600 CE to 1450 CE
Rise of Islam
Medieval Europe & Byzantines
Rise of Islam
• Empire of common culture, cosmopolitan
• Qur’an
• Five Pillars, Ka’ba
• Mecca and Medina
• Split between Shia and Sunni, caliph
Umayyad Dynasty
• Arabic becomes official govt language• People converted to avoid a tax• Attacked Constantinople, but failed• Advanced into Spain, 732 CE
– Charles Martel (Frank) stopped their advance
• Dome of the Rock is built• Split happens between Sunni &
Shi’itecausing it’s demise
Abbasid Dynasty
• 750-1258 CE• mid 800s—Golden Age• Capital moves to Baghdad• Trade
– Credit
– Innovation—steel, medical, algebra,
• Preserved Western knowledge• Tolerant of local customs
Dar al’Islam
Women in Islam• Traditional Arabian society
– Women didn’t have property rights– Men kept dowry if divorced– Female infanticide
• Qu’ran (651 CE)– Treated with more dignity– Return dowry if divorce– Equal before Allah– Infanticide was forbidden– Mohammad’s 1st wife was a successful business-women– Polygamy as long as treated equal– Testimony in court given ½ the weight– Veiled in public—Mesopotamia and Persia
• Over time became more patriarchal
Sufis
• Islamic mystics
• Effective missionaries
• Personal relationship with Allah
• Converted large #s of people to Islam
Fall of Islamic Empire
• Internal struggles and civil wars– Sunni and Shi’ite sects– succession
• External problems– Persians, Europeans, Byzantines
• Mongols 1258 CE– Fled to Egypt
• Ottoman Turks reunite Egypt, Syria and Arabia and lasts till 1918
Byzantine Empire
• Constantinople
• Highly centralized government
• Orthodox—split with Rome
• Justinian—Code & Hagia Sophia
• Impacts Russia
Note of Change: As the Empire Turns
• Separate from Rome geographically
C/c Religion & State in Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy
• Secular in the East; religious in the West
• Rome centralized religion—Latin
• Orthodoxy—localized—local language
• West—power stayed the Church
• East—power in the State
West—Medieval Europe
• Viking and other nomadic raidsfeudalism
• Code of chivalry
• Primogeniture
• Scholasticism
• Crusades
• Inquisition
Rise of the Nation-State
• William the Conqueror
• Magna Carta
• Isabella and Ferdinand
C/C Ancient with Middle Ages
• Agricultural surplusescities
• Formed complicated institutions
• Arts and sciences
C/C Feudal Europe & Islam
• Islamic traders traded with the world
• European lords governed the manor
• Baghdad became the center for learning
• Europe very local and mainly religious education
China• Tang dynasty got so big that it collapsed
– Poetry– Civil service exam—bureaucracy
• Song dynasty reunified – Practical encyclopedias and histories– Printing press– Civil service exam—bureaucracy– Transportation/canal networks for communication– Paper money and credit– Chinese junks
• Fell to the Mongols—Yuan dynasty• Ming dynasty in 1368
Chinese Women
• Tang– Wu Zhao—1st Empress– Ruthless toward adversaries– Compassionate toward peasants
Patriarchical—inferior, but with feminine virtues worth protecting
Foot-binding
Chinese Religion
• Diverse during Han: Nestorians, Manicheans, Zorastrians, and Islam
• Buddhism impacted the most– Appealed b/c of peace and meditation– Drain on the treasury b/c advocates end to
earthly gain
China Civil Service Exam
• Stability b/c stayed in effect when dynasties changed
• Leaders depended on the bureaucracy
• Earned by strong performance
• Meritocracy opposed to aristocracy
• Similar to US b/c chg in President doesn’t change Congress
Japan
• Influenced by China and Korea
• Yamato 1st ruling clan
• Shinto
• Buddhist missionaries
• Modeled after Tang
• Both held education in high esteem
• Fujiwara—Feudal Japan
C/C Europe & Japan
• Similar political, social and honor code
• Europe based on legal contract
• Japan based on group identity
India
• Delhi Sultanate
• Islam spread throughout N. India
• Hindu temples were destroyed
Rise and Fall of Mongols
• Horseman, clan in-fighting kept them from uniting
• Genghis Khan unified and invaded China• Separate hordes invaded Russia, middle
east and India• Pax Mongolica• Continued exchange, but no major impact
on culture and stifled some growth
Mongols
• Most became Muslim
• Diffused culture
• Didn’t mix with
• Kept Russia from advancing as far as Europe
• Brought the world together through trade
Africa
• Mansa Musa—Mali
• Built Timbuktu
• Pilgrimmage to Mecca
• Oral literature
Americas
• Maya
• Aztecs
• Incas