CHAPTER 15:
THE END OF
POST-CLASSICAL
AGE
THE WEST AND THE
CHANGING WORLD
BALANCE
END OF THE OLD ORDER

Collapse of Post-Classical states
• Byzantines


Following 2nd Crusade, slow decline
Conquered 1453 by the Ottoman Turks
• Abbassid Caliphate
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Weakened by sectionalism
Under control of Turkish clans
Mongols and Timurlane
• Conquered all major Eurasian states
• Muslim cities destroyed
• New routes and cities arose due to Mongols
SOUTH WEST ASIA

Muslim religious leaders began to exert control
• Rationalism opposed by religious conservatives
• Mysticism, Islamic legalist traditions in favor
• Pursuit of science declines

Landlords exercised greater authority
• Peasants reduced to borderline slavery, serfdom
• Agricultural productivity declined
• Tax revenue

Europeans challenged Arabs
• Mediterranean, rise of Aragon, Castile, Venice, France
• Merchants began to replace Muslim merchants

No total collapse of Islamic civilization
• Arabs lost power, old Abbassid realm fragments
• Ottoman Turks rapidly took over most of area
INTERNATIONAL POWER
VACUUM

Ottoman Empire
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•
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Sultans did not restore Muslims to same level
Ottomans not center of international trade
Science and philosophy stagnated.
Result was power vacuum in Islamic world
Rise of Rivals to Ottomans
• India
• Persia
• Egypt

Mongols provided alternative framework
• Redirected land trade away from Muslims
• Land routes turned attention to sea routes.
THE CHINESE

Ming dynasty drove out the Mongols in 1368
• China was best placed to control Eurasian trade
• Ming emperors sought expansion
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Extending the borders of the empire
Reviving the tribute system
Initiating state-sponsored maritime expeditions.
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•
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•
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Voyages reached India, the Middle East, and Africa
Ming emperors ordered the voyages to cease in 1433.
Costs of voyages hurt infrastructure
Scholar-gentry opposed voyages
China's decision reflected traditional Confucianism
• Concentration on internal improvements
• Cultural isolation
• Economic expansion did not depend on foreign trade

China's withdrawal from world
• Cleared the path for the emergence of Europeans
• China began long stagnation
HERE COME THE EUROPEANS

By 15th century
• West began to expand its world contacts
• Important changes taking place in Europe

Church Under attack
• Great Schism saw up to three rival popes
• Wealth led to reformers, who were condemned

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Hus in Holy Roman Empire
Wycliffe in England
Western philosophy and creativity stagnate
Political organization of feudalism not effective
• Feudal monarchs acquire new powers, wealth
• Introduction of cannons, new weaponry
• Death of nobles led to rise of citizen armies under kings

Impact of the Black Death,
• Carried off almost one-third of Europe's population
• Hit Italy and France worst
• Hit merchants and urban elites including clergy heavily
LATE MEDIEVAL VITALITY

New States Arose
•
•
•
•
More powerful and centralized nations arose
Developed in aftermath of 100 Years' War.
France, England, Castile, Aragon, Sweden
New forms of military organization
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Made greater centralization possible
Improvements in metallurgical technology
Construction and use of guns and munitions.
Capitalism became more evident
• Arose simultaneously in Netherlands, Italy
• Based on cities, non-nobles, banking, trade

Increased urbanization
• Especially true in Italy, Netherlands
• Often associated with trade
WESTERN EUROPE GROWS

Overall trend between 1000/1700
• Rapid population expansion
• Black Death only slowed trend

Europeans acquire Asian technology
• Western technology equal to Eurasian
• Europeans adapt, improve on ideas
• Europeans invent new ideas

Europeans apply technology
• Adapted science to practical
• Used technology in trade, navigation, war
RENAISSANCE & SECULARISM

Began in Italy
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At the beginning of the 14th century
Turned away from the medieval cultural
More secular outlook in art and literature
Wealth of Italian cities patronized the arts
Typical political unit of Italian peninsula
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City-state
Florence, Milan, Venice, Rome and Naples
Cities competed for land, accomplishments
Administrative, economic innovations
RENAISSANCE VALUES

