AIM: In what different ways did peoples of the 15th century interact with one another?

Map

Question: What’s wrong with this picture? (above)

Outline

I. Webs of Connection in the 15th century

A. Large-scale political systems brought together culturally different people.

1. efforts to integrate diverse peoples, e.g., The Ottoman, The Mughal, and The Inca empires

B. Religion both united and divided far-flung peoples.

1. common religious culture of Christendom, but divided into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy

2. Buddhism linked people in China, Korea, Tibet, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia

3. Islam was particularly good at bringing together its people

a. the annual hajj

b. yet conflict within the umma persisted

C. Patterns of trade were very evident in the fifteenth century

1. trade was going on almost everywhere

2. the balance of (between northern Africa, Europe and Asia) trade was changing

a. the Silk Road network was contracting

b. ocean trade in the west Atlantic/Indian Ocean picked up

Do Now: Answer the following critical thinking question:

Time Traveler Activity:

Looking Back

What would surprise a knowledgeable observer from 500 to 1000 C.E., were he or she to make a global tour (after traveling in time) in the 15th century?

What features of that earlier world might still be recognizable?

Timeline of 500-1000 C.E.500–549

Justinian I, the Great (483–565), becomes Byzantine emperor (527), issues his first code of civil laws (529), conquers North Africa, Italy, and part of Spain. Plague spreads through Europe (542)

550–599Beginnings of European silk industry after Justinian's missionaries smuggle silkworms out of China (553). Mohammed, founder of Islam (570–632). Buddhism in Japan (c. 560). St. Augustine of Canterbury brings Christianity to Britain (597). After killing about half the population, plague in Europe subsides (594).

600–649Mohammed flees from Mecca to Medina (the Hegira); first year of the Muslim calendar (622). Muslim empire grows (634). Arabs conquer Jerusalem (637), conquer Persians (641).

650–699Arabs attack North Africa (670), destroy Carthage (697). Venerable Bede, English monk (672–735).

700–749Arab empire extends from Lisbon to China (by 716). Charles Martel, Frankish leader, defeats Arabs at Tours/Poitiers, halting Arab advance in Europe (732). Charlemagne (742–814). Introduction of pagodas in Japan from China.

750–799Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks (771). Caliph Harun al-Rashid rules Arab empire, (Abbasid) (786–809): the “golden age” of Arab culture. Vikings begin attacks on Britain (790), land in Ireland (795). City of Machu Picchu flourishes in Peru.

800–849Charlemagne crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in Rome (800). Charlemagne dies (814), succeeded by his son, Louis the Pious, who divides France among his sons (817). Arabs conquer Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia (826–827).

850–899Norsemen attack as far south as the Mediterranean but are thwarted (859), discover Iceland (861). Alfred the Great becomes king of Britain (871), defeats Danish invaders (878). Russian nation founded by Vikings under Prince Rurik, establishing capital at Novgorod (855–879).

900–949

Beginning of Mayan Post-Classical period (900–1519). Vikings discover Greenland (c. 900). Arab Spain under Abd ar-Rahman III becomes center of learning (912–961). Otto I becomes King of Germany (936).

950–999Mieczyslaw I becomes first ruler of Poland (960). Eric the Red establishes first Viking colony in Greenland (982). Hugh Capet elected King of France in 987; Capetian dynasty to rule until 1328. Musical notation systematized (c. 990). Vikings and Danes attack Britain (988–999). Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII (962). By (1000), the height of the Ghanaian empire was reached.

Timeline of the 1400s (15th Century)

1407Casa di San Giorgio, one of the first public banks, founded in Genoa.

1418–1460Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator sponsors exploration of Africa's coast.

1428Joan of Arc leads French against English, captured by Burgundians (1430) and turned over to the English, burned at the stake as a witch after ecclesiastical trial (1431).

1430’s In the 1430s Songhai, previously a Mali dependency, gained independence under the Sonni Dynasty.

Incas rule in Peru.1450

Florence becomes center of Renaissance arts and learning under the Medicis.1453

Turks conquer Constantinople, end of the Byzantine empire, beginning of the Ottoman empire.

1455The Wars of the Roses, civil wars between rival noble factions, begin in England (to 1485). Having worked on printing with movable type at Mainz, Germany, Johann Gutenberg completes first Bible.

1462Ivan the Great rules Russia until 1505 as first czar; ends payment of tribute to Mongols.

1492Moors conquered in Spain by troops of Ferdinand and Isabella. Columbus becomes first European to encounter Caribbean islands, returns to Spain (1493). Second voyage to Dominica, Jamaica, Puerto Rico (1493–1496). Third voyage to Orinoco (1498). Fourth voyage to Honduras and Panama (1502–1504).

1497Vasco da Gama sails around Africa and discovers sea route to India (1498). Establishes Portuguese colony in India (1502). John Cabot, employed by England, reaches and explores Canadian coast. Michelangelo's Bacchus sculpture.(Infoplease)

A Preview of Coming Attractions: Looking Ahead to the Modern Era (1500–2000)

Analyze the above graph.

Objectives: Students learn about connections and conflict in the 15th century.