Chapter 12: The Worlds of the 15th century (600CE-1450CE/1450CE-1750CE)

Issues of larger Global Context:

Global exploration-circumnavigation of the global

A. The Shapes of Human Communities – multiple methods of organizing human communities1. Paleolithic Persistence: Australia and North America

a. Paleolithic Persistence- hunter and gathering societies that adhere to the methods that existed during the Paleolithic age (old stone age)

b. Australia1. Firestick farming – deliberate fires to “cleanup the

country” to prepare for farming, clear underbrush for hunting

2. Elaborate mythology and ritual3. Cave painting

c. North America1. Chinookan, Tulalip, Skagit and other2. Abundance of natural environment leads to

“complex” or “affluent” hunting and gathering societies

2. Agricultural Village Societies: The Igbo and the Iroquoisa. Igbo (EE-boh) of Niger River, Africa

1. Written about in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe2. Conscious choice to remain a society without kings3. “stateless society” organized by kinship groups,

organization of wealthy men, and women’s associations

4. Eventually caught up in Trans-Atlantic slave trade and European domination

b. Iroquois of North America 3. Pastoral Peoples: Central Asia and West Africa

a. Pastoral peoples tended to impact civilizations more directly and significantly than hunting and gathering societies

b. Mongol empire1. Fierce conquerors – most well known2. Responsible for cultural diffusion and re-opening Silk

Road

3. The empire of Ghenghis Khan and Kublai Khan was disintegrating with rise of Russian and Chinese empires

4. Timur (the lame) and Tamerlane will attempt to revive the empire devastating Russia, Persia and India last great military success of nomads in Central Asia

B. Civilizations of the 15th Century: Comparing China and Europe1. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

a. The Ming Dynasty was responsible for overthrowing Mongol rule (Yuan Dynasty)

b. Set out the remove all evidence of foreign rulec. Moved capital to Beijing and built Forbidden City

https://youtu.be/tPfYrmcfvYE

d. Traditional female rolese. Confucian philosophy dominantf. Highly centralized gov’t with loyal eunuchs

(castrated men) having great authority over official bureaucrats

g. Under Ming China may have been the best governed and most prosperous nation in the world

h. Voyages of eunuch Zheng He will increase China’s prestige and tribute (money given in recognition of superiority)

1. Did not seek domination of land or to increase empire

2. Increased prestige in Indian Ocean Trade area

3. Abruptly end in 1433 with the death of Emperor Yongle other gov’t officials saw it as a waste of money and resources (turning point)

4. China will begin looking inward, “Middle Kingdom” (Ethnocentric) trading will become more local (geographic Isolation)

2. Europe: State building and Cultural Renewala. Devastated by plague, population began to

rebound by second half of 1500sb. Politics dominated by feudal structure after the

fall of Rome eventually will evolve into highly competitive states

1. Feudalism – decentralized form of government in which land or service is exchanged for protection in a chaotic society. Rigid social structure

2. Unified states of Western Europe (Britain, France, Spain, Portugal…) will compete for territory and influence. (100 years war)

3. Italy and Germany will remain divided into peti-states in which the Pope will interfere with politics

4. Roman Catholic church will be the strongest institution in Western

5. Europe up until the Protestant Reformation

6. As Mongols fade in 15th century a small Russian state will emerge centered around Moscow

c. Society was dominated by the Renaissance1. Renaissance literally means “rebirth”

in which European cultures begin to look as classic cultures of Greece and Rome for influence

2. The classic of Greece and Rome had been preserved by the Islamic cultures in their libraries after the Fall of Rome and the advent of the Dark Ages

3. Humanism was an appreciation of Greco-Roman culture and a belief in the idea that humans could improve in their life time.

