600 CE - 1450

600 t0 1450

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.“ ` John Donne

Between about 200 and 850 C.E., many classical states and civilizations were disrupted, declined, or collapsed.

Columbus’s transatlantic voyages around 1500 mark a new departure in world history.

How should we understand the millennium that stretches from the end of the classical era to the beginning of modern world history?

hard to define a distinct identity for this period

Postclassical? Medieval or Middle Ages? Third-wave civilizations

First Civs: Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Indus River

2nd Wave

NEW STUFF BLENDED STUFF

creation of new but smaller civilizations where none had existed before East African Swahili

civilization Kievan Rus Japan, Korea, Vietnam Srivijaya (Indonesia) Angkor (Cambodia)

all part of the pattern of increasing globalization of civilization new civilizations were

distinctive, but similar to earlier civilizations

borrowed heavily from earlier or more established centers

RADICAL CHANGE PERSISTENT STUFF

the most expansive and influential thirdwave civilization was Islam Defines the beginning of

this period Political and economic

system a tool of religion Instead of religion as a

tool of the political system

some older civilizations persisted or were reconstructed new civilizations were distinctive, but similar to earlier civilizations Byzantium China India Niger Valley

PERSISTENT STUFF PERSISTENT STUFF

Western Europe: successor states tried to maintain links to older Greco-Roman- Christian traditions far more decentralized

societies emerged, led by Germans

hybrid civilization was created of classical and Germanic elements

development of highly competitive states after 1000

collapse of classical Maya civilization and Teotihuacán opened the way to a reshaping of an ancient civilization

the Inca formed an empire out of various centers of Andean civilization

The theme is the great increase in interaction between the world’s regions, cultures, and peoples. increasingly, change was caused by

contact with strangers and/or their ideas, armies, goods, or diseases

cosmopolitan regions emerged in a variety of places—“miniglobalizations”

Trade Empire Interactions between the two

TRADE EMPIRE

especially the growth of long-distance commerce

led to the establishment of many new states or empires (concentration of wealth)

religious ideas, technologies, and germs moved along trade routes

large empires, incorporating many distinct cultures under a single political system provided security for long-

distance trade many of the third-wave

civilizations were larger than earlier ones (Arab, Mongol, and Inca empires)

largest empires were created by nomadic or pastoral peoples (Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Aztecs), who ruled over agriculturalists

spread of ideas, technologies, crops, and germs

wide diffusion of religions wide diffusion of technologies, many from

China and India devastating epidemic disease (e.g., Black

Death) linked distant communities focus on accelerating connections puts a

spotlight on travelers rather than on those who stayed at home.

A focus on interaction raises questions for us about how much choice individuals or societies had in accepting new ideas or practices and about how they made those decisions.

So where’s this dude taking us now?

Reunified China: Sui, Tang, Song

China & the Northern Nomads Coping with China:

Korea, Vietnam, Japan China and the Eurasian Economy China and Buddhism

The Byzantine state Building on the Roman past Byzantine church Conversion of Russia

Western Christendom Decentralization Accelerating change after 1000 Crusading tradition

Catching up/Pluralism in Politics/Reason & Faith

Birth of a new religion An Arab Empire Islam and cultural encounters

India Anatolia West Africa Spain

Networks of Faith/Networks of Exchange

A long history of pastoral people Breakout from Central Asia Mongol Encounters

China Persia Russia

Agents of Exchange

Cause and Effect, on the edge of change

Variations of Communities China & Europe Compared Islam: Ottomans, Safavids, Songhay,

Mughal Webs of Connections