The History Book

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 99 See also: The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ The Mongol invasions of Japan are repulsed 133 ■ The Battle of Sekigahara 184–85 ■ The Meiji Restoration 252–53 a dominant role in local government. governors to cement his control Minamoto Yoritomo The Kyoto court appointed the most over the provinces. In 1192, Yoritomo talented samurai as governors accepted from the emperor the title A descendant of the royal (zuryo), both to bind them to the of shogun, becoming the de facto emperor Seiwa, Yoritomo was imperial government and to prevent military ruler of Japan. the heir of the Minamoto clan, them from building their own which had been crushed by power bases. However, the samurai Over the following centuries, the Taira clan after a civil war developed loyalty to their extended the emperors made periodic vain in 1159. After the war, the family, or clan, and its leader rather attempts to reassert authority over now orphaned Yoritomo was than to the emperor, and fought one the shogunate, but the shoguns in exiled to Hirugashima, an another from their power bases in turn could not maintain control of island in Izu province. Here he the provinces. The Minamoto and the samurai and their warlords, remained for 20 years before Taira clans engaged in a series of who controlled their areas and issuing a call to arms and these struggles which culminated fought among themselves. Japan rising up against the Taira. in the Gempei War, during which dissolved into a patchwork of He established a headquarters the Taira were utterly crushed. military warlords or daimyo, each in Kamakura, from which with its own power base and he began to organize the The shogunate retinue of samurai warriors. warlords and samurai into Following his victory, clan leader an independent government. Minamoto Yoritomo established Establishment of the office of a parallel government based at shogun, which had seemed to offer A decisive victory over the Kamakura, about 250 miles east Japan stability in 1192, ultimately Tiara in 1185 sealed Yoritomo’s of Kyoto. Other clan chieftains led to the Sengoku, a civil war military success, and he became his vassals or gokenin, lasting almost 150 years. This war emerged the undisputed and he dispatched military estate ended with the reunification of leader of Japan. Japan under the new shogunate of Tokugawa in 1603. ■ Yoritomo developed policies to relieve the strain The imperial court at Lawlessness in the between the military lords and Kyoto becomes inward- provinces leads to the the court aristocrats, and set looking and loses touch rise of the samurai up an administrative network with the provinces. that soon took over as the military class. central government, but much of the remainder of his life was Samurai clans become After victory over spent in suppressing those semi-independent the Taira, Minamoto clans who had not accepted as shogunate Yoritomo is appointed Minamoto dominance. authority weakens. shogun. The shogunate collapses and power devolves to the daimyo.

100 STTAHHNHEDAATSLCELMOLHENIANCBVEEIENSRASTONIIUOEDRSNKSKREIEINGPGHDATOLSLM THE SIGNING OF THE MAGNA CARTA (1215) IN CONTEXT O n June 15, 1215, King The Magna Carta included clauses John of England signed relating to royal forests: the barons FOCUS a charter at Runnymede, aimed to limit the king’s rights under The development a meadow beside the Thames. England’s Forest Law, regulate forest of subjects’ rights Designed to make peace between boundaries, and investigate officials. the king and a group of rebel barons, BEFORE the Magna Carta, as a form of the 1100 Henry I’s Coronation document became known, at first Charter promises to abolish seemed ineffectual. However, its unjust oppression. assertion of the rights of subjects against arbitrary actions of the 1166 The Assize of Clarendon Crown—the essential principle extends the power of royal of the rule of law—provided a justice at the expense of blueprint which, more than eight baronial courts. centuries later, is still viewed as a fundamental guarantee of rights 1214 Normandy is lost at the in the US and elsewhere. Battle of Bouvines; barons bridle at the campaign’s cost. Feudal society sought to centralize administration, When King John acceded in 1199, partly by establishing a series of AFTER England was a feudal society, a royal courts. These royal courts 1216 The Magna Carta is land-based hierarchy headed by the raised revenue for the Crown reissued on the accession of king, who owned all the land. The through fines and charges—but at Henry III, and again in 1225 tenants-in-chief (or barons) received the expense of the barons, who had in exchange for a tax grant. land from the king in exchange for previously raised those funds from loyalty and military service. They their own local tribunals. 1297 The Magna Carta is in turn leased the land to their own again confirmed and written armed retainers, who leased to The exactions of King John into statute law by Edward I. peasants, or villeins. Yet monarchs, The barons’ discontent at these especially in England, were levying growing demands intensified under 1970 A bill repealing ancient an ever-increasing series of taxes King John. Ruinously expensive statute laws leaves untouched and additional financial burdens campaigns against the French in four chapters of the Magna on their barons. English kings from 1200–04 had already resulted in the Carta, including Chapter 39. Henry I (1100–1135) onward also loss of Normandy (and earned the

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 101 See also: The Norman conquest of England 132 ■ The Battle of Castillon 156–57 ■ The execution of Charles I 174–75 ■ The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ The storming of the Bastille 208–13 king the mocking nickname Centralization Financial demands “Lackland”). Scutage, a further of royal administration to fund wars cash levy that left many barons in reduces barons’ power debt to money-lenders, was bitterly in France increase. resented. Not only was the king and income. proving lamentably unsuccessful in war, but he had also broken the Barons revolt and unspoken contract between himself force King John to sign and the barons, that allowed them to run their lands as they chose. a charter of rights. Hoping for support from the Rights of individuals The principle that new pope, who had excommunicated against arbitrary taxes can be raised only John in 1209, the rebellious barons punishment by the after consultation with confronted the king. Attempts at diplomacy failed, and by May 1215, Crown are established. a royal council evolves. the barons had occupied London, forcing John to enter into a treaty with them to avoid a civil war. After careful direction of negotiations by Archbishop Stephen Langton of Canterbury, the agreement—more a truce than a peace—was signed. Provisions of the charter but the section that has exerted as arrest or confiscation of land. The charter was known as the the most influence down the ages The charter survived the civil war Magna Carta, or Great Charter, to was Chapter 39. This open-ended that broke out soon after the Magna distinguish it from a more restricted clause protected all “free men” from Carta was agreed, and the papal Forest Charter issued in 1217. Much arbitrary actions by the Crown such repudiation of the charter’s terms of the Magna Carta dealt with in August 1215, which led to the redressing baronial grievances, barons’ excommunication. Chapter 39 was extended under a 1354 law Influence of the Magna Carta of Edward III to protect not only “free men” (a small minority in The Magna Carta has acquired Revolutionary War depicts a England where most people were an almost mythical status as militiaman with sword in one technically serfs), but also any man the constitutional bedrock of hand and the Magna Carta in “of whatever estate or condition subjects’ rights. It contributed to the other. Revolutionary feeling he may be.” It survived longer the development of parliament was fueled by Americans’ than most of the other provisions, from the 13th century, and was belief that the Crown had including the security clause that used by 17th-century rebels to breached the fundamental law allowed barons to seize all the argue against the divine right enjoyed by all English subjects, king’s land if he failed to fulfil his of kings propounded by the and both the United States obligations under the agreement. Stuart monarchs Charles I and Constitution, enacted in 1789, James II. Several American and the Bill of Rights adopted What had seemed a small colonies’ charters contained two years later, were influenced concession that day in Runnymede clauses modeled on it, while by the Magna Carta’s limitations provided a long-lasting rallying cry the design of the Massachusetts on the arbitrary powers of a for opponents of royal tyranny. ■ seal chosen at the start of the government against its subjects.

102 LTTAHAHSNEARTDMESEGOXAASINRSTDDTPSSTORFTINOEENARTSTCHUEEMSRWAEANONRDLD KUBLAI KHAN CONQUERS THE SONG (1279) IN CONTEXT I n March 1279, Mongol warriors lifestyle: as expert horsemen, the swept through southern China, soldiers were masters of mobile FOCUS capturing the last strongholds warfare and able to descend with Mongol rule in China of the Chinese Song dynasty. This devastating force and lightning defeat, which heralded the start speed on their opponents. BEFORE of the Yuan dynasty, marked the 1206 Mongol Empire founded culmination of the Mongols’ rise The Mongols’ rule in China by Genghis Khan. in under 70 years from an obscure Genghis’s grandson Kublai Khan nomadic group from the Central ruled China from 1260, but the 1215 Genghis Khan sacks Asian steppes to the masters of a challenges of mediating between Zhongdu (now Beijing), capital vast empire stretching from China the nomadic traditions of the of the northern Jin dynasty. to eastern Europe. One of the major Mongols and the complex culture challenges they now faced was to of the conquered proved difficult. 1227 Death of Genghis Khan make the transition from roving and fragmentation of the tribesmen to settled conquerors. empire into smaller khanates loyal to a single Great Khan. The rise of the Mongols Paper money was invented by the At the start of the 13th century, Chinese c.800. By the Yuan dynasty, 1260 Kublai declares himself the Mongols had consisted of many banknotes (such as the one above from Great Khan. different warring clans. However, 1287) were issued by the government. in 1206 Temüjin—later known as 1266 Kublai orders the Genghis Khan—proclaimed himself reconstruction of Zhongdu, the ruler of a united Mongol nation. and renames it Khanbalik. Shrewd and ruthless, Genghis diverted his people from inter-clan AFTER warfare and directed their energies 1282 Kublai’s corrupt chief to the more lucrative business of minister Ahmad killed by invading—first neighboring tribes Chinese assassins. in the steppes, then more organized states such as Persia, Russia, and 1289 Southern extension of northern China (1219–23). He gave the Grand Canal completed. the Mongol hordes a proper military structure and exploited the skills 1368 Mongols driven from they had learned from their nomadic China. Replaced by the native Chinese Ming dynasty.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 103 See also: The First Emperor unifies China 54–57 ■ The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shamgdu 104–05 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Mongol invasions of Japan are repulsed 133 ■ The Revolt of the Three Feudatories 186–87 Kublai Khan Grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai to restore the economy, initially Khan (1215–94) governed northern encouraged religious tolerance, China for his elder brother Möngke, and welcomed foreigners such who became Great Khan (the as Marco Polo to the Mongol senior Mongol ruler) in 1251. court, aware of the expertise Kublai’s restoration of Chinese- they might bring. After the style administration displeased successes in China, Kublai many Mongols and he was nearly dispatched armies to Japan, removed in 1258, but Möngke’s Annam (Vietnam), Myanmar death led to Kublai achieving the (Burma), and Java; however, position of Great Khan himself these either failed or did not in 1260. Kublai established a establish a lasting Mongol bureaucracy staffed largely by presence. By his death, Kublai Chinese officials, but he placed was a disappointed man, who Mongol officers (darughachi) in drank to excess, suffered from key towns to ensure loyalty to obesity, and had to be carried the empire. He took measures to his final campaigns in a litter. The old informal hierarchies of son educated in Buddhist scripture. the Mongols needed the spoils of the steppes no longer sufficed to He also set up schools for peasants conquest to fund their huge army. administer a land that contained and introduced the Mongol postal Kublai’s successors failed to work great cities, and the immediate system of using horses and relay out how to preserve their identity rewards of plunder were replaced stations to link up the empire, while also keeping their monopoly by the deferred benefits gained which benefited the merchants. of power, and the Mongol military by good governance and taxation. gradually declined. After decades As a result, many Mongols missed The end of the empire of famine, lethal epidemics, and the old ways. To appease his fellow The need to restore stability in corruption at court, in 1368 the Mongols, Kublai gave them greater northern China delayed Kublai’s heirs of Kublai were defeated in rights and privileges than the native attempts to subjugate the Song a rebellion led by Zhu Yuanzhang, Chinese. Meanwhile, to gain favor in the south until 1268. Although founder of the Ming dynasty. After with the traditional Chinese elites, ultimately successful, the 11-year more than a century of occupation, he promoted Confucian scholars, campaign was ruinously costly. China was back in the hands of the funded Taoist temples, and had his To preserve their warrior identity, native (Han) Chinese. ■ Genghis Khan unites The Mongols Mongol rulers have a number of nomadic grow strong difficulties preserving their Mongol tribes. enough nomadic ways while Other tribes join to conquer governing large areas. advanced states the Mongols or like China. Mongols lose military are conquered. effectiveness; their empire collapses.

