Theme 5. Europe and the East in the Middle Ages
The Slavs in the East Europe
The 1st century CE – earliest mentions about the Slavs as Veneti (or the Veneds)
Parts of Ukraine, Belorussia and Poland = homeland of the Slavs.
The 5th to 7th CE – the great migration of the Slavs to south, west and north à new languages, new cultures, new states.
The second half of the 1st millennium — the early states of Slavs – Bulgaria, Rus, Samo’s state, the Great Moravia.
1187 – first notes of the word of Ukraine in the Kyivan chronicle.
1237 to 1242 – conquer of Rus by the Mongols à appearance of the Golden Horde.
The Mongols
In the late 12th century AD, Temujin, later renamed Genghis Khan, united the Mongol tribes.
The Mongols invaded Central Asia, Tibet, Northern China, and Persia. In 1215 C.E., the Mongols destroyed Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing).
In 1227 C.E., the Great Khan died. Civil war and then fragmentation of the Mongol Empire by 1259.
In 1279 C.E., Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, conquered China (Southern Song dynasty). Kublai Khan created a Chinese-style dynasty of Yuan. The Mongols adopted Buddhism. The civil service exam was no longer used. The Mongols failed to invade Japan (In 1274 C.E. and 1281 C.E.). Discriminatory practices and high taxes in China led to the Red Turban Rebellion (1351– 1368 C.E.). The red turbans established the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644 C.E.).
In 1258 C.E., Kublai’s brother Hülegü Khan defeated the Abbasid Caliphate, conquered Mesopotamia and Persia, and burned the city of Baghdad, destroying its famed House of Wisdom. The state of Ilkhanate is established. Hülegü Khan's Mongols converted to Islam.
In 1240s, Batu Khan conquered Rus and created the Golden Horde. Emergence of Moscow within the Golden Horde.
The West Europe
The 5th century CE – collapse of the West Roman Empire à many barbarian Germanic kingdoms in Europe.
Development of feudalism – the socio-economic system grounded on vassalage (hierarchy of aristocracy based on obligations in exchange for land (fief)) and serfdom (out-of-economic relations between landlords and peasants-serfs).
The 8th to 9th centuries – the Empire of Charlemagne the Great with the capital in Aachen (now in Germany).
324 CE – the beginning of the Roman Catholic Christian Church’s domination in the West Europe. The Roman Pope was the head and cardinals, bishops, priests and monks were his subordinates. In the 8th CE, the Papal state emerged in Italy.
The early 2nd millennium CE – England and France were large states in the Western Europe. 1215 – adoption of Magna Carta in England. 1337 to 1453 – the Hundred years war between France (Joan of Arc) and England.
The 9th CE – the Holy Roman Empire appeared – the Emperor elected by nobles (200 duchies, kingdoms and principalities); multinational population. The Investiture contest between Pope Gregory VIII and Emperor Henry IV in the 11th century CE. 1438 – beginning of the Habsburg dynasty.
The 8th to 15th centuries – city-states (Milan, Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Naples) and the Papal state in Italy.
375 to 1453 – the Byzantine Empire (the East Roman Empire) with the capital in Constantinople. The Orthodox Christian Church (Eastern, or Greek, rite church) and Caesaropapism (superiority of the Emperor over the church). Reforms of Justinian (the 6th century) – the Greek language and Code of Law introduced.
Near East
The 6th century CE – activity of Muhammad and the appearance of Islam. Koran – the holy book, Mecca – the holy city. Two worlds – Dar al-Islam (the lands of peace) and Dar al-Harb (the lands of war). The development of culture in the Muslim world (mosques, universities in Cordoba, Toledo and Grenada, algebra, arabesque and calligraphy, etc.). The idea of the Circle of Justice.
The 7th CE – the Muslim world split into two camps (the Shi’a and the Sunni).
661 to 750 CE – the Ummayyads Caliphate with the capital of Damask in Syria and the Arabic language and jizya (tax for non-Muslims).
750 to 1258 – the Abbasid Caliphate with the capital of Bagdad in Iraq. 751 – the victory over the Chinese army in the battle of Talas in what is now Kazakhstan. 776 to 809 – Caliph Harun al-Rashid – the founder of the House of Wisdom (centre of science and translations from Greek to Persian).
The 14th century – emergence of the Ottoman Empire. 1453 – the Ottomans took Constantinople.
The Middle ages confrontation between West and East
The early 12th century – the Normans took over the southern Italy and Sicily.
The 11th to 15th centuries – Reconquista in Spain.
1096 to 1099 – the First Crusade à seizure of Jerusalem in the Middle East.
1147 to 1149 – the Second Crusade à failure to take the city of Edessa; liberation of Lisbon.
1187 – the Muslim Caliph Saladin recaptured Jerusalem for Islam.
1189 – 1192 – the Third Crusade: failure because of the conflicts between crusading kings.
1202 to 1204 – the Fourth Crusade : Constantinople was captured and plundered by crusaders.
