MMW13 Midterm

Silk Road

• center for commerce and trade

• concept in afro eurasia that connected many through exchanging goods and culture

Pax Mongolica

• meant and represented security, stability, and access

  • easier to move throughout afro eurasia

  • facilitated cultural exchange and ideas on global scsale

  • led to “age of exploration”

    • more deciding to travel out of home

  • facilitate trade and foreign trade

    • fostered cultural integration

• paiza= medallion allowing for safe passage through Mongol lands

Mongol population movements- Deployment

• Mongols conquered people and forced them into military service

• conscripted locals posted far from home

• Soldiers traveled with family and dependents

• ethnogenesis

Mongol population movements- Displacement

• Mongol expansion led to massive refugee movements

  • Hundreds of thousands impacted

  • flight in eastern europe and middle east

  • Locals reactions: 

    • Offers of shelter

    • Resistance 

• Panic in hungary 

  • King, court, all moved west

  • Siege of Baghdad

    • Large groups from Iraq migrate to northern india

Mongol population movements- Replacement

• Forced repopulation policy

• Relocated people from other parts of empire 

  • Replace dispersed people 

  • Middle East->China

  • China->Iran

  • Germanic->Central Asia

• Brought different cultures, outlooks, and ideas to different places

Yams

• Travel stations

  • Every 20 miles

  • Like hotels

  • Get food, sleep, change camel

• Along silk road trail

Ethnogenesis

• The creation of new cultural groups and practices

• As a result of population movement due to mongol deployment

Saharan commodities- Gold

• West->North Africa

  • Traded to Europe and West Asia

• Don't have materials for currency

• Use kola beans as money

• Peak trade in mid 14th century

• Source for medieval world

• Europeans rely on gold until encountering the americas

• Mined by african slave

Saharan commodities- Salt

• north->west africa

• Key to diet

• Preserved food

  • Protein goes bad if not salted

• Mined also by the slaves

Saharan commodities- Slaves

• west-> north africa

• Captured in war or raids in sub-saharan africa

• Sold to north african traders

  • Forced to work in trade, salt mines, or domestic

• Still treated as people

  • Not property

Marrakesh

• Urban center

  • Attracted merchants and craftsmen from across the region 

• Strategic trade junction

• Move goods across africa->europe and asia

• Became patrons

  • Recruited artisans, builders, and techniques

Mansa Musa

• To this day, still the wealthiest person

• Controlled gold trade 

• During pilgrimage to Mecca, he returned with books and scholars

  • Some say that he could have been carrying the plague during the pilgrimage

    • Brough people and culture diffused 

• Pilgrimage represents Mali’s trade routes and connections

  • Also shows their wealth

  • Interconnectivity and global reach

Medieval Warming Period

• Mild and stable weather in north atlantic from 980-1250/1300

• Warm summer weather

• Greater production

  • High yield and dependable harvests

  • Grow crops on marginal soils and higher altitudes

    • Farm deep into alps 

  • Wheat was a big part of their diet

    • Loved the warmth

      • Previously weather wasn’t well suited for wheat (wet springs, cool summers, severe winter)

      • Low yield, plant limitations

Medieval Warming Period- Outcomes

• Modest technical innovations

  • Plow, mills, manuals

• Larger population

  • Can withstand conditions since they have more food 

• Made more settlements 

  • Deforestation

    • New villages 

• Urban revival

  • Revival of old cities

  • Influx of immigrants 

  • Rise of civic values and autonomous city states 

  • Building sprees

    • Cathedrals and public buildings

• Urban economy

  • Rise in demand for trading sites

    • Merchants and great fairs

•  Money economy

  • Silver Coins

  • Rent in $$

• Manufacturing- textiles

Demographic Turn

• Demographic collapse by 1352

• 30-40% of entire population in some area

  • 70-80% in some others 

• Caused by black plague

• Also after plague, theres an economic change in europe

  • Rent and prices fall

  • Wages rise

  • Vacant land

  • Survivors have more of a say

Reconquest

• Reconquista= policy that set the precedent for how the spanish would interact with people in the Americas 

