UNIT II: 600 - 1450 C.E.
This second era is much shorter
than the previous one, but during the years between 600 and 1450 C.E. many
earlier trends continued to be reinforced, while some very important new
patterns emerged that shaped all subsequent times.
QUESTIONS OF
PERIODIZATION
Change over time occurs for many
reasons, but three phenomena that tend to cause it are:
During
the classical era (about 1000
This
unit will investigate these major shifts and continuities by addressing several
broad topics:
THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Islam
- the religion with the second largest number of supporters in the world today
- started in the sparsely populated
THE FOUNDING OF ISLAM
Islam
was founded in
Muhammad's
ministry became controversial, partly because city leaders feared that
As
Islam spread, Muhammad continued to draw the ire of
ISLAMIC BELIEFS
The
Five Pillars of faith are five duties at the heart of the religion. These
practices represent a Muslim's submission to the will of God.
The
single most important source of religious authority for Muslims is the Qur'an, the holy book believed to be the actual words of
Allah. According to Islam, Allah expressed his will through the Angel Gabriel,
who revealed it to Muhammad. After Muhammad's death these revelations were
collected into a book, the Qur'an. Muhammad's life
came to be seen as the best model for proper living, called the Sunna. Using the Qur'an and the Sunna for guidance, early followers developed a body of law
known as shari'a, which regulated the family life,
moral conduct, and business and community life of Muslims. Shari'a
still is an important force in many Muslim countries today even if they have
separate bodies of official national laws. In the early days of Islam, shari'a brought a sense of unity to all Muslims.
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM
Muhammad
died in 632 CE, only ten years after the hijrah, but
by that time, Islam had spread over much of the Arabian Peninsula. Since
Muhammad's life represented the "seal of the prophets" (he was the
last one), anyone that followed had to be a very different sort. The government
set up was called a caliphate, ruled by a caliph (a title that means
"successor" or "deputy) selected by the leaders of the umma. The first caliph was Abu-Bakr,
one of Muhammad's close friends. He was followed by three successive caliphs
who all had known the Prophet, and were "rightly guided" by the Qur'an and the memory of Muhammad. By the middle of the 8th
century Muslim armies had conquered land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus
River, and the caliphate stretched 6000 miles east to west.
Religious
zeal certainly played an important role in the rapid spread of Islam during the
7th and 8th centuries C.E. However, several other factors help to explain the
phenomenon:
THE
SUNNI-
The
Arab tribes had fought with one another for centuries before the advent of
Islam, and the religion failed to prevent serious splits from occurring in the
caliphate. Each of the four caliphs was murdered by rivals, and the death of
Muhammad's son-in-law Ali in 661 triggered a civil war. A family known as the Umayyads emerged to take control, but Ali's death sparked a
fundamental division in the umma that has lasted over
the centuries. The two main groups were:
Even
though the caliphate continued for many years, the split contributed to its
decline as a political system. The caliphate combined political and religious
authority into one huge empire, but it eventually split into many political
parts. The areas that it conquered remained united by religion, but the
tendency to fall apart politically has been a major feature of Muslim lands.
Many other splits followed, including the formation of the Sufi, who reacted to
the luxurious lives of the later caliphs by pursuing a life of poverty and
devotion to a spiritual path. They shared many characteristics of other
ascetics, such as Buddhist and Christian monks, with their emphasis on
meditation and chanting.
THE
CHANGING STATUS OF WOMEN
The
patriarchal system characterized most early civilizations, and Arabia was no
exception. However, women enjoyed rights not always given in other lands, such
as inheriting property, divorcing husbands, and engaging in business ventures
(like Muhammad's first wife, Khadijah.) The Qur'an emphasized equality of all people before Allah, and
it outlawed female infanticide, and provided that dowries go directly to
brides. However, for the most part, Islam reinforced male dominance. The Qur'an and the shari'a recognized
descent through the male line, and strictly controlled the social and sexual
lives of women to ensure the legitimacy of heirs. The Qur'an
allowed men to follow Muhammad's example to take up to four wives, and women
could have only one husband.
Muslims
also adopted the long-standing custom of veiling women. Upper class women in
Mesopotamia wore veils as early as the 13th century
ARTS,
SCIENCES,
Because
Islam was always a missionary religion, learned officials known as ulama ( "people with religious knowledge") and qadis ("judges") helped to bridge cultural
differences and spread Islamic values throughout the dar
al-Islam, as Islamic lands came to be known. Formal educational institutions
were established to help in this mission. By the 10th century CE, higher
education schools known as madrasas had appeared, and
by the 12th century they were well established. These institutions, often
supported by the wealthy, attracted scholars from all over, and so we see a
flowering of arts, sciences, and new technologies in Islamic areas in the 12th
through 15th centuries.
When
Persia became a part of the caliphate, the conquerors adapted much of the rich
cultural heritage of that land. Muslims became acquainted, then, with the
literary, artistic, philosophical, and scientific traditions of others.
Persians was the principle language of literature, poetry, history, and
political theory, and the verse of the Rubaiyat by
Omar Khayyam is probably the most famous example.
Although many of the stories of The Arabian Nights or The Thousand and One
Nights were passed down orally from generation to generation, they were written
down in Persian.