1281 – the Muslims took Acres, the last fortress of Christians in the Middle East – the defeat of crusades.
The first half of the 2nd millennium CE – activity of the Christian Catholic orders of knights in Europe (the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller), Knights Templar, orders of Calatrava and Santiago, the Teutonic Knights) à confrontations with the Slavs.
1242 – mid-15th century – emergence of Moscow within the Golden Horde of Tatars : new barrier between Europe and Asia. The late 15th to the early 16th centuries – Muscovy annexed Novgorod, Pskov, Chernihiv, Smolensk and so on (parts of Ukraine and Belorussia).
The 14th century – the rise of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). 1385 – first Union between GDL and Poland. 1410 – battle of Grunwald (or the battle of Tannenberg) – the defeat of the Teutonic knights by Lithuania and Poland.
1453 – the Ottomans (Sultan Mehmed II) captured Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine. The suggested end of the Middle Age.
China
After the Han dynasty's fall in 220 CE, defragmentation and, finally, the Sui (589–618).
the Tang dynasty (018-900), under which China became larger. Like the Han, Tang China forced many of its neighbors into a tributary system: countries like Korea, Japan, and Vietnam had to make regular monetary payments. The Tang rulers expanded the Grand Canal, which the Sui had built to connect the Yellow and Yangzi rivers. The Tang controled Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade. The Chinese silk industry. Inequality led to the the An Shi Rebellion (повстання Ань Лушаня). In 906, the dynasty collapsed.
Сhina fragmented into separate states until the late 1200s
the Song Empire (960–1279) ruled east-central China. China's invention of gunpowder, the compass, and other innovations, including paper money.
The Mongols conquered China. Kublai Khan proclaimed the Yuan Empire (1271–1368).
the Red Turban Rebellion (1351– 1368 C.E.) led to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). the Forbidden City (Beijin) as a new seat of power.
From 1405 to 1433, the admiral Zheng He made seven exploratory voyages to Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and East Africa.
Japan
the Shinto religion took hold in Japan: worshipping the kami, which refers to nature and all of the forces of nature, both the seen and unseen
the Yamato clan emerged as leaders in the 5th century AD. In 522, Buddhist missionaries went to Japan and brought Chinese culture. Japan’s emperors ruled from the city of Nara. the Taika Reforms of the mid-600s imported Chinese bureaucratic methods and legal principles.
Heian period (794–1185) is considered to be Japan’s classical era. Emperor's capital was Heian (present-day Kyoto). In the mid-800s, the Fujiwara clan became powerful.
The Taira-Minamoto War (1156-1185) was the war between warrior clans for power. The Minamoto won and created a new form of government: the shogunate. Transition to medieval feudalism: the shogun shared power with warlords daimyo, who controled parcels of land shoen. Real power was with the shogun, or "great general.".
The shogun and the daimyo were the warrior elite known as samurai, bound by a code of loyalty, honor, and bravery called Bushido
Civil wars and disunity during the mid-1400s and the 1500s.
India
The sultanate of Delhi was established in 1206 and was at its peak until the end of the 14th century. It set a pattern of Muslim rule (mystical versions of Islam – Sufism). The first rulers were Turks from Afghanistan. Hinduism dominated in the southern India.
Africa
The Ghana Empire, or Awkar, along the Niger River around 500 CE. Development of its trade with the northern Africa. In the 900s C.E., the kings, elites, and traders converted to Islam. Around 1076– 77 C.E., northern Berbers and other tribal groups assaulted the Ghana Empire. Ghana was absorbed by the West African kingdoms, especially the Mali Empire.
Sundiata Keita established the Mali Empire in 1230 C.E. The trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt. The kings honored Islam. Mansa Musa, the richest king, ruled Mali from 1312 C.E. to 1337 C.E. Luxury pilgrimage, or hajj, by Mansa Musa to Mecca.
Christianity endured in Egypt and Ethiopia (Coptic Christians)
Bantu peoples settled in cities along the East African coast. Trade with Arabs led to the Swahili language (which mixes Bantu and Arabic). East African city-states turned to Swahili city-states. The Muslim kings ruled as caliphs
In 11th century C.E., the Great Zimbabwe, a city, was founded. Zimbabwe prospered between 1300 C.E. and 1450 C.E.
The pre-Columbian America
mid-1200 AD, the Aztecs occupied territory in Mesoamerica, and founded city Tenochtitlán. Decentralized militant empire of Aztecs (no bureaucracy). The religion was based on human sacrifice. The Aztecs developed a form of writing that used glyphs, or pictures that represented objects themselves, and hieroglyphs (also called pictograms)
The rise of Inca empire in the 15th century C.E. in the South America. The capital city was Cuzco, in present-day Peru. A mandatory public service system, called the mit’a (or mita). The Inca practiced human sacrifice (less than the Aztecs did). The concept of private property didn’t exist. State bureaucracy was run by the nobility. System of writing was quipu, a set of knotted strings.
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