1 Governance, 1200-1450

Create a PDF worksheet for this: 1 Governance, 1200-1450
Learning Objectives
Differing transitions from classical regimes (nation-states vs cultural spheres)
European feudalism
Byzantine centralization
Italian city-states
Abbasid Caliphate
Ottoman Empire
West African states (Mali)
Swahili city-states
Great Zimbabwe
Song, Yuan (Mongol), Ming dynasties
Chinese tributary system
Heian Japan medieval shogunates
Delhi Sultanate
Vijayanagara Empire
Majapahit Empire
Khmer Empire
Sukhothai
Southeast Asian city-states
Mississippian culture (Cahokia)
Mesoamerica (Maya, Aztecs), Andes (Chimú and Inca Empires)
Ideologies and political uses of religion (Christendom, Dar al-Islam, circle of justice, mandate of heaven, neo-Confucianism)
Warrior codes (chivalry, Bushido, furusiyya)
Interregional contact and conflict (Crusades, Mongol khanates, fall of Constantinople)
State Building (1200-1450)
Complexity and Sophistication: State building reached new levels.
Governance Forms: Predominantly monarchies and oligarchies.
Classical Regimes Collapse:
Started in the 200s C.E., continued through the 1000s C.E.
Outcomes varied based on region.
Outcomes of Classical Regime Collapses
New States:
Utilized traditional sources of legitimacy (patriarchal authority, religious backing, landowning elites).
Integrated innovative governing techniques.
Examples: Byzantium, post-Han dynasties in China.
Decentralization:
Led to feudalism (medieval Europe and Japan).
New Governance Forms:
Islamic caliphates.
Mongol khanates.
City-state systems (East Africa, Southeast Asia, Americas, Italy).
Nation-States vs. Cultural Spheres
Nation-States: Formally defined political entities.
Cultural Spheres: Defined by ethnic similarities, shared traditions, or imperial governance.
Regional Variation: Approach depends on the region being studied.
State Building in Afro-Eurasia: Tradition and Innovation
Medieval Europe and Byzantium
Post-Rome: After Rome's fall in 476 C.E., medieval European rulers aspired to centralized rule.
Roman Law: Justinian Code, compiled in Byzantium during the 500s, remained influential.
Latin Language: Common among Europe's educated classes.
Christianity: Persisted as a cultural, intellectual, and political force providing unity.
Political Variations in Medieval Europe
Byzantium: Wealth, cultural advancement, and centralization.
Western Europe (Early Middle Ages, ca. 500-1000): Backwardness, decentralization, and military threats.
High Middle Ages (ca. 1000-1300): Cultural and economic revival, firmer national identities.
Late Middle Ages (ca. 1300-1500): Greater centralization, but also warfare, social unrest, and crises (e.g., Black Death).
Feudalism in Medieval Europe
Collapse of Rome: No single authority emerged; small, short-lived kingdoms faced threats.
Decentralization: Rulers lacked resources to govern effectively.
Feudalism:
System: Monarchs awarded land (fiefs) to vassals.
Obligations: Vassals governed/protected land, dispensed justice, grew crops.
Noble Class: Emerged from largest parcel recipients.
Subinfeudation: Nobles became lords to their own vassals.
Contractual Obligations: Formal contracts between lords and vassals.
Difference from Japan: More abstract sense of loyalty in Japanese feudalism.
Centralization Efforts
Frankish Kingdom: Charlemagne (r. 768-814) defeated external threats, sponsored education/culture, created administrative networks, laid Holy Roman Empire foundation.
Strategies:
Religious Association: Legitimize rule through Catholic Church.
Roman Model: Emulate Rome as a governmental ideal.
Centralized and Decentralized States in Europe
England: Centralization with restricted monarch power.
Magna Carta (1215): Guaranteed noble rights.
Parliament: Formed in 1200s, law-making with king.
Common Law: Jury trials, personal liberties.
France: Centralization by increasing royal power.
Conflicts: Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), Joan of Arc's role.
Non-representative Monarchy: Power concentrated in crown.
Holy Roman Empire: Multicultural, weak emperor, elected by nobles, diverse population, difficult administration.
Habsburg Family: Gained control in 1438, centralized power.
Italy: Highly decentralized, urbanized, Mediterranean trade hub.
City-States: Independent governance, birthplace of the Renaissance.
Italian City-States
Chief City-States: Florence, Milan, Venice (north), Naples (south), Rome (Papal States).
