Timelines of History_ The Ultimate Visual Guide To The Events That Shaped The World

434–450

A colorful Buddhist mural from the Yungang caves, which were begun
under the Northern Wei c. 450.

THE EASTERN JIN DYNASTY IN (r. 418–51) occupied sections of ,, THE WORLD IS PASSING
CHINA HAD ENDED IN 420, with the Mediterranean shore of Gaul,
Gongi’s abdication. His successor, before they were pushed back ,,AWAY… LOSING ITS
Song Wudi (r. 420–22), a former southwest in 430. Around this time
fisherman, had risen to become a a new group of barbarians, the GRIP, THE WORLD IS
general and founded the Liu Song Huns, began to menace the SHORT OF BREATH.
dynasty. He strengthened the empire. This nomadic group from
southern kingdom’s northern Central Asia, whose pressure from St. Augustine of Hippo, theologian and philosopher, from Sermons 81, 8
borders against the barbarian the rear on the Goths had been
tribes, but under his son Wendi indirectly responsible for the crisis defeated and thereafter confined to the very end, when he had Aëtius, FLAVIUS AËTIUS
(r. 424–53), the northerners of 378 in the Balkans, had since a region to the northwest of Italy. the Western Empire’s last effective (c. 395–454)
captured Luoyang in 424 before, moved farther west. In 424, the general, murdered.
some 25 years later, besieging the Roman general Aëtius recruited a These were all just temporary Born of nobility in Moesia
Liu Song capital of Nanking. force of Huns to help him bolster successes, however, as the area The barbarians who settled on (modern Bulgaria), Aëtius
Although Song Wudi had the cause of John, a usurper controlled by the Western Roman the former Roman territories spent time from 408 in the
strengthened the central raised up at Rome after the death emperors was diminishing began gradually to establish royal court of the Huns. He
bureaucracy, the growing power of Honorius in 423. Aëtius steadily. The loss of almost all of kingdoms of their own, notably used these contacts to gain
and wealth of the Buddhist and continued to use the Huns into the North Africa to the Vandals in the Franks in northern Gaul and influence and rose to further
Daoist monasteries weakened late 420s to secure his power base 429–39 (and of Sicily in 440), the Visigoths in southwest Gaul prominence in the late 420s.
the economic basis of the state. and his appointment as patrician of northern Gaul to the Franks and Spain. In Britain, the situation The deaths of patricians Felix
Wendi’s successors were weak (the most senior post in the late by 450, of southwest Gaul to the was rather different, since the (in 430) and Boniface (in 433)
and by 479 the Liu Song Visigoths after 418, and of all province had rebelled against left him with unrivaled
were overthrown by the Roman Empire) in 429. In 435, save a few isolated outposts in Rome rather than being subject to dominance. He shored up the
short-lived Qi dynasty he was able to call on Spain by the 430s meant the barbarian conquest. In a bygone empire’s position, and in 451
(479–502). them to aid an attack remaining strongholds in Italy era, the Roman army might have he scored a notable victory
on the Burgundians and southeastern Gaul could not been expected to reassert its against Attila the Hun. In 454
Meanwhile, in who had raided provide enough tax revenue to control there, but with the empire he was murdered by
northern China, across the lower support armies to reconquer the increasingly dependent on Valentinian III himself.
the Sixteen Rhine; these lost provinces. The long reign of barbarian troops fighting under
Kingdoms had were soundly Valentinian III (r. 425–55) in the their own commanders, there was Aëtius, appealing for
been united virtually no army left to retake it. aid. No reply was sent to these
under the Toba Wei (a group of Western Roman Empire The Britons were left to their “groans of the Britons.” and
Turkic nomads), who founded did not provide any own devices. It seems that some within a few years the Angle,
the Northern Wei dynasty stability as he Roman institutions survived for a Saxon, and Jutish raiders began
(386–534). The Northern Wei ascended to the while; in 429 Bishop Germanus to occupy parts of the former
ruled over northern China, throne as a child of Auxerre visited the island and Roman province.
until its split into two in the and never found men bearing Roman titles.
early 6th century following a asserted But barbarian raiders—attracted
revolt against the imposition of himself until by the weak British defenses and
Chinese dress and language on the lack of a central political
the Wei nomads. Northern Wei horse authority to counter them—came
The art of the Northern Wei in increasing numbers. Around
In Europe, the Western Roman often evoked their nomadic 446, the leading men of Britain
Empire continued to lose ground, origins, as in this beautiful addressed a desperate letter to
as barbarians occupied more and terra-cotta horse.
more of its territory. In the 420s the
Visigoths under Theodoric

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451–465 466–500

In this undated painting Attila the Hun is shown with his army—he is said to have The baptism of Clovis the first: Clovis’s baptism made him an easier diplomatic
been turned aside from sacking Rome only by the pleas of Pope Leo I. partner for the eastern Roman Empire than his Arian neighbors.

,, [HUNS] TOOK CAPTIVE IN 456, THE VISIGOTHS, repeated elsewhere in the Roman
THE CHURCHES AND encouraged by the western Empire, and the area of imperial
SLEW THE MONKS control shrank to little more than
Roman emperor Avitus, had Italy. Anthemius (r. 467–472) tried
,,AND MAIDENS. invaded the Iberian Peninsula. to recover some ground, but an
The Visigothic king Theoderic expeditionary force against
Callinicus, disciple of Hypatius, from Life of Saint Hypatius, c. 450 II (r. 453–66) defeated the Vandal-controlled North Africa in
Suevic ruler Rechiarius, who 468 ended in disaster. In Gaul,
IN JAPAN, THE 5TH CENTURY SAW overseas contacts became more Clay bear figurine was threatening the Roman Euric conquered almost all
THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT and extensive, with ten diplomatic Clay haniwa figurines have been province of Tarraconensis, remaining Roman territory in the
expansion of the Yamato state. missions visiting China between a feature of rich Japanese burials and the remaining Sueves south by 475. In 472, Anthemius
Complex irrigation systems began 421 and 478, and increasing since the earliest times. The large retreated. Theoderic took was overthrown by Gundobad, a
to appear, and rulers built ever Yamato interference in civil wars burial mounds of Yamato rulers most of Spain for himself, but Burgundian. Gundobad placed
larger burial mounds, such as the between the Korean states of contain huge quantities of them. left the Romans parts of the Olybrius (r. 472) and Glycerius
1,600ft- (486m-) long Nintoku Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo. east coast. This policy was (r. 473–74) on the throne in quick
mound. Ojin founded a new line Undaunted, Attila invaded Italy in reversed by his successor succession, but, despairing of the
of kings, who exercised firmer The Sasanian Persian Empire 452, but turned back short of Euric (r. 466–84), who overran empire’s frailty, he then left for
control over Japan’s main islands came under pressure from Rome. Attila died after his the remaining Roman territories Burgundy. The last embers of the
from a royal center in the eastern nomadic groups in the wedding feast in 453, and his sons in the late 470s. By the time of empire were contested in 475–76,
Kawachi-Izumi area. Yamato later 5th century. The Hephthalite began a civil war that led to the Alaric II (r. 484–507) the Visigothic between Julius Nepos and
Huns moved into Bactria early in Hunnish empire falling apart. kingdom encompassed almost all Romulus Augustulus, the son of
Pope Leo I the century, and were a particular of Spain, as well as Aquitaine and Orestes, commander of the
The illustration on this manuscript threat to the Sasanians, but a Following the death of the Provence in southern Gaul. Roman army. Feeling that the
shows Pope Leo I, an Italian famine during the reign of Peroz Roman general Aëtius in 454, The situation in Spain was
aristocrat, persuading Attila the Hun (457–84) caused them to move real power in the western
not to attack Rome. west again. In 469 Peroz suffered Roman Empire was exercised by SBaArxintogonlnsos KINGDOM OF THE
a terrible defeat at the hands of a series of barbarian kingmakers, KINGDOM OF BURGUNDIANS KINGDOM OF
the Hephthalites. He was such as Ricimer, the leader of the THE FRANKS THE OSTROGOTHS
captured, and only released after Roman army in Italy. In 457, Slavs
leaving his son as a hostage. In Ricimer placed Majorian on the KINGDOM OF KINGDOM OF THE GEPIDS
484, Peroz sought revenge in imperial throne. When Majorian THE SUEVES c.496
a new campaign against the became too independent-minded, Alemanni
Hephthalites, but was defeated Ricimer replaced him with KINGDOM OBFaTsqHuEesVISIG
and killed. Libius Severus (r. 461–65), who ALPS
he later had poisoned. Deprived A t l a s M o u n t a i n s Berbers507 Red Sea
Having demanded, and been of effective leadership, the KINGDOM
refused, the hand in marriage of Roman Empire lost more of its OF THE 537–54 Lombards
Honoria, the sister of Roman Gallic territories to the Visigoths VANDALS 533
Emperor Valentinian III in 450, the and Franks. OTHS Caucasus
Hunnish king Attila (see 401–450) 534 540
marched into Gaul. He was 554 508 Black Sea
defeated near Châlons by an army 535
of Romans under Aëtius and
Goths under Theodoric. 0

535 EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE SASANIAN
540 EMPIRE

533

Mediterranean Sea Lakhmids

Ghassanids

AFRICA

Barbarian kingdoms in Europe C. 500 KEY
By 500, most of the former western Roman Byzantine reconquests
Empire was divided among several principal Frankish expansion
barbarian successor states: the Vandals in Ostrogothic expanision
North Africa, the Visigoths in Spain and Sasanian expansion
southern Gaul, and the Ostrogoths in Italy.

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100

interests of the Germanic Italy, led by Odoacer. He resolved Odoacer ruled as king of Italy, but the loyalty of the old Roman THEODORIC THE GREAT
barbarians in the army were being this by commissioning the king of the legitimacy of his rule was aristocracy. In 497, the eastern (454–526)
ignored, Orestes’s deputy, the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, to always questionable. In 489, an emperor Anastasius I recognized
Odoacer, revolted and deposed topple Odoacer in 489. By 500, the invasion by Theodoric’s Theodoric’s right to govern Italy, Son of Thiudmir, a king of the
Romulus in September 476. He eastern Roman Empire under Ostrogoths led to a four-year providing him with a secure base Ostrogoths, Theodoric spent
did not appoint a new emperor, Anastasius (r. 492–518) was in standoff, with Odoacer blockading to consolidate his rule and extend 11 years as a Roman hostage,
claiming that he ruled Italy on little danger of the implosion that himself inside the old imperial it into Gaul. to guarantee the good
behalf of the eastern emperor had erased its western capital of Ravenna. After the behavior of his father. He
Zeno (r. 474–91). This marked counterpart just 25 years earlier. murder of Odoacer in 493, In northwestern Gaul the Franks returned home to become
the end of the Roman Empire Theodoric established a regime had emerged as a threat king of the Ostrogoths in 471,
in the west after 500 years. The western Roman Empire in which the continuation of in the late 4th century, and by the and for the next 17 years
was replaced by a series of 460s they were carving out a alternately allied with and
However, in the east the Roman Germanic successor Roman administrative kingdom under Childeric. His attacked Roman territories
Empire survived. The long reign states. practices won successor Clovis (r. 481–511) in the Balkans. In 493,
of Theodosius II (408–50) had transformed that kingdom, Theodoric became the first
strengthened its position, and defeating Syagrius, ruler of a Ostrogothic king of Italy. His
after 400 the eastern empire had Roman enclave around Soissons, rule was generally pro-
not had to face such direct threats and expanding along the Rhine at Roman, and he was buried in
from Huns, Goths, Vandals, this Roman-style mausoleum.
Alamanns, Burgundians, the expense of the Alamans in
and Franks as the west. the 490s. In 507, he defeated Saxons, and Jutes) settled in
Marcian (r. 450–57) the Visigoths at the Battle Britain. The arrival of the Saxons
had consolidated the of Vouillé and drove has been dated to 449, when they
eastern empire’s them out of most of were invited by the British king
finances, leaving a southwestern Gaul. In Vortigern. Seven years later, they
surplus of 100,000 the late 490s or early revolted and set up a kingdom in
pounds of gold at 500s, Clovis Kent. Aelle founded a kingdom in
his death. Leo I converted to Sussex around 477 and Cerdic, in
(r. 457–74) fended Catholic Wessex (around modern
off residual Christianity, Hampshire), by 495. A British
Gothic threats to setting him apart victory at Mons Badonicus around
the Balkans, and from other 500 stemmed the Saxon tide, but
even made an barbarian rulers the respite was short-lived.
attempt to who were mostly
recover North Arians (members
Africa in 468. of an alternative
Zeno (474–91) Christian church).
faced the challenge In Britain, the
of the new expulsion of Roman
Germanic rulers of officials had been
followed by a period in
Saxon brooch which petty kingdoms
Anglo-Saxon art in the vied for power. These
5th century valued abstract kingdoms were vulnerable
geometric patterns, as seen to coastal raiders, and, late in
on this brooch.
the 5th century, groups of
Germanic barbarians (Angles,

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501–526 527–540

These 6th-century ivory panels show Emperor Anastasius. He amassed a vast financial This 6th-century mosaic, from the curch of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, depicts
surplus, which his successors spent on expanding the Eastern Roman Empire. Emperor Justinian with his retinue of officials, guards, and clergy.