Islamic
states in northern India also adapted mathematics from the people they
conquered, using their Hindi numerals, which Europeans later called
"Arabic numerals." The number system included a symbol for zero, a
very important concept for basic calculations and multiplication. Muslims are
generally credited with the development of mathematical thought, particularly
algebra. Muslims also were interested in Greek philosophy, science, and medical
writings. Some were especially involved in reconciling Plato's thoughts with
the teachings of Islam. The greatest historian and geographer of the 14th
century was Ibn Khaldum, a
Moroccan who wrote a comprehensive history of the world. Another Islamic
scholar, Nasir al-Din, studied and improved upon the
cosmological model of Ptolemy, an ancient Greek astronomer. Nasir
al-Din's model was almost certain used by Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish monk
and astronomer who is usually credited with developing the heliocentric model
for the solar system.
INTERREGIONAL NETWORKS
Contacts
among societies in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Asia increased
significantly between 600 and 1450 CE, and Africa and Europe became much more
important links in the long-distance trade networks. Both the Indian Ocean
Trade and the Silk Road were disrupted by major migrations during this period,
but both recovered and eventually thrived. Europeans were first brought into
the trade loop through cities like Venice and Genoa on the Mediterranean, and
the Trans-Saharan trade became more vigorous as major civilizations developed
south of the Saharan.
Two
major sea-trading routes - those of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean
- linked the newly created Muslim Empire together, and Arabic sailors come to
dominate the trade. Muslims also were active in the Silk Road trade to India
and China. To encourage the flow of trade, Muslim money changers set up banks
throughout the caliphate so that merchants could easily trade with those at far
distances. Cities along the trade routes became cosmopolitan mixtures of many
religions and customs.
AFRICAN SOCIETIES
Until
about 600 CE, most African societies based their economies on hunting and
gathering or simple agriculture and herding. They centered their social and
political organization around the family, and none had a centralized
government. Beginning around 640, Islam spread into the northern part of the
continent, bringing with it the unifying forces of religious practices and law,
the shari'a. As Islam spread, many African rulers
converted to the new religion, and centralized states began to form. The
primary agents of trade, the Berbers of the Sahara, became Muslims, although
they retained their identities and tribal loyalties. As a result, Islam mixed
with native cultures to create a synthesis that took different forms in
different places in northern Africa. This gradual, nonviolent spread of Islam
was very conducive to trade, especially since people south of the Sahara had
gold.
Between
600 and 1450 CE, two major empires emerged in West Africa, just south of the
Sahara Desert:
THE CHRISTIAN CRUSADES (LATE 11TH THROUGH 13TH
CENTURIES C.E.)
Pope
Urban II called for the Christian Crusades in 1095 with the urgent message that
knights from western Europe must defend the Christian Middle East, especially
the Holy Lands of the eastern Mediterranean, from Turkish Muslim invasions. The
Eastern Orthodox Byzantine emperor called on Urban for help when Muslims were
right outside Constantinople. What resulted over the next two centuries was not
the recovery of the Middle East for Christianity, but many other unintended
outcomes. By the late 13th century, the Crusades ended, with no permanent gains
made for Christians. Indeed, Constantinople eventually was destined to be taken
by Muslims in 1453 and renamed Istanbul.
Instead
of bringing the victory that the knights sought, the Crusades had the ultimate
consequence of bringing Europeans squarely into the major world trade circuits.
The societies of the Middle East were much richer than European kingdoms were,
and the knights encountered much more sophisticated cultures there. They
brought home all kinds of trading goods from many parts of the world and
stimulated a demand in Europe for foreign products, such as silk, spices, and
gold. Two Italian cities - Venice and Genoa - took advantage of their geographic
location to arrange for water transportation for knights across the
Mediterranean to the Holy Lands. On the return voyages, they carried goods back
to European markets, and both cities became quite wealthy from the trade. This
wealth eventually became the basis for great cultural change in Europe, and by
1450, European kingdoms were poised for the eventual control of long-distance
trade that they eventually gained during the 1450-1750 era.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MONGOLS
The
Mongol invasions and conquests of the 13th century are arguably among the most
influential set of events in world history. This nomadic group from Central
Asia swept south and east, just as the Huns had done several centuries before.
They conquered China, India, the Middle East, and the budding kingdom of
Russia. If not for the fateful death of the Great Khan Ogadai,
they might well have conquered Europe as well. As it is, the Mongols
established and ruled the largest empire ever assembled in all of world
history. Although their attacks at first disrupted the major trade routes,
their rule eventually brought the Pax Mongolica, or a peace often compared to the Pax Romana established in ancient
times across the Roman Empire.
THE
RISE OF THE MONGOLS
The
Mongols originated in the Central Aslian steppes, or
dry grasslands. They were pastoralists, organized loosely into kinship groups
called clans. Their movement almost certainly began as they sought new pastures
for their herds, as had so many of their predecessors. Many historians believe
that a severe drought caused the initial movement, and that the Mongol's
superior ability as horsemen sustained their successes.
Around
1200 CE, a Mongol khan (clan leader) named Temujin
unified the clans under his leadership. His acceptance of the title Genghis
Khan, or "universal leader" tells us something of his ambitions for
his empire. Over the next 21 years, he led the Mongols in conquering much of
Asia. Although he didn't conquer China in his lifetime, he cleared the way for
its eventual defeat by Mongol forces. His sons and grandsons continued the
conquests until the empire eventually reached its impressive size. Genghis Khan
is usually seen as one of the most talented military leaders in world history.