104 IIOBDKFEINWBDEEHNWLAOIETITVWITESEODLAUWLLDHFANOLORFT MARCO POLO REACHES SHANGDU (c.1275) IN CONTEXT Long-distance trade Mongols conquer from China to the Middle East lands through which the Silk FOCUS is damaged by the collapse Road runs, improving the Rise of international trade of traditional powers. route’s security. BEFORE 106 bce The first caravan to Trade along the route travel the full length of the increases, attracting Silk Road carries Chinese European merchants ambassadors to Parthia. including Marco Polo. 751 ce Defeat of the Chinese The collapse of Mongol European powers seek army at the Talas River rule and rise of the Ottoman alternative maritime prevents Chinese expansion trade routes to the east. west along the Silk Road. Empire render the route’s territory less secure. 1206 Genghis Khan unites the Mongol tribes, beginning V enetian merchant Marco goods between China and Europe Mongol conquest of Central Polo’s arrival at Shangdu, for centuries. The Silk Road had Asia and China. the capital of the Great first become a conduit for trade Khan Kublai, in 1275 marked the when the Chinese Han Dynasty AFTER end of a four-year journey. He had pushed into Central Asia in the late 1340s The Black Death traveled from Italy to the Mongol 2nd century bce. From then on, spreads along the Silk Road, capital Shangdu along the length of goods such as jade and silk were reaching Europe in 1347. the Silk Road, an ancient network carried west, passed from caravan of routes that been carrying precious to caravan by a series of merchants, 1370–1405 Timurlane makes extensive conquests, briefly reviving the Mongol empire and the Silk Road. 1453 The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople blocks Europeans’ land route to Asia.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 105 See also: Siddartha Gautama preaches Buddhism 40–41 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35 to be met by caravans of furs, Ages, traders could work only locally, Marco Polo gold, and horses traveling in and transport their goods to points the opposite direction. Chinese where they might connect to longer- At just 17 years old, Marco inventions ranging from gunpowder distance trade routes. From the Polo (1254–1324) set off from and paper to the magnetic compass 12th century, Italian city States Venice to the court of the were also brought to the west along such as Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan. the route, arriving at Constantinople pioneered maritime trade across He traveled with his father and the Black Sea ports, the the eastern Mediterranean, which and uncle, who had previously western end of the route where enabled merchants to connect visited China and been Genoa and Venice chiefly traded. directly with sea routes that linked entrusted by Kublai with a West Asia and Egypt to China via message for the pope. Polo Mongol revival of the route the Indian Ocean. was received with great favor By the 13th century, empires that at the Mongol court and had controlled sections of the Silk The profits for merchants taking stayed in China for 17 years. Road had fragmented. This left advantage of the “Pax Mongolica,” He traveled extensively the route less secure for travelers, or Mongol peace, could be huge. throughout the country in the and so deterred merchants from In the late 13th century, the costs Khan’s service, leaving for using it. However, following Mongol of setting up a caravan might home at last in around 1291. conquest of the area between 1205 amount to 3,500 florins, but the and 1269, the area was controlled— cargo, once sold in China, could During a naval battle in if loosely—by a single authority, the yield seven times that sum, and 1298, Polo was captured and Great Khan, so a merchant could by 1326 Genoese traders were a imprisoned by the Genoese. travel from Khanbalik (Beijing) to common sight in the principal The stories he told of his Baghdad without leaving Mongol Chinese port of Zaitun. sojourn in the lands of the territory. This renewed stability Great Khan attracted the encouraged a revival of trade. Decline of land trade attention of his cell mate, The Silk Road flourished for another Rustichello, who wrote them At around this time, European century, but the collapse of the down, embellishing them as merchants’ horizons were also Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia in 1335, he went along. The resulting expanding. In the early Middle and the overthrow in 1368 of the book was translated into Yuan, the Mongol ruling dynasty many languages and includes All the rare things that in China, once again left the route much invaluable information come from India are brought divided between politically weak about late-13th-century to Cambaluc—precious stones powers. It was also blocked to China. After his release, Polo and pearls, and other kinds European traders at the western returned to Venice, where he end by the growth of the Muslim lived for the rest of his life. of rarities… a thousand Ottoman Empire. cart-loads of silk enter A taste of the profits of long- Cambaluc daily. distance trade in luxury goods Marco Polo, c.1300 encouraged European powers to seek alternatives to the now defunct Silk Road, this time by sea. In 1514, Portuguese merchants arrived off the coast of China, near Guangzhou, eager to take up the direct trading links with China that had been pioneered two and a half centuries earlier by their illustrious predecessor, Marco Polo. ■

106 HEFTOTHAEVRORESANEBFAEWELEWHNROEMCWUOENAIRNRTCSIDELSNANCAOHRWIIEEVSE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (1099) IN CONTEXT O n July 15, 1099, some Victorious crusaders flooded into 15,000 Christian knights Jerusalem, and in a ruthless assault FOCUS surged into Jerusalem seized the city from the Fatimid The Crusades after a month-long siege. The caliphate, laying the foundations victorious crusaders slaughtered for a new kingdom. BEFORE Muslim defenders and Jews alike 639 A Muslim army captures in a bloody act that marked the In the 11th century, however, the Jerusalem. beginning of 200 years of Muslim– advances of a new group, the Seljuk Christian warfare in the Holy Land. Turks, disrupted the pilgrimage 1009 Caliph al-Hakim orders routes to Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Defending Christianity Turks’ defeat of the Byzantines Sepulchre to be destroyed. Jerusalem had fallen into Muslim at Manzikert threatened to push hands in 639. Neither the Byzantine the frontiers of Christianity back 1071 Seljuk Turks defeat and emperors in Constantinople nor the to the gates of Constantinople. In capture Byzantine emperor, Christian kings in Western Europe 1095, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos Romanus Diogenes. had the political willpower or the sent emissaries to Pope Urban II strength to reverse the conquest, asking for help to bolster the 1095 Byzantine emperor although the city was sacred to both. Byzantine retaliation. Alexios sends to pope for help. AFTER 1120 The Order of the Knights Templar is founded. 1145 The Second Crusade is launched. 1187 Muslim leader Saladin captures Jerusalem, and the Third Crusade is launched. 1198 Baltic Crusade begins. 1291 Muslim forces complete the reconquest of Palestine and Syria.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 107 See also: Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The Investiture Controversy 96–97 ■ The fall of Granada 128–29 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 Emperor Alexios appeals Crusading Further crusades are for help to defend the armies capture launched to defend the Byzantine Empire. Jerusalem and crusader states against Pope Urban II calls establish states Muslim counter-attacks. upon Christian knights to launch a in Palestine The crusading military expedition and Syria. movement spreads to Jerusalem. to eastern Europe and southern France. The Just War As the initial crusading impulse Third Crusade mustered in Pope Urban readily seized a cause waned, Outremer began to suffer response to the catastrophic loss that would enhance papal prestige. from a shortage of manpower. This of Jerusalem in 1187, attracted In a sermon of 1095, he described was partly resolved by the founding participation at an even higher atrocities against Christians in the of crusading orders such as the level, as monarchs such as Louis Holy Land, calling for an expedition Templars and Hospitaller knights, VIII of France, Richard I of England, to free them. Christian warriors organizations who swore monastic and the Holy Roman Emperor rallied to the cause, eager to gain vows to defend the Holy Land. Frederick Barbarossa assumed both salvation and plunder by joining their leadership. a so-called Just War in God’s name. Further Crusades However, even this was not By 1270 there had been eight Some 100,000 crusading knights, enough, and when Muslim armies further crusades, and the movement mostly French and Norman, set out captured Edessa in 1144, a Second had extended to include attacks on in 1096. Progress to Jerusalem was Crusade was called. This, and the Muslims in North Africa; joining slow: the crusaders suffered several the Reconquista (the Christian setbacks at the hands of the Seljuk A race absolutely reconquest of Islamic emirates Turks, and the long siege of Antioch alien to God has invaded in Spain); launching expeditions severely tested their morale, yet the land of Christians, has against pagan groups in eastern they pressed on and, led by the reduced the people with Europe, and even Christian heretics, French knight Godfrey of Bouillon, sword, rapine, and flame. such as the Cathars in southern at last captured the Holy City. Pope Urban II, 1095 France. In the Middle East, however, the emergence of stronger Muslim In the area they had conquered, states, such as the Mamluks in the crusaders established four Egypt, able to mount a strong states, at Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, resistance to crusader pressure, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, rendered the later expeditions known collectively as Outremer. largely ineffectual. To withstand the vigorous Muslim counter-attacks, the crusaders built Jerusalem fell to the Muslims a dense network of fortresses such for a final time in 1244. The last as Beaufort, Margat, and Krak crusader stronghold in the Holy des Chevaliers, which dominated Land, the city of Acre, was taken strategic routes into the Holy Land. by the Mamluks in 1291. ■

108 OTHFEGWIAONRTSK THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANGKOR WAT (c.1120) IN CONTEXT I n the early 12th century, much Buddhas decorate all the of mainland Southeast Asia, immense columns and lintels. FOCUS including Cambodia, and parts Medieval Southeast Asia of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, was Zhou Daguan controlled by the Khmer Empire from BEFORE its capital at Angkor (in the northeast Chinese diplomat c.700 The city-state of of present-day Cambodia)—an Srivijaya extends over most impressive urban complex with kings faced foreign invasions, of Sumatra, western Java, residential areas, temples, and a shifts in trade, and wars with rival and the Malay Peninsula. network of water reservoirs, built by a kingdoms that shrunk its territory. succession of god-kings who ruled as The empire’s fortunes were revived 802 The Khmer state is the earthly representatives of the under Jayavarman VII, who made founded by Jayavarman II. Hindu god Shiva. Mahyanana Buddhism the state religion, and initiated a building AFTER Around 1120, the Khmer king spree at Angkor, but his death in 1177 Champa invades and Suryavarman II commissioned an 1218 left it fatally weakened. destroys Angkor. ambitious new construction project—a 200-hectare (500-acre) Outside influences 1181–1220 Jayavarman VII temple complex dedicated to the The Khmer Empire was preeminent repels Champa and restores Hindu god Vishnu that would also among the powerful states that had the Khmer Empire to glory. record the king’s achievements. His emerged in present-day Cambodia, spectacular Angkor Wat, completed Myanmar, and the islands of Java c.1250 The first united Thai 37 years later, was enclosed by a and Sumatra in Indonesia toward state is established, with its huge moat, adorned with lotus- the end of the first millennium ce. capital at Sukhothai. shaped towers, and decorated with During the states’ formation, their an 2,600ft-long (800m) gallery of societies had been profoundly 1293 The Mongols are fine bas-reliefs depicting scenes defeated by the Singasari ruler from Hindu mythology and the king of Java, ending their bid to as the embodiment of Vishnu. expand into Southeast Asia. Angkor Wat is a testament to c.1440 The city of Angkor is the remarkable productivity and abandoned, although Angkor creativity of one of the greatest Wat remains a place of worship powers in Southeast Asia’s history, for Buddhist pilgrims. yet its construction also marked the onset of its decline, as later

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 109 See also: Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–127 ■ The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 312–313 affected by contact with India and China craved, but by the end of the After its rediscovery by Europeans China, made via the major trade 12th century it had been reduced to a in the late 19th century, Angkor Wat route that ran through the Bay of small kingdom, and was later suffered decades of looting and Bengal, then overland across the eclipsed by the Majapahit in Java. unregulated tourism; it was made a Malay Peninsula before resuming UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. through the Gulf of Thailand and In the late 13th century, Mongol on to the south of China. As well as forces under the Chinese emperor and Ayutthaya (now in Thailand)— enabling the exchange of Southeast Kublai Khan invaded Vietnam, Java, seized more of its land. In 1431, Asian commodities such as rare and Myanmar, and although these the latter took Angkor, and the woods, ivory, and gold, this network campaigns failed, in their wake, capital was later relocated to the introduced Indian and Chinese the Khmer lost control of eastern coast, leaving Suryavarman’s ideas, concepts, and practices— Thailand. In the early 1400s, the spiritual masterpiece to be including Hinduism and Buddhism— empire contracted further as armies reclaimed by the jungle. ■ to the region’s civilizations, which from Champa (now in Vietnam) adapted them to create original, indigenous varations, particularly in architecture and the arts. Maritime empires While the Khmer Empire held sway in mainland Southeast Asia, in the Indonesian archipelago, the empire of Srivijaya, with its base at Palembang in Sumatra, dominated commerce by controlling the two passages between India and China—the straits of Malacca and Sunda. Over time, it had grown rich from its trade in the spices, especially nutmeg, that Europe, India, and Suryavarman II One of the Khmer Empire’s the empire’s boundaries deep greatest kings, Suryavarman II into Thailand and made ascended to the throne in 1113, advances against the Pagan after killing his rival, and reunited kingdom of Myanmar. Cambodia after decades of unrest. He quickly resumed diplomatic As well as the awe-inspiring relations with China, and in 1128 Angkor Wat, which remains the his kingdom was recognized as largest religious structure in a Chinese vassal, which helped the world, the king also built deter neighboring states from other temples in the same style attacking it. Suryavarman was a at the capital. His political and warlike leader, waging campaigns military achievements were in what is now Vietnam against less enduring, however—when the Dai-Viet between 1123 and he died in 1150, in the middle 1136, and against the Khmer’s of a campaign against Champa, traditional enemy to the east, the empire was convulsed by Champa, in 1145. He also pushed civil war and pushed to the brink of destruction.

