Chapter 21: Reaching Out: Cross Cultural Interactions

Ibn Battuta

Arab traveler who described African societies and cultures in his travel records

Hongwu

Commander of the rebel army that drove the Mongols out of China in 1368

Bartolomeu Dias

the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope was?

Fernando of Aragon

was King of Sicily from 1468 and King of Aragon from 1479 until his death.

Pope Innocent IV

a pope who suspected heretics and even tortured them to make them confess their beliefs

Marco Polo

Venetian traveler who explored Asia in the 13th century and served Kublai Khan (1254-1324)

Zheng He

A Chinese admiral and diplomat who voyaged overseas to promote trade and collect tribute

Vasco da Gama

the first European to reach India by sea sailing around the tip of Africa.

Isabel of Castile

reigned as Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death. Her marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles I.

Mandarins

members of the elite class of civil servents in Chinese government

Rabban Sauma

A Turkic/Chinese monk turned diplomat of the "Nestorian" Church of the East in China.

Prince Henry

Portuguese prince who started a school for sailors and sponsored early voyages of exploration

Michaelangelo

painter, sculptor, and architect; painiting on the ceiling of the SIstine Chapel in Rome

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian painter and sculptor and engineer and scientist and architect

Melaka

Powerful Islamic state of the fifteenth century in southeast Asia.

China

dominant empires reigned there

Quanzhou

China

Venice

An Italian city that by 1000 C.E. emerged as a major center of Mediterranean trade.

Delhi

the third-largest city in India; capital of medieval India

Ceuta

Spanish city on the tip of Morocco. Illegal immigration is an issue here.

Eurasia

the land mass formed by the continents of Europe and Asia

Granada

location in Spain where the Islamic palace Alhambra was built in the fourteenth century

Qadi

Muslim judges who carried out the judicial functions of the state

Little Ice Age

300-year mini-ice age from 1550 to 1850

Reconquista

The retaking of the Iberian Peninsula by Spanish forces from the Moors. It was completed in 1492.

Bubonic Plague

a deadly contagious disease caused by bacteria and spread by fleas

Hundred Years' War

a series of battles fought between France and England from 1337 to 1453

Sufi

The branch of Islam that believes in a more mystical connection with Allah.

Black Death

was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.

Renaissance

was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history.

Eunuchs

Castrated men who played an important role in the court in the Chinese imperial system

slave trade

The business of capturing, transporting, and selling people as slaves

Ilkan

khanate that invaded Muslim heartland

Ming Dynasty

the imperial dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644

Humanism

A belief that emphasizes faith and optimism in human potential and creativity