IN THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE red army officer, Vitalian, in Thrace in THE REIGN OF THE BYZANTINE church of Hagia Sophia in 534.
(generally called the Byzantine enamel 513. Anastasius left no clear heir, EMPEROR JUSTINIAN (r. 527–65) The greatest challenge to his rule
Empire from about this date), and on his death Justin (r. 518–27), began with important reforms. In came in 532, when rioting among
Anastasius (r. 491–518) faced Frankish fibula brooch head of the palace guard, seized 528, he commissioned a new law the Blue and Green chariot-racing
difficulties in the Balkans, as new Fibula brooches were practical as the throne. Justin was of humble code to replace the confusion he factions got out of hand and
groups, including the Bulgars, well as decorative, being used to origins and relied heavily on his had inherited. The new code, the turned into the Nika Revolt. The
pressed southward across the fasten clothes.This brooch is nephew Justinian. He restored Codex Justinianus, came into uprising almost caused Justinian
Danube between 493 and 502. decorated with the heads of birds. Chalcedonian Christianity and force in 529 (revised in 534). An to flee Constantinople, and its
More serious were problems on developed good relations with the enthusiastic builder, Justinian suppression killed 30,000 rebels.
the eastern frontier, where the terms Anastasius’s reign was less Ostrogoths of Italy and the ordered the building of the great
Persians insisted on Byzantine tranquil, as he was a follower of Vandals of North Africa. Abroad, With his throne secure, Justinian
financial subsidies to pay for the Monophysite Christianity, which his reign was generally peaceful, THEODORA (C.500–548) looked abroad. In 533 he sent an
defense of strategic passes in the held that Christ had only a single apart from a minor campaign army under Belisarius to
Caucasus against barbarian divine nature and did not combine against Persia in early 527. Theodora, who Justinian Vandal-controlled North Africa,
incursions. In 502, the Persian human and divine in his person. married in 525, had once been where Gelimer had deposed King
ruler Kavadh began a war over At first, Anastasius supported In Gaul, Clovis, king of the a prostitute and the mistress Hilderic, a Byzantine ally. On
the issue; the slow Byzantine Zeno’s Henotikon—an “act of Franks, had defeated Syagrius, of Hecebolus, the governor of September 13, Belisarius defeated
reaction allowed him to capture union” issued in 482 that tried to ruler of a Roman enclave near Libya Pentapolis. After the Gelimer’s army at Ad Decimum,
Amida as well as several towns in broker a compromise between Soissons, in 486, followed by the death of his adoptive mother, just outside Carthage, and Vandal
Armenia. Byzantine forces retook supporters of the orthodox creed Alamanns and the Thuringians in Empress Lucipina (who had resistance collapsed. Carthage
Amida in 505, and Kavadh— (established at the Council of 491. The Visigothic kingdom in opposed their relationship), was occupied and Gelimer was
preoccupied with a Hepthalite Chalcedon in 452) and the southwestern Gaul was his next Justinian had the law changed sent as a captive to Constantinople.
invasion in the east—agreed a Monophysites. However, later his target, and it collapsed after a in 524 to allow him to marry
truce, which lasted until 527. attitude became more pro- major Frankish victory at Vouillé Theodora. Theodora became The rapid conquest of the Vandal
Monophysite, which led to serious in 507. Clovis’s marriage to Clotilde, a forceful empress, stiffening kingdom encouraged Justinian to
Anastasius was almost 60 when rioting in 512, and the revolt of an daughter of the Burgundian king Justinian’s resolve during the intervene in Italy. An excuse was
he became emperor in 491, and Chilperic, led him to convert to Nika revolt and acting as the provided by the murder in April
his place on the throne was only Catholic Christianity in the 490s, protector of Monophysite 535 of his friend Amalasuintha,
secured by his marriage in 492 to and he maintained cordial Christians—she was one the Ostrogothic queen. Belisarius
Ariadne, widow of his predecessor relations with the Byzantine herself—during times of launched a strike against Italy in
Zeno. Almost immediately Zeno’s emperor Anastasius, who gave persecution. 535, landing on Sicily with 7,000
brother Longinus revolted, and it him the title of consul c. 508. Near troops. Sicily was secured by the
took six years for Anastasius to the end of his reign, Clovis added end of 535, and Belisarius moved
subdue Longinus’s home area of several previously independent into southern Italy early in 536. He
Isauria (in western Asia Minor). Frankish domains to his kingdom, took Naples after a three-week
Anastasius gained popularity by notably that of the Ripuarian siege, causing the Ostrogothic
abolishing the chrysargyron Franks. On his death in 511, king, Vitigis, to retreat northward.
tax for traders and craftsmen. Clovis’s kingdom was divided On December 9, 536, in a symbolic
Prosperity continued and over his among his four sons—Theuderic, restoration of the empire’s lost
reign his treasury amassed a Childebert, Chlodomir, and provinces, the Byzantine army
surplus of 320,000 pounds of gold. Chlothar. This tradition of occupied Rome. Rome was soon
He also implemented monetary subdivision would weaken the besieged by Goths. Belisarius
reforms in 498 and 512 aimed at Merovingian dynasty, as the finally took the Ostrogothic capital
stabilizing the currency, which had descendants of Clovis were known. of Ravenna in 540. Suspicions that
suffered successive debasements The Merovingians ruled Francia he planned to become emperor
in the 5th century. In religious (France) until the 8th century. led to his recall, encouraging more
Ostrogothic resistance.

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to
102

,, 541–550

,, THE PLAGUE FELL UPON THE

,,WHOLE WORLD... NOT A SINGLE

MAN IN THE WHOLE ROMAN
EMPIRE COULD ESCAPE…

Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from Secret History, c. 550

Argentorate THE LATTER PART OF JUSTINIAN’S
REIGN lacked the achievements of
Burdigala Franks Slavs its first half. A serious outbreak of
Tolosa Geneva plague, probably bubonic plague,
Naissus Black Sea began in Egypt in 540 and caused
Tolosa Arelate widespread mortalities, robbing
Ravenna Rom53e7–40535 Adrianople the empire of desperately needed
manpower. Tax revenues fell,
Barcino 537–40 further weakening the
administration, and
Constaninople prices rose, leading to
the passing of laws in
Carthago Sardinia 537-40 544 to reduce inflation.
Nova 554 Persians Further outbreaks of
Sicily Thessalonica plague occurred in the
Tingi Carthage Athenae 6th and 7th centuries,
sapping the vitality of
533 Antioch the Byzantine Empire.

Me d i t e r r a n e a n Sea Cyprus In Italy, the Ostrogoths
made rapid advances
533 after the departure of
Belisarius. Their new
Cyrene king, Totila, secured the
area north of the Po
AFRICA Alexandria River, and in 542 took
control of much of
Justinian’s reconquests KEY central Italy. Belisarius
Vandal Italy fell to Justinian’s armies in 533, but it Byzantine Empire, 527 was recalled to retrieve
was devastated by the 20-year war needed to take Justinian’s reconquests the situation in 544, but
it. An attempted Byzantine reconquest of Spain Byzantine campaigns Justinian starved him of
foundered, capturing only a few coastal areas. Battle resources and Rome
fell in 546. Although the
Persia entered a new period of and their followers to serve by Byzantines retook Rome
greatness under Khusrau I paying salaries. Khusrau in 547, it fell once more
(r. 531–79), who came to the captured Antioch in 540, forcing to Totila in 550. Justinian
throne at a time when the Justinian to pay 5,000 pounds of sent two huge armies under
Mazdakites—a populist religious gold to regain it. He attacked Artabanes and Narses to finish
movement—had caused serious again, in 544, but a siege of off the Goths. Artabanes entered
social tensions. Khusrau Edessa failed and so he made a Ravenna in June 552, and in July
reformed the tax system and truce. A further Byzantine– Narses defeated Totila at the
established a new army, Persian war (546–51) resulted Battle of Busta Gallorum in the
encouraging poorer nobles in a 50-year peace. Apennines. Totila later died of his
wounds. There was still some
TO ME, AND TO MANY Ostrogoth resistance, but the Ostrogothic brooch
OTHERS, THESE TWO war in Italy was effectively over. This gold and enamel
SEEMED NOT TO BE brooch demonstrates
the high level of
,,HUMAN BEINGS, BUT workmanship in the
Ostrogothic kingdom
VERITABLE DEMONS… of Italy. Its eagle
VAMPIRES. imagery may indicate
Roman influence.
Procopius, Byzantine scholar, on Justinian and Empress Theodora,
from Secret History, c. 550 55B0eNBliatsyorzasarOeniussttsi;rnRoreegopgomletahencsefeardalllbsyagainc.C5h5se0unzKleahrmathinertroywsotsaf toFefufonfan

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k5i3n4gdBoumrgaubbnsydoiFrarbnaecndt.kh5sr3e5eNkuiAnblgoidadoidami,vsaid:neNddoMi5bnu3atkot8iuaBr,iuaddhism reaches5J4a0paBnyzaOnstitnrRoeagsvocetahnpinctauc,ratehpietal5r4eCa0ocnBhsutwalgnaaltlirsnsoopfle 543 NNouCbbhairatinsiatkiacinnongitmdvyeobirmsytseCiodoofntpoatricies 5T4ow6tilhOaisccthraaofpafgttlouelstrrheatisocgRaBkioiennmlgisseoa,ornius 548 NanjinrHegobusealLJlciiiknoaengndglaeagdasaydinnsasstty c. 55pm0eiogTpurlaretkseicbweAegvsiantwrtaord cA. 5lo5dk0iianNgcudobonCitmavohenrCriostofetpidatincity

103

551–567 568–588

WHEN JUSTIN HAD HEARD THESE EVENTS... HE HAD,,

,,NO HEALTHY OR SANE THOUGHTS… HE FELL INTO A

MENTAL DISORDER AND MADNESS AND AFTERWARD
HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF EVENTS.

Evagrius Scholasticus, scholar and aide to Gregory of Antioch, on Justin II’s
reaction on the fall of Dara to the Persians, from Ecclesiastical History c. 595

The 13th-century Iona Abbey (pictured) was built on the site of the original
monastery founded by St. Columba when he arrived on Iona in 563.

MEROVINGIAN FRANCIA (FRANCE) Ireland had been converted to JAPAN’S SOGA FAMILY CAME TO 7THE NUMBER OF YEARS
HAD BEEN DIVIDED into separate Christianity by Patrick (d. 461) in PROMINENCE IN 540, when Soga THE “ENDLESS PEACE”
kingdoms on the death of Clovis in the mid-5th century and a strong no Iname was made chief OF 532 BETWEEN THE
511 (see 501–526). Despite this, monastic tradition took hold minister. Emperor Bidatsu’s BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND
Frankish power continued to grow. there. From the 6th century, Irish death in 585 led to a succession PERSIA LASTED
By 558, Chlothar I (511–61), who monks began conducting missions dispute, from which Iname’s fortress of Dara. On hearing this, Byzantine counterattacks in 575
ruled the area of Francia around abroad. In 563, Columba grandson Yomei emerged Justin went insane. His wife took were a disaster. Under Agilulf
Soissons, had absorbed the (c. 520–97) set up the abbey of successful. The next emperor, power, and had to agree a (r. 590–616) the Lombard kingdom
Rheims kingdom and the region Iona on an island off Scotland’s Sushun (r.586–93), had humiliating peace with Persia. consolidated; the Byzantines were
around Paris after their rulers western coast. Iona became a a Soga mother, reinforcing the limited to small territories around
died. This left Chlothar as the sole center of Irish-influenced family’s dominance. When Sushun In 567, the Lombards, who had Rome, Naples, and Ravenna.
Merovingian ruler of Francia for monasticism, which extended into was assassinated in 593, he was settled in the former Roman
three years, until his death in 561. northern England, Scotland, and succeeded by another Soga, province of Pannonia (Hungary), Under Khan Bayan (r.c. 562–82),
Francia was once again divided, Francia with the foundation of the Bidatsu’s widow Suiko (r. 593– destroyed the Gepids and then, the Avars—nomadic horsemen
with Charibert I receiving Paris, monastic center at Luxeuil in 590. 628), Suiko’s reign saw the start of under Alboin (reign c. 560–72), from the northern Caucasus—
Guntram getting Orléans, Sigibert the Asuka Enlightenment, and moved southwest into Italy, where exploited the vacuum left by the
Rheims, and Chilperic Soissons. The Gupta Empire fell apart was a time of great confidence in the Byzantine authorities were too departure of the Lombards to
It was not until 613 that the after the reign of Vishnugupta foreign affairs, state support for weak to resist them. In 568–69 they carve out a vast territory
Frankish kingdom was reunited (r. 540–50); and northern India Buddhism, and flourishing arts. occupied the plain of the Po River around modern Austria. Their
under Chlothar II (r. 613–29). split into a number of regional and set up dukes in major cities. conquest of a number of Byzantine
kingdoms. A minor branch of the In 572, the Byzantine emperor By 572, when Pavia fell to them, towns prompted Emperor Maurice
Ajanta cave art Guptas ruled Magadha, but they Justin II (r. 565–78) went to war they had founded duchies as far (r. 582–602) into a successful
The Ajanta caves, a Buddhist holy were swept aside by the Maukharis with Persia after he refused to pay south as Benevento. Attempted campaign to dislodge them.
site in Maharashtra, India, of Kanauj. The region fell to the a tribute due under the terms of
experienced a second major phase Vardhana king Harsha, who Justinian’s 50-year peace deal (see
of use during the 6th century. established an empire in the 527–540). In 573, Persia struck
early 7th century. back, invading Syria and taking the

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104

589–599

Painted c. 581–618, this fresco is from China’s Dunhuang caves, in a strategic ,, In the Balkans, the Slavs—a dependent on Kent—also
Silk Road oasis. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art. non-Germanic people referred to converted, but the infant English
as “Sclaveni” in contemporary Church would suffer a series of
IN 581, YIANG JIAN, A GENERAL OF sources—seem to have arrived setbacks before the last Anglo-
north of the Danube in the early to Saxon kingdoms became Christian
NOT ANGLES,THE ZHOU RULERS of northern mid-6th century. When the Avars in the late 7th century.
moved into the region in c. 559 the
China, rebelled and took the Slavs were pushed farther south. Sui dynasty figurine
By the end of the 6th century, This figure depicting a trader on a
BUT ANGELS. ,,throne for himself as the emperor Slavic groups had settled as far camel emphasizes China’s continuing
south as northern Greece, the concern with commerce along the
Wendi (r. 581–604). In 589, he Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic, Silk Road through Central Asia.
invaded southern China. His Pope Gregory I, on seeing Anglo-Saxon slaves and Macedonia, as well as in
forces rapidly overcame those of at a market in Rome those areas of Bulgaria, Bohemia,
the last Chen emperor, Hou Zhu. Moravia, Serbia, and Croatia
where the great Slav
Wendi was now the country’s kingdoms of the Middle
Ages would later arise.
sole ruler and the first emperor that allowed vessels to travel guard and then of the war against
In 596, Pope
of the Sui dynasty; after three 1,240 miles (2,000km) from the Persians from 578. Tiberius’s Gregory I sent a
mission to Britain
centuries of division, China was Hangzhuo in the southeast to the overspending and ineffective to revive
Christianity,
finally united. Wendi disarmed northeastern provinces around campaigns against the Persians, following the
invasions by pagan
private armies and established Beijing, via Luoyang in eastern Lombards, and Avars had emptied Anglo-Saxons in the
5th and early
agricultural colonies along central China. Austere, strict, and the imperial treasury, leaving 6th centuries. The
missionaries set out
China’s frontiers to strengthen occasionally violent, Wendi seemed Maurice facing an immediate under Augustine, a
former prior of a
central control in remote areas. to have set the Sui dynasty on firm financial crisis. His subsequent monastery in Rome,
and arrived in Kent
He implemented a major land foundations; in the end, it lasted economizing led to mutinies by the following year.
Their reception was
reform that increased the only 14 years after his death, the eastern army in 588 and by reasonably warm as
Bertha, the wife of
number of households liable to when it was replaced by the Tang. that of the Balkans in 593. Maurice the Kentish king
Aethelberht, was
the land tax from 4 million in 589, In 582, Emperor Maurice made his father Paul head of the already Christian.
After Aethelberht was baptized
to almost 9 million in 606. Wendi succeeded Tiberius II (r. 578–82) Senate and his brother-in-law a Christian, Augustine was able to
establish a church in Canterbury.
also extended the country’s canal as the Byzantine emperor. He had Philippicus head of the palace King Saebert of Essex and King
Sigebert of East Anglia—both
system to form a “Grand Canal” been commander of the palace guard; such nepotism further

increased his unpopularity.

