1. The World in 1450: Changing Balance of World Power16
The World in 1450: Changing Balance of World Power

2. Figure Chinese oceangoing ship from expeditions in the 16th century. This was a smaller ship than those used earlier in the great voyages of the early 15th century, whose end opened opportunities for other international traders. But the Chinese maintained active commerce even after this, particularly in maintaining contacts established in the postclassical period with the Philippines and with southeast Asia.
Figure Chinese oceangoing ship from expeditions in the 16th century. This was a smaller ship than those used earlier in the great voyages of the early 15th century, whose end opened opportunities for other international traders. But the Chinese maintained active commerce even after this, particularly in maintaining contacts established in the postclassical period with the Philippines and with southeast Asia.

3. Chapter Overview Key Changes in the Middle East
The Structure of Transregional Trade
The Rise of the West
Outside the World Network

4. TIMELINE 1250 C.E. to 1450 C.E.
TIMELINE 1250 C.E. to 1450 C.E.

5. Key Changes in the Middle East
Abbasids destroyed by Mongols, 13th century
Byzantine Empire falls to Ottomans, 1453

6. Key Changes in the Middle East
Social and Cultural Change in the Middle East
Religious leaders in control by 1300
Ibn-Rushd (Averröes)
More popular in Europe
Landlords dominate peasants
Serfdom
Economic decline
Gradual and incomplete Arab decline

7. The Structure of Transregional Trade
Mongols
Decline hinders international trade
Ottomans
Not an international power

8. The Structure of Transregional Trade
Chinese Outreach and Reconsideration
Ming dynasty ( )
Replaces the Yuan
Expansionist
Into Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet
State sponsors commercial ventures
India
Middle East
Africa

9. The Structure of Transregional Trade
Chinese Outreach and Reconsideration
Chinese fleets
Muslim admiral Zheng He
1433, expeditions stopped
More isolationist
Still trade in Asian area
Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia

10. The Rise of the West
Period of relative stagnation, 14th, 15th centuries
Aristocracy indulge in ritual
No longer useful militarily
Famine
1348, Black Death

11. The Rise of the West Sources of Dynamism: Medieval Vitality Monarchies
Increasingly centralized
Aristocracy less of a threat

12. The Rise of the West Imitation and International Problems
Trade imbalance
To east, for luxury products
Gold shortage by 1400
Trade also threatened by Ottomans
Impetus to find other routes

13. Visualizing the Past Population Trends Percentages or Proportions of Total World Population

14. Visualizing the Past Population Trends Population Levels (Millions)

15. The Rise of the West Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance
Italy takes the lead, 14th century
Renaissance of styles and themes from classical Greece and Rome
Secular trend
Personal fame for artists, writers
City-states support the arts

16. The Rise of the West Renaissance Culture Francisco Petrarch Humanism
Interest in classical past, philology
Painters
Use of perspective, shadow
More interested in the individual
Ambitious, confident mood

17. Figure 16. 2 Europe's new spirit amid old values
Figure Europe's new spirit amid old values. Dante, Italian writer of the 14th century, holds a copy of his great work, the Divine Comedy, with both religious (souls tormented in hell) and Renaissance (the solid, classical-style urban buildings of the city of Florence) symbolism greeting him. The painting was designed by Domenico di Michelina for the cathedral of Florence in 1465.
Figure Europe's new spirit amid old values. Dante, Italian writer of the 14th century, holds a copy of his great work, the Divine Comedy, with both religious (souls tormented in hell) and Renaissance (the solid, classical-style urban buildings of the city of Florence) symbolism greeting him. The painting was designed by Domenico di Michelina for the cathedral of Florence in 1465.

18. Figure Although the nave of Florence Cathedral was completed in the fourteenth century, it was not until the fifteenth century that architect Filippo Brunelleschi was able to solve the engineering challenge presented by the plan for the massive dome. In order to eliminate the need for temporary wooden scaffolding during construction, Brunelleschi used a skeleton of eight large ribs alternated with eight pairs of thinner ribs, all tied together by nine sets of horizontal ties, all of which would be able to support the workers as the dome was raised.
Figure Although the nave of Florence Cathedral was completed in the fourteenth century, it was not until the fifteenth century that architect Filippo Brunelleschi was able to solve the engineering challenge presented by the plan for the massive dome. In order to eliminate the need for temporary wooden scaffolding during construction, Brunelleschi used a skeleton of eight large ribs alternated with eight pairs of thinner ribs, all tied together by nine sets of horizontal ties, all of which would be able to support the workers as the dome was raised.