• The crusades- christian reconquest 

• Led to centuries-long of armed struggles between christian and muslims 

• Integrated christendom with afro-eurasia

  • Recover “holy land” and iberia 

  • Also wanted to expand christendom into pagan areas

• Created opportunities for coexistence of diverse ethnic and religious groups

• Reconquest iberian culture profound had influence on american encounters

Campo Santo Images

• Old cemeteries

• Triumph of death

  • Death in afro eurasia from black death

• Go to see frescos of death

  • Depicted the black death which reflected the skeletons they had to live with forever

  • Previously, medieval warming art was cheerful 

• People would go to pisa for this not leaning tower

Mamluk Sultanate

• Defender of Islam

• cairo= trading capital of islamic world

• Controlled the red sea route

Black Death

• No cure, no one safe

• Afro-eurasian pandemic

  • 1347-1750

    • 1348-1353= peak

• Transmitted by wild rodents and  fleas, lice, and tics

• Symptoms included buboes= swelling of glands, pits, and groin

Ottoman Empire

• Developed into a powerful fighting force

• Like mongols

• Created cultural bridges

  • greece= example

    • Increase contact with europe

    • Maritime trade increase

    • Merchant families sent sons to italy for education

• Slowly limited italian intermediaries

Indian Ocean Trade

• With mongol collapse

  • Greater volume of trade

  • Parts of silk road limited 

• More strategically important in unifying afro-eurasia

• Islam spread

• Facilitated trading relations

• Muslim mercantile communities appear– in india, east africa, SE asia

• Islamic influence spread to swahili coast through this trade route

Red Sea Route

• Mamluk sultanate 

  • cairo= trading capital of islamic world

• Link indian ocean with middle east and europe

• venetians= intermediaries

• People wanted linens, sugar, and spices 

• Islamic influence spread to swahili coast through this trade route

Southeast Asian Spices

• during/after medieval warm period= increase in population

  • Stimulate rise of trade and artisanal production

    • Drove demand for afro=eurasian goods

      • SPICES

Islamic Afro-Eurasian Expansion

• Vast political and religious empire

• Dominant political and cultural force in middle regions of afro-eurasia

• Fragmentation within Muslim world 

  • Divided into larger regional dynasties

    • Caliphate

    • Sultanates

• Doesn’t make inroads in western europe and china 

• Peaceful and organic conversion

  • Trading networks and cultural exchange

• Conquest and invasion- ottomans

Iberian Reconquest

• Warfare a way of life; strong military culture

• Created a large noble class– but middling economically

• Settlers as immigrants taking over land 

• Tribute from subject peoples

• Christian belief

  • Favored by God

Significance:

• Spanish used torture device to convert Muslims and get info out of them

• coexistence between Christians and muslim

Micropatriotism

• Allegiance to local society and community 

  • In afroeurasia, this was the global perspective

  • Late medieval attitude/outlook as well 

    • Many provincial (sedentary, local, familial)

      • Family unit very important

    • Also meant fear of others 

      • Look different

      • “Non-believers”

      • Strangers and “wandering peoples”

Significance:

• outlook for many living in afro-eurasia, often led to ethnocentrism

• repopulation attempts and relocation initiated by Mongols

Tolerance under the Mongols

• Recruit people to run their empire

  • Recruited those who looked and thought differently 

    • Confucian scholars and tibetan buddhist monks

  • May not like them or be like them

  • Created multicultural and ethnogenetic cultures

Tolerance under Medieval Iberia

• Muslim domination 

  • Eventually under christian control by portugal 

• Struggle for iberia

  • Violence and destructive 

  • Control not complete for either group 

• In spain can see religious tolerance

  • Jewish synagogue in spain

  • built during rule of christian king by made by islamic architects

    • Mosque became christian church

Medieval attitudes towards tolerance

• Fear of “others” in community

  • Looked different

• “Non-believers”

  • heretics= spoke out

  • Witches

  • Infidels

  • Pagans

• Strangers and “wandering peoples”