110 WLHNOEOITARLHDEROFOOUTFYTANGTLOOHOLCEDFOGFUIICRFETT HOEMOFLIARDER MANSA MUSA’S HAJJ TO MECCA (1324) IN CONTEXT Islam spreads Mansa Musa’s into West Africa hajj showcases the FOCUS from the 9th century, wealth and power Islam and trade in the wake of trans- in West Africa Saharan trade. of the Muslim Malian kingdom. BEFORE c.500 ce The Kingdom of Islam continues to Muslim scholars from Ghana emerges. take root throughout other Islamic countries are attracted to Mali and it 1076 Ghana is conquered by West Africa, even becomes a great center the Almoravids, who establish after the collapse an Islamic Empire from Spain of Islamic learning. to the Sahel. of Mali. 1240 Sundjata establishes T he Muslim West African world, and even in Europe, and the Muslim Malian Empire, kingdom of Mali burst his subsequent promotion of capturing Ghana and gaining onto the world stage with Islamic culture and learning in control of its strategic salt, a flourish in the early 14th century, his kingdom was symbolic of the copper, and gold mines. when its fabulously wealthy ruler, faith’s gradual infiltration of the Mansa Musa, made an unusually trading empires of West Africa. AFTER extravagant hajj (pilgrimage) to 1433 Mali loses control Mecca, supported by the huge African trade and Islam of Timbuktu, which is profits made by Mali’s control of the States had begun to form on incorporated into the trans-Saharan caravan trade. The the fringes of the Sahel region Songhai Empire of Gao. emperor’s year-long expedition (a semi-arid zone just south of the became legendary in the Muslim Sahara) around the 5th century, 1464 Sonni Ali, king of Songhai, begins the expansion of his empire, as Mali contracts further still. 1502 Mali is defeated by the Songhai Empire.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 111 See also: Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The conquests of Akbar the Great 170–71 ■ The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 [Mansa Musa] flooded Cairo Under Mansa Musa (ruled 1312–37), Under Mansa Musa’s guidance, with his benefactions… They Mali reached its greatest extent and Timbuktu became Mali’s main power, having forged highly lucrative commercial hub—boosted by its exchanged gold until they caravan connections with Egypt advantageous location at the depressed its value in Egypt and other important trade centers in junction of the desert trade and the and caused its price to fall. North Africa. Gold, salt, and slaves maritime routes down the Niger— were taken north in exchange for and began its rise as the region’s Chihab al-Umari textiles and manufactured goods. intellectual and spiritual capital. A teaching center grew around Arab historian (1300–1384) A center of scholarship al-Sahili’s Sankore mosque, laying Mansa Musa was not the first the foundations for the celebrated beginning with the Kingdom of West African ruler to make a hajj Sankore University and other Ghana, which became known as to Mecca, but the huge scale of madrasas (Islamic schools). “the land of gold,” a reference to the his entourage—more than 60,000 source of its huge wealth. In the 7th people, including 500 slaves who After Mansa Musa’s death, Mali century, the Arab conquest of North bore staffs of pure gold—impressed initially thrived under his son, but Africa gave a new impetus to trans- his observers, and was a potent thereafter, weak rulers, external Saharan trade—the Muslim states expression of his wealth. aggression, and the need to keep had a huge appetite for West African rebellious tribes in check sapped its gold and slaves. As this trade grew, The expedition had a purpose strength until it was eclipsed by the Muslim merchants, and with them beyond advertising Mali’s prestige Songhai Empire of Gao: by 1550 it Islam, were drawn to the area however, as the king invited Muslim was no longer a major political entity. between the headwaters of the scholars and a great architect, Abu Mansa Musa’s great empire—one Niger and Senegal rivers. Ishaq al-Sahili, to make the return of the most prosperous states in journey with him. The latter built the 14th century—may have been However, peaceful trading was West Africa’s first mud-brick short-lived, but his celebrated hajj soon followed by conquest. The mosques at Timbuktu and Gao, had longer-lasting effects, helping Almoravids, a Moroccan Berber trading posts recently captured to spearhead the spread of Islamic dynasty, swept south in 1076 and from the neighboring Songhai. civilization in West Africa. ■ sacked Ghana’s capital, shattering its authority over the region. Ghana’s reduced power opened up a vacuum that was gradually filled by Mali, a state founded around the Upper Niger River, which began to expand in the mid-13th century. Mansa Musa’s hajj attracted the attention of Europe’s cartographers: the emperor is depicted on this Catalan Atlas of 1375, bearing a gold nugget and a golden scepter.

GTIHVEE TBHLEOSOUDN OF ENEMIES TO DRINK THE FOUNDATION OF TENOCHTITLAN (1325)



114 THE FOUNDATION OF TENOCHTITLAN IN CONTEXT Small, competing states in central Mexico and Peru attract Aztec and Inca migrants who fill the power vacuum. FOCUS The Aztec and Inca The Aztecs and Incas found capital cities empires at Tenochtitlan and Cuzco respectively. BEFORE The Aztec Empire expands The Inca empire expands c.1200 Emergence of the Incas using military aggression by co-opting conquered in the Cuzco valley, Peru. and fear of reprisals peoples and seeking c.1250 Aztecs arrive in the to retain power. to integrate them. Valley of Mexico. Neither model of empire can survive the Spanish invasion. 1300 Aztecs establish settlements on land owned Hondurus, Nicaragua, and northern queen; however, to his horror they by the lord of Culhuacán. Costa Rica. This progress was killed and flayed her as a sacrifice paralleled by the growth at much to their deity Xipe Totec. Driven out 1325 Aztecs flee south from the same time of Cuzco, the capital by the lord and his soldiers, the Culhuacán and enter the of the Incas—an Andean people of Aztecs fled southward toward the land around Lake Texcoco. humble beginnings, who in just a future site of Tenochtitlan. few decades created the largest AFTER state South America had yet seen. Although the soil around Lake 1376 Acampichtli becomes Texcoco, on which the island of the first Aztec ruler. Aztec foundations Tenochtitlan was situated, was The Aztecs may have begun their marshy and there was very little 1428 Inca expansion begins. wanderings in northern Mexico timber available, the capital was Establishment of the Aztec around 1200. For the next 100 years easily defensible and the Aztecs Triple Alliance. they eked out a miserable existence used it to consolidate their position. as mercenaries or barely tolerated Initially shielded by a treaty with c.1470 Incas capture Chimor, squatters, their plight not aided by the Tepanec ruler Tezozomoc, who center of the Chimú culture. their reputation as cruel warriors. dominated the Valley of Mexico Frequently, they had to flee after from 1371 to 1426, the Aztecs went 1519 Spanish arrive in Mexico. committing violent acts, at times on to form a Triple Alliance with involving human sacrifice; indeed, the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan 1532 Spanish arrive in Peru. their flight to Tenochtitlan was in 1428—a union that kick-started prompted by one such incident. The a period of imperial expansion. I n 1325, a band of Central Aztecs had asked their host, the American refugee warriors, lord of Culhuacán, whether he Aztec expansion known as the Aztecs, saw a would give his daughter as a bride In the early days, Aztec society had sign their patron god Huitzilopochtli for their chief. He agreed, believing little formal hierarchy. It was based had long ago prophesied—an eagle she would be greatly honored as around communities (calpulli) perched on a cactus, marking the that owned land in common and spot they had been told to settle. Before long, they had built a temple that became the nucleus of their capital, Tenochtitlan. Within two centuries, the city was the center of the most predominant empire in the history of Mesoamerica—a large region that shared a pre-Columbian culture and extended from modern- day central Mexico southward to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador,

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 115 See also: The Maya Classical period begins 71 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The voyage of the Mayflower 172–73 ■ Bolívar establishes Gran Colombia 216–19 whose chiefs, together with priests, Templo Mayor in 1487—by burning Tenochtitlan also exacted tribute ruled on important decisions. In alive, decapitation, or cutting open from its subjects. Although there 1376, the Aztecs chose for the first the chest and removing the heart. was very little in the way of an time an overall leader (tlatoani), organized government bureaucracy, who came to serve as war leader, Many of the Aztec battles were there were tax collectors, who criss- judge, and administrator for the “flower wars”: ritual affairs in which crossed the 38 provinces of the burgeoning empire. Under Itzcoatl opponents were captured (rather Aztec Empire and levied tribute, (1427–40), Moctezuma I (1440–69), than killed) and sacrificed to placate which included 7,000 tons of maize, Axayactl (1469–81), and Ahuitzotl the Aztec gods, who were believed 4,000 tons of beans, and hundreds (1486–1503) Aztec armies subdued to need blood to sustain them and of thousands of cotton blankets ❯❯ their neighbors in the Valley of keep the sun moving across the sky. Mexico and then spread outward, reaching Oaxaca, Veracruz, and to the edges of land controlled by the Mayan people in the east of modern- day Mexico and Guatemala. As the Aztec Empire expanded, society was transformed. A warrior elite emerged, while at the bottom of society bondsmen (mayeques), who owned no land, were bound by labor service to their lords. The militaristic nature of Aztec society was accentuated by an education system in which all males received military training (in separate schools for nobles and commoners). This reinforced the warrior ethos and gave the Aztecs an incalculable advantage over neighboring tribes in Mexico. The imperial system Tenochtitlan was adorned by many temples to the gods of the Aztec pantheon. Each god had their own temple, with the Templo Mayor having twin shrines dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, the rain god. At these temples a stream of human victims was sacrificed—up to 80,000 at the rededication of the The founding of Tenochtitlan is illustrated in the Codex Mendoza: a record of Aztec history and culture created c.1540 by an Aztec artist for presentation to Charles V of Spain.

116 THE FOUNDATION OF TENOCHTITLAN each year. The empire depended on If the land [Peru] had not been insignificant farming group, with this tribute to reward the nobility divided by the wars… we their society divided up into clans and the warriors, who ensured that could not have entered or (ayllus) of roughly equal status. the towns subjugated by the Aztecs conquered it unless over a remained submissive—little mercy thousand Spaniards had Inca expansion being shown to those who revolted. come simultaneously. The Incas began to make their Pedro Pizarro mark as a major power around 1438, While the Aztecs provided some when the neighboring Chanca security to their subjects, they gave Spanish conquistador (1571) people attempted to push the Incas little else. At Tenochtitlan, artificial out of the Cuzco valley. By this time, islands (chinampas) were created at status was, if anything, even more the Incas had a supreme leader great expense to expand the land meteoric. They began as a small, (the Sapa Inca), and although the available to produce food, but no somewhat disregarded tribe and incumbent Viracocha was unequal such works were carried out for the developed their own strategies to the task, his son Pachacuti subject cities. Defeated states did to co-opt neighboring groups defeated the invaders, and then led not provide troops for the Aztec into a successful empire. Inca armies to conquer the rest of army, and so did not share in the the Cuzco valley and the southern spoils of future victory, and little The Incas’ origin myth told of highlands around Lake Titicaca. effort was made to propagate the their emergence from a cave in the Under Pachacuti’s son Topa Inca Aztec language. It was an empire high mountains, from where their Yupanqui and grandson Huayna built on fear and in the end it proved first leader—Manco Capac—led Capac, the Incas overcame Chimor brittle: when it was invaded by a his people to Cuzco. It is generally (the largest coastal state) in about small party of Spaniards led by believed that the Incas arrived in 1470. They then absorbed the rest Cortes in 1519, the subject peoples the region around 1200, and for two of the northern highlands and rallied to the newcomers rather centuries they remained a relatively extended to parts of modern-day than defending the Aztecs, and the Ecuador and Colombia and south empire collapsed within two years. to the deserts north of Chile. Inca beginnings Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas The Incas, whose heartland lay recruited troops from among the high in the central Andes around conquered peoples (placed under Cuzco, in modern-day Peru, had the command of Inca officers), thus similarly humble origins to the providing them with the lure of Aztecs, but their rise to imperial plunder in return for their loyalty. Tlacaelel for his reforms (mostly benefiting Inca communication the royal family and nobles) by The empire of the Incas was highly As the Aztec Empire expanded ordering the destruction of earlier centralized; censuses recorded the and conquered new territories, it chronicles and the rewriting of number of peasants, who all owed became increasingly necessary Aztec history to establish the labor service (mitad) to the Sapa to create a more complex system basis of Aztec imperial ideology. Inca. This level of organization of administration. After Itzcoatl enabled the construction of public became ruler (tlatoani) in 1427, He also presided over the works on a vast scale. Particularly he introduced the new post of formation of the Triple Alliance, vital was the extensive road chief adviser (cihuacoatl). The solidifying the Aztec position network, which extended nearly office’s first incumbent was and ensuring a steady stream 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) Itzcoatl’s nephew, Tlacaelel of sacrificial victims. Given that long and was dotted at regular (1397–1487), who held the office Tlacaelel was never the Aztec’s intervals with resthouses that until his death. Tlacaelel served ruler, his immense influence in facilitated rapid transit for the through several reigns and he Tenochtitlan shows that the army and provided a very efficient provided invaluable continuity. Aztec system of authority was system of communication across In addition, he created impetus not as monolithic as it might the far-flung Inca domains. At the at first appear.

