Chp 21: Reaching Out: Cross-Cultural Interactions

Long Distance Trade and Travel

o Nomads traveled for migrations
o Slaves traveled involuntary
o Religius people traveled for pilgrimages
o Three Main reasons for travel-trade, diplomacy, and
missionary activity
o Patterns of Long Distance Trade
Luxury goods traveled on silk road
Bulky goods traveled in sea lanes
Sea lanes served as ports in se Asia, India, Arabia,
and east Africa
Land and sea routes reached almost everywhere in
eastern hemisphere
o Trading Cities
As trade grew, cities grew
Attracted buyers, sellers, merchants
Strategic location, maintained good order, and didnt
levy custom fees, then they could become an
emporium
Example-Melaka
o Controlled Indian ocean
During 13th century, Mongols caused disruptions in
Eurasia and their conquests inaugurated a period of
economic decline in sw Asia. However, as they
consolidated their hold, they laid the political
foundation for surge in trade later
Merchants traveling on Silk Road faced less risk of
banditry
High demand for foreign commodities
o Marco Polo
Best long distance traveler of mongol times
His father and uncle went to China and met Kublai
Khan and later returned with Marco
Khan liked marco bc he was a good conversationalist
and storyteller
Marco pursued his mercantile interests in China and
was sent on multiple diplomatic missions
Upon returning from China, he was made a prisoner
of war between Genoa and venice
He told tales to his fellow prisoners
One was a writer who recorded them
Their travels to China helped to increase European
participation in the larger economy

Political and Diplomatic Travel

o Mongol rulers of China often appointed foreigners to admin
posts
o Marco=governer of Yangzhou
o Mongol-Christian Diplomacy
Emergence of trade=need for political and diplomatic
representation
Active time of diplomacy
Mongols and western Europeans=against muslims
Christians=recapture Jerusalem while Mongols were
attacking the Abbasid
Khans declined invitation to convert to Christianity
and join alliance against the Muslims
o Rabban Sauma
Mongol initiated another effort for diplomacy
A Nestorian Christian priest of Turkish Ancestry as an
envoy to the pope
He met with the kings of France and Engloand, and
others but did not succed in attracting European
support for the ilkhan
Later, Ghazan converted to Islam
Legal scholars and judges played a crucial role in
Islamic society and educated Muslims traveled to
recently converted lands to instill Islamic values
o Ibn Battuta
Muslim Traveler
Filled government positions
Qadi and advisor to sultan of Delhi
Enforced Islamic standards of justice
After leaving India, became Qadi in Maldives
Promoted Islam Values
Heard cases
Tried to persuade island women to be modest
Missionary Campaigns
o Sufi Missionaries
Islam spread by Sufis
Sufis sought to gather a large following in newly
conquered lands
Emphasized piety and devotion to allah
Tolerated continuance of traditional deities
o Christian Missionaries
Accompanied crusaders and others to lands where
Europe extended their influence

Sought to convert Mongols and Chinese to Roman

Catholics
o John of Montecorvino
Most active roman catholic missionary
Italian Frescan
Translated stories into Turkish
Built churches, taught latin
Didnt gain very many Asian converts
Established Christianity in Scandinavia, Europe,
Spain, and the Mediterranean
Agricultural and Technological Diffusion
o Magnetic Compass spread through indian ocean
Helped maritime trade
o Spread of Crops
Muslim travelers introduced new food to sub Saharan
Africa
Citrus fruits and Asian rice
Cotton in west Africa
o Led to textile production
o Sugarcane
Muslim merchants and other travelers began
cultivation of sugarcane in sw Asia and n Africa
Didnt work in west Africa
After 12th, spread westward bc of crusaders and
refined sugar
Appreciated convenience
Plantations had slaves
o Gun Powder
Mongols contributed to diffusion
Got from chinese
By 1258-gun powder reached Europe
Cannons, rockets, etc
Crisis and Recovery
Bubonic Plague
o Spread from Yunnan region
o Infects rodents, then spread to humans
o Mongol campaigns helped spread
Spread of the Plague
o During 1340s, Merchants and other travelers spread it
along trade routes
o Thrived in oases and trading cities in Central Asia
o Reached black sea by 1346
o People died within a few days of contracting it