Spain and Portugal
Moorish Conquest: Conquered by Moors in the 700s.
al-Andalus: Islamic Spain and Portugal; benefited from Moorish science, technology, and Greek philosophy.
Reconquista: Long war against Moorish armies (1000s-1492); intense religious hostility toward Muslims and Jews.
Regional Autonomy: Existence of several kingdoms delayed full centralization until the late 1400s.
Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire)
Capital: Constantinople, a major trade hub at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
Economy: Played a key role in Mediterranean, Silk Road, and Indian Ocean trade.
Politics: Emperors used Eastern Orthodoxy for legitimacy; large bureaucracy from the Roman era.
Decline: Defeated by Seljuk Turks in 1071 (battle of Manzikert); captured by Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Religion and Politics
Orthodox Byzantium: Church-state relations under caesaropapism; Byzantine emperor held supreme authority.
Catholic Europe: Concept of Christendom; pope's political authority higher than monarchs. The Catholic Church collected tithes, declared heresy, excommunicated worshippers, established the Holy Inquisition, and influenced monarchs.
Interregional Contact and Conflict: The Crusades
Reasons for Crusades
Conversion of Nonbelievers: Teutonic Knights' invasions of Eastern Europe.
Crushing Heretical Sects: Wars enabled monarchs (e.g., France) to control regions.
Combatting Non-Christians: Spain's anti-Muslim Reconquista labeled a crusade.
Centralization and Decentralization in Eastern Europe
Teutonic Knights: Brutally Christianized Eastern Europe.
Threats: Mongols (mid-1200s), Ottoman Turks (1300s-1400s).
Stable States: Poland, Croatia, Hungary.
Russian/Ukrainian Lands: Loose confederation of city-states; Mongol rule (1240s-1400s); centralized under Moscow.
Notable Crusades
First Crusade (1096-1099): Sparked by Byzantine requests for aid against Seljuk Turks; captured Jerusalem.
Successes and Failures: Initial success due to Muslim disunity; later Crusades (e.g., Third Crusade, Children's Crusade) generally unsuccessful.
Long-Term Effects of the Crusades
Worsened Relations: Between European Christians and the Muslim Middle East.
Increased Awareness: Europeans gained awareness and desire for wealth through interactions with the East.
Chivalry Myth: Contributed to the ideal of knightly chivalry.
Technology Transfer: Europeans adopted Middle Eastern innovations from China.
The Middle East
Political and Religious Transformation
Pre-600 C.E.: Dominant civilizations were Byzantine Empire and Persia.
Islam's Emergence: Mohammed's new religion spread through Arabia and beyond during the 600s and 700s.
Islamic Conquests: Spain, North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia.
Conversion and Control: Main aim was territorial and economic control, not forced conversion.
Islamic Theology
Dar al-Islam: "House of peace" with dominant Sharia law and free Muslim worship.
Dar al-Harb: "House of war" where Islam was not established.
Tolerance: Political submission demanded, but non-Muslims not generally forced to change faith.
Governance
Caliphate: Governed by the caliph, combining political and religious power.
Circle of Justice: Ruler gives justice, people pay taxes, treasury supports the army, army supports the ruler.
Spread of Islam
Expansion: Mohammed's new religion spread through Arabia and beyond during the 600s and 700s, absorbing Persia and threatening Byzantium.
Territorial Control: Spain, most of North Africa, virtually all of the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia.
Conversion and Control: Main aim was territorial and economic control, not forced conversion.
Islamic Theology
Dar al-Islam: "House of peace" with dominant Sharia law and free Muslim worship.
Dar al-Harb: "House of war" where Islam was not established.
Tolerance: Political submission demanded, but non-Muslims were not generally forced to change faith.
Governance by Caliphs
Caliph: Combined political and religious power.
Circle of Justice: Ruler gives justice, people pay taxes, treasury supports the army, army supports the ruler.
Key Caliphates
First Caliphs: Mohammed's father-in-law Abu Bakr and others ruled from Medina.
Umayyad Caliphate (661-750):
Capital: Damascus.
Expansion: Continued Islam's military expansion.
Official Language: Declared Arabic.
Jizya Tax: Imposed on dhimmi (non-Muslim subjects).
Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258):
Capital: Baghdad.
Golden Age: Cultural flourishing, libraries, madrasas.
Trade Networks: Linked Middle East with Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Disintegration: Began in the 900s due to geographic over-extension, ethnic and cultural diversity, Sunni-Shiite split, and nomadic movements.
