POSTCLASSICAL SPICE CHARTS
Byzantine 476 CE -1453 CE (TIP: on a blank map trace the beginning, peak, and decline of the Byzantine)
Social
Political
Interactions
Cultural
Economy
> impact of Christianity
on values
>develops from
Constantine 330 CE
> Byzantine heavily
influenced Russia
(Russia’s people were
a combination of Slavs
and Vikings):
- onion dome churches
spread to Russia
>onion dome churches
>Trade in Mediterranean,
picked up Silk Road goods in
Middle East
>Cyrillic alphabet
from Byzantine to Russia
>illuminated manuscripts
>upper classes used
arranged marriages to
keep power
>after Rome falls,
Byzantine Empire
builds a centralized
government; ruled by an
emperor (monarch
w/religious authority)
>stratification: upper classes
dominated, supported by
military, UWD
>reached its peak
under Justinian 
legal code; autocratic
>women subordinate
>bureaucracy: taxes
strong army
>weakened by Muslims
(expansion of Abbasid
Caliphate led to Crusades
>overtaken by Ottoman
Turks in 1453
(Fall of Mongols in late
1300s allowed for the rise of
the Ottoman Empire; Russia
also began to develop, but
lagged behind Europe in
technology—Mongol yoke
theory).
>Eastern Orthodox
religionRussian Orthodox
religion
>autocratic political style
autocracy of Russian czars
>Cyrillic alphabet
>Hagia Sophia
>mosaics
>trade across Black
Sea to Russia 
Cultural diffusion
(see interactions)
Study tip:
Look at a Byzantine map
Which shows the rise, peak
and decline of the Byzantine)
Study tip: Make up questions
for each of these
Descriptions. Many of them
should be questions that ask
‘how.’
Tang Dynasty 618 CE -907 CE
Social
Political
Interactions
Culture
Economic
Draw hierarchy in top
margin
-Sui reunification 589 CE,
Tang takes over in 618
Golden Age:
-Silk Road trade
-women subordinate
(Confucianism)
-strong central
government
-heavy Silk Road trade to
Middle East
(Abbasid Caliphate)
-accepts Buddhism until
800s (Neo-Confucianism
sees Buddhism as
barbaric)
-bureaucracy
Writings: Mulan
>paintings
>poetry
>porcelain
-period from 500 CE to
1450 CE is the Chinese
Millennium (highest
productive capacity of
goods: silk & porcelain)
-administrators (civil service
exam scholar gentry)
-strong military
-cultural diffusion to
Japan via Korea:
> calendar
> writing
> Buddhism
Song Dynasty 907 CE -1271 CE
Social
Political
Interactions
Culture
Economic
Confucian
hierarchy
(continuity)
-continuity from Tang
(bureaucracy)
-limited Silk Road trade b/c
of enemies (Uighurs)
Technology: great
shipbuilding
influenced Ming
Dynasty
-produced vast amount of goods for internal trade
-limited Silk Road trade b/c of enemies (Uighurs)
-sea trade with Southeast Asia
Mongols (see 2005 Compare and Contrast essay)
Social
>nomads from
Central Asia
>polytheistic
>traditionally
lived in tents
(yurts)
Political
Interactions
Cultural
Economic
>Genghis khan starts Mongol conquests in the early
1200s
>conquered Russia, which fell
behind, & stayed behind Western
Europe in Renaissance (Mongol
Yoke theory)
> Many Mongols
converted to
IslamMughal
(Mogol) rule of
India
>Pax Mongolia
>Kublai Khan starts Yuan dynasty in 1271 lasts until
1368
>largest contiguous empire in the world
>skilled horsemen and bowmen; flaming arrows;
catapults
> foreign administrators (Persians, Arabs) to facilitate
government (bookkeeping, census, tax collection)
>no civil service exam (to suppress Chinese influence)
>Black Plague led to the fall of the Mongols rise of the
Ottomans; rise of Russia
>Muscovy (Moscow) became the
leading economic centercapital
of Russia
>Conquered and ended the
Abbasid caliphate in 1258
>most
achievements
related to military
skill
>collected taxes
from conquered
people
Ming Dynasty 1368 CE - 1644 CE
Social
Political
Interactions
-continuity
-(see economic)
-interactions decline greatly after
Zheng He’s death in 1430 (toward
the end of the postclassical era)
Culture
Economic
-extensive sea trade (tribute or tributary) , expeditions led
by Zheng He, financed by Zhu Di (Yongle Emperor)
Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258 see chapter 9 NOTESHRINK the vocabulary
Social
-umma (community of
believerssocial stability)
-diverse ethnically
(Arabs, Seljuk Turks,
Berbers, Persians)
-syncretism (blend of
ideas)  decline in
women’s status as Islam
spreads to Persia
Political
-Abbasid army
conquers
Umayyad
Caliphate
-political
fragmentation
(more power in
cities)
starts in the 800s
(ninth century);
political power is
more localized
-decentralized
Interactions in Afro-Eurasia
Cultural
Economic
-war stops spread of Tang
Dynasty
-Islamic Golden Age in
medicine, math, science
-trade with Europe 11001300 Crusades
-trade with Europe brings
Europe out of feudal
manorial period
--heavy IOMS trade 10001450
-but trade with Tang dynasty
continued via silk road
-heavy IOMS trade after 1000
CE  Swahili language in East
Africa; Islam spreads to East
African coastal cities
(map them)
-Islam spreads to
Indonesia peacefully through
trade & missionaries
-Seljuk Turks take
control
-attacks on Byzantine 1000s
Crusades (1100-1300)
-Mongols kill last
caliph in 1258
Note: add Ghana and Mali SPICE charts to packet
--connects with transSaharan trade routes
-Silk Road