Chapter 9 - Expanding Horizons of Cross-Cultural Interaction

Bartolomeu Dias

Portuguese explorer who in 1488 led the first expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa from the Atlantic and sight the Indian Ocean.

bubonic plague

Also called the Black Death; is believed to be the deadly disease that spread through Asia and Europe and killed more than a third of the people in parts of China and Europe.

Ceuta

a Muslim city in North Africa Prince Henry conquered in 1415; the Portuguese found exotic stores filled with pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and the spices. In addition, they encountered large supplies of gold, silver, and jewels

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

Northern humanist who wrote In Praise of Folly. Wrote in Latin while most humanists wrote in the vernacular. Wanted to reform the Catholic Church, not destroy it.

eunuch

Castrated males, originally in charge of the harem, who grew to play major roles in government; eunuchs were common in China and other societies.

Francesco Petrarca

humanist who was the first to explicitly use the Classical Antiquity as a model for daily life

Hongwu

Personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder and first emperor of China's Ming dynasty.

humanist

European scholars, writers, and teachers associated with the study of the humanities (grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, languages, and moral philosophy), influential in the fifteenth century and later.

Hundred Years War

1337 - 1453 Series of intermittent wars between France and England over the control of modern France.

Ibn Battuta

Born in 1304 in Morocco. Was the greatest Muslim traveler of his time. He covered 75,000 miles and visited almost every Muslim country and China.

John of Montecorvino

1247-1328 CE. Franciscan missionary who traveled to China in 1291 in order to win converts to Christianity.

Leonardo da Vinci

1452-1519 C.E. Noted Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer of the Renaissance period.

Little Ice Age

Temporary but significant cooling period between the fourteenth and the nineteenth centuries; accompanied by wide temperature fluctuations, droughts, and storms, causing famines and dislocation.

mandarin

a special class of powerful officials sent out as emissaries of the central government to ensure that local officials implemented imperial policy. Used during the Ming Dynasty in China.

Marco Polo

1254-1324 C.E. Italian merchant whose accounts of his travels to China and other lands became legendary.

Melaka

Southeast Asian kingdom that was predominately Islamic

Michaelangelo Buonarroti

1475-1564 C.E. An Italian painter, sculptor, and architect of the Renaissance, whose work shaped the development of Western art.

Ming Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (1368-1644) founded by Hongwu and known for its cultural brilliance.

qadi

Islamic Judge

Qing Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (1644-1911) that reached its peak during the reigns of Kangxi and Qianlong.

Picco della Mirandola

1463-1494 C.E. Italian humanist who sought to harmonize the various religions and philosophies of the world.

Prince Henry The Navigator

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.

Rabban Sauma

A Nestorian Christian priest born in the Mongol capital but of Turkish ancestry. He was an envoy to the pope and Europeans political leaders for the the Mongol ilkhan of Persia.

Rennaissance

Means "rebirth". A period of artistic and intellectual creativity that took place from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century and reflected the continuing development of a sophisticated urban society.

Sharia

Islamic law

slave trade

European trade agreement with Africa dealing with slaves brought from Africa. Integral part of Triangle Trade between the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

Sufis

Islamic mystics who placed more emphasis on emotion and devotion than on strict adherence to rules.

tsar

The Russian term for ruler or king; taken from the Roman word caesar.

Yongle

Chinese Ming emperor (r. 1403-1424) who pushed for foreign exploration and promoted cultural achievements such as the Yongle Encyclopedia.

Yongle Encyclopedia

Ming - China - collection of Chinese philosophical, literary, and historical texts.

Zheng He

1371 - 1433 C.E. Chinese mariner, explorer, and admiral during the early Ming Dynasty who traveled as far as Malindi in East Africa