He organized his warriors by the Chinese model into armies of 10,000, which
were grouped into 1,000 man brigades, 100-man companies, and 10-man platoons.
He ensured that all generals were either kinsmen or trusted friends, and they
remained amazingly loyal to him. He used surprise tactics, like fake retreats
and false leads, and developed sophisticated catapults and gunpowder charges.
The
Mongols were finally stopped in Eurasia by the death of Ogodai,
the son of Genghis Khan, who had become the Great Khan centered in Mongolia
when his father died. At his death, all leaders from the empire went to the
Mongol capital to select a replacement, and by the time this was accomplished,
the invasion of Europe had lost its momentum. The Mongols were also contained
in Islamic lands by the Mamluk armies of Egypt, who
had been enslaved by the Abbasid Caliphate. These forces matched the Mongols in
horsemanship and military skills, and defeated them in battle in 1260 before
the Mongols could reach the Dardanelle strait. The Mongol leader Hulegu decided not the press for further expansion.
THE
MONGOL ORGANIZATION
The
Mongol invasions disrupted all major trade routes, but Genghis Khan's sons and
grandsons organized the vast empire in such a way that the routes soon
recovered. They formed four Khanates, or political organizations each ruled by
a different relative, with the ruler of the original empire in Central Asia
designated as the "Great Khan," or the one that followed in the steps
of Genghis. Once the Mongols defeated an area, generally by brutal tactics,
they were generally content to extract tribute (payments) from them, and often
allowed conquered people to keep many of their customs. The Mongol khans were
spread great distances apart, and they soon lost contact with one another. Most
of them adopted many customs, even the religions, of the people they ruled. For
example, the Il-khan that conquered the last caliphate in the Middle East
eventually converted to Islam and was a great admirer of the sophisticated
culture and advanced technologies of his subjects. So the Mongol Empire
eventually split apart, and the Mongols themselves became assimilated into the
cultures that they had "conquered."
TWO TRAVELLERS
Much
of our knowledge of the world in the 13th and14th century comes from two
travelers, Ibn Battuta and
Marco Polo, who widened knowledge of other cultures through their writings
about their journeys.
Although
few people traveled as much as Marco Polo and Ibn Battutu did, the large empires of the Mongols and other
nomadic peoples provided a political foundation for the extensive
cross-cultural interaction of the era.
CHINA'S HEGEMONY
Hegemony
occurs when a civilization extends its political, economic, social, and
cultural influence over others. For example, we may refer to the hegemony of
the United States in the early 21st century, or the conflicting hegemony of the
United States and Russia during the Cold War Era. In the time period between
600 and 1450 CE, it was impossible for one empire to dominate the entire globe,
largely because distance and communication were so difficult. Both the Islamic
caliphates and the Mongol Empire fell at least partly because their land space
was too large to control effectively. So the best any empire could do was to
establish regional hegemony. During this time period, China was the richest and
most powerful of all, and extended its reach over most of Asia.
THE "GOLDEN ERA" OF THE TANG AND SONG
During
the period after the fall of the Han Dynasty in the 3rd century C.E., China
went into a time of chaos, following the established pattern of dynastic
cycles. During the short-lived Sui Dynasty (589-618
C.E.), China began to restore centralized imperial rule. A great accomplishment
was the building of the Grand Canal, one of the world's largest waterworks
projects before the modern era. The canal was a series of manmade waterways
that connected the major rivers and made it possible for China to increase the
amount and variety of internal trade. When completed it was almost 1240 miles
long, with roads running parallel to the canal on either side.
STRENGTHS
OF THE TANG
In
618 a rebel leader seized China's capital, Xi'an, and
proclaimed himself the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, an empire destined to last
for almost three hundred years (till 907). Under the Tangs China regained
strength and emerged as a powerful and prosperous society. Three major
accomplishments of the Tang account for their long-lasting power:
Tang
China extended its hegemony by extracting tribute (gifts and money) from
neighboring realms and people. China was often called "the Middle
Kingdom," because its people saw their civilization at the center of all
that paid it honor. The empire itself was far larger than any before it,
following along the river valleys from Vietnam to the south and Manchuria to
the north, and extending into parts of Tibet. In 668, the Tang overran Korea,
and established a vassal kingdom called Silla.
RELIGIOUS
ISSUES
Long
before the Tang Dynasty was founded, Buddhism had made its way into China along
the trade routes. By the pre-Tang era, Buddhist monasteries had so grown in
influence that they held huge tracts of land and exerted political influence.
Many rulers of the pre-Tang era, particularly those from nomadic origins, were
devout Buddhists. Many variations of Buddhism existed, with Mahayana Buddhism
prevailing, a major branch of the religion that allowed a great deal of
variance of Buddha's original teachings. Empress Wu (690-705) was one of
Buddhism's strongest supporters, contributing large sums of money to the
monasteries and commissioning many Buddhist paintings and sculptures. By the mid-9th
century, more than 50,000 monasteries existed in China.
Confucian
and Daoist supporters took note of Buddhism's growing
influence, and they soon came to challenge it. Part of the conflict between
Confucianism and Buddhism was that in many ways they were opposite beliefs,
even though they both condoned "right" behavior and thought.