19. The Rise of the West The Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission
Castile, Aragon
Effective armies
Promote Christianity
Convert or expel
Arabs, Jews
Later reestablishment of the Inquisition in Spain

20. The Rise of the West The First Phases of Western Expansion
The Genoese Vivaldi brothers
1291, disappear after passing Gibraltar
14th century explorers
Canary Islands, Madeiras, possibly the Azores
Spanish expeditions along west African coast
Vasco da Gama

21. Figure Columbus is supposed to have had a copy of this world map in Spain. The map, dating from about 1489, shows the Old World as Europeans were increasingly coming to know it. Note how reachable India looked to Europeans using this map—although, of course, they had to go around Africa.
Figure Columbus is supposed to have had a copy of this world map in Spain. The map, dating from about 1489, shows the Old World as Europeans were increasingly coming to know it. Note how reachable India looked to Europeans using this map—although, of course, they had to go around Africa.

22. The Rise of the West Colonial Patterns
Azores, Madeiras, and Canaries exploited
Prince Henry of Portugal (Henry the Navigator)
Land grants
Pattern
Cash crops for European markets
Slaves used

23. Figure This 18th-century engraving portrays Vasco da Gama's audience with the Indian ruler of Calicut in This picture was painted well after the fact. What kind of comparison does it suggest between European and Indian societies?
Figure This 18th-century engraving portrays Vasco da Gama's audience with the Indian ruler of Calicut in This picture was painted well after the fact. What kind of comparison does it suggest between European and Indian societies?

24. Outside the World Network
Americas and Polynesia not part of international trade
Political Issues in the Americas
Aztec and Inca challenged after 1400
Aztecs face resistance from subjects
Inca expansion jeopardizes the state
Local leaders a threat

25. Outside the World Network
Expansion, Migration, and Conquest in Polynesia
600–1400
Migrations, conquest
Hawaii settled
Then cut off from Polynesia

26. Map Polynesian Expansion Starting in the 7th century, the Polynesians expanded north and south of their starting point in the Society Islands.
Map Polynesian Expansion Starting in the 7th century, the Polynesians expanded north and south of their starting point in the Society Islands.

27. Outside the World Network
Isolated Achievements by the Maoris
New Zealand settled as early as the 8th century
Maori
Population expansion
Sophisticated art

28. The Problem of Ethnocentrism
Disposition to judge foreign peoples by the standards of one's own culture
Ethnocentric potential of the West
Dismissing people who did not exploit latest military technology as inferior
Validity of other practices
Rise of the West not "good" resulting from progressive values
Balance, perspective essential

29. Outside the World Network
Adding Up the Changes
1400 a time of change globally
Technological change (compass, astrolabe)
Africa relatively unaffected
New relations with Muslim worlds

30. The ruins of Leptis Magna, one of the three great early Roman cities, which gave Tripolitania its name. Leptis was an elaborate city with baths and ornate buildings; it was also the center of African trade.
The ruins of Leptis Magna, one of the three great early Roman cities, which gave Tripolitania its name. Leptis was an elaborate city with baths and ornate buildings; it was also the center of African trade.

31. Ibn Battuta, in Egypt. Ibn Battuta’s wide travels utilized and encouraged a growing pattern of contacts.
Ibn Battuta, in Egypt. Ibn Battuta’s wide travels utilized and encouraged a growing pattern of contacts.

32. Buddhist prayer on a scroll—earliest known printed work, 868 C. E
Buddhist prayer on a scroll—earliest known printed work, 868 C.E. The image depicts the frontispiece to the world’s earliest dated printed book, the Chinese translation of the Buddhist text the “Diamond Sutra.” This consists of a scroll, over 16 feet long, made up of a long series of printed pages. Printed in China in 868 C.E., it was found in the Dunhuang Caves in 1907, in the northwestern province of Gansu.
Buddhist prayer on a scroll—earliest known printed work, 868 C.E. The image depicts the frontispiece to the world’s earliest dated printed book, the Chinese translation of the Buddhist text the “Diamond Sutra.” This consists of a scroll, over 16 feet long, made up of a long series of printed pages. Printed in China in 868 C.E., it was found in the Dunhuang Caves in 1907, in the northwestern province of Gansu.