Seljuk Turks: Took Baghdad in 1055, kept the caliph as figurehead.
Crusades: Abbasid weakness facilitated Crusader havoc.
Seljuk Turks and Mongols:
Seljuk Turks: Damaged Byzantium (1071, battle of Manzikert); Mamluk state in Egypt and Syria (1250s).
Mongols: Captured Baghdad in 1258, killed the last Abbasid caliph.
Ottoman Turks:
Settlement: Asia Minor under Osman I (r. 1299-1326).
Devshirme System: Recruited boys from non-Muslim families for civil and military service.
Conquest of Byzantium: Mehmet II's use of gunpowder artillery captured Constantinople in 1453.
Africa
Adoption of Islam
Distinction: Major societies distinguished by adoption of Islam.
Conversion: Through force or peacefully via trans-Saharan trade or Indian Ocean commerce.
North Africa
Conversion: Rapidly adopted Islam, under caliphates until Abbasid collapse, later under Ottoman Empire.
Mamluk Sultanate: Established in Egypt (1250s), military power until Ottoman conquest in early 1500s.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Islamic Influence: Southward and westward Arab trade penetration; expansion of Arab slave trade.
Berbers: Camel-herding warriors, extended Muslim authority from Marrakesh.
West Africa
Kingdom of Ghana: Key role in trans-Saharan commerce with gold deposits; welcomed Muslim traders; failed official conversion led to Berber invasion.
Mali Empire (mid-1200s-1600s):
Islamization: Less violent conversion.
Location: Niger River basin, important trade route.
Economy: Rich in gold, other metals, salt, ivory, animal skins, and slaves.
Founder: Sundiata Keita (r. 1235-1255); subject of famed poem.
Mali Empire
Timbuktu: Key city in Mali, renowned center of Islamic scholarship with important mosques and madrasas.
Benefits of Islam: Good relations with Arab and Berber states; community of educated scholars.
Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337): Centralized government, expanded trade, famous for his wealth and hajj to Mecca, which devalued gold in the Middle East. Mali weakened due to foreign attacks in the 1400s and 1500s.
Swahili City-States
Flourished (1000-1500): Nearly forty self-ruling urban centers along 1,500 miles of coastline.
Trade: Part of the Indian Ocean trade network, multiethnic with migrants from Persia, Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia.
Islamic Influence: Some city-states ruled by Arab sheiks or merchants. Key ports included Mogadishu, Mombasa, Kilwa, and Zanzibar.
European Arrival: Changed the region in the early 1500s.
Non-Islamic Sub-Saharan Africa
Sizable States: Kongo, Benin, Great Zimbabwe.
Small Societies: Developed due to linguistic diversity (over two thousand dialects) and environmental factors (fluctuating climate, insect-borne diseases).
Christianity: Survived in northeastern Africa (Copts in Egypt and Sudan, Christian Abyssinia/Ethiopia).
East Asia
China
Post-Han Dynasty (220 C.E.): Alternated between political unity and fragmentation.
Tang Dynasty (618-907): Recentralized political system, expanded borders, built Grand Canal, near-monopoly on silk industry. Neglect of common people led to uprisings and collapse in 907.
Song Dynasty (960-1279): Advanced and durable, ruled east-central China. Despite political troubles, saw population growth, urbanization, trade (Guangzhou/Canton), and cultural/technological advancements (gunpowder, magnetic compass, movable-type printing, paper money). Mandate of heaven and Neo-Confucianism justified imperial rule.
Mongol Conquest
Genghis Khan's Rise: Mongol armies moved into Chinese territory in the early 1200s.
Kublai Khan (1271-1294): Reunified China as Yuan Empire (1271-1368), embraced Buddhism, made Mandarin Chinese official language, rebuilt bureaucracy/economy, restored trade (Silk Road). Marco Polo visited during this period. Yuan China declined after Kublai's death due to the Black Death and civil wars (Red Turban revolts).
Ming Dynasty
Founding (1368): Rebel Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Yuan, renamed capital Beijing, established Ming dynasty.
Hongwu Emperor (1368-1398): Recentralized, purged government, shifted to silver currency.
Yongle Emperor (1403-1424): Built Forbidden City, expanded territory, enforced tributary system, navy diplomacy (Zheng He's voyages, 1405-1433). Lost interest in exploration post-Yongle.
Japan
Sinosphere Influence: Influenced by China in bureaucracy, legal principles, religion, and arts.
Heian Period (794-1185):
Capital: Heian (present-day Kyoto).