  • Actors

  • Missionary

  • Envoys

  • pilgrims

  • hermits(nomads)

  • mercenaries = people paid for service in military from different place

Tolerance under Ottoman rule

• Practice of ahl-al-dhimma 

  • Protected people living in conquered lands

  • Toleration and supervision of non-muslims

• Christians and Jews

  • Reduced legal status (institutionalized discrimination)

Tolerance under Muslim rule

• Christian jews

• Muslims can’t marry non muslims

• Paid a special text

• Military service

• Limited religious tolerance 

  • Encourage to convert to Islam

• Can’t convince conversion

• Jews and christians allowed to live in their own neighborhoods

  • Segregation

• aljamas : jewish neighborhoods

• Expulsion and resettlement

  • Jewish people expelled from europe

• Many flee to ottoman or muslim held lands

Tolerance under Christian rule

• Political states start to coalesce 

• Define in opposition to “other”

  • Uniformity in social religion and religious views

• Institutional violence

  • Unify

  • Neutralize opposition

  • Monitor

    • Ordinance

    • decrees

Ahl-al-dhimma

• Ottoman rule

  • Practice of ahl-al-dhimma 

    • Protected people living in conquered lands

    • Toleration and supervision of non-muslims

  • Christians and Jews

    • Reduced legal status (institutionalized discrimination)

Significance:

• shows Ottomans tolerance of others

• restrictions and obligations they enforced upon them- ottomans open to other peoples without heavy discrimnation

Printing press diaspora

• Extent depended on tech and social conditions

• Not an indicator of “progress”

  • Alternate forms of communication

• Standardized, preserved, and destabilized knowledge

  • Knowledge can be lost-destabilized

• Facilitated critique of authority/social order

  • Can be anonymous; many were

  • Spreads print culture in everyday life

Signifcance:

• literacy more readily available and owning of books became less of a sign of status

• maps became polarized

• commoners given access to religious texts

• political records spread allowing for centralized authority

Fall of Constantinople

• Fall of Byzantine empire to ottomans

  • May 29, 1453

    • 1453: Ottomans takeover Constantinople

      • Shifts in control of trade networks

        • Venice becomes a stronger monopoly and has more alliances

        • Genoa has a decline in trade science venice has more alliances 

  • “End” of medieval period

• Start of early modern period 

  • Height of renaissance (1490-1520)

Arabic manuscripts

• Leader of manuscript production

• Arabic supersedes Greek preferred language of the arts

• Preserves and transmits ancient greek and latin texts

  • Al warawiyyin library

Church Time/Clock Time

• Shows shift church-> merchant time

• Shows stuff becoming more secular and religion isn’t focus of peoples life now

• Still important but whole life isn’t just focused around religion

• separation of church and state

Humanism

•  Secular civic organization

• Organization of secular and religious lives

• Individual consumption

  • Seeing themselves as important now

• Authority

  • Multiple

  • Textual

• Corporate

  • Community

  • Humility

  • Piety

  • Austerity

• Bells and clocks 

• Renaissance reflects humanist culture

  • Reworking of heritage into christian world 

  • Shift in values from corporate to individual

Gunpowder

• Invented in china 

  • Travels to afro eurasia via silk road 

• Trade influences access to gunpowder and weapons

  • Longer, more expensive ,and deadlier wards 

• Rise of centralized states 

• Mongols- new tech

  • Mounted war

  • Siege warfare

  • Gunpowder for military purposes

    • For canon/”guns”

• Gunpowder Empire= ottoman, safavid, and mughal empires

Military Revolution

• Change nature of warfare

• Trade influences access to gunpowder and weapons

  • Longer, more expensive ,and deadlier wards 

• Rise of centralized states 

• Mongols- new tech

  • Mounted war

  • Siege warfare

  • Gunpowder for military purposes

    • For canon/”guns”