o Aka Black Death

o Killed 60 to 70 percent of its victims
o Did not affect Scandinavia and India
Population decline
o Took over a century to recover
o Highly reduced in China
o European population declined by 25%
o Islamic societies also lost a lot of people
Social and Economic Effects
o Plague killed many important job people
o Caused labor shortages, which led to social unrest
o In w Europe, workers wanted higher wages and left their
homes
o Result=series of rebellions
o By 17th century, plague lost its ferocity
Recovery in China
o Yuan dynasty collapsed
o Mongols left China
o Hongwu
Poor
Entered a Buddhist monastery
Large size, rose through military
Became emperor in 1368
o Ming Centralization
Hongwu based gov on Confucian principles and civil
service systems
Centralized authority
Eliminated Minister and Ministers position
o Mandarins and Eunuchs
Ming emperors insited on strict obedience to policies
Relied on Mandarins, class of powerful officials sent
out as emissaries of the central gov to ensure that
local official followed policy
Earlier emperors relied on Eunuchs- could generate
families and build power bases
Enhanced central gov
Lasted for over 500 years
Fell to Manchu
o Economic Recovery
Ming rebuilt irrigation systems and promoted
manufacture of porcelain and silk and other things
Did not promote trade, but people still did it
Cultural revival also

Eradicate signs of nomads

Promoted traditional culture and confuscianism
Yongle=encyclopedia
o Almost 23 thousand manuscript copies
o VAST
Recovery in Western Europe: State Building
o Strengthened states
o In Europe, authority was with regional states
o Authority laid with the German princes and Itialian City
States in Holy Roman Empire
o Spain=controlled by muslim conquerors
o Kings of France and England sparred and resulted in the
100 years war to control france
o Taxes and Armies
By 15th century, regional states laid foundation for
powerful monarchies
State-building efforts involved 2 important elements
Development of fresh sources of Finance
o New taxes levied on citizens
Maintenance of large standing armies
Composed of mercenary forces with
gunpowder
o Italian States
State building began in Italy where profits from trade
enriched cities
Main City states were Milan, Venice, and Florence,
Naples, and papal state in Rome and they needed a
lot of officials to govern
Also needed military
Financed these by levying taxes and issuing
long term bonds
o France and England
Followed pattern of Italian States
Began to levy taxes and assemble armies
French taxed sales, hearths, and salt
English taxed Hearths, Individuals, and Plow teams
Central gov over feudal nobles
English kings did not have a standing army
France, maintained a permanent army
o Spain
Most dramatic state building
Marriage between the two most important Iberian
realms

Completed the Reconquista by conquering Granada

Catholic Kings projected authority beyond Iberia
especially in Italian Peninsula
Competition between European States led to small
scale wars and encouraged development of military
and naval tech
Encouraged refinement and improvement of
weapons, ships, and sails,
Recovery in Western Europe: The Renaissance
o State building coincided with cultural flowering known as
the Renaissance
o Revival in interest of the Arts and learning from the 14th16th century
o Painters, sculptors, and architects drew inspiration from
Greek and Roman artists (not medieval)
o Classical standards
o Scholars known as humanists looked to classical literary
models and sought to update the medieval moral thought
o Italian Renaissance Art
Italian city states sponsored Renaissance innovations
Italian arts studied human form and reprensented
emotions
o Renaissance Architecture
Simple, elegant style
Domed buildings-Pantheon
o The Humanist
Referred to scholars interested in the humanities
Deeply committed to Christianity
Pared accurate texts and translations of the NT
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam-published
greek NT
Drew inspiration from Christianity
Scorned dense and convoluted style of theologians
Looked for manuscripts of classical scripts
o Humanist Moral Thought
Medival=Most honorable were monks and priests
Humanists say its possible to live a moral life
normally
Humanists agreed that it is possible for Christians to
enter into marriage, business relatioships, and public
affairs and still be spiritual
Humanist moral thought represented an effort to
reconcile Christian values with urban society
Exploration and Colonization

The Chinese Reconnaissance of the Indian Ocean Basin

o Ming emperors permitted foreign residents in China
o Foreign merchants are permitted to trade in foreign ports
o Also refurbished the large Chinese navy and allowed
participation in overseas trading ventures
Zheng Hes Expeditions
o Sponsered naval expeditions in Indian Ocean Basin
o 2 purposes
impose imperial control over foreign trade with china
impress foreign people with the power of the Ming
dynasty
o Leader=Zheng Mi
Rose through ranks of Eunuchs
Large fleet of vessels and armies
First three voyages went to Asia, India, and Ceylon
4th-persia and Arabia
Later expeditions went to Africa
He liberally gave gifts, which resulted in his hosts
giving him many gifts
o Chinese Naval Power
Attain goals through diplomacy
Zheng he didnt often engage and he carried himself
very powerfully
Suppressed pirates in his waters
Intervened in a civl war in Ceylon and made displays
of military power and authority when they
threatened him
Ming dynasty hesitant to have large foreign
populations
Mongol experience
Allowed small populations in port cities
Yongle engaged Admiral Zheng He to mount seven
massive naval expeditions, 1405-1433
Placed trade under imperial control
Demonstrated strength of Ming dynasty
Successful, but aborted as Mongols presented new
threat in the north
o European Exploration in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans
Motives: profit, missionary activity
Portuguese early leaders in Atlantic exploration
Search for sea route to Indian Ocean basin
Prince Henrique (Henry the Navigator) seizes Strait of
Gibraltar, 1415
Begins encouragement of major Atlantic voyages