Government: Emperor as figurehead, real power with the chancellor (Fujiwara clan until mid-1100s).
Decline: Neglect of military affairs led to Taira-Minamoto war (1156-1185).
Shogunate: Minamoto victory, transition to medieval feudalism, real power with the shogun ("great general").
Feudal Japan:
Shogun Regimes: Kamakura (late 1100s-early 1300s) and Ashikaga (1330s-late 1500s).
Decentralized Power: Shared with daimyo (noble warlords) who received land parcels (shoen).
Samurai: Warrior elite bound by Bushido ("way of the warrior"), emphasizing loyalty and honor.
Kamakura Shoguns: Maintained order, repelled Kublai Khan's invasions.
Ashikaga Shoguns: Weaker, allowed decentralization, leading to civil wars and peasant revolts (mid-1400s), disunity by 1500s.
Reunification: Late 1500s-early 1600s.
Interregional Contact and Conflict: The Mongol Khanates
Mongol Empire
Formation: United by Genghis Khan in 1206, creating one of the largest empires in history.
Pax Mongolica: Semi-unification of Eurasia during the 1200s, facilitating transfer of technologies, knowledge, culture, and trade goods.
First Wave of Conquest: Lasted until Genghis Khan's death in 1227; conquered Mongolia, much of China, parts of Central Asia.
Expansion: By mid-1200s, absorbed most of Russia, Ukraine, portions of the Middle East, and all of China.
Key Battles: Halted by Teutonic Knights and Hungarians in Eastern Europe; Mamluk cavalry in Syria (1260 battle of Ain Jalut).
Destruction of States: Song Empire (China), Abbasid Caliphate, Kievan city-state confederacy (Russia and Ukraine).
Governance and Cultural Influence
Single Political Authority: Imposed over vast territory, revived Silk Road trade, enforced law and order.
Stereotypes: Barbaric image due to violent pacification, but also administratively sophisticated.
Military Techniques: Organized army into decimally based units, learned siegecraft.
Cultural Borrowing: Adopted Uighur script, Chinese paper currency and law code (yasa), Buddhism or Islam.
Postal System: Created efficient postal system (yam).
Conscription: Conscripted soldiers, artisans, and skilled individuals from subject peoples.
Division of the Mongol Empire
Four Khanates: After Genghis's grandson Mongke's death in 1260 and a brief civil war, the empire divided into:
Golden Horde: Russia and Eastern Europe.
Chagatai Khanate: Central Asia.
Ilkhanate: Persia.
Yuan Dynasty: Mongolia and China under Kublai Khan.
Golden Horde
Rule: Kept Russia under its control until the mid-1400s.
Il-Khan Mongols: Converted to Islam, ruled much of the Middle East until the rise of the Ottoman Turks.
Jagatai Khanate: Governed Central Asia into the 1400s, also adopted Islam.
Timur (Tamerlane): Ruled 1370-1405, attempted to repeat Genghis Khan's military triumphs; expanded into Persia, southern Russia, parts of the Middle East, and northern India. His descendants ruled Central Asia until the 1500s.
South Asia
Cultural Influence
India's Impact: Spread Hinduism, Buddhism, and mathematical concepts like zero, pi, and numerals to South and Southeast Asia.
Political Unity: Lack of a single Indian nation after the mid-500s C.E. (collapse of Gupta Empire); numerous small kingdoms and city-states existed.
Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526)
Establishment: Muslim invaders captured Delhi and moved into northern India.
Islam's Introduction: Permanent introduction of Islam to India.
Initial Rule: Harsh imposition of Islam; over time, tensions between Hindus and Muslims persisted.
Expansion: Centralized and advanced into most of modern-day India between mid-1200s and mid-1300s.
Decline: Southern states resisted and broke away in the 1300s; Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1646) retook much of the territory. Timur's attack on Delhi in 1398 further weakened the sultanate, which continued to shrink until the 1520s.
Religious and Cultural Division
Hindu Practices: Caste system, sati ritual.
Muslim Rule: Imposed jizya (nonbeliever's tax) on Hindus and other non-Muslims; sectarian differences remain to this day.
Southeast Asia
Major States Pre-1200
Khmer (Angkor) Empire (800s-1450s): Mainland Cambodia, influenced by Indian culture.
Angkor Wat: Architectural masterpiece.
Srivijayan Empire (500s-1100s): Indonesian islands and Malay Peninsula.