Society in the expansionist Aztec The Shorn Ones THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 117 Empire was deeply militaristic. A boy Deadly warriors had to prove himself a warrior before Otomies Named after he could be considered a man. Noble who swore not to skilled allies of the Aztecs, Aztec youths joined warrior societies step back in battle. Otomies may have been the and progressed through the ranks by first warriors to enter battle. taking more captives for sacrifice. Eagle Warriors Alongside Jaguar Warriors, Jaguar Warriors Men had to take these may have been the lowest rank of the four human captives before they elite Aztec warrior societies. Their resplendent could be admitted to the ranks of uniforms resembled their namesakes. the Eagle and Jaguar Warriors. They cut open their chests, a conquering power. They also releasing a large proportion of their drew out the palpitating hearts dispatched colonists (miqmaq), population to fight in the armies and offered them to the idols. shifting troublesome groups into that conducted their campaigns of more pacified areas to dilute their expansion. They also reorganized Bernal Díaz de Castillo resistance and creating networks the traditional tribal structure to of loyal settlers on the fringes of favor a warrior and noble elite. True History of The Conquest the empire. Although definitive In both cases, the momentum of of New Spain (1568) population statistics are not known, conquest demanded further wars by the early 16th century the Inca to reward the warrior caste or to same time, the Inca domestication Empire—which the Incas called provide an incentive for newly of the llama as a beast of burden Tawintusuyu ( “The Realm of Four conquered peoples to remain loyal made it easier to transport heavy Quarters”)—consisted of about 4–6 and thus to gain the rewards of loads across the empire. million people in total, operating to participation in new campaigns. the advantage of the Inca minority Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas and their subjects. Neither the Aztecs nor the Incas actively sought to spread their own survived long enough to govern language (Quechua) and system of Despite its many strengths, after their expansion slowed down. religious beliefs, which was initially the highly centralized nature of Had they done so, they might have based around the worship of Inti the Inca Empire proved fatal in the developed strategies to bring long- (the sun god), but which came to early 1530s, when Spanish invaders term stability to their empires, or feature prominently Viracocha—a led by Pizarro captured the Sapa might have declined to the status supreme creation god and therefore Inca Atahuallpa; without their of competing city-states fighting to considered a more suitable deity for leader, the Incas rapidly collapsed. control limited resources. Instead, the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs The new colonizers in 1521 and their defeat of the last The Aztecs and the Incas built the Incas by 1572 put paid to the first true empires in their regions ambitions of both empires and left of the Americas. They were able the Spanish firmly established as to do so by creating food surpluses colonial rulers in the region for the through irrigation projects, thus next 300 years. ■

118 WPSECARASSRLOCENEFOTTHFAEALNTIVEYENSTOHRT THE OUTBREAK OF THE BLACK DEATH IN EUROPE (1347) IN CONTEXT I n late November 1347, a galley black blotches on the skin (hence entered the Italian port of “Black Death”) and then, in around FOCUS Genoa, having fled a Tatar three-quarters of cases, by death. The Black Death siege of Kaffa in the Crimea. It bore a deadly cargo: the bubonic plague. Contemporaries ascribed the BEFORE Within a mere two years, this lethal causes of the pestilence variously 1315–1319 Famines strike pestilence had killed more than a to divine punishment for immorality, western Europe: 15 percent of third of the population of Europe adverse conjunctions of the planets, Dutch city-dwellers die. and the Middle East, and altered earthquakes, or bad vapors. There the regions’ economic, social, and was no cure, but preventive advice 1316 Edward II of England religious makeup forever. included abstinence from hard-to- fixes staple food prices as digest food, the use of aromatic shortages drive them upward. Spread of the Black Death herbs to purify the air, and—the Having probably originated in only effective measure—avoiding Late 1330s Bubonic plague Central Asia or western China the company of others. spreads gradually westward in the 1330s, the plague’s initial from western China. progress westward was slow, More than a hundred million but after it reached Crimea and people may have died of the plague; AFTER Constantinople in 1347 it spread estimates put the world population 1349 Accused of starting the rapidly along maritime trade routes. plague, Jews are murdered in Having hit Genoa, it appeared Employees are the thousands in Germany. quickly in Sicily and Marseilles; by refusing to work unless 1348 it had struck Spain, Portugal, 1349 Pope bans the flagellant and England, and it reached they are paid an “Brothers of the Cross.” Germany and Scandinavia by 1349. excessive salary. The Ordinance 1351 Statute of Labourers The epidemic’s main vector was of Labourers, 1349 is passed in England. infected fleas and the rats that harbored them, both of which 1381 Peasants’ Revolt stirs flourished in the unsanitary political rebellion across large conditions of the time. The main parts of England. symptoms of the disease were swellings, known as buboes, that 1424 Dance of Death painted appeared in the groin, neck, or on the cloister walls of the armpits. These were followed by Cimetière des Innocents, Paris.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 119 See also: The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The opening of Ellis Island 250–51 ■ Global population exceeds 7 billion 334–39 Disease spreads Plague rats and fleas Shattered society west from Central Asia flourish in unsanitary along trade routes. The plague’s catastrophic toll living conditions. cast a long shadow over contemporary social attitudes. Black Death A landscape of mass graves, kills over a third of abandoned villages, and an Europe’s population. all-pervading fear of death deepened the sense that God Fall in population Church authority had abandoned his people, leads to demands for diminished by mortality and diluted the claims of better living conditions traditional morality. Crime among priests rose: the incidence of murder and wages. and monks. in England doubled in two decades from 1349. Flagellants at 450 million before it arrived, and paying rent in cash rather than with roamed the countryside, 350 million afterward. Its effects compulsory labor. Governments scourging themselves with were more deadly in some areas tried to clamp down on wages—the knotted ropes, until a Papal than in others—in Egypt, about 1351 Statute of Labourers aimed to bull banned the practice in 40 percent of the population are freeze rates at 1346 levels—but 1349. Bequests to charitable thought to have died. Populations peasants responded with outbursts foundations—hospitals in did not reach pre-plague levels such as the Jacquerie in France in particular—rose as the rich again for nearly three centuries. 1358, and the Peasants’ Revolt in gave thanks for their survival. England in 1381. Artistic production tended Reactions to the plague to the morbid: depictions of Survivors reacted in varying ways. By the time it ended, the Black the Dance of Death appeared, Jewish communities in Germany Death had killed proportionately showing Death cavorting were accused of causing the plague as many clergy as laity, and some among the living; and writers by poisoning wells, and many were clergy deserted their posts. As a such as Boccaccio, who attacked. In Strasbourg alone, 2,000 result the church’s authority, like chronicled the plague in his Jews were killed. that of the nobility, was greatly Decameron, stressed the weakened. The plague had loosened briefness and fragility of life. With the population diminished, the ties that had previously bound landholdings fell vacant, labor medieval society together, leaving Death selects his victims became scarce, and peasants’ a freer and more volatile population indiscriminately from among the bargaining power increased. to face the challenges posed by social orders in the allegorical By 1350, English laborers could the Renaissance, Reformation, Danse Macabre or Dance of Death. demand five times the wages they and the economic expansion of had asked in 1347, and tenants were the 16th and 17th centuries. ■

HWEAIVELNL’SI HAVE WORKED TO DISCHARGE HONGWU FOUNDS THE MING DYNASTY (1368)



122 HONGWU FOUNDS THE MING DYNASTY IN CONTEXT Military and economic decline under the late Yuan dynasty leads to widespread peasant revolts. FOCUS Ming China BEFORE Hongwu founds the Ming 1279 Kublai Khan overthrows dynasty and institutes reforms that the Song and establishes the restore stability, and also give the emperor Mongol Yuan dynasty. absolute authority. 1344 In central China, the Yellow River begins to shift Autocratic, highly centralized system provides course, leading to droughts centuries of stable rule and economic prosperity. and a subsequent upsurge in peasant rebellions. A series of weak rulers means centralized system ceases to operate efficiently. 1351 Outbreak of Red Turban revolt against the Yuan. Ming dynasty collapses in the face of Manchu invasion and peasant uprisings. AFTER 1380 Hongwu takes on the ousted the despised Yuan dynasty— modifications, until the demise role of chief minister, laying founded by Kublai Khan, the of the imperial system in 1911, and the basis of an authoritarian Mongol conqueror of China—the broadening the base of its economy. political culture. country’s rulers since 1279. Zhu reigned as emperor Hongwu Driving out the Mongols 1415 Yongle revives and (“Vastly Martial”—a reference to Zhu’s new dynasty arose from extends the Grand Canal, his military prowess) from 1368 the chaos that accompanied the enabling it to carry goods from until his death in 1398, by which decline of the Yuan. In the 1340s southern China to Beijing. time he had firmly established one and 50s, factionalism in the Mongol of China’s most influential, but also court, rampant government 1520 The first Portuguese most authoritarian, dynasties. He corruption, and a series of natural trading missions to China. and his successors brought three disasters, including plagues and centuries of prosperity and stability epidemics, resulted in wholesale c.1592 Publication of Journey to the country, establishing its breakdown in law and order and to the West, one of the government and bureaucracy in a administration as peasant groups masterworks of Chinese form that would endure, with slight rose up against their faltering classical writing. 1644 Chongzhen commits suicide, ending the Ming era. S urrounded by officials at the imperial palace in Nanjing, Zhu Yuzhuang, the son of poor peasant farmers, offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth as he was proclaimed first emperor of China’s Ming (“brilliant”) dynasty. It was the culmination of a remarkable rise to power by the monk turned rebel general, who had

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 123 See also: The First Emperor unifies China 54–57 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ The Revolt of the Three Feudatories 186–87 foreign overlords. Zhu himself lost populated north of the country were government, the six ministeries, most of his family in an outbreak handed to landless peasants, to report directly to him, ensuring he of plague in 1344, and after a few encourage them to settle there. oversaw even minor decisions. years spent as a mendicant monk, begging for food, he joined the Red From 1380, Hongwu instituted From then on, Hongwu acted Turbans, one of a constellation of government reforms that gave him as his own prime minister. His native Han Chinese peasant secret personal control over all matters of workload was almost unbearable— societies in rebellion against the state. After executing his prime in a single week-long stint, he Yuan. Determined, ruthless, and minister, who had been implicated had to scrutinize and approve an able general, the young rebel in a plot to overthrow him, he some 1,600 documents—and as climbed the ranks to the leadership abolished the prime ministership a result, the state became incapable of the Red Turbans, and later and the central secretariat and of responding swiftly to crises. overcame his rivals to become the had the heads of the next layer of Although in time a new ❯❯ national leader against the Yuan. Zhu took control of much of southern and northern China and declared himself emperor before pushing the Mongols out of their capital at Dadu (Beijing) in 1368. The rest of the country was then subdued, although the Mongols resisted in the far north until the early 1370s, and the unification of China was not achieved until the defeat of the last Mongol forces in the south in 1382. Reform and despotism Zhu’s first priority as emperor Hongwu was to establish order— decades of conflict had ravaged China and impoverished its rural population. His humble beginnings may have influenced some of his early policies: responsibility for tax assessment was entrusted to rural communities, sweeping away the problem of rapacious tax collectors who had preyed on poorer areas; slavery was abolished; many large estates were confiscated; and lands owned by the state in the under- The tribulations of Hongwu’s early life led him to improve the lot of China’s rural poor, but they also created a cruel and irrational man who murdered all those he suspected of disloyalty.

