1. CHAPTER 12 The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century
Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History Second Edition and Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources Second Edition
CHAPTER 12
The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. Australia
250 separate groups 15th century – hunters and gatherers
Continued after Europeans arrived 18th century
They had obtained knowledge from outsiders
Outrigger canoe, fish hooks, complex netting, artistic styles, rituals, and mythological practices
No agriculture practiced
“fire stick farming”– set fires , clears underbrush and encourages certain plants to grow

3. North America
Chinookan, Tulalip, Skagit and other people Northwest coast
Fishing and hunting societies
Permanent villages and sturdy houses
Ranked societies including slavery, chiefdoms

4. Igbo and Iroquois
More numerous than hunter and gathering societies was the many people who grew crops (agriculture) but had avoided growing into a civilization
Small village based communities – organized by kinship
North America, Amazon River basin, Southeast Asia, and Africa south of equator
Societies without oppressive leaders, class inequalities, and seclusion of women

5. Igbo (EE-boh) east of Niger River in forest region
15th century Neighbors Yoruba and Bini had developed small states and urban centers
Igbo rejected kingship and state building
Instead – titled society – wealth men received ranks, women’s associations, hereditary ritual experts, balance of power among kinship groups
Traded among themselves /distant people
Slave trade would disrupt these societies

6. New York State- agriculture village people – Iroquois
Maize and bean farming
Alliance or confederation 5 Iroquois speaking people - Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca
Great Law of Peace -Five nations agreed to settle differences peacefully
Men hunters, warriors and political leadership
Women could depose and select leaders

7. Pastoral Peoples: Central Asia and West Africa
The Mongol Empire disintegrated
Later late 14th and early 15th century -Timur – Turic warrior – attacked Persia, Russia, and India
Like Chinggia Khan he brought with him great destruction

8. He died before he could invade China
His descendants retained control of an area between Persia and Afghanistan throughout the 15th century
Last great military success for nomadic people from Central Asia

9. Africa
Pastoral people established empires and lasted into the 19th century
Fulbe – West Africa’s largest pastoral people
Migrated eastward after 1000
Lived in small communities among agriculture people
Paid grazing fees and taxes
Movement east they adopted Islam
19th century these people launched jihads which gave rise to new states

10. Ming Dynasty China
China recovered from the Mongol Empire and Plague
Early years a government campaign to erase any sign of foreign rule
Mongol dress, names were forbidden
Rise of Confucianism

11. Emperor Yongle 1402-1422 – Encyclopedias – 11,000 volumes
Contribution of more than 2,000 scholars
History, philosophy, ethics, government and more
Capital moved to Beijing
Imperial residence built –Forbidden City

12. Forbidden City

13. Temple of Heaven built

14. Confucian based rituals practiced here
Two empresses wrote instructions for female behavior based on Confucian traditions
China was looking toward its past and reviving its culture
Civil service exam reestablished
Created a highly centralized government
Power was in the hands of the Emperor

15. Eunuchs loyal to the emperor were given power
Millions of acres of land restored, canals built, reservoirs built and irrigation projects
Billions of trees planted /attempt to reestablish the forest
Economy rebounded - International and domestic trade increased - Population grew
15th century China had recovered and was one of the best governed, and most prosperous civilization in the world

16. Zheng He
China also started ocean expeditions
Emperor Yongle commissioned the fleet of 300 plus ships with a crew of 27,000

18. 6 Expeditions

19. Visiting Southeast Asia, Indonesia, India, Arabia, and East Africa
Zheng He attempted to have foreign states take part in the tribute system
He brought back to China ostriches, zebras and giraffes among many more different items
Dozens of rulers went to China with Zhen He and performed the rituals of the tribute system
Established Chinese power and prestige in Indian Ocean

20. Chinese did not attempt to conquer new lands
Expeditions stopped in 1433
Fleet deteriorated at port
Emperor Yongle died and officials saw these expeditions as a waist
Chinese merchants continued to trade with Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia but without government support

21. European Comparison: State Building and Cultural Renewal
Western Europe had not experienced the Mongols but was devastated by plague
Second ½ of the 15th century Western Europe was rebounding
Europe had many separate, independent and competitive states (unlike China that was an empire with centralized government)

22. Spain, Portugal, France, England, Milan, Venice, and Florence had a tax system and created standing armies
Small Russian state emerged centered in Moscow emerged 15th century
State building driven by the needs of war
England and France – Hundred Years war – fought over claims of territories
Joan of Arc – angel of God told her to lead the French to victory / burned at the stake

23. Joan of Arc

24. Renaissance – or a rebirth of culture – arts – started in Italy 1350-1500
Renaissance reflected the belief of wealth male elite were living in a new age
New art reflected a humanist reflections – topics of grammar, history, poetry, rhetoric, and ethics
Niccolo Marchiavelli’s wrote the Prince – about how politics really worked
Christine de Pizan she wrote City of Ladies - about women in society –