POPE GREGORY I (590–604) In 584, Maurice renewed the

war with Persia, appointing

From 572 to 574 Gregory I was Philippicus to oversee it. The new

prefect of Rome, and only commander attacked Arzanene,

became a monk on his father’s but his campaign was disrupted

death. A man of great ability by the defection of the Ghassanid

and energy, he was involved in Arabs—former allies alienated by

resistance to the Lombards the arrest of their king, al-Mundhir.

in Italy in the early part of his The mutiny of the eastern troops

papacy, but he maintained good in 588 caused Byzantine efforts to

relations with the Merovingians stall further, and in 589 they lost

in Francia and the Visigothic the city of Martyropolis (in

rulers of Spain. Relations with present-day Turkey) to the

the Byzantine emperor Maurice Persians. The Byzantines were

broke down over the use of the saved by the outbreak of a civil

title “ecumenical patriarch” by war in Persia; the involvement of a

the Bishop of Constantinople, Byzantine army in the restoration

which Gregory viewed as a of one Persian claimant,

challenge to his authority. Chosroes II, led to the recovery

of Martyropolis and Dara in 592.

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with
105

4

TRADE AND
INVENTION

600–1449

In the Medieval period, trade and travel unified the Old World
in a single network, with new ideas and inventions emerging
even as the political landscape was transformed. Meanwhile,
in the New World, great civilizations reached their peak.

600–610 611–620 621–630 631–640

A coin depicting the Eastern Roman A Tang dynasty Mendicant friar, with This 1721 engraving by Austrian architect Johann Fischer von Erlach The ruins of the 7th century Byzantine
emperor Heraclius. an unusual traveling companion. shows Al-Haram Mosque and Ka’aba in Mecca. fortresses at Sbeitla, Tunisia.

UPHEAVAL IN THE MUHAMMAD FIRST RECEIVED A Arabian Peninsula. Muhammad’s BY THE TIME OF MUHAMMAD’S
EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE DIVINE REVELATION IN 610 and rule was then unchallenged. DEATH IN 632, the young Muslim
began when the emperor began to preach in Mecca from community—united by Islam,
Maurice (r. 582–602) Heraclius began to claw back which transcended traditional
dispatched his armies to 613; but the start of the territory ceded to the Persians, rivalries—was ready for expansion.
the northern Balkans to Islamic era is traditionally starting at the Battle of Issus in Although Muhammad had left no
regain imperial control of marked by the Hegira or 622 and later, in 627, at the Battle guidance as to his successor
the Danube frontier from hijra, the flight to of Nineveh. In 628 the Sasanian (caliph), four men tied to the
the Avars (see 568–88). In Medina. Hostility from and Byzantine Empires made prophet by marriage emerged as
602, the army rebelled under the Meccan authorities peace, exhausted by decades of
officer Phocas and Maurice was war and unaware of the storm THOSE WHO
killed. Phocas became emperor forced Muhammad to flee to brewing to the south. ARE PATIENT IN
but Chosroes II of Sasanian Medina with his family and ADVERSITY AND
Persia took advantage of the followers in 622. In Medina, In China the emperor’s son,
eastern empire’s weakness, while Muhammad established a Taizong, consolidated Tang ,,FORGIVE WRONGS
the Avars invaded from the north. political and religious power power by suppressing rebellions
In 610 the son of the military base. He fought a series of across the empire. In 626, ARE THE DOERS
governor of Roman Africa, attacks by Meccan forces, with Taizong forced his father to step OF EXCELLENCE.
Heraclius, executed Phocas and their ultimate surrender in 630 down and inaugurated a golden
declared himself emperor. when he took possession of the age of trade, prosperity, and Prophet Muhammad
Ka’aba, the holiest shrine in the cultural exchange.
,,In 606, in northern India, Harsha Tang dynasty horse sculpture the Rashidun, or “rightly guided,”
,,(c. 590–647) acceded to the Horses were symbols of military caliphs. The first caliph, Abu Bakr
thrones of Thanesar and Kannauj, prowess, especially warhorses from (r. 632–34), suppressed an Arabian
establishing the last native the western fringes of the empire. MUHAMMAD (570–632) rebellion, reestablished Islamic
Indian empire of ancient times. dominion over Arabia, and began
SASANIAN CONQUESTS RESTORED Born in Mecca, Muhammad ibn Abdallah worked as a merchant the conquest of Syria. His
THE EMPEROR THE PERSIAN EMPIRE at the and shepherd before growing discontented and retiring to a life of successor Umar (r. 634–44)
HARSHA, NOBLE expense of the Byzantines with contemplation. In 610, he received the first of a series of divine became caliph in 634 and oversaw
IN BIRTH AND OF the falls of Jerusalem in revelations—these became the Qu’ran. He preached a the conquest of Syria and the
WELL-CHOSEN 614 and Egypt in 619. By 618, monotheistic faith based on complete submission to God (Islam). defeat of the Byzantines at
NAME, THE Constantinople was besieged by Before his death he unified Arabian tribes within his new religion. Ajnadayn. By 637, Umar controlled
SURPASSER OF the Avars, and their Slavic Jerusalem and Damascus, and, in
ALL THE subjects. In 620, Heraclius bought the same year, Arab forces
VICTORIES WON off the Avars in order to focus on conquered Persia (modern Iran
repelling the Persians. and Iraq), occupying the Sasanian
,,BY ALL THE KINGS capital at Ctesiphon. Umar
In 613 Clothar II (584-629) established several important
OF ANCIENT reunited the Frankish kingdom, practices: the creation of garrison
TIMES... bringing an end to civil war. His towns in conquered territory to
Edict of Paris, issued in 614, separate the invading Arabic forces
Banabhatta, Indian poet, from The introduced reforms to the from the locals; the recruitment of
Deeds of Harsha, c. 640 Merovingian church and state. soldiers through slavery and tribal

In 616–17, rebellions against the
despotic rule of Yangdi (r. 604-17)
caused the collapse of the Sui
dynasty in China. A year later
military governor Li Yuan founded
the Tang dynasty, which ruled
until 906.

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629
630

108

641–650 ,,

,,THEY BEQUEATHED THE

GLEAMING GOLD, TREASURE
OF MEN, TO EARTH.

From the Old English epic poem, Beowulf

One of 20 burial mounds of this type at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, which conceal the
graves and funerary treasures of the royal line of East Anglia.

MONGOLIA MANCHURIAKORE 89 region. In 642, for instance, the treasures—is believed to have
Christian king Oswald of once contained the body of an
Tien Shan Turfan Gobi East ChinaA FEET Northumbria, hitherto one of the Anglo Saxon king. One of the last
Dunhuang Sea most powerful kingdoms, was burials of this type in England, the
TashkentKashgar Takla Makan Anxi Ordos THE LENGTH slain by the pagan king Penda of artifacts comprise a fusion of
Samarkand Desert OF THE SUTTON Mercia. The great Anglo-Saxon Christian and non-Christian
HOO SHIP ship burial at Sutton Hoo, elements, suggesting transition
Bactra Desert Jinchang Suffolk—filled with marvelously as Christianity gained in
unchecked even by the worked artifacts, weapons and popularity and strength.
Perwali Khotan Chang’an Hangzhou assassination in 644 of Umar by
a Persian slave. His successor, dragon’s head
Peshawar Taxila Uthman, promulgated the first crest
written version of the Qu’ran,
Plateau of CHINA which had previously been
transmitted orally.
Thar H i Tibet
Desert mala After launching successful
y a s Taiwan expeditions against the Tibetans
and Mongolians, but failing to
Mathura Sarnath conquer Korea, the Tang
emperor Taizong (r. 626–49)
Bodh Gaya Pataliputra Philippine died in 649, and his weak-willed
Islands son began to cede increasing
INDIA BURMA influence to the Empress Wu
(624–705). In Japan, the Fujiwara
Barygaza Nasik Ratnagiri South clan enacted the Taika reforms in
Arabian China 646, bringing all land into imperial
Bay of Bengal ownership and centralizing power
Sea Nagarjunakonda Sea following the Chinese model.

INDO- In England, Christian converts
battled pagan kings for control
CHINA over territory and the religious
and cultural direction of the
Kanchipuram
Sutton Hoo helmet
KEY This reconstruction is made from
iron with highly decorated panels of
Xuanzang’s route INDIAN Sumatra Borneo tinned bronze.
OCEAN

The travels of Xuanzang ISLAMIC EXPANSION CONTINUED
The young monk left the Tang as the Arabs defeated the Persian
capital, Chang’an, in around 630. counterattack at the Battle of
He crossed Central Asia and Nihavand in 642, dealing the final
reached India in 645. blow to the Sasanian Empire;
the last emperor, Yazdgird III, died
affiliation—those recruited for in 651, and with him died
fighting were made dependents of Zoroastrianism, the religion of
tribal members; and a taxation the empire. Conversion of the
system that favored Muslims and population to Islam proceeded
encouraged conversion but slowly but steadily over the
allowed Christians and Jews to following centuries. The Arabs
follow their religions. met with similar success in Egypt
where the Byzantines offered only
Buddhism became increasingly token resistance. The fall of
influential in Tang China; the Alexandria came in 642, the
Buddhist monk Xuanzang same year that the Muslims
journeyed far and wide in search founded the military settlement of
of wisdom. His travels became Fustat, which later became Cairo.
legendary and foresaw the The following year the marauding
increasing mobility of people and Islamic armies conquered
ideas along the Silk Road, made Tripolitania in North Africa as
possible by the power of the Tang their advance continued,
and later the caliphate. Also
traveling the Silk Road, Nestorian
Christians reached China from
Persia in 635.

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c.H6o4o1

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109

651–670 671–690

The weathered landscape of central Anatolia, a Byzantine territory that suffered A modern-day depiction of the Battle of Karbala; al-Husayn’s death is
repeated raids from Arab forces in the 7th century. commemorated in the annual Shiite ritual of the ashura.

THE SPLIT BETWEEN SUNNI AND Aral A S I A THE MAYA CITY-STATE OF TIKAL courts, causeways, observatories,
SHIITE MUSLIMS was the outcome BEGAN ITS RESURGENCE after a and palaces.
of fierce disagreement over how Sea Transoxiana century-long period of political
succession to the caliphate ought and cultural domination by The Arab forces besieging the
to be decided; either by selection KHAZAR Zabulistan neighboring city-states known city of Constantinople (see 670)
(as in the case of the first three as the Tikal hiatus, which had were unable to breach its massive
caliphs) or by hereditary descent. EMPIRE Caspian S been marked by an absence of walls and were eventually beaten
Caliph Uthman (r. 644–56) had inscriptions in the city’s off with the use of a new
promoted members of his own British EUROPE Khurasan petroglyphic record. An inscription Byzantine secret weapon–
clan, the Umayyads. He was Isles dated to 672 records a military “Greek fire” (see 711–20). Its
assassinated in 656 by Egyptian ea SASANIAN campaign against the rival deployment may also have helped
soldiers, nursing grievances over city-state of Dos Pilas, and in the destroy the Arab fleet at the Battle
their lower status. Ali Ibn Abi FKRIANNGKDIOSMHS Black Sea Armenia EMPIRE following decades Tikal restored of Syllaeum in 677, forcing the
Talib became the fourth caliph. Constantinople its position among the Maya of the caliphate to agree a 30-year
As Muhammad’s cousin and ATLANTIC OCEAN MesopotamKhiauzistan Kerman Late Classic period (600–900). truce. The truce bought breathing
son-in-law—next in line by Arabian SeaFars The city’s rulers engaged in a space for the embattled Byzantine
descent—Ali enjoyed unique construction programme to match Empire, struggling to hold back
status in the Islamic world, but he EMPIRE Syria Oman their political ambitions, building the Bulgars, who established the
faced many challenges. At the Jerusalem many impressive structures First Bulgarian Empire in 681 on
Battle of the Camel in 656 Ali BYZANTINE Nejd including massive pyramids, ball conquered Byzantine territory
overcame a revolt by the prophet’s Mediterranean Sea north of the Balkan mountains.
widow A’isha and her allies, Maghreb EGYPT Arabian
opposing his inclusive policies. In Hejaz Pe n i n s u l a
657, the Umayyad emir of Syria,
Mu’awiya, asserted his claim on Atlas Mountains Yemen
the caliphate; Ali was also
challenged by the Kharijis, a AFRICA
sect that objected to the
application of the Expansion under the caliphate KEY
hereditary The rapid Arab expansion continued throughout Muslim lands by 656
principle. In 661, the latter half of the 7th century. Islamic armies Byzantine Empire c.610
Ali was murdered pushed into Central Asia and North Africa, Sasanian Empire c.610
by a Khariji, opening bringing them within striking distance of Spain. Frankish Kingdoms c.610
the way for Mu’awiya
to declare himself Byzantine claims to Italy by Anatolia continued and by 670 they
caliph, instituting the relocating his court to Rome in had reached the Byzantine capital,
Arab Umayyad dynasty. 663, but raids deep into Anatolia Constantinople (modern-day
Ali’s supporters formed (modern-day Turkey) by Arab Istanbul), launching the first
a party of their own, siege on the city, which would
which evolved into a forces led to a collapse in last until 677.
distinctive branch his authority; in 668, he
of Islam, the Shiites, was assassinated and The Unified Silla kingdom in
in opposition to the Sunni. Constantine IV took Korea brought to an end the long
the throne. Arab Three Kingdoms period, with the
Emperor Constans II incursions into
attempted to reestablish help of Tang China. In 660
the Tang destroyed the ARAB CONQUESTS
kingdom of Paekche,
while in 668 Silla and Having consolidated their conquests of Persia and Byzantine
Tang forces combined North Africa, Arab armies pressed on eastward and westward. In
to overcome Koguryo, Central Asia, Arab forces crossed the Oxus River in 667 and
continued to advance to within range of the Silk Road kingdom of
thus bringing all of the Korean Bukhara. In Africa, they crushed the Berber kingdoms, reaching
Peninsula under Silla control. Tangiers in 683.

Stoneware bird
This gray stoneware incense burner
dates from the Silla kingdom, which
was on the verge of becoming the
dominant power during Korea’s late
Three Kingdoms period.

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691–700

Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock—a shrine sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths—
has an octagonal floorplan and a massive gold dome.

At the Battle of Karbala in 680 3,000
the Shiite leader al-Husayn ibn
Ali, grandson of Muhammad, was THE NUMBER OF MAJOR STONE
surrounded by Umayyad troops, BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN
deprived of water for several
days, and eventually killed. His TIKAL’S LATE CLASSIC PERIOD
death was proclaimed a
martyrdom by the Shiites, who ,,ABD AL-MALIK HAD BECOME Temple Mount in Jerusalem,
commemorate it to this day. CALIPH IN 685, instituting the Dome of the Rock (or
important changes to the way the Qubbat as-Sakhrah), Ancient
In China in 690, the Empress caliphate was ruled, centralizing completed in 692. Teotihuacán
Wu finally took the throne in her government, insisting that all mask
own name—the only woman in state business was conducted in The harsh 10-year rule of the This mask was
Chinese history to do so—after Arabic, setting up the barid (a Byzantine emperor Justinian probably tied to
decades of controlling it through postal/intelligence gathering II had aroused widespread a figurine representing
her husband and sons. She even service), and issuing, around 697, opposition and in 695 he was a god. The mask would
created her own dynasty, Zhou, new coinage: the dinar and deposed and had his nose cut have been decorated with
which she headed until 705. dirham. He also commissioned a off by Leontius, who became inlays and ear ornaments.
great shrine to be built on the emperor in his stead. However,
Temple at Tikal in 698, the loss of Carthage,
Flanking Tikal’s Great Plaza, the I HAVE NOT the last Byzantine stronghold
122ft (38m) high Temple II was built SEEN THE in North Africa, to the Arabs
during the construction boom of the EQUAL; NEITHER led to another revolt and
Late Classic resurgence. HAVE I HEARD Leontius suffered the same fate
TELL OF as his predecessor.
ANYTHING…
THAT COULD The turn of the century was a
time of change and unrest in the
,,RIVAL IN GRACE Americas. In North America, the
spear was superceded by
THIS DOME OF widespread adoption of the bow
THE ROCK… and arrow. In the Valley of Mexico
around 700, the great city-state of
Mukaddasi, Arab geographer, Teotihuacán, which once housed
c. 10th century over 100,000 people, collapsed,
bringing six centuries of growth
and dominance to an end. Social,
economic, and environmental
factors were probably to blame.