124 HONGWU FOUNDS THE MING DYNASTY The Forbidden City—the imperial palace grand secretariat emerged—an in Beijing—adhered to hierarchic Confucian advisory board through which ideology: the higher one’s social status, the the emperor responded to the six further one could enter into the city. ministries and other government agencies—the Ming retained 5 a more autocratic and highly 4 centralized structure than that of previous Chinese dynasties. This was reflected in the protocol of the Ming court, too: under the Song dynasty (960–1279), the emperor’s advisers had stood before him to discuss matters of state, but under the Ming they were required to kowtow—kneel and knock their heads to the floor—before him, a reverential acknowledgment of his absolute power and superiority. 3 2 Curbing the military In the later years of the Yuan 1 3 Outer Court This area was reserved dynasty, the state had been torn for state affairs and ceremonial purposes. apart by competing power bases 1 Meridian Gate The grand entrance 4 Inner Court Only the emperor and outside the central court, and in a had five gates. The central one was his family could enter the Inner Court. bid to avoid this scenario, Hongwu always reserved for the emperor. 5 The Palace of Heavenly Purity diluted the strength of the army. 2 The Golden Water Bridge To fool assassins, the palace had nine Although he adopted the Yuan Crossing points like the bridges were bedrooms: the emperor slept in a military system—establishing arranged in odd numbers. Only the different one each night. garrisons in key cities, particularly emperor could use the central passage, along the northern frontier, where with the next highest rank able to use the threat of nomad incursions the neighbouring paths. was ever-present, and creating a hereditary caste of soldiers that supported itself on land granted by the government—he also ensured that military units were periodically rotated through the capital for training, and that a group of centrally selected officers shared authority in the army with the garrison commanders, thus preventing the rise of influential warlords with a strong local base. Perfecting the civil service Hongwu also had a deep mistrust of the elite scholar class that had been at the heart of government for centuries. However, he was aware that they played a vital role in the efficient running of the state, and

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 125 so he promoted education and Some people in the influence was wide, and as a result, trained scholars specifically for the morning are esteemed until the very last years of its rule, bureaucracy. In 1373, he suspended [by the Hongwu emperor], the Ming dynasty experienced no the traditional examinations used and in the evening they significant rebellions by either the to recruit civil servants and ordered military or the aristocracy. the establishment of local county are executed. and prefectural schools. From Memorial of the official International diplomacy these, the best candidates would The dynasty’s self-confidence be called for further study at a Hsieh Chin, 1388 appeared to grow even further national university in the capital, under Hongwu’s successor, Yongle where eventually 10,000 students bureaucrats became set in their (reigned 1402–24), who moved the from the original intake were ways. Those who were perceived capital from Nanjing to Beijing, enrolled. The civil service as having stepped outside their and embarked on an ambitious examinations were restored in brief were publicly flogged, program of reconstruction and 1385, when the emperor considered sometimes to death. public works, including measures the well-trained graduates of the to improve the navigability of the university ready to take them, and This maltreatment of public Grand Canal. He also built the were so competitive that soldiers servants was a sign of the cruel extravagant Forbidden City, which were stationed outside the cubicles side of Hongwu’s personality. He housed an imperial palace complex where the examinees sat to avoid was also violently paranoid, and containing more than 9,000 rooms. any collaboration or illicit use of vicious in his suppression of reference materials. dissent. In 1382, he established Yongle’s initially aggressive a secret police, the Embroidered foreign policy led to four campaigns The pool of potential recruits Brocade Guard, whose 16,000 against Mongolia and an attack into the administration was thus officers stamped out all signs of on Annam (Vietnam) in 1417 that widened, but civil servants still resistance. The Guard’s reach and resulted in its incorporation into received a very conservative the Ming Empire. He also sought education based on the Four Books recognition from the rulers of and Five Classics of Confucianism faraway states: between 1405 and and a selection of neo-Confucian 1433, he launched six large-scale works that expounded the virtues maritime expeditions to Southeast of loyalty to the emperor and Asia, East Africa, and Arabia. Led adherence to Chinese tradition. by the great fleet admiral Zheng Innovation was discouraged and He, their purpose was to confirm ❯❯ This silk scroll records one of the The voyages of Zheng He largest naval forces in history: most celebrated tribute gifts from the first mission had 63 vessels, Zheng He’s voyages: a giraffe A Muslim of Mongol descent, including 440 ft (1,340 m) long brought back from Africa in 1414. Zheng He was captured by the “treasure ships” carrying more Ming as a boy, castrated, and sent than 27,000 crew. into the army, where he acquired military and diplomatic skills and Although these voyages distinguished himself as a junior were dramatic in their conduct officer. He went on to become an and scope—the last three sailed influential eunuch in the imperial as far south as Mombasa on the court, and in 1405, Yongle chose east coast of Africa—they were him to lead a grandly conceived not in any real sense commercial maritime expedition around the or exploratory ventures. Their rim of the Indian Ocean, as both intention was strictly diplomatic, fleet admiral and diplomatic designed to enhance China’s agent. Over the next 28 years, prestige abroad and to extract Zheng He commanded one of the declarations of loyalty and exotic tributory gifts for Yongle.

126 HONGWU FOUNDS THE MING DYNASTY China’s domination over the area Diplomatic isolation was reinforced On taking the throne, Hongwu by exacting tribute and other by military uncertainty: Annam issued his own traditional bronze gestures of homage to the emperor. became independent once more in coinage, although a shortage of metal 1428, while huge resources were led to the reinstatement of paper The later Ming devoted to containing the threat money, made of mulberry bark. However, the enormous cost of posed by the Mongol tribes on Zheng He’s ambitious ventures put China’s northern borders. In 1449, consorts, mothers, or by eunuch great strain on the treasury, and Emperor Zhengtong personally led (castrated) advisers, was capped by to ensure they would never be a disastrous expedition against the the long reign of Wanli (1573–1620), repeated, all records relating to Mongol leader Esen Khan in which who simply withdrew from public them were destroyed. Official the majority of the 500,000 Chinese life entirely: for the last decades of ideology regarded China as the soldiers died of hunger, were picked his reign, he refused even to meet center of the world, and the later off by the enemy, or perished in a with his ministers. The dynasty Ming saw no reason to encourage final battle as they retreated. began to decline: the machinery of further maritime contact. The government faltered and the army Chinese did not regard relations Extending the Great Wall had little strength to respond to the with foreign powers as possible on In the 1470s, the building of the serious threat posed by the Jurchen an equal basis: where diplomatic final stages of the Great Wall— in Manchuria (now in northeast relations were conducted, the begun by the Qin dynasty in the China). In 1619, this tribal people, foreigners were considered (by the 3rd century bce—was not only a who later renamed themselves Ming, at least) as tributaries. The bid to prevent a similar disaster, Manchu, began to encroach on confidence and stability of the but also to compensate for the China’s northern borders. Ming bureaucracy also created a Ming’s waning energy. Like their sense of self-sufficiency, with little predecessors, they were unable to use for external influences. absorb the lands of the nomadic groups to the north of the border, Ocean-going vessels were made or to send out expeditions that had to report all the cargo they landed, any lasting effect on discouraging and private maritime trade was their raids. Therefore, a fixed, periodically banned (until it was strongly garrisoned border defense legalized again in 1567 for all was the best compromise. except trade with Japan). In Beijing, a shopkeeper’s unauthorized During the 16th century, a contact with foreigners could result succession of short-lived emperors in the confiscation of his stock. who were dominated by their Global trade Economically, however, Ming China’s great productivity was a magnet for European maritime states seeking new commercial connections in East Asia, and in the early 16th century, European traders finally reached the coast of China. In 1514, a Portuguese fleet Hongwu’s final resting place, the Xiaoling Mausoleum, lies at the foot of the Purple Mountain in Nanjing, and is guarded by an avenue of stone statues of pairs of animals, including camels.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 127 appeared off Canton (now Today the great civil and coalesced into more general revolts. Guangzhou) in the south, and by military officers, the numerous Meanwhile, on the northeastern 1557, Portugal had established a frontier, the Manchus had built permanent base at Macao. Spanish officials, and the masses a state along Chinese lines at and Portuguese merchants (the join in urging us to ascend Mukden in Manchuria—calling former operating from Nagasaki their regime the Qing dynasty in in Japan and Manila in the the throne. 1636—and were now poised to take Philippines)—and from 1601, the Proclamation advantage of the Ming’s imminent Dutch—secured an important Document of the collapse. They were aided in this share in trade with China. Hongwu Emperor, 1368 by a revolt led by Li Zicheng, a rebel leader whose forces entered Beijing Even though Ming policy The Chinese military began to use in 1644 unopposed, prompting the discouraged foreign maritime trade, artillery of European manufacture, emperor to commit suicide. In individual Chinese merchants had and knowledge of European desperation, the Ming military participated actively in the revived mathematics and astronomy was called on the Manchus for help. The economy. Before long there were introduced to the country through tribesmen swept into the capital flourishing Chinese colonies in Jesuit missionaries, including and drove out the rebels, but then Manila and on Java in Indonesia, Matteo Ricci, who lived in Beijing seized the throne, and proclaimed near the Dutch-controlled trading from 1601 to 1610. He translated the Qing dynasty in China. city of Batavia, and Chinese the ancient Greek mathematician merchants controlled a large share Euclid’s Geometry into Chinese, as An enduring legacy of local trade in Southeast Asia. well as a treatise on the astrolabe Although the Ming had fallen The technical sophistication of the (an astronomical instrument used victim to an agrarian crisis that Chinese porcelain industry under for taking the altitude of the sun or coincided with renewed nomadic the Ming led for the first time to the stars). In 1626, the German Jesuit activity on its frontiers, this was mass production of ceramics for Johann Adam Schall von Bell wrote a combination that had also brought export to European markets. the first treatise in Chinese on the down dynasties before it. The telescope, bringing Heliocentrism bureaucracy that had given China The effects, though, of this (an astronomical model in which centuries of constancy and reduced growth in trade were not wholly the sun lies at the center of the the possibility, or even the need, for positive: while a huge influx of universe) to a Chinese audience. internal dissent, was slow to adapt silver from the Americas and itself to times of fast-moving crisis. Japan, used by the Europeans to The Ming collapse pay for Chinese goods such as The late Ming began to suffer many Yet even so, the Ming era had silk, lacquerware, and porcelain, of the same issues that had led to brought great wealth and success stimulated economic growth, it the fall of the Yuan. Crop failures to China. The population expanded also caused inflation. reduced the productivity of China’s from around 60 million at the start vast agriculture, and famines and of its rule, to around three times Technological change floods led to widespread unrest in that number by 1600. Much of this Ming China had inherited a legacy rural areas. The army’s pay began growth was centered in medium- of scientific and technological to fall into arrears, leading to sized market towns, rather than innovation from the Song dynasty, discipline problems and desertions, in large cities, and an increase in which had left the country at the while localized peasant uprisings agricultural production led to the forefront of many scientific fields, rise of an affluent merchant class in including navigation and the the provinces. Many of the elements military applications of gunpowder— of orderly government that Hongwu a substance discovered during the had inaugurated were carried over Tang era whose use had spread into the succeeding Qing dynasty, to Europe from China in the 13th providing China with a degree of century. Under the Ming, though, unity, stability, and prosperity that the pace of progress slowed and the European states of that period by the later part of the dynasty, ideas could only envy and admire. ■ had begun to flow in from Europe.