4. Renaissance according to the Mutant Ninja Turtles (Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello)

A. Michelangelo

La Pieta

Statue of David

http://vatican.com/tour/sistine_chapel_3D/web

Sistine Chapel

B. Leonardo Da Vinci

Mona Lisa

The Last Supper

C. Donatello

Bronze of David

D. Raphel

d. European maritime voyaging built off of the developments of Classical, Islamic and Asian worlds (new tools, ship design and understanding of global wind and current patterns)

1. Necessitated by the growth of the Ottoman Turks and their dominance of the overland Asian trade route (middlemen)

2. Columbus was searching for an all water route to Asia to bypass the Ottomans. He headed West looking for a shorter route, accidentally circumnavigated the globe and “discovered” America

3. Vasco da Gama search for a route around the Cape of Good Hope with the help of a Muslim pilot.

4. Innovation in maritime travel promoted European success

a. Lanteen sail

b. Astrolabe

c. Cartography (map making)d. Caravel

Compare development of Chinese empire and European empire

3. Islamic world- Ottoman and Safavid Empires/Songhay and Mughal Empires

a. Ottoman empire1. Growth of the Ottoman Empire

(Seljuk Turks) and their control of the cross roads of trade in the Fertile Crescent will lead Europeans to seek and all water route to Asia

2. European aggressive acts in the Crusades and their ultimate defeat will lead to reversal of their roles in the area – Ottomans will dominate

3. Ottoman take over of Byzantium with seizure of Constantinople in 1453 allow Turks to see selves as successors of Roman Empire (preserves of Classic knowledge)

4. Ottoman empire will encompass three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia)

b. Safavid Empire1. Shia version of Islam practiced separates them from

their neighbors and defines modern Iran as a PERSIAN state rather than Arab.

2. Shia empire will contribute to the sharp political and religious divide between Sunni and Shi’ite Islam that still exists today.

a. Sunni believe that the leader of an Islamic state does NOT have to be descended from Mohammed can simply be educated in the faith. Tend to be less regimented and strict as religion and society

b. Shia/Shi’ite believe that the leader of Islam must be a descendant of Mohammed and practice strict Sharia law (harsh physical punishment for even minor crimes) theocracies tend to dominate. Women’s rights are severely restricted.

c. On the Frontiers of Islam: The Songhay and Mughal Empires1. Songhay Empire of Western Africa gained prosperity as

result of their control of the lucrative Trans-Saharan trade

a. The Islamic religion dominated the Urban areas and important trade settlements

b. In the rural areas animism dominated as a religionc. As was common in Islamic cultures the urban

areas were a demonstration of the “greatness of Islam”, most had a library and mosque to demonstrate the accomplishment of the Islamic culture

Mosque at Timbuktu

Suleiman mosque Istanbul

2. Mughal Empire was able to unite the Indian subcontinent to its furthest extent prior to take over by Great Britain

a. Religiously tolerant of majority Hindu populationb. Ruled 150 years of wealth and splendorc. Gained control through military conquest,

maintained control by working with the Hindu majority

d. During this time period the Islamic empires prospered as a result of military conquest combined with religious tolerance and control of trade networks

e. Empires of the Americas1. Aztecs

Aztecs maintained their empire through conquest and tribute

a. Religion required human sacrifice to ensure that the sun rose every morning, Huitzilpochtli (sun god) required a large number of victims which were taken through warfare

b. The negative relationship between Aztecs and conquered people is going to contribute to Spain’s ability to conquer them

c. Central city was Tenochtitlan which was built on lake Texcoco – an engineering feat

1. Drain swamp land2. Build chinampas floating gardens,

increased arable land, built in grid pattern

d. Spanish conquistadors were in awe of the capital city and the trade that was conducted during market day.(Hernan Cortez)

2. Inca a. Dominated a large region encompassing much of

the Andes mountain regionb. Created a large bureaucracy to control conquered

peoplec. No written language but records/statistics were

kept on quipu- a series of colored knotted stringsd. Force to learn Quechua language and culture of

the Inca but local leader were kept as

representatives as long as they cooperated with central Inca government

e. Every citizen was part of the mita system a system of forced labor to the Incan state. (mining, farming, temple construction…)

f. “Chosen Women”/”Wives of the Sun were special trained as young girls in Incan ideology, beer and cloth production.

g. Practice human sacrifice of young beautiful noble children.

https://youtu.be/vUDiXs927-U

h. Both the Inca and the Aztecs had gender parallelism in which women and men operate on separate but equivalent spheres.

1. Womens’ work in home and society was not regarded as less than mens’

2. Separate religious temples, societies and roles

i. Atahualpa the leader of the Inca will be taken by Pizzaro as the Spanish take over the empire