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111

701–710 711–720 721–730

A detail from the illuminated Greek fire being deployed, as illustrated in the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript from the An iconic image of Christ held by
Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
manuscript of the Lindisfarne Gospels. 12th century, which chronicles the history of the Byzantine Empire.

ANGLO-SAXON ART FUSED caliphate control from Provence CASA GRANDE FLOURISHED
GERMANIC AND CELTIC AROUND THE 720s. The success of
ELEMENTS, and, through to the borders of China. this settlement of the Hohokam,
travelers and Christian pilgrims, an ancient people of the Sonoran
it also reflected Roman and The Arabs did experience some desert in modern-day Arizona, lay
Byzantine influences. A product in a watering system that allowed
of this unique synthesis was setbacks, however. In 717, yet a range of crops to be grown,
the Lindisfarne Gospels, an despite the arid environment. The
illuminated manuscript produced another incursion into Byzantine Hohokam lived here for more than
c. 701 at the priory of Lindisfarne, a millennium; they were known
on Holy Island, off the northeast lands triggered a change at the as “canal builders” because of
coast of England. their sophisticated irrigation
head of the empire, bringing Leo technology. Casa Grande was at
In 705, with the help of Bulgar the center of a trade network
allies, the deposed emperor III, founder of the Isaurian that stretched from the Pacific
Justinian II returned from exile coast to Tucson and to the Gulf of
(see 690–700), regained the Dynasty, to the throne. Although Mexico. The earliest structures
Byzantine throne, and exacted at Casa Grande were probably pit
brutal revenge on those who had unable to prevent the Arabs from houses; the “great house” that
mutilated him. gives the site its name came
reaching the walls of the capital much later.
By 705, Zoroastrian refugees
fleeing the Islamic conquest of and launching the second siege In 725, the Khazars, a Turkic
Persia established communities people of Central Asian origin,
in India and became known as the of Constantinople (717–18), Leo’s established their capital at
Parsees. Persian Zoroastrian Atil, on the Volga delta at the
emigration continued during the energetic command of the northwestern corner of the
following centuries. Caspian Sea. From here they
defense, and the deployment of controlled trade routes to all
Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory corners of Asia and built an
The Benedictine Priory, built in the the secret weapon “Greek fire,” empire that would control a huge
12th century, replaced an earlier swathe of Eastern Europe and
church founded by St. Aidan in 635. halted Arab advances in the Western Asia for centuries
to come.
His favorite concubine Eastern Mediterranean. Byzantine
This Tang dynasty scroll shows Xuanzong watching his fleets, wielding Greek fire- In Byzantium in 726, the
concubine Yang Guifei mount a horse. The emperor’s love spouting siphons, gained control emperor Leo III (see 711–20)
instituted a policy of iconoclasm
for her inspired much drama and poetry. of the seas, and Leo was able to (smashing images deemed
sacrilegious) in response to the
begin restoring the empire. idea that God was punishing
Christian Byzantines by their loss
IN 710, THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM resist the invaders, with defeat In 713, the Tang emperor of land to the Arabs and Slavs.
The controversy encouraged the
OF SPAIN had descended into civil at the Battle of Covadonga in Xuanzong came to the throne. His Roman papacy to assert their
independence from Byzantine
war, presenting a tempting 718 checking the Arab advance. 43-year reign would see Tang imperial authority.

prospect to the Islamic armies The year 718 is one of the dates China reach its apogee,

now established in North Africa, traditionally given for the start economically and culturally, with

just a short distance away across of the process of Christian the establishment of many

the Straits of Gibraltar. In 711, a reconquest of Spain. Nonetheless, schools, patronage of the arts,

Muslim army under general Tariq by the end of the decade further and a great literary flowering.

ibn Ziyad, landed at Gibraltar. expeditions across the Pyrenees,

Tariq was a Berber (native of and successful campaigns in

northwestern Africa), or, in the Central Asia, had extended

parlance of the times, a Moor, and

it was a mixed army of Arabs and GREEK FIRE

Moors that achieved the conquest

of Spain, known to the Islamic The Arab expansion indirectly proved the savior of the Byzantine

world as al-Andalus. According Empire, when Kallinikos, a Syrian Greek forced into exile by the

to tradition, Tariq defeated the Arab invasion, brought to Constantinople the recipe for a secret

Visigothic king, Roderick, at the weapon that came to be known as Greek fire. Now believed to

Battle of Guadalete, and by the have been a concoction of naphtha, sulfur, quicklime, and nitre—

end of the year most of the Iberian a sort of medieval napalm—this highly flammable mixture was

peninsula was under Islamic sprayed at enemies from a siphon device that could be fitted to

control. Only the northwest, the prow of a Byzantine war galley.

known as Asturias, managed to

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112

731–740 741–750

In 1837, artist Steuben depicted the Battle of Tours–Poitiers as a clash over the fate of The Great Mosque at Samarra, Iraq, built by the Abbasid Caliphate. Once the
Christian Europe. In reality Islamic raiders were beaten back in a minor skirmish. largest mosque in the world, the minaret stands at 171ft (52m) tall.

1,050 checked and Europe preserved overtaxed the surrounding THE FOUNDATION OF THE ABBASID Carloman. In 748, Pepin had a
for Christianity. Arabic sources ecology and exceeded their ability CALIPHATE IN 750 was the son, Charles, who would go on to
PEOPLE PER record it as a minor skirmish, to cope with drought. Collapse culmination of growing tension in unite most of Western Europe
SQUARE MILE and in reality its main was just around the corner. the Islamic world. Under the under one banner (see 761–90).
THE significance was that it Umayyads (see 651–70) the Arab
POPULATION demonstrated the need for elite stubbornly maintained their Tiwanaku, a pre-Columbian city
DENSITY 0the Frankish kingdoms to special tax and political status, on the altiplano (high plains) of
OF TIKAL present a unified defense. failing to deal with the growing Bolivia, reached its height in
grievances of the mawali (non- around 750. Tiwanaku was the
SINCE CONQUERING SPAIN, The Maya city-states Arab Muslims). In 747, revolt broke center of a civilization that
ISLAMIC FORCES had made of the Late Classic out in Persian Khorasan, flourished from the third to tenth
regular raids across the period reached centuries (see 951–60). The city
Pyrenees, striking deep into the peak of their stronghold of the Abbasid clan, itself was probably a ceremonial
modern-day France before power and who traced their descent back and trading center; its cultural
retreating to al-Andalus. In 721, sophistication to Muhammad through his and economic influence spread
an incursion into Aquitaine—a in the mid-8th uncle, al-Abbas. In 749, Abu far through South America, and
dukedom nominally in vassalage century in al-Abbas al-Saffah was it would profoundly affect the
to the Frankish kingdom—had Central America. proclaimed caliph at Kufa in development of later civilizations
been checked by Duke Eudo at The population of Iraq, and the following year in the Andean region. Tiwanaku
the Battle of Toulouse. But in Tikal, for instance, at the Battle of the Zab he thrived in the harsh environment
731, Eudo was unable to halt a swelled to at least defeated Marwan II, the last of the Bolivian altiplan thanks to
fresh invasion of Islamic forces 60,000, in a city Umayyad caliph. Marwan fled its sophisticated raised-field
under Abd al-Rahman I, emir of spread out over to Egypt but his head was sent agriculture system and extensive
al-Andalus. After defeat at the 47 sq miles back to Damascus, whereupon use of terracing and irrigation,
Battle of Arles, Eudo was forced (76 sq km). Mayan which enabled it to achieve
to appeal to Charles Martel, the rulers built stone al-Saffah instigated a general yields in excess of even
Frankish mayor of the palace, temples, palaces, massacre of the Umayyad modern petrochemical farming
for help. Martel raised an army ballcourts, and clan to remove potential (see below), and supported the
and met the Islamic forces on observatories, and opposition. development of a sophisticated
the banks of the Loire, between controlled a trade In 741 Charles Martel culture. The Tiwanaku people
Tours and Poitiers, in 732. He network stretching (see 731–40) died and was built pyramids, temples, and
was victorious at the Battle of from California to succeeded by his sons colossal statues.
Tours–Poitiers, and subsequent South America. Yet Pepin the Short and
Christian historians would depict the height of the
this as one of the defining city-states’ glory 25
clashes of the age—the moment sowed the seeds of
at which Islamic expansion was downfall, as the populations YIELD (TONS/HECTARE) 20

Statue of Chaak, Mayan god 15
Mayans would have sought
help from god of rain and Tiwanaku yields 10
thunder, Chaak, for their Raised fields and
crops. Their civilization sat irrigation canals 5
in a region of poor soil and enabled Tiwanaku to
fragile ecology, so rain achieve yields of up to 0
was vital. 10 tons/acre (21 tons/
hectare), according Traditional Modern Tiwanaku
to experimental
reconstructions. Petrochemical Intensive

FARMING YIELDS COMPARED

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113

751–760 761–770 771–780

The interior of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain, shows architecture from the The two-tier crop rotation system introduced in the 760s divided fields Roland bids farewell to Charlemagne,
earliest phase of construction during the reign of Abd al-Rahman I. between cultivated and fallow land, then alternated, promoting soil fertility. in this medieval illustration on vellum.

UNDER THE NEW ABBASID which led to the loss of most of THE DEATH OF PEPIN III IN 758, Charlemagne’s
CALIPHS (see 741–50) the Islamic Tang China’s Central Asian
Empire continued to grow. Initial possessions and introduced the had seen the Frankish kingdom AT L A N T I C Hamburg European Conquests
success came in 751 against the Islamic world to papermaking. customarily divided between his OCEAN Aachen Charlemagne inherited
Chinese in the Silk Route kingdom Outlying regions of the caliphate sons Carloman and Charles (see Paris land from his father then
of Tashkent. The Islamic armies asserted their autonomy. In Spain panel, below). embarked on war after
were victorious at the Battle of in 756, one of the last surviving EUROPE war, continuing the work
Talas River near Samarkand, Umayyads, Abd al-Rahman I, Meanwhile, the great monastic of his father and
retreat on the Scottish isle of Iona grandfather.
declared an independent
Emirate of Cordoba. was developing a reputation for
In Europe, the
Carolingian Pepin III piety and scholarship. It is Avignon Bologna KEY
(c. 714–68) possible that one of the treasures Barcelona Rome
deposed the last of Celtic Christianity—the Book of Frankish Empire on
Merovingian Kells—was produced by monks Mediterranean Charlemagne’s accession
king, Childeric III. in the monastery at Iona. Lavishly Sea
With the pope’s decorated and illuminated, this Charlemagne’s
support Pepin was conquests
crowned and was
soon able to return Regions recognizing
the papal favor. When Charlemagne as overlord
the Lombards
conquered Ravenna, priceless artifact survived the
the last Byzantine
territory in Italy, the Viking raids (see 791–800), and Sasanian capital), the new city THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN IN 771
Lombard king, Aistulf
then set his eyes on for safekeeping it was later was carefully laid out on a meant that Charlemagne became
Rome. Pope Stephen II
appealed to Pepin for transferred to a monastery at circular plan and was connected sole ruler of the Franks. The
help, and in 755 and 756
Pepin invaded Italy, Kells in Ireland. to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers following year he launched a
seizing Ravenna. It was
later claimed by the The founding of Baghdad in by canals. Baghdad became a series of bloody campaigns with
papacy in a document entitled
762 signaled the arrival of the trading hub that attracted the aim of bringing the peoples
the Donation of Pepin, that
Pepin had conceded all former first truly Islamic imperial city. merchants from northern Europe, east of the Rhine back under
conquered territories in northern
Italy to the pope, but this was Sited near Ctesiphon (the old India, and China. Frankish rule—they had been
almost certainly not the case.
subject to the authority of the
Pepin III
Also known as Pepin the Short, preceding Merovingian Dynasty.
Pepin III was the first Carolingian
King of the Franks. This carving from At this time the various Saxon
his tomb dates to the 13th century.
tribes were still pagans, and

Charlemagne was determined to

convert them to Christianity and

thus bring them under the

hegemony of the Frankish state.

From 773–74 he conquered the

kingdom of the Lombards,

bringing northern Italy into his

empire and establishing his rule

over Venetia, Dalmatia, and

CHARLEMAGNE (748–814 ) Corsica, thus extending his reach

down both sides of the Adriatic

Athletic and physically impressive, Charlemagne spoke Latin and coast and into the Mediterranean.

understood Greek, but never learned to read. His intent was to In the late 770s, he attempted to

extend Frankish hegemony, foster a close relationship with the project his power into Spain by

papacy, and reform the Church to ensure divine support for the taking advantage of infighting

Frankish Kingdom. This depiction from a 15th century tapestry is among the Muslim rulers. Invited

testament his enduring legacy. to intervene in local politics by

disgruntled emirs, Charlemagne

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781–790 791–800

Offa’s Dyke, which roughly follows the line of the Welsh–English border, was The giant Buddha at Leshan in China was begun

constructed during the reign of Offa of Mercia; stretches are still visible today. in 713 and finished 90 years later.