Confucianism emphasized duties owed to one's society, and placed its highest
value on order, hierarchy, and obedience of superiors. Buddhism, on the other
hand, encouraged its supporters to withdraw from society, and concentrate on
personal meditation. Finally in the 9th century, Confucian scholar-bureaucrats
conspired to convince the emperors to take lands away from the monasteries
through the equal-field system. Under emperor Wuzong,
thousands of monasteries were burned, and many monks and nuns were forced to
abandon them and return to civilian life.
Not
only was Buddhism weakened by these actions, but the Tang Dynasty lost overall
power as well. However, Confucianism emerged as the central ideology of Chinese
civilization and survived as such until the early 20th century.
THE
FOUNDING OF THE SONG DYNASTY
During
the 8th century, warlords began to challenge the Tang rulers, and even though
the dynasty survived until 907 C.E., the political divisions encouraged nomadic
groups to invade the fringes of the empire. Worsening economic conditions led
to a succession of revolts in the 9th century, and for a few years China fell
into chaos again. However, recovery came relatively quickly, and a military
commander emerged in 960 to reunite China, beginning the Song Dynasty. The Song
emperors did not emphasize the military as much as they did civil
administration, industry, education, and the arts. As a result, the Song never
established hegemony over as large an area as the Tang had, and political
disunity was a constant threat as long as they held power. However, the Song
presided over a "golden era" of Chinese civilization characterized by
prosperity, sophistication, and creativity.
The
Song vastly expanded the bureaucracy based on merit by sponsoring more
candidates with more opportunities to learn Confucian philosophy, and by
accepting more candidates for bureaucratic posts than the Sui
and Tang.
PROBLEMS
UNDER THE SONG
The
Song created a more centralized government than ever before, but two problems
plagued the empire and eventually brought about its fall:
ECONOMIC
REVOLUTIONS OF THE TANG AND SONG DYNASTIES
Even
though the Song military weakness eventually led to the dynasty's demise, it is
notable for economic revolutions that led to Chinese hegemony during the era.
China's economic growth in turn had implications for many other societies
through the trade that it generated along the long-distance routes. The changes
actually began during the Tang Dynasty and became even more significant during
Song rule. Some characteristics of these economic revolutions are:
NEO-CONFUCIANISM
The
conflict between Buddhism and Confucianism during the late Tang Dynasty eased
under the Songs, partly because of the development of Neo-Confucianism.
Classical Confucians were concerned with practical issues of politics and
morality, and their main goal was an ordered social and political structure.
Neo-Confucians also became familiar with Buddhist beliefs, such as the nature
of the soul and the individual's spiritual relationships. They came to refer to
li, a concept that defined a spiritual presence
similar to the universal spirit of both Hinduism and Buddhism. This new form of
Confucianism was an important development because it reconciled Confucianism
with Buddhism, and because it influenced philosophical thought in China, Korea,
Vietnam, and Japan in all subsequent eras.
PATRIARCHAL
SOCIAL STRUCTURES
As
wealth and agricultural productivity increase, the patriarchal social structure
of Chinese society also tightened. With family fortunes to preserve, elites
insured the purity of their lines by further confining women to the home. The
custom of foot binding became very popular among these families. Foot binding
involved tightly wrapping young girls' feet so that natural growth was
seriously impaired. The result was a tiny malformed foot with the toes curled
under and the bones breaking in the process. The women generally could not walk
except with canes. Peasants and middle class women did not bind their feet because
it was impractical, but for elite women, the practice - like wearing veils in
Islamic lands - indicated their subservience to their male guardians.
KUBLAI KHAN, THE YUAN DYNASTY, AND THE EARLY
MING (1279-1450 C.E.)
The
Mongols began to breach the Great Wall under Genghis Khan, but the southern
Song was not conquered until his grandson, Kublai Khan captured the capital and
set up a new capital in Beijing, which he called Khanbaluk,
or "city of the Khan." This was the city that Marco Polo described to
the world as the finest and richest in all the world. Under Kublai Khan, China
was unified, and its borders grew significantly. Although Mongols replaced the
top bureaucrats, many lower Confucian officials remained in place, and the Khan
clearly respected Chinese customs and innovations. However, whereas the Song
had emphasized cultural and organizational values, the Mongols were most adept
in military affairs and conquest. Also, even though trade flourished during the
Tang and Song era, merchants had a much lower status than scholars did. Kublai
Khan and his successors put a great deal of effort into conquering more
territory in Asia, and they elevated the status of merchants, actions deeply
resented by the Confucian bureaucrats.
As
borders expanded once again, the Yuan emperors experienced the old problem of
empire; too few military to protect too many borders. The Mongols increased
tributes and established "tax farming," (a practice that gave
middlemen the responsibility of collecting taxes), which led to corruption. The
gap between the urban rich and the rural poor also grew, and a devastating
plague spread though the population. All of these problems inspired conspiracy
among the Confucian scholars, who led a revolt, toppled the Mongols, and
established the Ming Empire.
The
leader of the Ming revolt, Zhu Yuan Zhang, located the capital in Nanjing and made great efforts to reject the culture of the
Mongols by closing off trade relations with Central Asia and the Middle East,
and reasserting Confucian ideology. Thus the Ming set off a yo-yo effect of
sorts in China that had been seen before, but became accentuated in the
centuries that followed. China, a great civilization that was vitally connected
to trade routes, shut herself off and turned to internal strengths. During this
era, it was still possible because of great distances to other empires. China
could choose to be left alone, and no one could do much about it, even if it
limited long-distance trade profits. However, in subsequent eras this tendency
to isolate itself would strip China of her hegemony and eventually lead to
worldwide humiliation.