25. Leonardo da Vinci,
Last Supper

26. Michelangelo
Sistine chapel

27. Raphael
Madonna

28. European Voyaging
1415 Portugal took the lead in ocean exploration
Sailing down the west coast of Africa establishing outposts (later used for slave trade)
Prince Henry established schools for navigation and ship building

30. 1492 Columbus sailed west from Spain and landed in America

32. 1497 Vasco da Gama west around the tip of Africa to India

33. Motivated by wealth – gold, spices, silk and more and bringing people to Christianity
China had ended its sea voyages and the Europeans were left unchecked to bring the world’s people under its control

34. Islamic Heartland: The Ottoman and Safavid Empires
Ottoman Empire – from 14th century to early 20th century
Empire by mid-15th century included Anatolia peninsula and deep into southeastern Europe (Balkans)
Later expanded to Middle East and North Africa, around the Black Sea and parts of Eastern Europe

36. It became one of the great empires of the world – matched only by the Ming dynasty and the Incas
They wanted to reestablish the Islamic word and considered themselves protector of the faith – “Sword of Islam”
They controlled the Byzantine and changed Constantinople to Istanbul (1529)

37. Safavid emerged from a Sufi religious order
Safi al-Din
The Safavid was created to impose the Shia version of Islam as official religion of state
Over time this version gained popular support and helped define the Persian culture
The Shia Empire created a divide in Islam
Most of Persia’s neighbors were Sunni
Military conflict

38. Songhay Empire – West Africa
Second ½ 15th centuries
Islam was the growing faith- mostly in urban centers and elites

39. Sonni Ali
Gave alms and fasted during Ramadan but possessed charms thought to render his soldiers invisible
Sonni Ali’s successor made the pilgrimage to Mecca
Caliph of the Land of the Blacks
Songhay became a Muslim state

40. Mughal Empire in India

41. An Islamic Turic group that invaded India in 1526
Mughal a Persian term for Mongols established control of India
Created political unity
Blended Hindu and Muslim into partnership
Together the 4 Muslum empires, Ottoman, Safavid, Songhay and Mughal brought prosperity to the Islamic world – “second flowering of Islam”
International trade flourished

42. Aztec Empire
Mexica people – nomadic had migrated from northern Mexico and by 1325 had settled on a small island Texcoco
Over the next 100 years developed military and served as mercenaries for more powerful people
Negotiated elite marriages and alliances to create their own capital city Tenochtitlan

43. Alliance with two other groups started a military conquest and over the next 100 years brought a large part of the Mesoamerica under their control
Now claimed to be descendants of the Toltec and Teotihuacan
Population 5-6 million

44. Tribute was required from conquered people
Trade local and long distance
Pochteca or professional merchants
Slaves many for sacrifice – made on a massive scale – blood to run to satisfy the sun god

47. Incan Empire
Quechua speaking people known as the Inca lived in the Andes Mountains
Create the largest state in the Western hemisphere
Followed the traditions of the Andean civilizations
Much large than the Aztecs it stretched over 2,500 miles

48. Emperor and absolute ruler and son of the god Inti
State owned all land and resources
People grouped 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 were governed by local official
People were force relocated to fit the needs of the empire

49. Conquered people must acknowledge Incan deities but could practice their own religion
Road building across the empire
Terrace farming
Chosen women – girls removed from home as children, trained in Incan ideology
And produced beer, and cloth

50. Later given as wives to men of distinction or sent to serve as priestesses as “wives of the sun”
Gender parallelism – men and women operate two separate but equivalent spheres
Not social equality – men occupied top positions
Incan men venerated the sun and women the moon
Clearly defined social roles for men and women

55. Web of Connection
Christians and Muslims interact in Ottoman Empire - Hindus and Muslim in Mughal
Religion linked people
Christianity linked Western Europe and Russia but they were divided by Catholic and Orthodox
Later the Protestant Reformation (16th century) shattered Christian unity in Western Europe
Buddhism linked China, Korea, Tibet, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia

56. Islam united Muslims
Hajj – Pilgrimage to Mecca brought Africans, Arabs, Persians, Turks, Indians, and many more
Sharing a common faith
Violent split existed between Sunni Ottoman Empire and Shia Safavid Empire
Trade throughout the Muslim world brought great wealth and knowledge as cultures interacted with each other

57. Looking Ahead to Modern Era 1500-2112
16th century and after – Europeans forged a global relationship throughout the world
Afro-Eurasia, Americas, and pacific became linked with enormous consequences
Global empires, global economy, global cultural exchange, global migration, global disease, global war and global environmental changes
19th century first in Europe and then elsewhere was the Industrial Revolution

58. Human ability to create wealth, new innovations to technology gave human kind a great leap forward in a short time
Human population explosion world wide
Societies became more urbanized
People throughout the world started working for wages

59. Urban wealth – merchants, bankers, industrialists, and educated professionals rose at the expense of the rich landowner
1500 and after Western Europe was the most innovative, most prosperous, most powerful, most expansive, and most imitated part of the world

60. Europeans created new societies across the Americas, Australia, New Zealand,
Spread their languages and Christian religion
20th century – European people or European decent exercised influence and control over earth’s many people

62. The End