Objective 19: Europe Before 1492
Revival, Renaissance,
Reconnaissance
th
14
century crises
• Mongol Invasions
• Great Schism
• The Plague- 1346-50
• Hundred Years War
1337-1453
The Mongol successor states. After the death of Chinggis Khan’s grandson Mongke in
1259, the Mongol world devolved into four successor states. Kublai Khan’s emerged as the
most powerful, but only after a long struggle with Song China. In Central Asia, the Chagatai
dominated the eastern steppe; the Golden Horde became established in southwest Russia;
and the Il-Khan in Persia ruled from Kabul to Anatolia.
The routes of the plague. The central and east Asian stability imposed by Mongol rule—
the “Mongol Peace”—brought mixed benefits. Trade flourished, and travelers such as Ibn
Battuta and Marco Polo were able to write remarkable accounts of the lands they visited. At
the same time, however, vectors for other travelers, such as the rats that carried bubonic
plague, also opened up. The Black Death, originating in Central Asia, was one of a
succession of plagues that followed the trade routes by land and sea, decimating parts of
Europe and China.
Consequences of the Plague
• Depopulation of
Europe
• Church lost authority
• Erosion of serfdom as
the labor shortage
enabled serfs to
demand wages and
better working
conditions
Population Decline (millions)
100
90
80
70
60
China
Europe
50
40
30
20
10
0
1300 CE
1400 CE
1500 CE
Hundred Years War 1337-1453
• A conflict between the
king of France and
England, a vassal
state
Joan of Arc
fought for
the French
• Triggered by a
succession dispute
Recovery – 15th century:
The end of feudalism and the
emergence of Europe
• Reintegration into hemispheric trading networks
• Resurgence of trade and a money economy
• Creation of new towns and cities
• Reemergence of monarchies and regional states
Long-term consequences of the
Hundred Years War
• Strengthened
monarchies and
national armies
• New weapons
transformed warfare
• Political consolidation:
France and Britain
became independent
monarchies
Town life
• Organization of
merchant and craft
guilds
• Guilds and towns
challenged the
authority of feudal
lords and manors
The Renaissance
• Renaissance = “rebirth”
Humanism, secularism
• A 15th century cultural,
artistic, and
philosophical movement
• Centered in powerful
city-states of Northern
Italy, particularly
Florence
Brunelleschi’s dome on the cathedral
of Florence
Renaissance in Italy, 1300–
1570. From 1300–1570 in Italy,
artists and intellectuals worked to
fuse the Christian tradition
(originating in antiquity but
developed during the Middle Ages)
with the Greco-Roman tradition in a
movement fundamental for the later
evolution of the modern civilization
of the West: the Renaissance. This
map shows the principal places that
are associated with the names of
important figures.
Three Stages:
Literary and artistic revival
Civic Humanism
Christian Humanism
The recovery of classic texts
• Hundreds of Greek
and Roman texts
were recovered and
translated
• Recovery of “pagan
classics” of secular
philosophy as well as
religious works
Francesco Petrarca [1304-1374]
traveled throughout Europe
searching for ancient texts
Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
Michelangelo’s David
Pieta by Michelangelo
The Sistine Chapel
painted by Michelangelo
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Hands sketched by
Leonardo da Vinci
Mona Lisa by
Leonardo da Vinci
The growth of universities
• Europe’s first universities
were built in the 11th and
12th centuries
• “Universities” were guilds
of scholars and students
• Latin was the language of
scholarship
• 1300 a dozen
universities
• 1500 almost 100
Explosion in printing and literacy
• Introduction of moveable
type and printing press c.
1450
• The Gutenberg Bible was
the first book in the West
printed with moveable
type
• By 1500 ten million
printed books were in
circulation in Europe
The Gutenberg Press
and Bible
Reconnaissance
European Voyages
OBJECTIVES: “God, Gold, Glory”?
• To avoid travel over land
• To bypass the Middle East and
find easy passage to Asia
• To enter directly lucrative trade
networks in the Indian Ocean
• To convert people to
Christianity
Pepper from the “Spice
Islands” was a highly desired
commodity in Europe
Enabling technologies
• Lateen and square
sails
• Rudders
• Magnetic compasses
and astrolabes
• Knowledge of wind
and currents
The compass was developed
by the Chinese in the 7th
century; widely used in Indian
Ocean by 11th century
The astrolabe measured latitude.
Developed by Greeks and Persians,
reintroduced to Europe by Arabs
Wind and current patterns in the
world's oceans.
How does Europe rise to world
dominance?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Theory of the “retarding lead”
Southernization
Economic recovery after the Plague
Nation states
Rise of capitalism
Intellectual growth in the Renaissance
Contact with the Mongols
Contact with the Muslim Empire through Spain
and the Crusades