128 ACCDHAVSRETISRDTSOIAAWRNINEPSETOHOPEFLME Y THE FALL OF GRANADA (1492) IN CONTEXT A t midnight on January 2, would soon divert its energies away 1492, Abu ‘Abd Allah, the from crusading against its Muslim FOCUS Muslim Emir of Granada, neighbors, turning them instead The Reconquista handed over the keys of his city to towards building an overseas King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, empire in the New World. BEFORE joint rulers of the Christian Spanish 722 Pelagius defeats Muslims states of Aragón and Castile. This Christian conquests in Asturias, northern Spain. act marked the end of nearly 800 Muslim Spain (or al-Andalus) years of Muslim rule in the Iberian dated from the Islamic conquest 1031 End of the centralized peninsula and the eclipse of a of the Visigothic kingdom in 711. Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba. great civilization renowned for its Christian resistance survived in Muslim al-Andalus breaks up architectural splendors and a rich Asturias, in the far north, but it into several small emirates. tradition of scholarship. At the took centuries for the kingdoms of same time, it signaled the birth of a Castile, Aragón, León, and Navarre 1212 Battle of Las Navas de self-confident, united Spain that to gain the strength to push slowly Tolosa, in which the Christians southward into Muslim lands. defeat the Almohad caliph. A kingdom of so many This gradual reconquest, known cities and towns, of such as the Reconquista, gathered pace 1248 Ferdinand III of Castile a multitude of places. What during the 11th century, when defeats Muslims at Seville. was this, if not that God the Muslim regions broke up into wanted to deliver it and numerous competing emirates AFTER place it in their hands? (“taifas”) and lost the strategically 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella important city of Toledo in central decree the expulsion of all Andrés Bernáldez Spain, in 1085. Jews from Castile and Aragón. Archbishop of Seville (1450) The growth of the crusading 1497 Spanish seize Melilla spirit in western Europe also on the coast of North Africa. accelerated the progress of the Reconquista. Formal crusades 1502 All remaining Muslims against the Spanish Muslims (or expelled from Spain. Moors) were declared several times from the mid-14th century and a 1568–71 Muslim converts to military culture emerged, in which Christianity rise up against raids into al-Andalus acquired the repressive Christian rule in air of righteous expeditions. From the Revolt of the Alpujarras.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 129 See also: Founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 Muslims weakened Christians amass wealth Union of kingdoms of by the break-up of the after seizing land and Aragón and Castile ends centralized caliphate. assets from Muslims. Christian infighting. Reconquista escalates as Christians benefit from greater resources and unity, culminating in the fall of Granada to the Castilian-Aragonese army. Jews and Muslims are United Spanish kingdom allocates resources to expelled from Spain. overseas expansion in the New World. the 12th century, military orders, completing the Reconquista. It also emirate in the Iberian peninsula. such as Santiago and Alcántara, put an end to centuries of Christian The cities were put under siege and were founded. They frequently infighting, and this unity coincided fell one by one, until finally the major spearheaded independent thrusts with a period of Muslim division. city of Granada surrendered in 1492. into Muslim territory, amassing From 1482, the monarchs undertook great wealth in the process, which a series of military campaigns to Despite an agreement reached enabled them to sustain extended conquer Granada—the last Muslim at the capitulation of Granada, campaigns and ransom Christians which contained guarantees for taken prisoner in the wars. They Known as the Catholic Monarchs, freedom of worship, in 1502 the also repopulated land conquered Ferdinand and Isabella joined forces monarchs decreed that any Muslims from the Muslims with Christians. and used military might to restore over the age of 14 who refused to Christianity in Spain, suppress other convert to Christianity must leave The end of Muslim Spain religions, and colonize the Americas. Spain within 11 weeks. This edict, In Portugal, the Reconquista was combined with the expulsion of the completed with the conquest of the large Jewish community in Granada Algarve in 1249, while in Spain the 10 years earlier, left Spain a more Muslims clung on to power in the homogeneous and less tolerant south. However, this was not to place, and the crusading impulse, last. In 1474, Queen Isabella now shorn of obvious targets, would ascended to the throne of Castile, have to find other channels. in northern Spain. Her husband Ferdinand was already king of the Christopher Columbus’s neighboring state of Aragón, and expedition to the New World in they resolved to permanently expel 1492—the same year as the fall of the Muslims from the south. The Granada—provided the Spanish union of the two crowns enabled with just such an outlet, leading to them to devote more resources to their colonization of the Americas and Spain’s subsequent emergence as the first global superpower. ■

130 IDLEHETVATVISEEERNDSE2W8LY KING SEJONG INTRODUCES A NEW SCRIPT (1443) IN CONTEXT I n 1443, the Korean court of King Sejong announced the FOCUS creation of Han’gul, a national Choson Korea alphabet for the Korean language, and launched a program of BEFORE publications in the new script. The 918 The Goryeo dynasty measure was one of a number of is founded. strategies encouraged by Korea’s king that were designed to stabilize 1270 Goryeo comes under Korea and improve prosperity, and the structural, military, and enabled his Choson (or Yi) dynasty administrative control of the to survive for another 450 years. Mongol Yuan dynasty. Rise of the Yi dynasty King Sejong of Choson, also known 1392 Yi Songyye founds The Mongol Yuan dynasty had as Sejong the Great, revolutionized the Choson dynasty. controlled the Korean Peninsula government by making it possible for from the late 11th century until people other than the social elite to 1420 King Sejong founds 1368, when it was overthrown by become civil servants. the Chiphyon-jon research the Ming dynasty. Korea was left institution. in chaos as its Koryo kings tried sought to re-establish proper to reverse the effects of a century’s relations between the ruler and his AFTER authoritarian domination. The people, and conferred privileged 1445 A 365-volume medical redistribution of land and the status on a bureaucratic class that encyclopedia is published. sacking of pro-Mongol ministers would act as guardian of the social led almost to civil war, but in 1392 hierarchy. Buddhism had been the 1447 The first work printed Sejong’s grandfather Yi Songyye, a dominant ideology under the Koryo in Han’gul is published. former general, stepped in, deposed dynasty, but T’aejo undermined its the last Koryo king, and assumed hold in the region by breaking up 1542 The first sowon the throne as King T’aejo. large estates controlled by Buddhist private academy opens. temples and redistributing the land, The academies become King T’aejo’s immediate priority some to Confucian shrines. centers of debate and house was to secure stability, and the neo-Confucian texts. installation of a state ideology based on neo-Confucianism was 1910 Japan annexes Korea and key to achieving that. This ideology deposes the last Choson ruler.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 131 See also: The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Meiji Restoration 252–53 Hyanggyo were Confucian schools, Neo-Confucianism stressed the importance of built throughout provincial Korea morality, respect for social and used for both ceremonial and The neo-Confucianism that harmony, and education as educational purposes. became dominant in Korea under means of understanding the the Choson dynasty had evolved Supreme Ultimate (tai qi), the in China during the 11th and 12th underlying principle of the centuries as a means to revive universe. In practice, however, Confucianism, which had declined neo-Confucian virtues such in favor of Taoism and Buddhism as loyalty, determination, and under the Tang and early Song. the belief that a supreme A more rationalist and secular monarch should rule the state form of Confucianism, the new to parallel the Supreme Ultimate philosophy rejected superstitious that governed the universe, and mystical elements that had tended to favor a hierarchical, influenced Confucianism during bureaucratic state staffed and after the Han dynasty. Writers by scholars who jealously such as Confucian scholar Zhu Xi maintained the status quo. Neo-Confucianism emphasised however, Korean was written in would risk diluting their power. As the importance of education as a Chinese characters, which were a result Han’gul faded from use, way of producing a class of literati not well adapted to express the relegated as the “vulgar letters” capable of ensuring the harmonious sounds of the language. Sejong of the lower orders, until its running of the state. T’aejo's himself is said to have developed rediscovery in the 19th century, grandson, King Sejong (reigned the simplified script, the Han’gul, since when it has thrived as a 1418–1450) raised this principle to whose principles were explained vehicle for Korean nationalism. new heights, founding in 1420 the in Proper Sounds for the Education Chiphyon-jon (Hall of Worthies), an of the People, a book published in The reforms of T’aejo and elite group of 20 scholars tasked 1445. Having only 28 characters— Sejong, however, broadly survived, with research that would promote later reduced to 24—the script creating a class of yangban—elite the better running of the kingdom. was far easier than Chinese was government officials dedicated to to learn, but its introduction faced the perpetuation of the state. The Encouragement of wider literacy bitter resistance from traditionalist yangban also acted as a break on was an important neo-Confucian nobles. They feared it might open any tendency to autocracy among ideal, and T’aejo had already ordered civil service examinations to people the Yi monarchs, which helped the foundation of government- from other social classes, which the resulting dynasty to endure for sponsored schools. At the time, more than five centuries. ■ Decline in The Choson Sejong devises the The dynasty Mongol promote wider Han’gul alphabet. endures and the Han’gul alphabet power leads education. Yangban scholars is revived in the to the rise of enhance the stability the Choson. of the Choson regime. 19th century.

132 FURTHER EVENTS THE ARAB ADVANCE IS embraced the idea of a united his rule into northern Italy, creating HALTED AT TOURS England with a distinctive culture what became the Holy Roman based on Christianity and the Empire. This major political (732) English language. power—whose emperors claimed to be the secular leaders of Christian By the 8th century, the Islamic THE SPREAD OF THE Europe, vying with the Popes for people of the Arabian peninsula MISSISSIPPI CULTURE power—dominated much of Europe had conquered much of North for more than 900 years. Africa and crossed into Europe, (c.900) occupying Spain and moving into THE GREAT SCHISM southern France. Their northward There was a long tradition, lasting expansion seemed unstoppable— several millennia, of native North (1054) until 732, when they met combined American groups based around Frankish and Burgundian troops at large earth mounds that had been During the late centuries of the Tours. The Franks and Burgundians built for use in rituals or to house 1st millennium ce, the Eastern won the battle, and the Arab leader, the dwellings of the ruling class. and Western parts of the Christian Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, was These communities were mostly church had several disagreements killed. Although there was another confined to local areas, from Ohio about authority (with the pope invasion in 735–39, the Arabs to Mississippi, but the Mississippi claiming seniority over the Eastern never got further than Tours. culture spread widely through patriarchs, but the latter disputing The Franks kept their power in eastern North America. They this), the wording of the Creed, Western Europe, Christianity was grew maize intensively, worked and liturgical matters. These preserved as the continent’s copper, and developed hierarchical disputes came to a head in 1054, dominant faith, and only Spain societies. Recognition of this when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch remained under Muslim rule. complex culture has been a key Michael I excommunicated one element in debunking the idea that another, creating a split called ALFRED RULES WESSEX American Indian peoples were the Great Schism. This division primitive and in forming a clearer between what are now the (871–99) understanding of their civilization. Catholic and Orthodox churches has never been healed. Alfred was an able ruler and OTTO I BECOMES military leader who successfully HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR THE NORMAN CONQUEST defended his kingdom from Danish OF ENGLAND invaders. He expanded his territory (962) from his base in Wessex (central (1066) southern England), uniting a large German ruler Otto I suppressed part of southern England under him. revolts, united the Germanic tribes, In 1066, the English king Edward He built fortifications, founded a and defeated outside aggressors the Confessor died childless, and navy, encouraged education, and such as the Magyars. In addition, a dispute arose over who should promoted Old English as a literary he changed the relationship succeed him. One of the claimants language via translations of Latin between the ruler and the Catholic to the throne was Duke William of books. Alfred became known as church by exercising tight control Normandy, who invaded England, “King of the English” and, although over the clergy and using his close defeated the English at the Battle the Danes still held the northeast, links to the church to increase of Hastings, and was crowned king. is seen as the monarch who first royal power. He also extended This event forged a long-standing

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 133 link between England and mainland and left the Polish–Lithuanian symbolizing the independence Europe, in which England’s rulers alliance as the strongest power from the rest of Britain to which held French lands and spoke French. in Eastern Europe. many Scots still aspire. The Normans introduced a new ruling class, built castles and THE MONGOL INVASIONS THE CONQUESTS OF cathedrals, and transformed the OF JAPAN ARE REPULSED TAMERLANE English language with many new French-based words, all of which (1274, 1281) (1370–1405) are legacies that still endure. In the late 13th century, the Timur, also known as Tamerlane, THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR Mongols were at the height of their was the last of the great nomadic power under their leader Kublai Mongol conquerors. In an attempt (1337–1453) Khan. From their base in central to revive the great empire of Kublai Asia, they had moved east to take Khan, he roamed widely across The Hundred Years’ War was a control of China. In 1271, they sent Europe and Asia, from northern series of conflicts fought between troops by sea to conquer Japan. India to Anatolia and Russia. By England and France that began The attack was unsuccessful, in the end of the 14th century, he when Edward III asserted his part because the Mongol ships had conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria, right to the French throne, a claim were caught in a typhoon, referred Afghanistan, and eastern Russia, that the French Valois dynasty to by the Japanese as a kamikaze destroying Delhi in 1398, and disputed. By the end of the war, (divine wind). The Mongol defeat pushing on toward China in 1405 English possessions in France was decisive in checking their but dying en route. His empire did had been reduced to the coastal advance and shaping the idea not endure, and Mongol horse-based town of Calais and its immediate of a strong, independent Japan, fighting techniques were no match environs. This result transformed free from outside intervention or for the firearms that increasingly England from a power that aspired influence. This concept of Japanese drove warfare in the 15th century. to be part of a larger European nationhood lasted for centuries. empire to an island nation separate THE HUSSITE REVOLT from Europe. France, inspired SCOTLAND UPHOLDS especially by the leadership of INDEPENDENCE AT (1415–34) Joan of Arc, gained a stronger BANNOCKBURN sense of national identity. The Hussites, followers of the (1314) religious reformer Jan Hus, were THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD precursors of the Protestants who The Battle of Bannockburn, lived in Bohemia (modern Czech (1410) Scotland, was a major clash in an Republic, then part of the Austrian ongoing war between England and Habsburg empire) and fought their At the Battle of Grunwald, a Scotland. Despite being vastly Catholic rulers for the freedom to combined Polish and Lithuanian outnumbered, the Scots, under worship in their own way. Hus force crushed the army of the King Robert Bruce, inflicted a was executed for heresy in 1415, Teutonic Knights. This military heavy defeat on the English and sparking a series of wars that order, set up to assist crusaders their ruler Edward II. This left eventually led to the defeat of the and pilgrims, controlled large Bruce in full control of Scotland, Hussites. The area remained under territories in Eastern Europe, from where he continued to lead Catholic Hapsburg rule, but most including Prussia and Estonia, raids on northern England. The war of the people of Bohemia stayed and campaigned against Slavs went on for decades, and Scotland true to their Protestant beliefs. and pagans in the Baltic. This remained independent until 1707. Their revolt against their Catholic decisive battle put an end to the The battle was such a sweeping rulers in 1618 triggered the Thirty Knights’ military power, arrested victory that it is still remembered Years’ War, when the Bohemian German eastward expansion, as a key event in Scottish history, Protestants were again defeated.