Shift in Power (1200-1500)
Khmer Empire's Decline: Relative to neighbors like Burma, Annam, Champa, and Sukhothai kingdom (1238-1538).
Majapahit Empire: Founded in Java, preeminent until about 1500; conquered or forced tribute from nearly 100 islands and cities.
Islamic Influence: Arrived in Java and Sumatra in the 1200s, remains significant in Indonesia.
City-States
Political Organization: Became important in Southeast Asia.
Malacca: Key port at choke point between Indian and Pacific oceans, supported by China.
Oceania
Polynesian Migrations
End of Migrations: Completed by settlement of the Maori in New Zealand around 1200 C.E.
Impact: Seeded islands of the Pacific with human populations, new plants, and animals.
State Formation in the Pre-Columbian Americas
Isolation
Geographical Isolation: Americas remained isolated from Afro-Eurasia until the end of the 1400s.
Pre-Columbian Era: Period before 1492 in the Americas.
North America
Nomadic Lifestyles
Early Natives: Tended toward nomadic lifestyles.
Agricultural Societies: Two regions supported agriculturally successful societies outside of Mexico.
Southwest Region
Settlement: Began in the 300s B.C.E.
Ancestral Puebloans: Inhabited the area from about 400 (or earlier) to 1300.
Dwellings: Known as pueblos, sometimes built on mesas or in canyons (e.g., Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde).
Mississippian Civilization (ca. 700-1500)
Earth Mounds: Known for constructing earth mounds.
Cahokia: Large city home to more than 30,000 people between 1000 and 1200. Abandoned between 1250 and 1350, likely due to deforestation and soil depletion.
Decline: Mississippian culture fell into decline; smaller hunter-forager groups emerged, evolving into familiar major tribes.
Mexico and Mesoamerica
Post-Olmec Civilizations
Shared Characteristics: Religious practices centered on human sacrifice, pyramid-building, city-building, intensive agriculture.
Farming Methods: Swamp drainage, irrigation systems, terracing, and chinampas (floating islands).
Staple Crops: Beans, squash, maize (corn), cacao.
Mayan Civilization
Classical Period (250-900 C.E.): Emerged in present-day Guatemala, spread to Mexico.
Governance: Approximately forty city-states and kingdoms, population of at least 3 million.
Conflict: Frequent among city-states, enslavement of wartime captives.
Agriculture: Intensive, relied on cenotes (limestone sinkholes) for water.
Religion: Polytheistic, involving human sacrifice. Key gods included jaguar deities and Quetzalcoatl.
Achievements: Hieroglyphic script, advanced astronomy and mathematics, long-count calendar.
Decline: Abandonment of cities between 800 and 900 C.E.; possible causes include warfare, social unrest, volcanic activity, resource depletion, and drought.
Aztec Empire (1200s-1500s)
Rise: Followed the Toltecs, reached peak with a triple alliance (Texcoco, Tlacopan, Tenochtitlán).
Empire: Encompassed over 125,000 square miles, population of 5 to 12 million.
Tenochtitlán: Metropolis with half a million inhabitants, large marketplace.
Economy: Supported by intensive agriculture (chinampas) and an extensive network of roads.
Religion: Pyramid-building, human sacrifice.
Tributary System: Provided foodstuffs and gold, caused resentment among subject peoples.
Spanish Conquest: Led to Spanish domination of Mexico and Central America until the 1800s.
The Andes
Andean Civilizations
Characteristics: No writing, used quipu (knot-tying) for records, communal land ownership (ayllu), mit'a labor system, terracing, waru waru agriculture, domesticated llamas and alpacas.
Commerce: Balanced economies through coastal-mountain valley trade, Amazon basin trade.
Chimú Culture (ca. 900-1470)
Rise: Built on Moche foundations.
Capital: Chan Chan.
Empire: Largest seen in Andes, with roads, canals, and provincial administration.
Inca Empire (1300s-1500s)
Expansion: Settled Cusco region in 1200s, expanded rapidly in 1300s and 1400s.
Territory: Stretched 3,000 miles from north to south, from Pacific coast to upper Amazon.
Keys to Power: Road network (13,000 miles), complex bureaucracy, extreme social stratification.
Great Inca: Descendant of the sun god, legally owned all property, human sacrifice.
Mit'a Labor: Made more burdensome by Inca rulers.
Zenith: Controlled 4 to 6 million people in the 1400s.
Spanish Conquest: Like the Aztecs, underlying resentment among subject peoples led to downfall in the 1500s.