KOREA AND JAPAN
During
the 7th century Tang armies conquered much of Korea, resulting in the Korean Silla Dynasty's king recognizing the Tang emperor as his
overlord. Tang forces withdrew from the peninsula, and even though Korea paid
tribute to China, the Silla rulers were allowed to
have a greatly deal of autonomy. Significantly, though, the tributary
relationship developed in a great deal of Chinese influence diffusing to Korea.
The Silla built a new capital modeled on the Tang
capital, Confucian schools were founded, and Buddhism sparked a great deal of
popular interest. However, unlike China, Korea never developed a bureaucracy
based on merit.
On
the other hand, Chinese armies never invaded Japan, and even Kublai Khan's
great forces could not overcome the treacherous straits that lie between Korea
and Japan. The straits had isolated Japan since its beginnings, and its many
islands and mountainous terrain led to separations among people who lived
there. As a result, small states dominated by aristocratic clans developed,
with agricultural communities developing wherever they were possible. Some
Chinese influence, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese writing characters
diffused to Japan, but it remained unique in many ways. Two examples are:
The
Japanese developed a system of feudalism, a political and economic system less
developed than those of centralized empires, but more powerful than a purely
local government. Feudalism was accompanied by a set of political values that
emphasized mutual ties, obligations, and loyalties. The Japanese elites - who
came to be known as daimyos - found military talent in the samurai,
professional warriors who swore loyalty to them. Samurais lived by a warrior's
code - the bushido -that required them to commit suicide (seppuku) by
disembowelment if they failed their masters.
DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE (500-1450 C.E.)
Until
the 5th century most of the European continent was part of the Roman Empire.
However, as the push from the Hun migrations from Central Europe caused other
groups to move west as well, the Roman armies began to have problems in
guarding their borders. As other weaknesses appeared that threatened the
empire, Germanic groups such as the Goths, Ostrigoths,
and Vandals began to take over, with Rome falling to the invasions in 476 C.E.
Without the structure of the empire, the groups settled into areas of Europe
and retained their own ways of life. The era from about 500 to 1000 C.E. is sometimes
referred to as the "Dark Ages" in European history, partly because
many aspects of the Roman civilization were lost, such as written language,
advanced architectural and building techniques, complex government, and access
to long-distance trade. For the most part, these early people of Europe could
not read or write, and lived much as their nomadic ancestors had. In their
isolation, they slowly cleared the forested areas for farming, but their
greatest need was for protection. Dangers lay not only from animals in the
forests, but also from other people that had settled in nearby areas. However,
the need for protection grew to be most important when the Vikings from
Scandinavia invaded many areas of Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, followed
by the Magyars, who came from the east in the late 9th century. In response,
Europeans established feudalism, with many features similar to Japanese
feudalism, but also with many differences.
European
feudal institutions revolved around political and military relationships. The
lord, a large landholder, provided his vassals with fiefs, or landholdings, in
return for service. The most important service was military support, so these
knights spent a great deal of time learning and practicing military techniques
and horsemanship, as well as maintaining their fiefs. Vassals also supervised
public works projects, and the administration of justice. The feudal political
order developed into a complicated network of lord-vassal relationships, with
lords having overlords, and overlords owing allegiance to kings. On these
foundations early kingdoms, such as England and France, were built, but in
other areas, such as modern-day Germany, the feudal organization remained
highly decentralized.
COMPARATIVE FEUDALISM - JAPAN AND EUROPE
|
|
JAPAN |
EUROPE |
|
Similarities |
System was grounded in
political values that embraced all participants. |
|
|
|
The idea of mutual ties and
obligations was strong, with rituals and institutions that expressed them. |
|
|
|
Feudalism was highly
militaristic, with values such as physical courage, personal or family
alliances, loyalty, ritualized combat, and contempt for nonwarriors. |
|
|
Differences |
Feudalistic ties relied on
group and individual loyalties. |
Feudalistic ties were sealed
by negotiated contracts, with explicit assurances of the advantages of the
arrangement. |
|
|
Legacy was a group
consciousness in which collective decision-making teams were eventually
linked to the state. |
Legacy was the reliance on
parliamentary institutions in which participants could discuss and defend
legal interests against the central monarch. |
THE DIVISION OF CHRISTENDOM
The
Roman Empire was divided into two parts during the 4th century C.E. when
imperial power shifted eastward from Rome to Byzantium. The emperor Constantine
moved to the new center, and renamed the city Constantinople. As Christianity
spread, it developed religious centers in both Rome and Constantinople, and as
the two areas grew more politically independent, Christian practices and
beliefs also split in different directions. Even though the church remained
officially tied for many years after Rome fell in 476, in effect two different
churches developed: the Eastern Orthodox Church in the east and the Roman
Catholic Church in the west. The schism became official in 1054, when the Roman
Pope and the Patriarch in Constantinople agreed that their religious
differences could not be reconciled.
THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
While
the west was falling to the Germanic invasions in the 4th and 5th centuries
C.E., the eastern empire remained intact, partly because it withstood fewer
attacks. This Byzantine Empire survived for almost a millennium after the
western empire collapsed. For a time, it was a powerful Christian Empire, but
it came under pressure from Islamic Turkish people by the 11th century, and
finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Caesaropapism
As
the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine claimed to have divine favor
for his rule. He defined Christian practices and intervened in theological
disputes. This policy came to be known as "caesaropapism",
whereby the emperor ruled as both secular lord and religious leader. This
tendency to exalt Byzantine emperors as absolute rulers of both state and
church was reinforced by the appearance of Justinian in the 6th century. He was
an energetic, capable ruler with an energetic, capable wife called Theodora, a
very religious Christian. Although they never resolved the many religious
disputes that disrupted the empire, Justinian had many noteworthy
accomplishments:
The
Decline of the Empire
Even
Justinian could not revive the classical Roman Empire, and within 100 years of
his death, large parts of the Byzantine Empire fell to Arab invaders. It
thrived for a while as a smaller, more manageable entity, but by the late 11th
century, the Seljuk Turks threatened Constantinople so that the Patriarch of
the Eastern Orthodox Church called on Pope Urban II for help in defending the
capital by Christian Crusaders.
THE
CHURCH IN THE WEST
While
political and economic decentralization characterized western Europe between
500 and 1000 C.E., the Catholic Church emerged as a unifying institution with
great religious, political, and economic power. The time period is sometimes
referred to as the "Age of Faith" because the church was so central
to life in Europe.
The
power of the church was promoted by an unlikely Germanic group known as the
Franks. They controlled much of what is now France by the 5th century C.E. when
their leader Clovis led his forces on a campaign that wiped out the remains of
Roman authority a few years after Rome's fall in 476. Clovis converted to
Christianity, under some pressure from his wife, and from then, the Franks'
conquests were done in the name of Jesus. One of his descendants, Charlemagne,
ruled a kingdom that spread across a huge part of Europe, including both modern
day France and Germany. Charlemagne was able to rescue the Roman Pope from
captivity, and the Pope returned the favor by crowning Charlemagne as the new
"Holy Roman Emperor," uniting church and state. Still, the Pope was
the one controlling the crown, and the ceremony took place in Rome.
The
Catholic Church established its influence in several ways:
1)
Refuge for those in trouble - The monasteries and convents were seen as safe
havens that represented the protection that the church offered to people.
2)
Communication to the central church hierarchy - Abbots headed monasteries, and
they served as another means of keeping church officials in touch with what was
going on.
3)
Centers of scholarship, education, and libraries - Monks very often were the
only people in Europe that could read and write, and they spent large amounts
of time copying ancient manuscripts that otherwise might have been lost in the
various invasions. Some monasteries eventually formed the first European
universities that began their library collections with books the monks had
coped.
THE
MANORIAL SYSTEM
Feudalism
generally defined the military and political relationships among kings, nobles,
and knights, but manorialism describes the economic
and political ties between landlords and their peasants. Most people were
serfs, who farmed self-sufficient agricultural estates called manors. The
manorial system had originated in the late Roman Empire as it helped people
take care of basic economic needs as the empire weakened. Farming was
difficult, although made easier by the introduction of the moldboard plow that
allowed deeper turning of the soil.
Serfs
had to give their lord part of their crops in return for grazing their animals
on his land and milling their grain. They also did repairs to his castle and
worked his land. They were not slaves, but few other options were open to them.
The lord's castle and army in turn provided protection for the villages, and
few dared to live outside the confines of the manor.
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES - 1000- 1450 C.E.
The
entire era in Europe between 500 and 1450 is also known as the "Middle
Ages," a time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the revival of
"civilization" starting with the European Renaissance in the early
15th century. Starting around 1000, Europe showed signs of revitalizing,
largely because of the results of the Christian Crusades that put Europeans in
touch with more sophisticated cultures to the east through the long-distance
trade routes.
Before
about 1300 Europe was populated by serfs, or peasants tied to lands owned by
nobility, living in rural areas relatively isolated from others. No large
cities existed yet, like the metropolises in China, the Middle East, and
northern Africa. Many demographic changes took place that radically altered
life in Europe:
EARLY RUSSIA
For
centuries before this era Indo-European people called the Slavs had lived in
eastern European, very much in the paths of the east to west migrations that
scattered them over the years. The Russians were one of these Slavic peoples
who intermarried with the Viking invaders and began to organize a large state
by the 10th century. The most important early city was Kiev, located in the
present-day Ukraine, which built up regular trade and contacts with
Constantinople. They adopted the Eastern Orthodox religion, and established the
Russian Orthodox Church. The princes of Kiev established firm control over the
church, and they made use of the Byzantine legal codes put together by
Justinian.
Russia,
like the rest of Europe, was built on feudalistic ties, and over time the Kievan princes became less powerful than those that ruled Muscovy (Moscow), a province northeast of Kiev. When the
Mongols invaded in the 13th century, the Muscovites cast their lot with the
inevitable victors, serving the Mongols as collectors of tribute. The Mongols
bestowed many favors, and Moscow grew in influence. Once Mongol power weakened,
the princes saw their opportunity to rebel, and they seized the territory,
calling their leader the "tsar," a derivative of the word
"Caesar."
THE AMERINDIAN WORLD
Prior
to 1492, the western and eastern hemispheres had very little contact with one
another. Even though Christopher Columbus was certainly not the first to go
from one hemisphere to the other, his voyage does represent the beginning of
sustained contacts, a trend that was a major turning point in world history.
