The 1478 Political Map of Europe: Trade Networks and Cultural Exchanges (1000-1500 AD)

1. Connections & Elsewhere Dr. East

2. Political Map of Europe 1478 AD

3. Connections Occurred Through Major Trade Patterns, Major Routes 1000 – 1500 AD • During the 1000s-1500s, major trade routes expanded greatly… People from Europe to the South East Asian trade islands and the southern most tip of Africa were regularly exchanging goods • The plague in Europe and Asia created labor scarcity, thus allowing common folk to ask more money for their labor and products • Increased trading exchanges inevitably began secularizing life and caused the cultural diffusion of ideas

4. The Routes • Silk Routes across Asia to the Mediterranean basin • Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean • Trans-Saharan routes across North Africa • Northern European links with the Black Sea • Western European sea and river trade • South China Sea and lands of Southeast Asia

5. The Goods • Gold from West Africa • Spices from lands around the Indian Ocean • Textiles from India, China, the Middle East, and later Europe • Porcelain from China and Persia • Amber from the Baltic region

7. Technology Spread Around the World • Paper from China went through the Muslim world to Byzantium and Western Europe • Printing and paper money from China • Sugar cane from India • Waterwheels and windmills from the Middle East • Navigation: Compass from China, lateen sail from Indian Ocean region

8. Trading Map of Europe 1478 AD

9. Trading Map: Showing Overland & River Routes (Late Middle Ages)

10. Ideas Were Spreading • Spread of religions across the hemisphere • Buddhism from China to Korea and Japan • Hinduism and Buddhism from India to Southeast Asia • Islam into West Africa, Central and Southeast Asia

11. What happened Elsewhere • …. While Europe, Southwest, and Central Asia changed as a result of trade? • Wed. We Study Japan • Thurs. We Prepare to become a Museum Tour Guide for Central and South American Civilizations • Friday We Locate the African Kingdoms

12. Elsewhere: Japan • Mountainous archipelago of four main islands • Situated East of Sea of Japan or East Sea across from Asian mainland • Close to both China and Korea (proximity) • China influenced its cultural development • Buddhism spread from the Chinese mainland • China influenced writing • China influenced architecture

13. Shintoism Is Unique to Japan • Importance of natural features, forces of nature, and ancestors • State religion; worship of the emperor • Coexistence with Buddhism and Daoism

14. Elsewhere in Africa • African civilizations developed in sub-Saharan west and east Africa. • Trade brought important economic, cultural, and religious influences to African civilizations from other parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. • States and empires flourished in Africa during the medieval period, including: • Ghana, • Mali, • Songhai in west Africa, • Axum in east Africa, and • Zimbabwe in southeastern Africa.

15. Elsewhere in Central and South America • See your deck hand/tour guide activity.

16. African Empire Map

17. Axsum • Location relative to the Ethiopian Highlands and the Nile River • Christian kingdom

18. Zimbabwe • Location relative to the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and the Indian Ocean coast • City of “Great Zimbabwe” as capital of a prosperous empire

19. West African Kingdoms • Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires near Niger River and the Sahara • Gold and salt were important to trans-Saharan trade • City of Timbuktu as center of trade and learning • Roles of animism and Islam