MTHOEDEERARN 1420–1795

LEYRA

136 INTRODUCTION Brunelleschi designs Christopher Columbus Martin Luther writes The Battle of the groundbreaking reaches America, starting 95 theses against the Sekigahara ushers Catholic Church, leading in the Edo Period dome of Florence an era of European to the Reformation in Japan—a time of cathedral, signaling trade and colonization, unity, stability, and the beginning of and the rise of artistic achievements. the Renaissance. and transforming the Protestantism. ecology of the Americas. 1420 1492 1517 1603 1453 1494 1556 1618 The Ottoman Turks Spain and Portugal Abu Akbar becomes Religious tensions conquer Constantinople, sign the Treaty of ruler of the Mughal between Protestants Tordesillas, dividing Empire in India; and Catholics come to a marking the end of the the newly conquered Persian and Indian head at the Defenestration Eastern Roman Empire lands in the Americas art forms merge to of Prague, leading to the create a unique style. Thirty Years’ War. and creating a new between them. Muslim capital. T he course of world events of Europe, seizing the Byzantine The start of colonialism always looks different in city of Constantinople and twice The importance of Christopher retrospect from the way penetrating as far as Vienna. Columbus’s transatlantic voyage that it appears at the time, but the in 1492 cannot be exaggerated. contrast in perspective is rarely as Yet historical retrospect certainly It established a permanent link extreme as in the Early Modern Era, recognizes changes underway that between two entire ecosystems which spanned the 15th, 16th, and were to make European nations the that had evolved in isolation from 17th centuries. Today, this period founders of the modern world. The each another for almost 10,000 is often viewed as the age during flowering of arts and ideas in the years. The initial impact on the which Europe climbed toward world Renaissance meant that Europe inhabitants of the Americas was domination, but to Europeans living ceased to be a cultural backwater. catastrophic. Eurasian diseases at the time it often seemed to be full Printing and paper, both originally and the infamous brutality of the of unprecedented disasters. The invented in China, were used by Spanish conquistadors decimated unity of Christendom was split by Europeans to create mass-produced the population. A remarkably small the Reformation, and sectarian books that went on to revolutionize number of European invaders conflict between Catholics and the dissemination of information. conquered the most sophisticated Protestants, combined with power Gunpowder weapons, also invented American states with startling struggles between competing royal by the Chinese, were deployed most ease, laying potentially the entire dynasties, made Europe a place of effectively by European armies and New World open to European frequent warfare—a continent navies. Above all, explorers and exploitation and colonization. tearing itself apart. Meanwhile, sailors from Europe’s western sea- the Muslim armies of the Ottoman board established oceanic trade However, the arrival of European Empire threatened the heartland routes that laid the foundations for sailors in Asia did not have the the first global economy. same dramatic impact. Powerful

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 137 English religious The Royal African Tsar Peter the Great The Battle of Quebec separatists (pilgrims) Company is established founds St Petersburg ends French rule in set sail in the Mayflower in England; slaves are on the Baltic coast to Canada; it was part of to seek a new life; they encourage trade and the Seven Years’ War, taken from the West which involved most found a colony in African coast for sale modernize Russia major European nations. North America. along European lines. in the Americas. 1620 1660 1703 1759 1649 1687 1751 1768 The English Civil Isaac Newton publishes The first volume of Captain Cook sets War culminates in the his theories about Diderot’s three-part sail on his first voyage; gravity based on execution of King Encyclopédie is he maps the New Charles I; England mathematics and logic, published, distilling Zealand coast and becomes a republic for paving the way for the rational ideas of claims southeastern the next 11 years. the Enlightenment. the Enlightenment. Australia for Britain. countries, including India, Imperial European traders in West Africa, 17th century transition from the China, the Mughal Empire, and the were transported in vast numbers Ming to the Qing dynasty, but in Japanese shogunate at first merely to work on colonial plantations, so the 18th century, imperial China tolerated the Europeans as traders, that in some parts of the New World was enjoying a golden age of power allowing them to control only a few people of African descent greatly and prosperity. The population of islands or enclaves along the coast, outnumbered both Europeans and Europe had begun a steep increase as long as they did not interfere or the native population. At home, to unprecedented levels—a result become too troublesome. Europeans consumed luxury goods of improved food production and from China and India, and products declining epidemic diseases— Economic growth such as sugar and coffee from but China also experienced rapid From the second half of the 17th plantations in the Caribbean and population growth. century, signs of economic growth Brazil. North America, the West accelerated in Europe. Productivity Indies, and India were all regions of What really marked out Europe of labor in trades and agriculture colonial contention—the precipitous as unique at this time was the increased notably in areas like the decline of the Mughal Empire development of knowledge and Dutch Netherlands. New financial having opened up parts of India thought. The 17th-century scientific institutions, such as central banks to European territorial conquest. revolution began a transformation and joint stock companies, laid the of our understanding of the universe. foundations of modern capitalism. Intellectual movements The rationalist movement known as Complex patterns of maritime trade Even at this stage, the degree of the Enlightenment challenged all linked European colonies in the European ascendancy should not preconceptions, traditions, and Americas to Europe, Africa, and be exaggerated. China had gone conventions. The modern world Asia. Slaves, mostly bought by through difficult times in the mid- was under construction in the European mind. ■

138 IN CONTEXT FWSAASHILTAMLHLSYLI,TCFIAITLYL FOCUS The Ottoman Empire THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (1453) BEFORE 1071 Turkish forces inflict a significant defeat on the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert. 1389 The Ottomans defeat the Serbs at Kosovo, making possible Ottoman advance into Europe. 1421 Murad II comes to the Ottoman throne and plans extensive conquests. AFTER 1517 The Ottomans conquer Mameluke Egypt. 1571 The Ottoman navy suffers a crushing defeat at Lepanto. 1922 The empire ends with the foundation of modern Turkey. I n 1453, the Ottoman Turks attacked and took the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The loss of this millennium-old Christian empire, which had once stretched virtually all the way around the Mediterranean, was a profound shock to the Christian world. As if to symbolize the Muslim victory Sancta Sophia, one of the greatest cathedrals in Christendom, was converted into a mosque. The Ottoman Turks had already conquered much of the surrounding territory before Sultan Mehmet II (1432–1481) laid siege to the city and bombarded it with heavy artillery. Having breached its walls, his army of more than 80,000 men then overwhelmed the small force

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 139 See also: Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 inside. Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, was killed, and with the fall of the city, his empire ended. Constantinople then became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until 1922. A weakening empire for support for their expedition. When lighted tapers were put to the The Byzantine Empire was already They were initially successful: “innumerable machines” ranged along in terminal decline by the time Angelos’ son was crowned as co- a four-mile section of the city walls, the Constantinople was taken. It had emperor but, in 1204, he in turn world’s first concerted artillery barrage shrunk to include only the capital was deposed by a popular uprising. exploded into life. city, some land to its west, and The Byzantine senate elected a the southern part of Greece. The young noble, Nicolas Canabus, as wars against the Safavids, one decline began at the Battle of emperor, and he refused to back the of Persia’s most significant ruling Manzikert (1071), during which crusaders. Denied their promised dynasties, gave the Ottomans the army of the Turkish Seljuk payments, the crusaders and their control of a whole swathe of the dynasty drove the Byzantines out allies, the Venetians, responded Arab Middle East. of their crucial territory in Anatolia. with a ruthless attack on the city. From this point, rival claims for the They raped and killed civilians, The Ottoman Empire was a Byzantine crown, disputes over looted churches, and demolished Muslim State and the sultans saw it tax, loss of trade revenue, and poor priceless works of art. Constantinople as their duty to promote the spread military leadership all contributed was all but destroyed. of Islam. Nevertheless it tolerated to the contraction of the empire. Christians and Jews in a subsidiary Rise of the Ottomans status and made extensive use of In 1203, the Fourth Crusade— Before capturing Constantinople, slaves. Many languages were a western European expedition the Ottoman Empire had already spoken and faiths followed within originally intended to conquer expanded from Anatolia into the its domains, but it dealt with the Jerusalem—became entangled in Balkans. Afterward, in the 16th potentially conflicting religious and the empire’s politics. Some of the century, it expanded into the political differences by setting up crusade leaders pledged to help eastern Mediterranean, along the vassal (subordinate) states in some restore the deposed Byzantine banks of the Red Sea, and into regions. Territories such as Emperor Isaac II Angelos in return North Africa. The defeat of the Transylvania and the Crimea paid Mamelukes in Egypt in 1536, and tribute (made regular payments) [Blood flowed] like to the emperor, but they were not ❯❯ rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm. Nicolò Barbaro Eyewitness to the fall of Constantinople (1453)

140 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE ruled by him directly, and acted The Ottoman army was also as buffer zones between Muslim crucial to the empire’s success. and Christian areas. Some vassal It was technically advanced— states, including Bulgaria, Serbia, employing cannon from the siege and Bosnia, were eventually of Constantinople onward—and absorbed into the larger empire; tactically sophisticated. Its high- others retained their vassal status. speed cavalry units could turn what looked like a retreat into a Government and military Janissaries wore distinctive devastatingly effective flanking The Ottomans evolved a strong uniforms and, unlike other military attack, surrounding the enemy in system of government that units, were paid salaries and lived in a crescent-shaped formation that combined local administration barracks. They were the first corps to would take them by surprise. with central control. The sultan— make extensive use of firearms. whose brothers were customarily At the heart of the army were murdered at his accession—was hold together a large and diverse the Janissaries, a unit of infantry supreme ruler. He had a council of empire for much longer than would that began as the imperial guard advisers, later a deputy, who ruled have been possible with a more and expanded to become the most on his behalf. Local areas were wholly centralized system. feared elite force of the period. ruled by military governors (beys) Initially, the unit was made up of under the emperor’s overall control, men who, as children, had been but local councils kept the beys’ abducted from Christian families authority in check. in the Balkans. Under the devsirme system, which was also known as Non-Muslim communities the “blood tax” or “tribute in blood,” within the empire were allowed a boys aged from eight to 18 were degree of self-rule through a system taken by Ottoman military, forcibly of separate courts called millets. converted to Islam, and sent to live The millets allowed Armenian, with Turkish families, where they Jewish, and Orthodox Christian learned the Turkish language and communities to rule according to customs. They were then given their own laws in cases that did not rigorous military training, and involve Muslims. This balanced any who showed particular talent combination of central and local were selected for specialized roles control enabled the Ottomans to ranging from archers to engineers. Mehmet II Mehmet (1432–1481), the son of Mehmet’s second, main, rule the Ottoman emperor Murad II, was from 1451 to 1481. His was born in Edirne, Turkey. As victory at Constantinople was was usual for an heir to the followed by a string of further Ottoman throne, Mehmet had an conquests: the Morea (southern Islamic education, and at 11 years Greece), Serbia, the coast of the old was appointed governor of a Black Sea, Wallachia, Bosnia, province, Amasya, to gain and part of the Crimea. He experience of leadership. A year rebuilt Constantinople as his later, Murad abdicated in favor of capital and founded mosques his son, but shortly afterward was there, while also allowing called back from his retirement in Christians and Jews to worship Anatolia to lend military support. freely. Known for his ruthless “If you are the Sultan,” Mehmet military leadership, he also wrote, “come and lead your welcomed humanists to the armies. If I am the Sultan, I order capital, encouraged culture, you to come and lead my armies.” and founded a university.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 141 Naturalistic motifs in cobalt blues reinforced its fortifications as well other arenas. A rising population and chrome greens surround Islamic as adding many mosques, bazaars, was putting pressure on available calligraphy in these Iznik wall tiles, and water fountains. The city’s land; there were military threats commissioned for the Topkapi Palace dazzling centerpiece was the royal and internal revolts; and defeat by during the classical age of Turkish art. palace of Topkapi, commissioned a coalition of Catholic forces at by Sultan Mehmet II in around the the sea battle of Lepanto in 1571 Janissaries were not permitted to 1460s. Masons, stonecutters, and prevented the empire’s expansion marry until they retired from active carpenters were summoned from further along the European side of duty, but they received special far and wide to ensure the complex the Mediterranean. benefits and privileges designed to would be an enduring monument. secure their sole allegiance to the It contained mosques, a hospital, The Ottoman empire steadily ruler. Although they made up only bakeries, and a mint among much lost prestige and influence until a small proportion in the Ottoman else, and attached to it were its decline earned it the title “the army, they had a leading role and imperial societies of artists and sick man of Europe.” Incapable of played a key part in many victories, craftsmen who produced some of responding to the convulsions of including those over the Egyptians, the finest work in the empire. the 19th century, it lost territory Hungarians, and Constantinople. and struggled against a rising tide Gradual decline of nationalism among its conquered This cultural flowering continued peoples. Its long history finally after Suleiman’s death, but the ended with defeat in World War I empire faced serious challenges in and the foundation of the modern Turkish state by Kemal Attatürk. ■ Internal divisions weaken the Byzantine The Ottomans attack and capture Empire from within. Constantinople. The Ottoman heyday The Ottomans Ottoman armies The empire reached its peak under govern conquered lands by conquer and pacify large Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent. respecting local customs He forged an alliance with the parts of eastern Europe French against the Habsburg and allowing limited and the Middle East. rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, self-rule. and signed a treaty with the Safavid rulers of Persia that divided The large, pluralist Armenia and Georgia between the Ottoman Empire spreads two powers and put most of Iraq Islam but fails to create a into Ottoman hands. Suleiman single united culture. conquered much of Hungary, and even laid siege to Vienna, although he did not succeed in taking it. The Ottomans took their Islamic faith to their territories, building mosques everywhere—and with the mosques came scholarship and education. Ottoman cities were impressive. Constantinople itself was virtually rebuilt: the Ottomans

