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Chapter 21. Reaching Out: Cross-Cultural Interactions. Patterns of Long-Distance Trade. Silk roads Sea lanes of Indian Ocean basin Trans-Saharan caravan routes Development of trading cities, emporia Nomadic invasions cause local devastation but expand trade network
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Chapter 21 • Reaching Out: Cross-Cultural Interactions
Patterns of Long-Distance Trade • Silk roads • Sea lanes of Indian Ocean basin • Trans-Saharan caravan routes • Development of trading cities, emporia • Nomadic invasions cause local devastation but expand trade network • E.g. Mongols in China, 13th c.
Marco Polo (1253-1324) • Traveled to China, enters • service of Mongol KhubilaiKhan • -increases European interest/contact in China
Diplomatic Travelers • IbnBattuta (1304-1369) • Islamic scholar & qadi great access to Muslim Areas • N. Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, SW Asia • Significant detailed historical records left behind
Missionary Travelers • Sufi missionaries travel throughout new Muslim territories, 1000-1500 CE • Christian missionaries accompany, follow Crusaders • Roman Catholic priests travel east to serve isolated communities
Exchanges • Gunpowder, navigational, paper, printing technologies spread extensively during the perio • Cultural Exchange -Narratives, Stories, philosophy, scientific thought
Spread of Crops • Citrus fruits, Asian rice, cotton • Sugarcane • Demand increases rapidly leads to the emergence of sugarcane plantation • Catalyst of Trans-Atlantic slave trade
Bubonic Plague • The Little Ice Age, c. 1300 CE • Decline of agricultural output leads to widespread famine • Bubonic Plague spreads from south-west China • Mongols, merchants, travelers spread disease west • spread across Europe (1346-1352)
Social and Economic Effects of plague on Europe blamed stars, God’s anger, Jews etc • Massive labor shortage/Demand for higher wages • Population movements • Reduced power of feudal lords • Increased criticism of the church
Hundred Years’ War 1337-1453 Cause French King Charles IV died in 1328 w/ no male heir. Both England and France claim throne. Changes in Warfare -Longbow eliminated the advantages of armor -cannons could blast holes in castles -armies made up of paid common people
Results Feudalism comes to an end in France People more patriotic & devoted to the monarch rather than feudal lord. Monarchs built up huge armies w/ taxes they collected-reduced the power of nobles
Recovery in China & Western Europe • China: centralized Empire (Ming) • Europe: regional states • Europe develops new taxes or bonds • Establish large standing armies
The Ming Dynasty • Yuan dynasty collapses 1368, Mongols depart • Hongwu becomes emperor • Proclaims new Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty, 1368-1644
Ming Centralization per 2/5 • Reestablishment of Confucian educational system • Direct rule by Emperor • Reliance on emissaries called mandarin & eunuchs
Economic Recovery • Conscripted labor to repair, rebuild irrigation systems • Promoted manufacturing of porcelain, silk • Cultural revival • Attempt to eradicate Mongol legacy by promoting traditional Chinese culture • Emperor Yongle commissions 23,000-roll Encyclopedia
Spain • Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabel of Castile, 1469 • Major political and economic alliance • Completes Reconquista • Fund Columbus’ quest for China
The Renaissance, 14th-16th centuries • “rebirth” of classical culture • Work with real human anatomy • Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) • Architecture: domed cathedrals • Imitation of Roman domes
Causes of the Renaissance: • Rise of wealth and merchant class in Italy • Opening up of culture via Crusades • Lorenzo De Medici promoted trade, banking, the arts, scholarship, and civic pride • Rediscovery of Roman Law and Writing
Study of Humanism: • The worth of the human being • Humankind is God’s greatest creation • The ability of Humankind was recognized • Optimism
The Humanists • Humanities: literature, history, moral philosophy • Renaissance humanists deeply devoted to Christianity • Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) greatest humanist thinker • Also devoted to rediscovering classical Latin texts, often ignored in monastic libraries
Humanist Moral Thought • Rejection of monastic lifestyle in favor of morally virtuous life while engaged in the world • Marriage, business • Reconciliation of Christianity with rapidly changing European society and economy
Exploration and Colonization • Emp. Yongle→ Admiral Zheng He to mount seven massive naval expeditions, 1405-1433 • Placed trade under imperial control • Demonstrated strength of Ming dynasty • Successful, but aborted as Mongols presented new threat in the north & domestic problems
European Exploration in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans • Motives: profit, missionary activity • Portuguese early leaders in Atlantic exploration • Search for sea route to Indian Ocean basin • Prince Henrique (Henry the Navigator) seizes Strait of Gibraltar, 1415 • Begins encouragement of major Atlantic voyages
Indian Ocean Trade • Attempt to avoid using Muslim/ Italian middlemen in trade with east • 1488 Dias sails around Cape of Good Hope • 1497-1499 Vasco da Gama sails this route to India and back • Portuguese attempt to maintain trade monopoly • Beginnings of European imperialism in Asia
Christopher Columbus • Search for western sea route to Indian Ocean • departs in 1492 • Makes landfall in San Salvador • Believed he had reached islands off coast of Asia