sent his armies across the CHARLEMAGNE’S CONQUEST OF historians in the 1930s as a sort VIKING RAIDS on the shores of
Pyrenees but they failed to take WEST SAXONY in 782 comprised of pre-Christian Germanic the British Isles started in 789
the city of Saragossa (modern- a bloody development with the martyrdom, while others have and gathered pace in the
day Zaragoza in Spain) and were mass execution of 4,500 Saxon called into question its details and 790s with the looting of
forced to retreat. prisoners at Werden. This event even occurrence. Meanwhile, the rich monasteries of
was appropriated by Nazi concerned about ignorance and Lindisfarne and Iona. The
This botched expedition illiteracy among the clergy, “Vikings” (possibly from the
inadvertently launched one of Charlemagne launched a Old Norse language) Functional and stylish brooch
the great romances of Carolingian cultural renaissance. originated in Scandanavia. Skillfully crafted out of gold, this
medieval times, the Viking brooch was not only beautiful
legend of Roland. In In 786, Haroun al-Rashid In Tang China, the influence but also practical, used to fasten
778, Roland, one of (r. 786–809) acceded to the of Buddhism continued to cloaks or other clothing.
Charlemagne’s generals, caliphate in Baghdad. Under his grow, signaled by monuments
was killed during an attack rule the Barmakid family gained such as the Leshan Buddha, a more or less complete loss
on the rearguard of the great power as his viziers giant statue of the seated Buddha of authority in Africa west of
Carolingian armies as they (high-ranking advisors) and carved into a bluff next to the Egypt. They conceded to the emir
retreated through the favorites, while the intellectual confluence of several major rivers. of the province of Ifriqiya
Pyrenean valley of and cultural flowering of the (modern-day Tunisia and part of
Roncesvalles. The attack Islamic world gathered pace. In Constantinople (modern-day Algeria) the right to make his post
was actually carried out by Growing enthusiasm among Istanbul), the emperor invited his hereditary. The emir, Ibrahim ibn
Basques, but Roland’s Breton the rich and powerful for books mother Irene to become Aghlab, thus founded the
followers took up the tale and as encouraged scholars to begin co-ruler in 792; four years later Aghlabid Dynasty. This paid
it spread through France in the translating ancient Greek and she had him blinded and declared tribute to Baghdad and nominally
following centuries it morphed Roman texts into Arabic. herself empress. This move recognized Abbasid authority, but
into a legend with many spurred the scholar Alcuin of York ruled much of North Africa as an
fictitious elements: Roland In 785, Offa of Mercia to suggest that the imperial seat independent state.
became the nephew of an (r. 757–96), effective was effectively vacant, and on
elderly, white-bearded overlord of Britain, December 25, 800, Charlemagne
Charlemagne; his attackers started constructing was crowned Emperor of the
the perfidious Saracens; the monumental Romans by his ally, Pope Leo III.
and Roland was Count of earthwork known as In the same year he received an
the Marches of Brittany. Offa’s Dyke, on the embassy from Haroun al-Rashid,
By the 11th century, the border between emblematic of how the focus of
“Song of Roland” Wales and Mercia. power in Europe had shifted.
appeared as an early Originally 89ft
chanson de geste; a heroic (27m) wide and 26ft In 800, the Abbasid caliphs in
epic of the age of chivalry. (8m) high, the Baghdad were forced to recognize
purpose of the dyke
In Constantinople, the is unknown, and it ,, [CHARLEMAGNE] WAS
death of Emperor Leo IV probably fell into disuse
brought to the throne his soon after its completion. ,,LARGE AND STRONG AND OF
infant son, Constantine VI.
During his minority the empire Imperial gift LOFTY STATURE,THOUGH NOT
was under the regency of the An exquisite water pitcher sent DISPROPORTIONATELY TALL.
Empress Irene, his mother. to Charlemagne by Haroun
al-Rashid, probably c. 800. Einhard, Charlemagne’s friend and Frankish historian, c. 830

77e8xopFfeaSdilaietridoanCgoatosrosSlaipnagiina,nSie7g8re0egBeynzcayntoinf eIrene 78R1eCnaarisoslianngcieanbegins 78O5ffCao’snDstyrkuectbioengionfs 78e7ncCdosonuitcrnoocvnielorocsflyaNsimcaeca.r7e8v8olMt uonrodcecraIndrSishiite 79C2ohBnissytzmaannotttiihnneeerVeIImrmepnaeekreocsro-ruler 79I5reVlaiknindg7s9Ar6aviCadrhsa,rlloeomtsagAnvaerbha8otta0lEer0dmsCphearrolermofat8gh0npe0erRienZceoreCmomnwhiaBninnnueeasnddtdhism
77R8onBcaetstlveaoll7fe8s1 NesCthoirniaaTnearCbelhcerttisNinteiaCsnthsoarinniagn’an
782 Cchoanrqlueemr7as8gSW6naHeexsoatnrboyeucnoaamslc-eeRsnaBcdsaaahrlniimdpchya;koifds 789 First Vikingina7tBCt9aro0icntkaAsitrnamnytinmIroeuCpntloieenn,idsaeetnsapdniionntpsieucnhtesaVrIge 793 Vi7kLi9ni4ngdsJiasspfamaacrnkoneveseesctaop7Ki9tya6oltOoffa odfieMse(brc.7ia30) Caonneds7tm9da7enpctrIirlenaesernsebesolhinhnacedesresmdelofre(880000–A9Tg0uh9nl)aisebisaidt,aAdblylginseahrseiatdy, iaSnnicdily

115

801–810 811–820 821–830

504THE NUMBER
OF STATUES AT
BOROBUDUR
TEMPLE

Louis the Pious in a copy of Raban This 14th-century manuscript depicts scholars seated in the House of Wisdom;
Maur’s Book of the Cross. the Abbasid caliphs recruited scholars of all religions, from Europe to China.

THE TIBETAN EMPIRE EXPANDED Jayavarman II CONFLICT BETWEEN THE THE HOUSE OF WISDOM, or Bait 400
in the early part of the 9th century, This statue of Jayavarman II, from BYZANTINES AND BULGARS al-Hikma, was an institute devoted
and extended its control to the the 12th-century Bayon temple at (see 671–90) continued through to the translation of classical THOUSAND
Bay of Bengal. Its influence in Angkor Thom, was constructed by the early part of the 9th century. scholarship and the pursuit of
Central Asia was indicative of his namesake, Jayavarman VII. Despite Byzantine emperor learning in Abbasid Baghdad. It THE NUMBER
Tang China’s weakness in the Nicephorus I (r.  802–11) twice was the epicenter of the Islamic OF BOOKS IN
region. Meanwhile, in northern around 770, was powerful enough sacking the Bulgar capital intellectual renaissance, the heart THE HOUSE
India, the Gurjara-Prathihara to establish an independent Pliskas, in 809 and 811, the of the Translation Movement, and OF WISDOM
dynasty, which had united the Khmer Empire and have himself Bulgar khan, Krum, fought back, the home of great scholars such
region and held back the advance proclaimed chakravartin, or meeting his foe in battle later as Al-Kharwizmi (c. 780–850); world. Mimicking the practices
of Islam, continued to grow in “universal ruler.” In Sanskrit this in 811. Nicephorus was killed and algebra takes its name from his of the Abbasid’s Persian
strength with the conquest of translates as “god-king”—the Krum had his foe’s skull lined great treatise on mathematics of predecessors, the Sasanians,the
Kanauj in modern-day India by authority of Khmer kings rested with silver for use as a drinking c. 830, the Kitab al-Jabir, or The Translation Movement collected
Nagabhata II, around 801. on their direct link to the gods, cup. Two years later, Krum Compendious Book on Calculation manuscripts from other cultures
which was reflected in the attempted to besiege the by Completion and Balancing. and older traditions, and
The Temple of Borobudur, a monuments they would construct Byzantine capital Constantinople, translated them into Arabic,
Buddhist monument in central at the temple city of Angkor in but was unable to breach the walls The House of Wisdom was thus preserving much ancient
Java, Southeast Asia, was centuries to come (see 880–90). and so retreated, devastating consolidated c. 822 by al-Ma’mun. scholarship that would otherwise
completed in the early 9th Thrace instead. After the death of his father have been lost. Ptolemy’s seminal
century. The colossal structure, Around 801, Bulan, the Khan of Haroun al-Rashid (see 791–800), work on cosmology, the Almagest,
which is the largest Buddhist the Khazar Empire (see 861-70), Charlemagne (see 760–800) and after a brief struggle, he had for instance, was translated from
monument in the world, contains hosted a debate between the died in 814 and his last remaining succeeded to the Caliphate in 813 Greek into Arabic around 827,
over 2 million stone blocks and three Abrahamic faiths, and son, Louis the Pious (r.  814–40), and continued the tradition of and it was only through this
is covered in almost 21,500 sq ft chose Judaism. acceded to the throne. He had intellectual patronage, building translation that European
(2,000 sq m) of carvings. The been crowned co-emperor by his observatories and gathering the scholars would later be able to
monument is a three-dimensional father the year before. best scholars from around the access this ancient text.
mandala, or cosmic wheel;
walking its path, which is a ISLAMIC SCIENCE Civil strife in the Carolingian
journey of over 2 miles (3km), Empire (800–88) resulted from
reenacts the journey toward Thanks to the House of tension between Louis the
nirvana (enlightenment). Its Wisdom and other similar Pious and his sons over their
construction was an epic centers of scholarship across inheritances. After the death in
achievement, and a testament to the Caliphate, Islamic scholars 819 of his first wife—mother of his
the power of the Srivijayan went far beyond the learning sons Lothair, Pepin, and Louis
Empire (c. 760–1402), which had of the ancient Greeks and the German—Louis the Pious had
grown rich from the extensive Romans. Islamic scientists married the ambitious Judith of
maritime trade of the region. made great advances in Bavaria, who prevailed on Louis to
fields such as alchemy grant to her son, Charles the
For much of this era, Srivijayan (proto-chemistry), medicine, Bald (823–77), lands that had
influence extended over the toxicology, metallurgy, previously been promised to
Southeast Asian mainland, mathematics, and astronomy. Lothair. In retaliation, Lothair,
including the Mekong basin This illustration from The Book
kingdom formerly known to the of Knowledge of Ingenious
Chinese as Funan. But, in 802, Mechanical Devices shows an
Jayavarman II, a vassal ruler innovative handwashing device.
whose family had been quietly
extending their territory since

c. T8i0b1etHaenigEchm.t B8pou0bifrl1eaeftanKwihthehaoeszsn;atcsrthhiadroneeobeskaeiAntsebgrJauhdaamisimc 80e2xBiEleymzdap;nNrteiinscesepIerhmeo8nrp0aeue3lsr-AoRbrbaebscahosmididedcseaslitprohyH8s0aBr9raaociNrduamsinpciaBetkapuilhldgPosalrirusksa 81k1ilKlsrNumiceopfhBourlugsari8a1“1flFyiirnsgt cpaasphe”r icnuCrrheinncay 82t5heNFoarrsoeemIselnanredasch 82in7cFuirrssitoInslianmtoicSicily 82in8aEWcnokegrnsloosavewnexdlre;dldoEogrgmdebdienaratsntbretwalda

Gucrkj.a i8nr0cago1-NPnIaqrnaguItaenhbrdishhiaaaK,rtaBaanoIcarI.uo 8jb0o1duCrontesmtrpulcetiion8n0Joa2fvKahemsetJarabyElaimsvhapreimrde8ab0nyd5IeIFferaant kAsvaucrns. d8ien1r0HPoIusefnlpPagiemnarrisyciMaanulgsmeabaatrlha-eKsmhyeswastttaeiacrmbiaalzinsmhied 8b1e8(3c1bo4oAmraDlns-eecMcsae.atAn7h’dbm4osb2uf)act;nCoasLilhFdioparuchrai.lsn e8ktm2hHis0eaohgFuPtnosihoueerunoosdnfienWgisoBdfoathmgehidnad W8B2ee5osrsKneiwnxgudleEffgaebtaeEtsrltlKaonifndgunS8p2a7inMcuosnlqimuitefarusCgbriteaivtseeesafofnrrdopmuisraecy N8a2n9chTahoasieoexumptahpneidrrens of
Cinhtoina
116

831–840 841–850

The area around Segesta in Sicily, with its Greek ruins, was occupied early in The ancient city of Pagan, in Burma, became the capital of a powerful
the Aghlabid invasion of the island. Buddhist state occupying roughly the same area as the current region.

Louis’ co-emperor since 824, THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST OF SICILY the Pope to mediate between the THE TREATY OF VERDUN in Coffee plant
rallied his brothers in revolt had begun in 827 with the arrival Frankish rulers, which resulted 843 marked the definitive The coffee bush is native to the
against their father. In early 830, of an invasion force from Aghlabid in the desertion of Louis the Pious division of Charlemagne’s mountains of Ethiopia and Yemen,
Louis was deposed, and although in North Africa, sent by the Emir and Charles the Bald by their empire. After the death of where it was first recorded in use in
Lothair’s misrule saw his father Ziyadat Allah I (r.  817–38) to take followers, and their subsequent Louis the Pious in 840, his the mid-15th century.
restored by the autumn, the older advantage of internal divisions imprisonment. This was one three surviving sons
man’s authority was compromised among the Byzantine rulers of episode in a series of conflicts (see 821–30) for protection from Vikings and
and the scene set for worse the island. Hindered by outbreaks that saw the collapse of central embroiled other raiders.
conflict to come. of plague, the Islamic forces made authority and increasing Frankish themselves in further
little headway until 831, when vulnerability to raids from the conflict over land. In In around 848, the Burmese
Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon Palermo fell after a year-long Norsemen to the north and west, 842, Charles the city-state of Pagan was founded
kingdom in south and west siege. The city then became the Bulgars and Magyars to the east, Bald and Louis the in the Irrawaddy Valley. Indian
England, became the dominant capital of Islamic Sicily, although and Saracen pirates to the south. German teamed up influence is readily perceptible in
English power as a result of the total conquest of the island did and swore oaths to the architecture of this part of
victory of King Egbert over King not happen until 902. Saracen warriors impose a settlement on Lothair Southeast Asia due to cultural,
Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle “Saracens” was a European term for that saw the Frankish Empire religious, and mercantile ties.
of Ellandun, Wiltshire, in 825. The Field of Lies, in Muslims, especially those occupying divided into regions. These
Egbert was subsequently able to Alsace in 833, was a Sicily and raiding Europe. broadly equated to France in The legendary discovery of
conquer the southeastern meeting brokered by the west, Germany in the east, coffee is dated to around 850,
counties of England, and by and a middle kingdom that when it is said that an Ethiopian
around 828 Wessex was the most would later become known as goatherd named Kaldi noticed
powerful state in the land, with Lotharii regnum, or Lotharingia that, after eating some red
Egbert recognized as bretwalda, (modern Lorraine). berries, his goats became
or overlord, of England until his extremely lively. He brought a
death in 839. The rise of the Cholas, a Tamil sample to a local Islamic holy
dynasty of southern India, can man, who, disapproving of
The emergence of Great be dated to 846, when the Chola intoxicants, threw them on the
Moravia began around 830, king Vijayalaya captured the fire, where they roasted and
with the establishment of the city of Tanjore from the released a delicious aroma.
Principality of Moimir, to the Pandya kingdom.
west of the White Carpathians,
under the rule of Moimir I. The Capitulary of Meersen was
Moimir was one of two Slavic a proclamation by the West
polities to establish themselves Frankish king Charles the
in the power vacuum left by the Bald in 847, ordering every
collapse of the Avars in 805; the free man to choose himself a
other—to the east of the White
Carpathians, in what is now lord. Charles intended the
Slovakia—was Nitra, under the decree to facilitate the levy
rule of Prince Pribina. In 833, of armies, but it was also
Moimir would conquer Nitra, indicative of the increasing
setting his principality on the inability of the Frankish
path to becoming the Great rulers to protect their subjects.
Moravian Empire. In place of central authority,
the peasants relied on local
lords; they gave up freedoms
and bound themselves to a
feudal aristocracy in return

83in0ECCmaivrpiolirlsietnrgifiean 83o1fcISasiplcatilumyrieccoocnfotPninaqulueeerssm;t o 83t3hieFmPiepilrodiusosofndLeedipeoss:eLdo,uC8ish3Aa3brgAblhealussMliadum’cTasallsiapivmheaaatecr,mcceyrdeeoasf8tTet3Gous6rukBrsjhaorjaakriensgtodroems in India 83d8ivEDimseiapotinhreooffFPreapnikni;sh 84s1o–n4s2oCf Livo8ilu4Dwi1suaVtbrhilkbeinienPtfgwioouekuenisnndgeddom o8f4e3ndTsreCaatyroolifnVgeiardnucni8v4ilc8iwtyFa-orsutantdeinogf oPfacB.g a8aus5nrtm0roFelsairebsetsIslamc.ic T8i5b0etCaonllEampspeiroef

c. 83M0 oPbirmeMicnioorcm,ripaweavhiltaiihctneyehsEoGwtmfariblepllaiisrteh,ed Dkeinc8gIcna3ddn3oi;maWGdauoimrfrjNiainnor8iars3thh4eLdouFirsarneksitsohrethdrtoone 836 ViniklainndgsIrrealiad8nd40dEtrhCmiveoeypllniasrepoetsu,tetClebeoiynfntUtrhTiaaeglrhKAimuhsriiaBrg;aizsin 842 VikingsLsoancdkon 846PCcahanopdltayuakrsei;nsrgTisVaeinCjatjhooyorapellaoafwyrdoayemnraosfty guncp.o 8w5d0erEainrlCiehsitnacd. i8sc5o0vLereygeonf dcoafrfyee

117

851–860 861–870 871–880

Monument in the courtyard of the The frontispiece of The Diamond Sutra, the earliest known printed work, The landscape of Iceland offered scant
Maya city of Palenque. shows Buddha explaining the sutra (sermon) to an elderly disciple. welcome, yet Vikings settled here by 874.