• Weapons

  • Gunpowder Invented in china

    • Travel to afro eurasia via silk road 

    • Gunpowder cannons 

      • Leveled traditional walled fortification 

      • Gunners replace lance and pike 

        • Can attack from distance 

• Armies

  • Larger

  • Discipline/training

  • triage/field support

  • Get money and funding from banks

Long distance oceanic exploration

• Austronesian seafarers= long distance travel within known world

  • Cover vast distance

  • Navigation

    • Wave patterns

    • Trade winds

      • Moved them

    • Stars

      • Guided them

    • Bird observations

      • Lead them

  • More island to island

    • At sea for weeks

    • Did this for trade and migration

Navigation treatises

• Ibn Majid 

  • treatises come out from islamic world

  • Summarizes accumulated knowledge on indian ocean

• Inspired direct contact with asia

Significance:

• allowed for easier travel

• more trade

Sea compass

• Chinese invention

• Dispersed by muslim merchants and traders 

• Adapted for sea travel

  • Venture into unknown waters

  • Stable reference point

    • Distance, location direction

Amerindian origins

• derive from single ancestral populations

  • “first americans”

  • northeast asia

  • 20,000-14,000 years ago

amerindian micropatriotism

• no inherent unity among indigenous groups

• no pan-indigenous identity

• loyal to their own states

• prone to autonomy

• fragmentation

  • engaged in civil war, ritual sacrifices, slave trade

amerindian imperial systems

• consolidated distinct linguistic and ethnic groups over a large stretch of territory

• exerted control over subject peoples through an oppressive tribute and labor system

• conquest allowed subject peoples to continue lifeways and practices

  • let you keep your ruler, temples, and gods

  • just living under their empire now

• Trade Routes Sub-Saharan Africa, 1300

• increased commercial contacts influenced religous and political dimensions of sub-saharan africa

Mongol Conquests and Campaigns 1200-1300

• Mongol campaigns and conquests brought Afro-Eurasian worlds together as never before

• Mongols created empire connecting from east to west

• connections that emerged across monol-controlled areas, sometimes called pax mongolica

The ottoman empire 1300-1566

• Expansion of the ottoman state from the time of its founder, osman, through the reign of suleiman, the empires most illustrious ruler

Chronology Late Medieval/Early Modern Periods

• transition from late medieval to early modern on May 29th, 1453

• caused by fall of Constantinople and leading to end of Byzantine Empire

Venetian trade

• follows sack of Constantinople

• venice became an incredibly powerful maritime trading monopoly often trading with Ottomans

Rise of centralized states

• gunpowder allowed for larger armies and centralized states

  Significance:

• nomads lost power and centralized states saw tactical advantage

  • ottomans, originally nomads, centralized their power

Tribute and Labor Drafts

• Dominant sedentary Amerindian societies would conquer smaller societies and force them into labor

• allowed conquered societies to practice cultural practices

  Significance:

• conquered peoples built up disdain for rulers

Bells vs. Clocks

• Shows shift church-> merchant time

  • Shows stuff becoming more secular and religion isn’t focus of peoples life now

    • Still important but whole life isn’t just focused around religion

Miller and Hermit

• How outsiders were viewed 

  • Blamed the outsiders and trusting locals only

  • Everyone knows each other 

• Miller= make flour for bread

  • breadwinners/breadmakers 

• Hermit= nomad living near

  • Hermit slept with millers wife 

Mantle, Tiraz, and Kufic

• Silk road 

• Mantle: Spain, Nasrid Workship

• Tirz: from persian tarazida- to embroider

• Textile has ottoman and persian elements

  • Lux item

  • Europe's interest in getting luxury items from China and Middle East

  • Spanish Monarch wanted to be buried in it

    • Shows status

    • Shows interconnectedness

    • Cultural tolerance

• Kufic inscription: “al-Yumn” (happiness)

Two images of the women

• Shift to secularism

• 1472: looking away towards God 

  • Outfit more modest

    • Dark colors

• 1545: looking to audience showing importance

  • Fancier clothes

• Renaissance trend

Strangers’ Hall, Norfolk England

• Where “others” were put 

  • Invited to England for textiles and that is where they love

• Tolerance- allowed to live there and work alongside English but can’t live together