europe’s recent development was a great surprise
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