THE DECLINE OF THE CLASSIC KHAZAR EMPIRE ALFRED THE GREAT OF ENGLAND,
MAYA civilization continued as the an educated man who had spent
wave of abandonments that began The Caspian Sea is still known in the region as the Khazar Sea for time in Rome with the Pope,
with Palenque at the end of the the empire that ruled the area between it and the Black Sea from acceded to the throne of the
9th century spread south and east the 8th to 10th centuries. A contributing cause to the empire’s Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex
into the Classic Maya heartland. decline may have been a rise of 23ft (7m) in the sea level. in 871. During the reign of his
The last recorded inscriptions at elder brother Aethelred I
NUMBER OF ARROWS PERMayan cities Quiriguá and Copán CYRILLIC SCRIPT WAS INVENTED Around the mid-9th century, the (r. 865–71), Danish Vikings had King Alfred
MINUTEdate to 810 and 822; at Caracol by the Byzantine missionary later Khazars adopted Judaisim (see invaded Wessex, but Alfred had A statue of King Alfred was erected
to 859; and at Tikal to 889. A known as St. Cyril in around 863. 801–10). According to tradition, helped defeat them at the Battle at his capital, Winchester, in 1901.
combination of drought, famine, Originally named Constantine, they chose an Abrahamic faith of Ashdown in 870. On assuming His sword doubles as a crucifix,
disease, and social upheaval Cyril and his brother Methodius to put them on equal footing with the kingship, Alfred averted emblematic of his militant faith.
were probably responsible, as were sent to convert the Slavs in Christianity in the Byzantine crisis by defeating the Danes at
overpopulated cities and their Moravia by Byzantine emperor, Empire and Islam in the Caliphate. Wilton in southwest England, island and even overwintered
overstretched resources reached Michael III in around 862. Cyril but another attack in 875 there, but the first permanent
a tipping point. devised a new “Glagolitic” script Early Cyrillic script caught him unawares and he settlement, according to the
to translate the Bible into Slavic; This wax tablet contains psalms of was forced to retreat to the medieval Icelandic Landámabók
The first recorded use of a this later became Cyrillic script. David, written in the early 11th (Book of Settlement), was by
crossbow was in France in 851. century. It is believed to be the oldest Somerset marshes. the Norwegian chieftain
Although slower to reload than In 867, Basil, a favorite of Michael document written in Cyrillic. Ingolfur Arnarson in around
a longbow, the crossbow, or III, deposed his master and took According to the popular 874. According to legend, he
arbalest, required little training the throne as Basil I. His reign legend, Alfred was here given selected the spot for his
or strength to operate. marked the start of one of the most shelter by a peasant woman homestead by throwing his
glorious periods of Byzantine who, unaware of his identity,
The Fujiwara regency, history. Intent on restoring the left him to watch some
assumed by Yoshifusa (c. 804–72) empire internally and externally, cakes that were cooking on
on the accession of his grandson, Basil rebuilt the army and navy and the fire. Preoccupied with the
the child-emperor Seiwa in 858, revised the legal system. problems of his kingdom, Alfred
marked the Fujiwara clan’s let the cakes burn. Nonetheless
domination of Japanese power. The Diamond Sutra of 868 is the he was able to summon his
world’s oldest surviving printed armies and defeated the Danish
12 book. An illustrated Buddhist text, king Guthrum at the Battle of
it was found in a cave in Edington in 878, forcing him to
9 Dunhuang, a Silk Road town in conclude the Peace of Wedmore,
northwest China. under the terms of which
6 Guthrum converted to
Christianity and agreed to a
3 division of the country (see 881–90).

0 The settlement of Iceland
Crossbow Longbow demonstrated how the Vikings
were advancing on other fronts.
Crossbow versus longbow Irish monks had probably already
Although the longbow could be reached the North Atlantic island,
fired much faster, the crossbow and Viking navigators had other
had a greater range and was easy clues to its existence, such as
to operate. the passage of migrating birds.
Vikings had already visited the

c.d8e5Mc0laisnyCea8ooc5niifn1vtCitilCnrliozaurdaosetussdisicocebndowto Fran8ce5e7rigPnoflWartogcpemeuosretieseinoaorffnlnesicEntugerdope 86fo2uVnikdinNgosvgorod86o3veBryAzaranbtisniensAw8n6iaYn6otovrVilkciia,ktoEinrnyggslacnadpt8u6rfe7ouAncdceerssoifoMnaocfeBdaosniilaIn, dynasty86s9teMLleaessatotpdToaittkaeamdl iina 87K1inAglforfeWd ebsesce8oxm7s,4eeEtVsntilgkelianIcngedsland 87r4eBnPuaeikrshssiaaarnnacleitbeeragrinys in 87S5paCauiCanttoaabnrleoooclmnioniomaguiieanssnfrpEoammrtpiairlely

857NFaovkuainrnrdgeidniognmoSfpoa8fi5n8 FuJcajeipwmaaenrn;atFrhueojgilwedanorcnaypcinloawner 86e3aICrnlyviereisnltltiifcoonrwmorfitoifn8g66 BulgtoarDCsihacsrmouisnr8otvvi6nieavd8rnintiSCtgyurpetrraaitni,8otoe6nld8doebfAsohTtomuklaudniidbnD-yTnualusntyfoinuEndgsy8p7t d0ivTirdeeastoyFfrotahfneMkKeisienhrgsldaeLonnomdtshoafr I DiHsiadpdpeenaIrmanacme of ATwl-eMlva8eh7rd4Si,aPhtfieh’tieaeterssatenrtrribelveoldtraoguagihntsitnTCanh8gi7n8a BfoaltltolewoefdEbdyinPgetaocne ionfEWnegdlamnodre
of
118
874

881–890 891–900

The façade of a building known as the Nunnery annex, at Chichen Itza, Symeon of Bulgaria, depicted in the center, had been educated as a monk in
the leading Maya city-state of the Late or Terminal Classic Period. Constantinople before returning to take control of the Bulgars in 893.

,, WE DISCERN SWEDISH VIKINGS, known as the THE GROWING POWER OF THE modern-day Turkey, forcing the
ACROSS THE Varangians or Rus, used rivers BULGAR KHANATE (see 811–20) Byzantine emperor to pay tribute.
CENTURIES A such as the Volga and Dnieper to Slavonic–Viking Jewelry worried the Byzantine emperor Symeon would rule for another
COMMANDING push ever farther inland from the Viking invaders conquered Leo VI, who in 895 prompted the 30 years, vying for the Byzantine
AND VERSATILE Baltic, establishing dominion over territories along Russia’s waterways, Magyars to attack the Bulgars. throne, only to be thwarted by
INTELLIGENCE, the eastern Slavs of the region. establishing a hybrid culture that However, this merely provoked the the impenetrable walls of its
WIELDING WITH Having founded the settlement mixed Slavonic and Viking styles. new khan, Symeon (r. 893–927), capital, Constantinople, on
EQUAL FORCE of Novgorod in 862 and launched to mobilize the Pechenegs—a numerous occasions.
audacious raids on Constantinople Paris in 885–86—he was proven tribe that had recently arrived on
,,THE SWORD OF by navigating rivers all the way to incapable of protecting his people. the Dnieper—to invade Magyar The Toltecs (c. 800–1000) were
the Black Sea, they now colonized Odo, Count of Paris (c. 860–98), lands. The Magyars were forced to probably refugees from the
WAR AND OF ever farther south. In 882, the Rus who had led a heroic defense migrate west, settling in present- collapsed Teotihuacan culture
JUSTICE. prince Oleg (r. 882–912) defeated against the Vikings in 885, was day Hungary, from where they (see 690–700), who settled in the
his rivals Askold and Dir, seized elected king of West Francia in launched extensive raids on Valley of Mexico, founding a
Winston Churchill, British their settlement at Kiev, and 887. From now on, East and Frankish territories for years to capital at Tula c. 900, and forging
Politician, on King Alfred, 1956–58 transferred his capital there from West Francia would develop as come. In the summer of 896, a militaristic empire that inspired
Novgorod. The city would become separate regions. Symeon defeated a Byzantine their descendants, the Aztecs.
throne pillars overboard and the capital of Kievan Rus, a loose army at Bulgarophygon, in
following their drift. federation of territories, until 1169. The catastrophic decline of the
Classic Maya city-states of the Toltec coyote
The Twelfth Imam, al-Mahdi— The Danelaw—the part of southern lowlands continued Toltec art, such as this depiction
believed by some Shi’ites to England in which Viking law was throughout the 9th century, and of a coyote-god, influenced other
be the ultimate savior of upheld—was formalized by the Tikal was abandoned by around pre-Columbian American
humankind—miraculously Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum in 889. Maya city-states of the north civilizations, including the Aztecs.
disappeared in 874. According to 886, following renewed attacks by (the area of Mexico’s Yucatán
some Shi’ites, when the Eleventh Guthrum. Alfred would keep the Peninsula) now took precedence
Imam, Hasan al-Askari, died in south, including London, while the in what is known as the Late or
874, his successor, a seven-year- area to the north of a line between Terminal Classic Period.
old boy, went into literal and the Thames and Lea rivers went Foremost among these
spiritual hiding, and ever since to the Danish, who would live civilizations was Chichen Itza,
has been said to be “occulted,” under their own laws. which commanded the advantage
or hidden until the day of his of cenotes, or water holes; of
messianic return. In 887, Charles the Fat vital importance in this drought-
(c. 839–88), the last Carolingian vulnerable region.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, king to rule both the primary
a unique written record of events Frankish territories, West and
from wars and politics to the East Francia (modern-day France
weather, was kept from around 880 and Germany), was deposed.
until the mid-12th century. It was Charles, already king of the East
indicative of the scholarship that Franks since 879, had been
King Alfred fostered, inviting elected king of the West Franks in
scholars to England and translating 884. However, he was a victim of
major classical works himself. the declining power and authority
of the Carolingian monarchs (see
841–50). Unable or unwilling to
meet the Vikings in battle—
specifically during their Siege of

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119

901–910 911–920

This stone relief is from the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Breakdown of central authority in the period led to economic contraction.

TANG CHINA HAD BEEN IN fragmenting into ten independent ABBEY OF CLUNY ABD AL-RAHMAN III BECAME THE
MILITARY DECLINE since defeat by kingdoms. The Later Liang NEW UMAYYAD RULER of the
the Arabs at the Battle of Talas Dynasty was short-lived (907– William the Pious, who donated Córdoba emirate on the death of
River in 751–760, and the Huang 923), with a succession of groups the land for the abbey in 910, his grandfather, Abdallah, in 912.
Zhao rebellion of the 880s seizing control of the Huang He placed no obligations on its His territories had been reduced
signaled the end of the dynasty. region and founding dynasties of Benedictine monks, so that by rebellions and he quickly set
Zhuwen (c. 852–912) was a their own, but proving unable to it was free from secular about regaining much of his lost
warlord who had originally been hold on to power. This period of oversight and answerable only kingdom. During his reign and
part of the Huang Zhao uprising anarchy, known as the Five to the Pope. Cluny became the that of his successors, Córdoba
and then instrumental in the rebel Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, center of a monastic empire of reached the peak of its power
defeat. Richly rewarded for his lasted until the establishment of great power, governing around (see 921–930).
role, he steadily built up his power the Northern Song Dynasty (see 10,000 monks. In 1098, Pope
base until in 904 he was ready to 951–960), and was a time of great Urban II, a former Abbot of According to traditional
seize control, executing the Tang hardship. Authority broke down, Cluny, declared it “the light of sources, Prince Igor, ruler of
emperor Zhaozong and most of the economy collapsed, and the world.” Kievan Rus from 914–945, was
his sons, and installing the barter replaced money in many the son of the legendary Rurik,
emperor’s 13-year-old son on the areas. There was extensive flood Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, became Carinthia, in 906 and 907 they who founded Novgorod in 862.
throne as a puppet ruler. In 907, and famine as flood defenses and the center of a monastic “empire” wreaked havoc in Moravia, and Under his protection, Kievan Rus
he took the throne for himself, irrigation works fell into disrepair. in Europe (see panel, above). in 908 they attacked Bavaria, (see 881–890) became a
founding the Later Liang Saxony, and Thuringia. With the
Dynasty, but although he To the west and north of the Five Displaced westward by the Frankish emperor unwilling or Igor I of Kiev
controlled the northern heartland Dynasties region, Shatuo Turks Pechenegs (see 891–900), the unable to help, the East Franks Igor, who ruled from 914 until his
of China—the Yellow River Valley and Khitan Mongols consolidated Magyars launched a series of elected regional “dukes” to death in 945, gestures to his court
region of Huang He—he was kingdoms of their own. The devastating raids throughout the defend against the incursions. in this 19th-century illustration.
unable to prevent the south from Khitans of southern Manchuria decade. In 901, they ravaged
established their empire in 905
Fatimid era text under the leadership of Yelü The Five Dynasties GANZHOU Khitans YAN
Named for Muhammad’s daughter, Abaoji (872–926). He went on to A succession of SHAZHOU
Fatima, the Fatimids proved patrons declare himself emperor in 916, regimes was unable to LATER Yellow
of learning through their sponsorship founding the Liao Dynasty, consolidate power, Uighurs TANG Sea
of Cairo’s al-Azhar school. which lasted until 1125, including leaving warlords to
a brief period as one of the the north and south to Tibetans FORMER JINGNAN
Five Dynasties controlling set up independent SHU
northern China. kingdoms. The WU YUE
fractured geopolitical Man WU
In 909, Sa’id ibn-Husayn, an situation is reflected in
Ismaili Shi’ite, overthrew the this map, which shows CHU
Sunni Aghlabid Dynasty in a tangle of borders
Kairouan (modern-day Tunisia), and states. MIN
declared himself al-Mahdi (the
Shi’ite messiah), and founded KEY ANNAM SOUTHERN HAN
the Fatimid Dynasty, named
for the daughter of the prophet Chinese states South
Muhammad, from whom he China
claimed descent. States occupied by Sea
non–Chinese
The Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, peoples
founded in 910 by William the

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take
120

921–930 931–950
,,
IN THIS YEAR, KING
AETHELSTAN, LORD OF WARRIORS,

,,RING-GIVER TO MEN… WON ETERNAL

GLORY, IN BATTLE WITH SWORD
EDGES, AROUND BRUNABURH.