o Colonization of the Atlantic Islands

Madeiras, Azores Islands, etc.
Investments in sugarcane plantations
Exploration of west African coast
Dramatically increases volume of slave trade
Ultimately, some 12 million Africans deported to
Americas for slave labor
o Indian Ocean Trade
Attempt to avoid using Muslim middlemen in trade
with east
1488 Bartolomeu Dias sails around Cape of Good
Hope
1497-1499 Vasco de Gama sails this route to India
and back
Portuguese gun ships attempt to maintain trade
monopoly
Beginnings of European imperialism in Asia
o Christopher Columbus
Search for western sea route to Indian Ocean
Portuguese consider his proposal impractical, reject it
Fernando and Isabel of Spain underwrite voyage,
departs in 1492
Makes landfall in San Salvador
Believed he had reached islands off coast of Asia

Ibn Battuta was a Morrocan legal scholar who traveled extensively

and recorded his observations.
In the five centuries after the year 1000 C.E., the peoples of the
eastern hemisphere traveled and interacted more intensively than
ever before.
Luxury goods of high value relative to their weight usually traveled
overland on the silk roads.

Which of the following cities was not a major participant in long-distance trading in the immediate
centuries after the year 1000 C.E.? London
The important trading city of Melaka is located in modern-day Malaysia.

The spread of Mongol control laid the political foundation for a surge
in long-distance trade.
Marco Polos stories influenced other Europeans to visit China.
Khubilai Khan employed Marco Polo in administrative posts because
he did not entirely trust his Chinese subjects.
According to Marco Polos account, he was made governor of the
large trading city of Yangzhou.
When Pope Innocent IV sent envoys to invite the Mongols to join in
an alliance against the Muslims, the khans declined and in turn told
the Christians to submit to Mongol rule or be destroyed.
Rabban Sauma was a Nestorian Christian priest who served as an
envoy for the Ilkhans.
Rabban Saumas journey was designed to invite the Europeans to
join the Persian Ilkhans against the Muslims.
The sharia prescribed religious observances and social relationships
based on the Quran.
Ibn Battuta was able to travel so extensively because his religious
and legal training allowed him to serve as qadi.
19.

Cotton was introduced to west Africa by the Muslims.

20. Which of the following was not one of the products that had a new impact during this period of
increasing interaction? silk
21. Gunpowder had its origins in China.
22. The outbreak of the bubonic plague in the fourteenth century began in China.
23. As a result of the bubonic plague, the population of Europe dropped from seventy-nine million in
1300 to around ________ in 1400. sixty million

24.
Which one of the following was not a common result of the
bubonic plague? a temporary decrease in workers wages

25.

The Ming dynasty was founded in 1368 by Hongwu.

26. Hongwus philosophy for ruling China was to return to the

model of traditional Chinese dynasties.
27.
Which of the following was not a hallmark of Hongwus
rule? the move to a more decentralized governmental form
28.
The Yongle Encyclopedia represented the Ming rulers
interest in supporting native Chinese cultural traditions.
30. The rise of powerful states in Europe in the fifteenth century was dependent on the combination of
new taxes and large standings armies.

31.
The marriage of Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castile
led to the creation of the Spanish state.
32.
The Reconquista was the Spanish Catholic attempt to win
Spain from Islamic control.
34.
Central to Renaissance thought was a fascination with the
ancient world.
35.
The dome on the cathedral of Florence was designed by
Brunelleschi.
36.
Which of the following was not representative of
Renaissance painting? the use of linear perspective to represent
three dimensions
37.
The most important of the humanistic thinkers was
Erasmus.
38.
Humanist moral philosophers believed that people could
lead morally virtuous lives while participating in the world.
39.
Zheng He was the Chinese admiral who made seven
journeys of exploration.
40. The nation that led the way in early European exploration was Portugal.

41.
In regard to exploration, Prince Henrique was to Portugal
what ________ was to China. Yongle
42.
The Portuguese mariner who reached India in 1498 was
Bartolomeu Dias.