However, during the period between 600 and 1450 C.E., large empires emerged in
the Americas, just as they did in Europe, Africa, and Asia. One group - the
Maya - adapted to the jungles of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula. The
two largest organized relatively late in the era: the Aztecs of Mesoamerica,
and the Inca of South America.
THE
MAYA
The
Maya civilization flourished between 300 and 900 C.E., occupying present day
southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. Early on, they
were probably dominated by the mysterious people of Teotihuacan,
a large city with several impressive temples that controlled central Mexico for
many years. They developed agricultural techniques that allowed them to
successfully raise crops in the tropics. At first they practiced slash and burn
methods, but they learned to build terraces next to the numerous rivers
designed to catch the rich alluvial soil. Their agriculturally based
civilization thrived, and they eventually built more than eighty large
ceremonial centers, as well as many smaller settlements.
THE
AZTECS
Civilizations
had long existed in what is now central Mexico before the appearance of the
Aztecs. The Olmecs were there by 800 B.C.E., and many
groups followed. During the 10th century a powerful group called the Toltecs established a capital at Tula,
about 50 kilometers from modern Mexico City. The Toltecs
came to control much of the area around them, but their civilization fell into
decay by the end of the 12th century, just about the time that a new group, the
Mexica, began to grow. They eventually became known
as the Aztecs, a name meaning "the place of the seven legendary
caves," or the place of their origins. The Aztecs migrated into the area
and settled in an unusual place: an island in the middle of a swampland of Lake
Texococo, a site that the Spanish would later build
as Mexico City. There they established the great city of Tenochtitlan,
and they expanded their empire by conquering nearby people and extracting
tribute from them. By the middle of the 15th century, they dominated a huge
area that extended almost coast to coast.
THE INCA
The
Inca civilization developed during the 14th and 15th century on the base of
older civilizations, such as the Chavin, Moche and Chimu. By the late 15th
century, their empire stretched for almost 2500 miles along the Andes Mountain
range from present-day Equador to Chile. Their
capital was Cuzco, high in the mountains in Peru, and
the city was connected to all parts of the empire by a complex system of roads
and bridges. The term "Inca" was at first a title for the ruler of Cuzco, but it eventually referred to all people that spoke
the native language, Quechua. Like the Chavin before
them, the Inca lived on the narrow, dry seacoast to the west of the mountains
and in the jungles to the east, but they centered their civilization in the
mountain valleys of the Andes. Unlike the people of Mesoamerica, the South
Americans made use of domesticated animals. Llamas and alpacas served the
highlanders not only as pack animals on the roads, but they also provided wool,
hides, and dung for fuel.
COMPARATIVE AMERIDIAN CIVILIZATIONS
|
PATTERNS |
MAYA |
AZTEC |
INCA |
|
Social |
Priests had highest social
status; warriors also highly valued War captives often became
slaves (and sacrifices); mysterious demise of civilization about 900 C.E. |
Rigidly hierarchical society,
with a strong military elite who received land grants and tribute from
commoners; large gap between rich and poor Priests also elite; learned
complex calendars, presided over all important religious rituals Skilled craftsmen, merchants
middle status Large number of slaves, mainly
household servants Patriarchal society, but women
received high honor for bearing warrior sons; women who died in childbirth
equally honored to men who died in battle |
Rigidly hierarchical society,
with the Inca and his family having status of gods Main classes: rulers,
aristocrats, priests, and peasants Military and administrative
elite for large army and bureaucracy Small merchant class and fewer
skilled craftsmen than Aztec; trade controlled by the government Carefully selected virgin
women served the Inca and his family |
|
Cultural |
Religion central to
civilization; cities were ceremonial centers with great temples; practiced
human sacrifice to their many gods; Tikal main city
with population of about 40,000; jaguar an important symbol Two elaborate calendars used
for agriculture and for religious rituals Flexible and sophisticated
writing that used both symbols and pictures Inherited Olmec
ballgame, with losers executed and sacrificed |
Religion central to
civilization; cities were ceremonial centers with great temples decorated
with gold; practiced human sacrifice to their many gods Principal gods ; Tezcatlipoca
("the Smoking Mirror") and Quetzalcoatl ("the Feathered Serpent") Tenochtitlan ; major city of 200,000 + large
suburbs Inherited Olmec ballgame, with losers
executed and sacrificed Elaborate calendar, writing
system |
Religion important, with Inti, the sun god, the major deity; Impressive temples,
palaces, public buildings; used skillfully cut giant stones with no mortar
decorated with gold Quechua native language, but
no writing; use of a counting device, the quipu to
keep elaborate records Elaborate road system, with
two roads (one on the coast and one in the mountains) running the entire
length of the empire Rich textiles, jewelry, and
pottery made by general population |
|
Economic |
Agricultural based; built
platforms to catch alluvial soil; main crop maize, but also cacao bean
(source of chocolate) and cotton; no domesticated animals for work |
Agricultural base; designed
"floating gardens" of trapped soil to raise crops in swampy areas;
raised maize, beans, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, and chiles;
no domesticated animals for work Exacted extensive amount of
tribute from conquered people; established significant trade with others in
western hemisphere, including luxury goods such as jade, emeralds, jaguar
skins, and sea shells |
Agricultural and pastoral
base; designed terraces in mountain valleys to raise crops; variety of crops,
depending on elevation, included potatoes, maize, beans, peppers, chiles, coca leaves (stimulant), guinea pigs Large professional army Peasants owed compulsory labor
to the state; women gave tribute through textiles, pottery, and jewelry |
|
Political |
Organized into city-states
with no central government for the civilization; city of Chichen
Itza dominated some other states; frequent fighting
among city states; defeated ones became human sacrifices |
Ruled by a central monarch in Tenochtitlan that did not have absolute power; council of
powerful aristocrats made many decisions, including who the new ruler would
be; winning wars and elaborate rituals increased legitimacy of rule No elaborate bureaucracy |
Highly powerful centralized
government, with the Inca (the ruler) believed to be a god; Inca
theoretically owned all land; elaborate bureaucracy kept in touch with
subjects; used quipu to keep extensive records Elaborate road system
reinforced the Inca's power |
DEMOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES
The
era from 600 to 1450 C.E. was a time when civilization spread geographically,
covering many more parts of the world than previously. However, it was also a
time of great migrations of people that had wide impacts on the people in
settled areas. Arabs, Vikings, Turks, and Mongols, Turks all moved from one
part of the globe to another, instigating change wherever they went.
