Chapter 22wp.lps.org/tlarson/files/2013/08/Chapter-22.pdf · 2013. 10. 6. · Establish large...

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Chapter 22

Reaching Out: Cross-Cultural Interactions


Patterns of Long-Distance Trade

n  Silk roads n  Sea lanes of Indian Ocean basin n  Trans-Saharan caravan routes n  Development of trading cities, emporia n  Nomadic invasions cause local devastation but

expand trade network q  E.g. Mongols in China, 13th c.


Marco Polo (1253-1324)

n  Example of long-distance travel n  Travelled to China with merchant father, uncle n  Enters service of Mongol Khubilai Khan n  Returns to Venice after 17-year absence n  Experiences recorded by fellow prisoner in

Venice-Genoa conflict n  Great influence on European engagement with far

east


Travel and trade from the twelfth to the fourteenth century.


Political and Diplomatic Travel

n  Trade requires diplomatic relations after 1000 CE n  Mongols, Christians recognize Muslims as

common enemy, 13th century n  Pope Innocent IV invites Mongols to convert to

Christianity q  Mongols counter-offer: Christians accept Mongol rule

or face destruction


Diplomatic Travellers

n  Rabban Sauma q  Nestorian Christian Priest sent to Pope by Mongols in Persia,

1287, regarding proposed attack on Jerusalem q  Did not win European support q  1295 new leader of Persia accepts Islam

n  Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) q  Islamic scholar, worked in governments on extensive travel q  Strict punishment meted out according to sharia

n  Lashes for drinking alcohol, hand amputations for theft n  Unable to convince women of Maldive islands to cover breasts


Missionary Travelers

n  Sufi missionaries travel throughout new Muslim territories, 1000-1500 CE

n  Christian missionaries accompany, follow Crusaders q  Roman Catholic priests travel east to serve expatriate

communities q  John of Montecorvino travels to China in 1291

n  Translates Biblical texts, builds Churches


Cultural Exchanges

n  Narratives, Stories q  E.g. European troubadours take Muslim love songs q  European scientists learn from early Muslim, Jewish

scientists


Spread of Crops

n  Citrus fruits, asian rise, cotton n  Sugarcane

q  Muslims introduce crystallized sugar to Europeans q  Demand increases rapidly q  Europeans use Muslim precedent of having large

populations of slaves work on sugarcane plantations


Gunpowder Technologies

n  Muslims, Mongols spread gunpowder n  Technology reaches Europe by 1258


Bubonic Plague

n  The Little Ice Age, c. 1300 CE q  Decline of agricultural output leads to widespread

famine q  Bubonic Plague spreads from south-west China

n  Carried by fleas on rodents n  Mongol campaigns spread disease to Chinese Interior


Spread of Plague

n  Mongols, merchants, travelers spread disease west n  1346 Black Sea ports n  1347 Mediterranean ports n  1348 Western Europe


Symptoms of the Black Plague

n  Inflamed and discolored lymph nodes in neck, armpits, groin area q  Buboes, hence Bubonic

n  60-70% mortality rate, within days of onset of symptoms

n  Extreme northern climates less affected q  Winter hard on flea population

n  India, sub-Saharan areas unaffected q  Reasons unknown


Population Decline (millions)

0102030405060708090

100

1300 CE 1400 CE 1500 CE

ChinaEurope


Social and Economic Effects

n  Massive labor shortage n  Demand for higher wages n  Population movements n  Goverments attempt to freeze wages, stop serf

movements q  Riots result


Recovery in China: The Ming Dynasty

n  Yuan dynasty collapses 1368, Mongols depart n  Impoverished orphan raised by Buddhist monks,

works through military ranks, becomes Emperor Hongwu

n  Proclaims new Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty, 1368-1644


Ming Centralization

n  Reestablishment of Confucian educational system n  Execution of minister suspected of treason, begins

tradition of direct rule by Emperor n  Reliance on emissaries called Mandarins n  Heavy reliance on eunuchs

q  Sterile, could not build hereditary power base

n  Centralized structure lasts through Qing dynasty to 1911


Economic Recovery

n  Conscripted labor to repair, rebuild irrigation systems

n  Promoted manufacturing of porcelain, silk n  Cultural revival

q  Attempt to eradicate Mongol legacy by promoting traditional Chinese culture

q  Emperor Yongle commissions 23,000-roll Encyclopedia


Recovery in Western Europe: State Building n  China: centralized Empire n  Europe: regional states n  Europe develops new taxes

q  Italian states: bonds q  France: salt tax, sales tax q  England: hearth tax, head tax, plow tax

n  Establish large standing armies q  French Louis XI (1461-1483) had army of 15,000


Spain

n  Fernando of Aragon marries Isabel of Castile, 1469

n  Major political and economic alliance n  Completes reconquista, expanded beyond Iberian

peninsula to Italy n  Funded Columbus’ quest for China


The Renaissance, 14th-16th centuries

n  “rebirth” of classical culture n  Italian artists use perspective n  Work with real human anatomy and musculature

q  Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) n  Architecture: domed cathedrals

q  Imitation of Roman domes


The Humanists

n  Humanities: literature, history, moral philosophy n  Renaissance humanists deeply devoted to

Christianity q  Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) publishes critical

Greek-Latin edition of New Testament n  Also devoted to rediscovering classical Latin

texts, often ignored in monastic libraries


Humanist Moral Thought

n  Rejection of monastic lifestyle in favor of morally virtuous life while engaged in the world q  Marriage, business

n  Reconciliation of Christianity with rapidly changing European society and economy


Renaissance Europe and the Larger World

n  Artists express interest in Byzantine, Asian worlds

n  Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) tries to reconcile Plato, Aristotle, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism q  Illustrative failure


Exploration and Colonization

n  Ming dynasty hesitant to have large foreign populations q  Mongol experience q  Allowed small populations in port cities

n  Yongle engaged Admiral Zheng He to mount seven massive naval expeditions, 1405-1433

n  Placed trade under imperial control n  Demonstrated strength of Ming dynasty n  Successful, but aborted as Mongols presented new threat

in the north


Chinese and European voyages of exploration, 1405-1498.


European Exploration in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans n  Motives: profit, missionary activity n  Portugese early leaders in Atlantic exploration n  Search for sea route to Indian Ocean basin n  Prince Henrique (Henry the Navigator) siezes

Strait of Gibraltar, 1415 n  Begins encouragement of major Atlantic voyages


Colonization of the Atlantic Islands

n  Madeiras, Azores Islands, etc. n  Investments in sugarcane plantations n  Exploration of west African coast n  Dramatically increases volume of slave trade n  Ultimately, some 12 million Africans deported to

Americas for slave labor


Indian Ocean Trade

n  Attempt to avoid using Muslim middlemen in trade with east

n  1488 Bartolomeu Dias sails around Cape of Good Hope q  1497-1499 Vasco de Gama sails this route to India and

back n  Portuguese gunships attempt to maintain trade

monopoly n  Beginnings of European imperialism in Asia


Christopher Columbus

n  Search for western sea route to Indian Ocean n  Portuguese consider his proposal impractical,

reject it n  Fernando and Isabel of Spain underwrite voyage,

departs in 1492 n  Makes landfall in San Salvador

q  Believed he had reached islands off coast of Asia

Chapter 22wp.lps.org/tlarson/files/2013/08/Chapter-22.pdf · 2013. 10. 6. · Establish large...

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