LFTOIHLGLOEHWTISNGUOTHNFE WE LEFT THE OLD WORLD CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS REACHES AMERICA (1492)



144 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS REACHES AMERICA IN CONTEXT Europeans develop a taste for Asian spices FOCUS Voyages of discovery and luxury goods. BEFORE Land routes The After the 1431 Portuguese navigator to Asia are Portuguese fall of Gonçalo Velho sails on a voyage of exploration to hazardous and explore Granada, the Azores. blocked by Indian Spanish the Ottoman Ocean religious 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounds routes. zeal turns the Cape of Good Hope, Empire. outward. discovering the passage around southern Africa. The Spanish Crown supports the exploration of a potential route to Asia across the Atlantic Ocean. 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agree Columbus sets sail westward across the to sponsor Columbus’s voyage. Atlantic to Asia, but instead reaches America. AFTER continued to explore the Caribbean, and pepper, were prized not only 1498 Vasco da Gama’s fleet visiting Cuba, Hispaniola, and for their taste but also because they arrives in Calicut, India. several of the smaller islands. could help to preserve foods. There He met with a mostly peaceful was also an enthusiastic market c.1499 Italian explorer response from the native people, for luxury goods such as silk and Amerigo Vespucci discovers whom he observed might make precious stones, commodities that the mouth of the Amazon. good servants or slaves. He also came primarily from the islands of noticed their gold jewelry, and the Indonesian group, such as the 1522 Ferdinand Magellan’s took a sample of local gold, as Moluccas, which were known in Spanish expedition to the well as some native prisoners, Europe as the Spice Islands. East Indies, from 1519 to back to Europe. 1522 results in the first Bringing such commodities circumnavigation of the Earth. Columbus was to return to the across Asia by land was difficult Caribbean on three later voyages, and dangerous because of local wars C hristopher Columbus bringing in his wake countless and instabilities along the route; it (c.1451–1506), an Italian- European visitors and settlers. was also costly, since during their born navigator and trader journey goods would pass through from Genoa, made a journey in Motivation to explore many different merchants’ hands. 1492 that initiated a lasting contact The rulers and merchants of There were certainly excellent between America and Europe, and Western Europe wanted to explore economic reasons to develop sea changed the world. the Atlantic for primarily economic routes: anyone who could find a reasons. Spices that would not more direct way of importing these When he set out, Columbus grow in Europe’s climate, such as goods to Western Europe would was expecting to reach Asia, since cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, become very rich. no Europeans at the time knew that an entire continent blocked this route. When he reached an island in the Bahamas after sailing for five weeks, he believed that he had arrived at the outer reaches of Indonesia. From there, Columbus

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 145 See also: The Viking raid on Lindisfarne 94–95 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The voyage of the Mayflower 172–74 ■ The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79 Another reason why Europeans transatlantic voyage, Columbus I intend to go and started to explore sea routes in the took two caravels, each probably see if I can find the late Middle Ages was to investigate of 50–70 tons, and one carrack of the possibility of establishing about 100 tons, the extra capacity island of Japan. European colonies in Asia. These being useful for carrying stores. Christopher Columbus, could act not only as trading posts, but also as bases for missionaries, Skills and technology quickly 1492 who could convert the locals to developed in both shipbuilding Christianity. This they believed and navigation. Sailors used the John I, commissioned numerous would help to reduce the perceived cross-staff—a basic sighting journeys of exploration to the Azores threat of Islam. device—or later a mariner’s in the 15th century. Henry had astrolabe, to calculate a vessel’s started the first school for oceanic By the 14th and 15th centuries, latitude. They achieved this by navigation, with an astronomical the Spanish, Portuguese, English, measuring angles, such as the angle observatory at Sagres, Portugal in and Dutch had developed ocean- of the sun to the horizon. They used about 1418. Here he promoted the going ships, and trained sailors a magnetic compass to gauge study of navigation, map-making, who could navigate over long direction, and theircharts and and science. Henry sent ships down distances. Explorers used various knowledge of prevailing winds and the west coast of Africa, to which types of vessels, among the most currents improved with each voyage. he was particularly attracted by successful of which was the the potential to trade in slaves and caravel—a fast, lightweight, and Portuguese navigators gold. His ships pushed southward, extremely maneuverable ship that European navigators had been setting up trading posts along the ❯❯ was usually equipped with a mix of striking out into the Atlantic for square and lateen (triangular) sails. many decades. Sailors from Bristol, The lateen sails made it possible to England, for example, were sailing sail to windward (into the wind), in the 1470s in search of a mythical which allowed explorers to make island called “Brasil,” thought to be progress even in variable wind west of Ireland. The Portuguese conditions. Explorers also used the established trading colonies on carrack, or nau, a larger vessel that Madeira, and Prince Henry the was similarly rigged. On his first Navigator, son of Portugal’s King Christopher Columbus Born in Genoa, Christopher guessed, from the size of the Columbus became a business Orinoco River, that he had found agent for several prominent a huge land mass. During this Genoese families and undertook time, settlers complained to the trading voyages in Europe and Crown about the way he ran his along the African coast. Caribbean colony, and he was dismissed as governor. Columbus followed his voyage to America with a second in 1493, On his last voyage (1502–04) during which he explored the he sailed along the Central Lesser and Greater Antilles, and American coast, hoping to find set up a colony at La Isabela in a strait to the Indian Ocean. He what is now the Dominican returned to Spain in poor health Republic. His third voyage (1498– and an increasingly disturbed 1500) took him to the Caribbean state of mind, feeling he had not island of Hispaniola and on to received the recognition and Trinidad, where he found the benefits he had been promised. coast of South America and Columbus died in 1506.

146 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS REACHES AMERICA way. Subsequent rulers continued seamen—including Christopher Such inhumanities and to sponsor voyages and, in 1488, Columbus—who believed the Barbarisms were committed... Portuguese captain Bartolomeu planet’s diameter to be rather Dias rounded the southern tip of smaller than it actually is. acts so foreign to human Africa. Soon another Portuguese nature that I now tremble navigator, Vasco da Gama, led the Seeking sponsorship push to round the Cape and pressed In 1485, Columbus presented to as I write. on across the Indian Ocean, linking John II, king of Portugal, a plan to Bartolome De Las Casas Europe and Asia for the first time sail across the Atlantic to the Spice by ocean route. Islands. John refused to invest in Spanish historian (c.1527) the scheme, however. This was Since Portugal dominated the partly because Portugal was already Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the sea route along the African coast, exploring the West African coast “Catholic Monarchs” who jointly Portugal’s European neighbor with some success, and partly ruled Spain. At first they turned him and rival Spain needed to find an because the experts John consulted down, their navigational consultants alternative route, if it was to gain about the proposal were skeptical also skeptical about the length of access to the riches of the East. about the distances involved. his proposed route, but eventually, Although educated people knew by this time that the Earth was Columbus cast his net more round, they did not know about widely, seeking backing from the the existence of the Americas. An powerful maritime cities of Genoa alternative way to the East seemed, and Venice, and sending his brother therefore, to be to sail west across to England to do the same—but the Atlantic. This route seemed still he received no encouragement. especially attractive to the many He therefore turned to Ferdinand of Columbus’s voyage was a bold undertaking. Despite a general understanding that the world was spherical, many believed the westward journey was doomed to fail, fearing the crew would die of thirst before ever reaching land. Start The voyage to Provisions on board On October 12th, America and the ships included 1492, the ships back lasted vinegar, olive oil, wine, finally reached seven months, salted flour, biscuits, the Bahamas. from August 3rd, dry legumes, and 1492—March salted sardines. Finish 15th 1493. The crew consisted of 87 men—20 on the Niña, Columbus calculated On August 3rd, 26 on the Pinta, and 41 that Asia was 2,400 1492, Columbus on the Santa Maria. miles away from Spain. departed Spain In fact it is around with three ships: 12,200 miles away. the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 147 Columbus discovered Hispaniola in 1492 when his flagship ran aground on its shores. Nueva Isabela, founded there in 1496, is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas. after protracted negotiations, they agreed to sponsor the voyage. Securing a new trade route would certainly bring material rewards, but Isabella also saw the voyage in terms of a religious mission that could bring the light of Christianity to the East. Columbus sails west priests, who were specifically remains at L’Anse aux Meadows Having been granted viceroyship charged with converting local in Newfoundland reveal that and governorship of any lands he people to Christianity. Religious they even settled there. However, could claim for Spain, plus other conversion became a key part of the Viking settlement was not benefits including 10 percent of any European colonization, illustrating long-lived, and was unknown to revenues they yielded, Columbus set the colonist’s ambition to impose Columbus and his contemporaries. sail westward in 1492. He called at their own culture and exert control Gran Canaria before sailing west, over newly colonized peoples. Nevertheless, Columbus’s 1492 sighting land five weeks later. In journey did inaugurate a lasting early 1493 he returned to Europe Columbus’s achievement in contact between the Americas and with two ships, the third having 1492 is often described as the Europe. The pitiless destruction he been wrecked off the coast of European “discovery” of America. and his men wrought upon the present-day Haiti, and was duly This is a problematic claim not only indigenous peoples of the West appointed Governor of the Indies. because Columbus thought he had Indies, whom he encountered when reached Asia, but also because he first arrived in the Americas, Columbus’s second expedition Vikings from Scandinavia had also began a process of decimation was organized just a few months reached North America some 500 of American Indian populations later. This involved 17 ships loaded years earlier—archaeological that would continue for a century. ■ with some 1,200 people who would found Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. As well as farmers and soldiers, the colonists included I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route. Christopher Columbus, 1492

148 IN CONTEXT TAABHNEPIDECSROBLPNOIENSUTEINUDDSEAHRLAEMLDLAARSK FOCUS Spanish and Portuguese THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS (1494 ) American conquests BEFORE 1492 Columbus makes his first journey to the New World, signaling the beginning of Spanish interest in the area. AFTER 1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal. 1521 Hernán Cortés completes his conquest of the Aztec Empire. 1525 The first Spanish settlement in Colombia, Santa Marta, is established. 1532 Francisco Pizarro begins the Spanish campaign to conquer the Inca Empire. 1598 Juan de Orñate founds the first Spanish settlement in California. S pain and Portugal signed a treaty on June 7, 1494, at Tordesillas in Spain, that resolved the countries’ disputes about the possession of newly discovered territory. The rulers settled on a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands as a line of demarcation. All the lands to the west of this line would belong to Spain; all those to the east would belong to Portugal. The line was chosen because of its location: it lies roughly halfway between the Cape Verde Islands, which already belonged to Portugal, and the Caribbean islands, which Christopher Columbus had claimed for Spain in 1492.