Unknown author, from the Old English poem
The Battle of Brunaburh, 937

This decorative panel at the Caliph’s Palace in Madinat az-Zahra, Spain, was Lögberg, or Law Rock, in Iceland is
erected by Al-Rahman III in imitation of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. the center of the oldest parliament.

formidable power in the region, effectively independent fiefs that 100NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THOUSANDS IN 932, THE UMMAYAD CALIPH ABD counter the threat. The results
earning the respect of the owed only nominal authority to AL-RAHMAN III (see 911–920) were immortalized in an Old
Byzantines by force of arms the king (see 841–850). A powerful 80 captured Toledo, bringing all of English poem recorded in the
during the Rus-Byzantine war of faction of West Frankish Muslim Spain back under one Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see
941, and winning lucrative trade magnates had elected Count Odo 60 banner. Al-Rahman also waged a 871–880), which reported that
concessions from them. of Paris to the kingship in 887, so successful war against the five kings and seven earls died
Charles spent much of his reign 40 Christian kingdoms of León and on the battlefield, alongside
In 911, in recognition of engaged in civil war with Odo and Navarre on his northern borders, “unnumber’d crowds” of soldiers.
helplessness in the face of his descendants. 20 forcing them to acknowledge his Victory confined the Welsh and
constant and devastating Viking overlordship. In general, Jews and Scottish to their borders, halted
raids (see 881–890), the West One of the tribal dukes who 0 Christians enjoyed tolerance Viking expansionism, and helped
Frankish king, Charles III, came to power with the 8th 9th 10th under the caliphate, though they create England as a nation.
granted a large area of land impotence of the Carolingians in CENTURY remained second-class citizens,
guarding the mouth of the Seine the face of the Magyar threat, making issues such as tax status In 946, the Persian Shi’ite
River, which consisted of a large Henry I, was elected king of the Córdoba’s population growth a driving force behind conversion. Buwayhids took Baghdad and
part of what later became East Franks in 919, founding the This estimate shows how Córdoba forced the caliph to recognize
Normandy, to the Norse chieftain Saxon Dynasty. The last grew rapidly from a small town to The Silla kingdom (see Ahmad ibn-Buwayh as supreme
Rollo, also known as Hrolf, on the Carolingian monarch of the East become one of the world’s 651–670) was conquered by the commander. Although Abbasid
condition that he became a Frankish kingdom, Louis the biggest medieval cities. Koryo kingdom in 935, caliphs remained in place
Christian. Charles’ grip on the Child, died in 911, after which completing the reunification of until 1258, they were mere
crown was tenuous; the authority Conrad, duke of Franconia, was THE WANING AUTHORITY OF THE Korea under the Koryo leader figureheads; real power now
of the Carolingian monarchs had elected as king. On his death he ABBASIDS IN BAGHDAD prompted Wang Kon, who now became King passed to Buwayhid sultans
declined precipitously, with local nominated his strongest rival, Abd al-Rahman III to declare T’aejo (r. 918–943). Wang Kon had who ruled from their capital
counts ruling what were Henry, as successor. himself the true caliph in 929, acceded to power in the Three in Shiraz, Persia.
thus amending his kingdom from Kingdoms state of Koguryo in
emirate to caliphate. During the 918, renaming it and leading it Henry I (see 911–920) was one
10th century, his capital, Córdoba, in successful military ventures of the tribal dukes who came to
became the largest and most against the Kingdom of Paekche, power in the face of Magyar
developed city in Western Europe. who were conquered in 934, threat to the Carolingians. Known
and the Silla. During his reign, as Henry the Fowler, he enlarged
In 930, Icelanders started T’aejo consolidated power by the kingdom and inflicted the
meeting to decide on justice incorporating Silla nobility into first great defeat that the
and legislation at an outdoor his new ruling bureaucracy. Magyars (see 901–910) had
assembly on the plains of experienced since beginning
Thingvellir. All free men who In one of the bloodiest battles their raids into Europe, at the
had not been outlawed could ever fought on British soil, the Battle of Riade in 933. Henry
attend the Althing, making it Anglo-Saxon king Aethelstan was powerful enough to ensure
the oldest representative (c. 893–939) crushed an alliance that on his death the succession
assembly in the world. of forces in 937, cementing his would be hereditary, and the
control of Britain and his kingship election of 936 was a formality,
During what archaeologists call of a the now unified Anglo-Saxon acknowledging his son, Otto, as
the Pueblo II phase, the Pueblo realm of England. Alarmed by the new king. Otto’s coronation
peoples of Chaco Canyon, North the prospect of Anglo-Saxon ceremony in 962 consciously
America, were thriving. They built expansionism, the king of Alba (in emulated that of Charlemagne
immense structures called modern-day Scotland) had joined (see 761–770), and he was
“great houses,” some with up to forces with the Vikings and other crowned at Aachen, the old
700 rooms. northern British realms to imperial capital.

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121

Thor’s hammer gold beading Gold arm ring
pendant and wire
work Decorated with patterns made
Thor’s hammer— by stamping, beading, and
a symbol of power minute engraving, this arm ring
and virility—was a from Räbylille, Denmark, has
common theme for crosses and tree motifs.
jewelry. Thor was the
Norse god of thunder. sword indicates that
rider is a warrior

Statue of Frey Silver figure of horseman
The Vikings worshipped Frey,
the Norse god of fertility. This This stylized metal figure from
statue from Sweden shows Frey Sweden probably represents a
holding his beard—a symbol warrior on horseback. The Vikings
of growth and virility. were fine horsemen, but they
preferred to travel by ship.

THE VIKINGS ends of ring are in
shape of cat heads
THE ARTISTRY AND SKILL OF VIKING ARTISANS BELIES THEIR REPUTATION AS SAVAGES

Between the 8th and 11th centuries, the Viking world buckle plate for
spanned Europe, from the Pontic Steppes in the south and securing baldric
east to the shores of North America in the west and north.
This realm was tied together by a culture of arts and crafts.

The unifying motifs of Viking art and crafts were elaborate ornamentation, baldric (slinglike
interlacing patterns, and stylized animals. The material culture of the shoulder strap)
Vikings was mostly utilitarian yet finely crafted. Common, ceremonial,
and military objects were ornamented heavily. Techniques such as etching,
engraving, and inlaying and the use of metal beading helped to create
patterns of interweaving tendrils, “gripping beasts,” and stylized limbs.

Wooden shield Silver brooch/pin
This gold-coated silver
Shields were made from spruce, fir, brooch or cloak pin from
pine, or linden wood with iron Sweden is highlighted with
handles behind an iron boss. niello, a black metallic
They were painted with compound.
bright colors and often
had intricate designs. double-edged
blade
colors signified
intent or
allegiance

iron blade

sturdy wooden Ax Sword
haft with runic
Axes were commonly used by Swords were rare and extremely
inscription poor Vikings, as they were valuable for the Vikings. This
cheaper than swords. This sword could be easily drawn
Danish ax has a metal blade out from its sheath and wielded
and a wooden haft. with one hand.

ornate THE VIKINGS
etching
Gilded weather vane
lion figure Weather vanes were originally mounted
indicates wind on the prows of ships and later on the
tops of churches. This gilded weather
direction vane was found in Sweden.

Buckle plate
This metal plate was fixed to a
Viking’s leather belt so that it could
be buckled. It has two sections, one
for each end of the belt.

carved teeth

Hair comb Brooch silver and gold
A typical Viking grooming kit included This box brooch (top view), from inlay work
a comb, tweezers, and scoops for Martens on the Swedish island
cleaning ears. This wooden comb has of Gotland, is decorated with four stylized great
a handle secured with iron rivets. squatting human figures in gold. beast with

sinuous limbs

iron crest Early Danish coins

Originally, the Vikings used
looted coins, hack silver
(chunks), and barter in place
of their own money. King
Harald Bluetooth started
mass minting of coins in 975.

Trading weights dragon head
Found in Sweden, these used to terrify
brass-coated iron weights
were used to measure enemies
quantities of goods and
the value of hack silver. carved scale
patterns
symbol
indicates weight

carved from Drinking horn
an animal horn
Vikings believed they would
use drinking horns like this
in Valhalla, the heaven for
warriors, if they died in
battle. This drinking vessel
was used in feasting.

beech panel with
tin and iron studs

Helmet face Sledge Ship’s prow ornament
guard
Made from iron plates This oak-and-beech sledge is Elements of Viking culture were
welded together over a from a ship burial in Oseberg, derived from and prefigured in
leather cap, this Norwegian Norway. It has finely carved earlier cultures. For example,
helmet has an attached face runners and animal heads on this wooden prow ornament is
guard, complete with nose protector. each corner post of the box. from Saxon times.

123

951– 960 961– 970 971– 980

,, A RECKLESS
MAN BY

,,NATURE [WHO]…

ATTEMPTED
UNUSUAL DEEDS

Leo the Deacon on John
Tzimisces, late 10th century

This detail from the “Gateway of the Sun,” a great stone doorway at This detail from the imperial crown of Otto I shows the biblical figure
Tiwanaku, is carved with a figure known as the Staff God. King Solomon holding a scroll.

THE PRE-INCA, ANDEAN retreated to smaller, rural to Greenland Iceland 33% 33%
CIVILIZATION OF TIWANAKU settlements, and returned to a rowing protecting rowers
declined precipitously in the pre-urban lifestyle. Scandinav ia
second half of the 10th century. 33%
Sophisticated agricultural and The establishment of the Song ATLANTIC OCEAN Ireland North altic Sea ready
irrigation techniques (see 741–50) dynasty in China brought an end Dublin Sea to attack
had allowed Tiwanaku to to the anarchy and warfare of the
support a population of up Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms York Longboat crew in battle
to 60,000 people, with up to era (see 901–10). Known as the By keeping part of the crew at
1.4 million in the wider region, Northern Song in its early stages Britain B the oars, Viking raiding parties
according to some estimates. A because the capital was at maintained an aggressive posture
prolonged drought is believed Kaifeng in northern China, the Dnieper Volga without sacrificing mobility.
to have been responsible for its dynasty was founded by Zhao
decline, and archaeological Kuangyin (r. 960-76), who was a GAUL EUROPE Caspi DURING HIS SHORT REIGN, JOHN
evidence suggests that the main general under the Late Zhou, the Bordeaux TZIMISCES, nephew of Nicephorus
city was abandoned as citizens last of the Five Dynasties. He dealt ITALY Black Sea an Sea II (see 961–70), won a string of
with the threat from external IBERIA victories. Having fought off a
Bronze Mirror states such as the Khitan Liao Constantinople ASIA revolt by general Bardas Phocas
This intricately decorated mirror (see 901–10), the Tangut kingdom Seville Asia Minor in 971, Tzimisces crushed a
from the Song dynasty illustrates of Xia Xia, a confederation of campaign by the Kievan Rus
the artistic sophistication of China Tibetan tribes, and conquered Tunis GREECE leader, Sviatoslav, and conquered
in this period. several of the Ten Kingdoms to Athens Bulgaria as far as the Danube.
the south. Zhao used the civil In 972, he campaigned in the East,
service examination system to AFRICA Mediterranean Sea taking Edessa, Damascus, and
assert control over the military Beirut, reaching the gates
Viking sea routes KEY of Jerusalem in 976. He died
and centralize power. By the late 10th century, Viking seafarers had
Emperor Otto I, “the Great” penetrated to every corner of Europe and beyond, Viking expansionist suddenly that year.
(912–73), defeated the reaching as far as Greenland in the north. exploration 8–10th In 980, the Vikings
Magyars at the Battle of centuries
Lechfeld in 955. Since started raiding England
being displaced by THE POPE’S IMPERIAL CORONATION Further afield, Vikings continued again, though they suffered
Byzantine–Bulgar conflict OF OTTO I as emperor in 962 to prosper as they penetrated into a reverse in Ireland, where
revived the Carolingian Roman all parts of Europe. Malachy II forced Viking
(see 891–900), the Magyars had Empire in the West. In 961, Otto Dublin to pay tribute.
raided Frankish territories, made an expedition to Italy in The death of Byzantine emperor
reaching as far west as Aquitaine response to a plea for protection Constantine VII in 963 brought
in 951. The son of Henry I (see from Pope John XII, and in Pavia his infant son Basil II (958–1025)
911–20), Otto vigorously asserted he had assumed the Italian crown. to the throne. In practice,
royal authority from his coronation The following year he went to authority was assumed by the
in 936, gaining control of all the Rome to receive the imperial general Nicephorus Phocas. As
East Frankish duchies. His crown and assert his authority Nicephorus II (r. 963–969), he
powerful army ended the Magyar over the fractious papacy. continued the restoration of the
menace and also defeated the His son was crowned co-emperor empire that had begun with the
Wends—tribes on the eastern as Otto II in 967. reconquest of Crete in 961,
border engaged in a long struggle regaining Cyprus and Cilicia
to resist Frankish colonization In 965, the King of Denmark, in 965, subduing the Bulgars in
and Christianization. Harald Bluetooth, converted to 966–69, and invading northern
Christianity, and the religion Syria in 969. That same year
spread rapidly through the Nordic he was assassinated by his
region. Denmark had been forced nephew, John Tzimisces.
to accept missionaries as the
consequence of defeat by the East
Frankish king, Henry I, in 933.

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raid

124

981– 990 991– 1000

Venice’s modern splendor is the result of control of the lucrative trade routes between
Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the East in the 10th century.

IN 981, THE ISLAMIC FORCES OF Al-Mansur 983 after an expedition to Balam, Chichen Itza was 22,000
CORDOBA defeated the Christian This 17th century oil painting depicts southern Italy. Although his infant conquered by Toltecs led by
kingdom of León in Spain, under Al Mansur, or Almanzor to his son, Otto III (r. 983–1001), Kukulcan, the Mayan name for POUNDS
the leadership of Al-Mansur. Christian subordinates. Al Mansur managed to hold on to the crown the Toltec god Quetzlcoatl or “the THE WEIGHT
“Al-Mansur” was the honorific means “the Victorious.” thanks to the strong regency of feathered serpent”—possibly the IN SILVER OF
title taken by Muhammad ibn Abi’ his mother, Theophano, the East exiled Toltec king, Topiltzin. THE DANEGELD
Amir, the powerful and energetic “Greenland” in the hope of Franks were also faced with an Despite the record in the IN 991
vizier who was the true power attracting settlers. He succeeded uprising among the Wends, the chronicle, however, archaeological
behind the Umayyad throne (see in recruiting 24 boatloads of men, forcibly converted Slavic tribes on findings suggest that the city IN 991, A FORCE OF ANGLO-SAXON
911–20). He campaigned women, and children willing to the eastern border. The Wends collapsed around this time. WARRIORS made a stand against
successfully against León, entrust their lives to Viking restored their pagan religion and a much larger army of Vikings at
Navarre, and Catalonia, making longboats and brave the perilous resisted Frankish colonization for By the end of the 10th century, the Battle of Maldon in East
their kings subordinate to the crossing. Only 14 ships arrived, nearly two centuries. the mercantile powers of Venice Anglia, England. They were
caliphate, and extended Umayyad but they quickly established a and Genoa were beginning to slaughtered. The English king,
control to Africa via campaigns in thriving colony that may have In 987, Toltec forces conquered dominate the Adriatic and Aethelred II, “the Unready”
Mauretania (modern-day eventually numbered around the Yucatán Maya and made Tyrrhenian seas, respectively. (r. 978–1016), was forced to pay a
Morocco and part of Algeria). 5,000 people. Chichen Itza the capital of a Venice, in particular, enjoyed tribute known as the Danegeld,
Toltec–Maya state. According to lucrative trade links with the to buy off further incursions.
In 986, the Viking explorer Eric Otto II, the emperor and king of the early Mayan chronicle Chilam Byzantine Empire.
the Red led a party of Icelandic East Francia, died of malaria in Byzantine emperor Basil II
launched the first of a long series
colonists to the shores of campaigns against his
of the bleak landmass greatest enemy, the Bulgarian
he misleadingly named czar Samuel, in 996. Basil had
won major victories in Syria the
rectangular year before, but it took him
wool-cloth nearly 20 years to finally defeat
sail the Bulgarians.