Age of cultural innovation and individualism.
• Artists abandoned medieval formalism
• Concentration in arts, music, literature (humanities)

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Embrace more realistic and secular styles
Classical architectural forms replaced Gothic
Tended to idealize Greece and Rome
Initially Renaissance largely limited to Italy
• Even there its style was not accepted everywhere
• Spread to France, England, Netherlands, Germany
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Called Northern Renaissance
Bible, Hebrew more important as themes
Science, math, theology of equal importance
Italian commercial and shipping techniques
• Laid the foundation for Western expansion

The "Renaissance spirit"
• Encouraged a sense of innovation and discovery.
IBERIA

Castile, Aragon, Portugal are lead states
• Christian Reconquista began 714
• Castile, Aragon united by marriage, 1469
• Drove Muslims out of Iberia by 1492
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The Church Militant
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Constant warfare = powerful, trained armies
Defense, expansion of Christianity a duty
Church worked closely with Iberian states
Encouraged sense of religious mission
Expansion abroad
• Attack Muslims
• Conquer lands for Christianity
• Break their trade monopolies
EARLY EXPANSION

Began in the 13th century
• Early discoveries = promise of colonialism
• Early Explorations
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Vivaldi brothers of Genoa explore Atlantic
In 14th century, Genoese discovered Canary Islands
Ships from Barcelona explore Atlantic African coast
• Development of new technology



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More sea-worthy vessels
Compass
Astrolabe
European discoverers
• Generally dominated by Portugal
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King supported a navy
Built school under Prince Henry, sent out ships
• Penetrate even farther into the Atlantic
• Along the African shore
COLONIAL PATTERNS
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Colonization followed exploration
Spanish and Portuguese
• Settlers established agricultural estates
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European diseases killed off natives
Europeans tried to enslave natives
Europeans established feudal model for estates
• Designed to produce commercial crops
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Sugar, cotton, and tobacco became popular crops
Iberian settlers imported African slaves
• Commercial ventures were successful
• Stimulate further colonization
• Plantation model of exploitation
OUTSIDE THE NETWORK

Areas not part of this global network
• The Americas
• Polynesia
• Most of sub-Saharan Africa

Remained unaffected by early expansion
• Eventually brought into European system
• Some experienced difficulties
• Vulnerable to European expansion
POLITICAL AMERICAS

Aztec/Inca empires of the Americas
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In disarray prior to arrival of Europeans
Both had internal, external opposition
Aztecs hated
Incas divided between family, clans
If Americas had continued in isolation
• Other cultures would have risen
• Iroquois, Moundbuilders in US
Expansion, Migration, and
Conquest in Polynesia

Between 7th and 15th centuries
• Migrations
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From Society Islands to Polynesia
From Polynesia to Hawaii
• Settlement of Hawaii and New Zealand

To Hawaiian islands
• An agricultural society developed
• Hawaii had regional kingdoms
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Stratified societies
Dominated by priests and nobles
Hawaii lacked metallurgy, system of writing
NEW ZEALAND
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2ND migration to New Zealand
Maori culture of New Zealand
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Warlike
Dominated by priests and nobles
Lacked metallurgy
Concentrated on use of indigenous species
All of these developments occurred in
total isolation from other civilizations.
THE CHANGES
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
The 15th century was an era of
critical transitions involving world
trade and the relative power of
civilizations.
As in the 20th century, newly
dynamic
civilizations
challenged
those that had previously dominated.
Technology played a key role.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS


This period saw change and continuity in
global networks. Old trade networks, like
Middle Eastern Muslim networks, took
place in a new context, such as the
Mongol empire, which emphasized new
land-based routes. Mongol decline shifted
attention to sea-based routes. New states
arose using new or diffused technologies.
Social structures were changing, too.
The key continuity was the interest and
dependence
of
many
regions
on
interregional trade.