CULTURAL DIFFUSION AND THE 14TH CENTURY PLAGUES
Cross-cultural
exchanges had deadly consequences for many parts of the eastern hemisphere
during the 14th century. As Eurasians traveled over long distances, they not
only exchanged goods and ideas, but they unwittingly helped disease to spread
as well. Since people who have had no previous exposure to a disease react to
it much more seriously than those that have, the consequences were profound.
The bubonic plague erupted in epidemics throughout most of Asia, Europe, and
north Africa. Even though it abated in subsequent centuries, it broke out sporadically
from place to place well into the seventeenth century.
The
plague probably originated in southwestern China, where it had been incubating
for centuries, but once long-distance trade began, it spread rapidly during the
14th century. The pathogen was spread by fleas that infested rats and
eventually humans. Mongol military campaigns helped the plague spread
throughout China, and merchants and travelers spread it to the west. By the
1340s it had spread to Black Sea ports and to Italian cities on the Mediterranean.
From there, the plague spread rapidly throughout Europe as far as the British
Isles.
Europeans
referred to the plague as the Black Death because its victims developed black
or purpose swellings caused by buboes, internal hemorrhages that gave the
plague its name. Once the plague hit a community, typically 60-70 percent of
the population died, and in some cases, no one survived. Important results of
the plague (other than individual death) are:
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES
The
era from 600 to 1450 C.E. was not a period of massive environmental change. The
most significant changes occurred because of population growth. The structures
of civilization spread across sub-Saharan Africa, northern Europe, and Japan.
As civilizations spread, agriculture claimed additional land, with some
deforestation (especially in Europe) taking place. However, soil depletion
around the Mediterranean was not nearly as great as it was during Ancient Roman
times. The most severe effects were probably felt in central America, where
population density increased significantly. Small civilizations and nomadic
groups that were easy on the environment were replaced by ever larger empires
that claimed rain forest and other natural habitats.
The
process of urbanization continued during this era, and cities grew larger and
more numerous. As Islam spread, administrative centers appeared in the Middle
East, and many grew into cities that attracted people to live under the
protection they afforded. China especially during this era became urbanized,
with the Tang and Song emperors building roads that connected cities to one
another. Trade from the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean circuits enriched these
cities, and great differences in status were accorded those that lived in urban
vs. rural areas. Great cities grew up in the Americas, and towns in Europe grew
to be the cities of Paris and London. However, agriculture still remained as
the primary occupation of people in civilizations around the world, so that
large numbers still lived in rural areas.
IMPORTANT ISSUES: 600-1450 C.E.
During
this era several major religions spread across large areas, creating cultural
regions that unified based on their belief systems. As historians, we may speak
of "Islamic lands" or "Christendom" or "Confucian
Asia," and these terms are handy for comparisons. They may be used effectively
to point out commonalities as well as differences. However, cultural areas are
imperfect as units of analysis. Some problems include:
Still,
political boundaries do not provide perfect units to measure either. Boundaries
often cut through cultural areas and represent artificial categories for
analysis.
Change
over time during this era was more characterized by modification, rather than
innovation, with the notable exception of the Tang and Song economic
revolutions. Nomadic groups during this time period probably reached their peak
of influence on the course of world history. Whereas change emanated from both
nomadic groups and civilized areas, the effects of the great migrations of the
Arabs, Vikings, Turks, and Mongols during this era have been unmatched to the
present day. However, little change occurred in other areas, such as gender and
social class structures. Patriarchal families continued to be the norm, and
social class distinctions that we saw in the river valley and classical
civilizations tended to be drawn along the same lines: peasants v. aristocrats
and rural v. urban. Elite women seem to have suffered the most, with ties to
the home reinforced through practices such as veiling and footbinding.
Although in these cases differences were accentuated, gender roles went through
no basic structural changes. Long distance trade grew significantly, but it
continued to follow the old routes established in the previous era. The western
hemisphere still was not drawn into regular contact and communication. However,
by 1450 the previously inconsequential Europeans were on the cusp of changing
all of that, as worldwide trade began to develop in the 1450-1750 era.