Viking longboat TOLTECS From around 1000, the
Considered by some to be the greatest inhabitants of Easter Island,
technical achievement of the early The Toltecs, who ruled a state centered on Tula in modern-day or Rapa Nui—an island in the
medieval era, the Viking longboat Mexico, were notable for their aggressive militarism, which Pacific Ocean—began to carve
combined river, close-to-shore, and changed society in Central America, paving the way for militaristic monumental statues known as
oceangoing capacity. states such as the Aztec. The term “Toltec” came to mean moai. Thought to represent
“city-dweller” or “civilized person,” but its literal meaning is ancestors and to channel
“reed person”—signifying an inhabitant of Tollan (“Place of the mana—spiritual energy—the cult
Reeds,” the city now known as Tula). Toltec art and architecture, of moai consumed the Easter
characterized by monumental masonry and giant statues, was Islanders to the point where they
greatly influential in the region. may have fatally compromised
their environment—setting them
on the path to ecological disaster.

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983

1001 –1010 1011 –1020 1021 – 1030

These ruins at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon reveal one of more than One of the greatest but cruelest Byzantine emperors, Basil II became The Brihadishvara temple was built by
a dozen Great Houses constructed by the Anasazi. emperor in 976 at age 20, and ruled for nearly 50 years. the Cholas in their capital Tanjore.

AROUND 1000, THE ANCIENT many as 10,000 people, and this MURASAKI SHIKIBU (LADY Lady Murasaki IN 1025, THE CHOLA KING
PUEBLO CIVILIZATION centered on set the Anasazi on a collision MURASAKI) wrote the novel Genji A scene from a 16th-century hanging RAJENDRA CHOLADEVRA launched
Chaco Canyon in southwest North course with the fragile ecology of Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) scroll depicts author Lady Murasaki. an audacious naval expedition
America reached its climax. The the region (see 1161–65). in installments between 1011 and Of noble birth, she chronicled the against the maritime empire of
Anasazi used sophisticated 1021. It is regarded as the first affairs of the Heian court. Srivijaya in Sumatra, also sacking
dryland agriculture and hydrology Mahmud of Ghazni (c. 971– Japanese novel, and possibly the the Pegu kingdom in Burma.
to thrive in the arid environment, 1030) was a Muslim intent on first psychological novel in world of shock. By the end of the Rajendra had inherited a strong
and controlled trade routes that spreading the faith into India. In literature. decade, the Bulgarians finally kingdom from his father, Rajaraja I,
extended as far as the Pacific 1001, at Peshawar, he defeated submitted to Byzantine who had conquered Sri Lanka
coast of present-day California Jaipal, raja of Punjab, who then In 1014, Brian Boru, High King annexation. and instituted a program of Hindu
and the Valley of Mexico. They committed suicide. of Ireland and self-styled temple building centered on the
achieved impressive feats of Emperor of the Gael, defeated a Chola capital of Tanjore. Under
architecture, most notably the Probably the first European to coalition of Dublin Vikings and Rajendra, the Cholas
construction of Great Houses set foot on North America, Leif Celtic Leinstermen at Clontarf, expanded their kingdom
such as Pueblo Bonito, one of 13 Ericson landed in a place he Ireland. Although the Norse to include Bengal, and
such buildings in Chaco Canyon. called Vinland in around 1002. kingdom was crushed and Viking shattered the power of
Pueblo Bonito was six stories high Shortly after this discovery, incursions into Ireland halted, Srivijaya, securing control
and comprised more than 600 Greenlanders under Thorfinn Brian Boru was killed in the battle of the lucrative Indian-
rooms. It probably functioned Karlsefni tried to establish a and his dream of a united Irish Chinese trade routes.
as a ceremonial center, storage colony, spending three winters kingdom fell apart thereafter.
depot, and elite residence. there. The remains of Cnut (also known as
Well-maintained roads—some settlements at L’Anse aux In 1014, at the culmination Canute) was the son of
with stone curbs—connected Meadows, in northern of an 18-year war (see 991–1000), Sven Forkbeard, king of
Chaco Canyon to thousands of Newfoundland, attest to Viking the Byzantine emperor Basil II Denmark and Norway,
smaller Anasazi settlements presence in North America. defeated the armies of the who had invaded England
across the region. The canyon Bulgarian czar at Belasita. and driven the Anglo-
itself may have been home to as Earning the name Bulgaroktonos Saxon king, Aethelred II,
(Bulgar Slayer), he put out the into exile in Normandy in
LEIF ERICSON (970–1020 ) eyes of 15,000 captured warriors 1013. After staging his
before sending them home. own successful invasion in
Basil’s arch-enemy, Samuel the 1015, Cnut was accepted
Bulgarian, was said to have died as overlord of all England
in 1016, and went on
Leif was the son of Eric the Red, founder 3,000 1,000 to expand his empire.
of the Greenland colony (see 981–990). survivors survivors By 1030, it included
Stories differ on the exact details of his Norway, Denmark, and
discovery of North America. According 4,000 6,000 the Faroe, Shetland, and
to one account, he was returning from Orkney islands.
a visit to Norway in 1002, where KILLED KILLED
he had been converted to Chola sculpture of Shiva
Christianity, and was blown off GAELIC VIKING The Cholas were staunch
course, landing at the place he Hindus and enthusiastic
called Vinland because of the The bloody Battle of Clontarf temple builders. Shiva, one
grapes growing there. Another Fought between the largest armies yet assembled in Ireland, of the major Hindu deities,
account suggests that he aimed the Battle of Clontarf was a bloody affair. Up to 4,000 Gaels is depicted here as a young
for a land sighted to the west by and up to 6,000 Norse and their allies were killed. and handsome man.
an Icelandic trader.

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1 2 6be1c0ko0imn11ge0Ssdo0teif2tshpHcLehoueevfininefrgrs1East0rrViy0ci3nsolBanrniHdainghBoKrinu1g0b0oe3fcoIBBrmeuyBlzelagaasnansdrtiliinaInIedecezmfaepraeStrsaotmrheue1lG01G0h0h9u1arM0zinnaKihAhcmfiotgaunhnqdasunoerifsartsvaacng. e1F0Ki1rod0reaPSauehsraishcBi-aoonnmoakppmoloeaefttK(eTsihnegs) De1n0m13arSkvec1on0nF1qo4ureBkVrabsi1tekt0Eialn1enrg4dgoldCfoaofCnnmuldotinnbtioeancrofimnbrIeersea1lkka0sinn1dg4 oBBfauEslngilgaIlrIaiabnnldinadrsm1y01180C18ceRolRoinbmaqajuecaeynnrdisCnratSartrohCidohLul1oaicc0lneah1pkdi9rasfieJobasrrotrsothselGarvrtaodnebdKfeeiDceaouvtmsakneeRofus Book1o0f2H2eaAlviincgenwnrait’tsen102c4roBwdoinleeessdltahkweinftgohloelofBwProianlavgenyde,ar

1031 – 1040 1041 –1050

The Seljuks are shown here battling the Byzantines, Between 1041 and 1048, Bi Sheng invented the first movable type printing
having already conquered Persia. system, using clay letters held in wax within an iron frame.

A wise and capable king, Cnut IN 1037, THE SELJUKS, UNDER BANTU IS A FAMILY OF LANGUAGES use of Hinayana Buddhism as a
managed conciliation between his CHAGRI BEG AND HIS BROTHER that originated in the Bantu cultural and political driver made
Danish and Anglo-Saxon subjects. TUGHRIL BEG, invaded Khurasan homeland (now southern Nigeria Pagan the center of Burmese
He collected Danegeld (Danish in Persia. In 1040, they crushed and northwestern Cameroon). politics, culture, and religion. He
tax) to pay for a standing navy and the Ghaznavids at the Battle of Bantu-speaking people spread developed Burmese as a written
army—an important innovation. Dandanqan, winning control of from here to the east and south language, instituted a program of
eastern Persia, the first step and Bantu became the dominant building, and forged trade and
on the road to creating a new King and Emperor language family in sub-Saharan cultural links to India and China.
Islamic empire. The Seljuks were Ferdinand I was the first ruler of Africa, although whether this
Oghuz Turks, originally nomads Castile to call himself king. He indicates conquest, colonization, In China, sometime between
from Central Asia who had added the title of emperor after or simply cultural influence is 1041 and 1048, the commoner Bi
converted to Islam and moved to his conquest of León. less clear. The Bantu expansion (or Pi) Sheng invented the first
started in the Late Stone Age, movable type system. Block
Transoxiana, where they served final breakup of the caliphate, accelerating as the Bantu- printing had been in use in China
as mercenaries in the region, with the Abbadids seizing Seville, speakers acquired iron technology for centuries, and since the Later
before turning their attentions the Jahwarids taking Córdoba, and cattle-husbandry skills. By Tang dynasty (923–36) had been
to Khurasan. and the Hudids seizing the mid-11th century, Bantu tribes used for most book production,
Saragossa. With the Islamic had become sophisticated but Bi Sheng introduced the
In 1031, 40 lesser state in disarray, the Christian pastoralists, able to sustain high innovation of using tiny clay
dynasties were founded on kingdoms to the north were population densities and complex blocks—one for each character.
the shattered remnants of the encouraged to expand southward. social and economic networks. The characters were molded on
Córdoba caliphate, in Spain. This in turn led to the emergence the ends of thin rods of wet clay,
Known as the Muluk Sancho III of Navarre, who of chiefdoms, and Bantu which were fired to harden them.
al-Tawa’if (“Party Kings”), had conquered Castile and was speakers dominated Central and Unlike wood, this clay type did not
these short-lived dynasties overlord of Christian Spain, died southern Africa. distort when wet and could be
took control of different in 1035, and his kingdoms were used over and over again.
provinces of Córdoba after the divided between his two sons. In 1044, Anawrata seized power
strife that brought down the Ferdinand inherited Castile, and in the Pagan kingdom in Burma.
Umayyads following the in 1037 he killed his brother-in- His military prowess and skillful
execution of Abd al-Rahman law, the king of Léon, and made
Sanchol, son of al-Mansur, in himself emperor there in 1039. He KEY AFRICA
1009. He was the last capable went on to conquer Navarre and
leader of the caliphate, but impose serfdom on parts of Bantu homeland
Muslim Spain and Portugal. 2000 BCE
his attempt to move out
from behind the throne Spread of Bantu
and take the crown
led to his downfall. Bantu expansion ATLANTIC c.1000 Lake
Subsequently, the From their homeland in the OCEAN Victoria
border region of southern
Berber faction nominated Nigeria and northwestern Lake
their own candidate for Cameroon, Bantu-speaking Tanganyika
caliph and Córdoba people spread east and
descended into civil war south, through the tropical Lake
for 22 years. In 1031, the forest, eventually spreading Nyasa
death of Hisham III, the last to all parts of central and
Umayyad caliph, who had southern Africa. c.1000
already lost control of Kalahari
several provinces, led to the Desert

c.1000

10a2n5dCehsotalabslisshacakmSar1irv0iNit2jiama8yvaeSaraernmecpah1inor0edMI3ICIa0GahuhDsmnaetizitualenedtsiho(bof.f 971) 10C3o1rdBor1eb0Kaa3kic3nuagpFlieoporffhdCtaihnateeasntidleb1e0cto3hm5e DeGsereaatht (obf1oC0rnn3u7ct.F 9e8r5d)i1n0ac3no7dnsRctoornuuqcetuneedCrsatLheeódnra1l0a3g8aiTnisbtetthaenNr1eo0ver3olte9hlcteHtreendnSreoymnIpgIIeror 10M4ia2cnhBadanyieszdnluasZnVctoactdiebene;ieelppditoeeeysmrdieinopbddBey, rboyTozlfhrianienndotterdinido1ge,r0uiaEn4em4BanRpudirirsmeeaouf nPdaegranAnkainwg1rda0sot4aemo6llvsAoeffrtthsteheereepBsTaetphnhareeecdeyDi,cePHtpoeIoXpnserisyt1ioI0ICnI5o0rneEWfbeduseAwisslbdoatbmirrnedogiyntr,hodsEfetenergrsland

10102295oCfDhBoea(labast.sih lf9raI5oIr8me) eSxrpieLlla1en0dk3ea0xpCannudtDs’seteonmminpacirlrNukedoaernwday A10ra3g5oKniensgtCda1oob0nml3Diqs5uouhefkeWredoilorl)ifabNmeocr(otmhmeaensdy 1037 SeKljhuokuTruarskasnin(Pveard1se0ia4)0 KinMg aDcubnect1ah0ni4nck0.iS l1SlcceG0eoldi4lhtmjlb0auaayzknBnxsdaeacnsvoitidunnqPeSuexoerpursatihnasAifornica 1 2 7C1o0n4f2eskEsidonwrgabo1refd0cE4otnhm4gelEeasanfrodlriegsut nrepcoco.w r1dd0ee4dr5inirneMvceCoinphvteiaenbdalient1Cy0ph4ein8aESrezlejurkumTuirnksAnsaatcokli1a05c0oSneqlujuekrcTI.su f1ral0keh5sga0en(nbMdoasob)kiinsoofcgWoimoenlpsihled

1051–60 1061–70 1071–80

Labanga Mosque in Ghana is possibly the oldest mosque in sub-Saharan In this detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, completed in 1080, William the Conqueror
Africa. Ghana was Islamicized by the Almoravids in the 11th century. exhorts his troops to prepare themselves for battle.

IN MOROCCO, IN 1054, A FIREBRAND West Africa, where a number IN 1066, AT THE BATTLE OF INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY
CLERIC NAMED IBN YASIN inspired of powerful states had arisen, HASTINGS, William Duke of
the unification of Saharan tribal including that of Ghana. Normandy (c. 1028–87) defeated Which was greater: secular
groups.The confederation—known Harold Godwinson (c. 1022–66), or religious authority? This
as the Almoravids, from the Yoruba was the name given by the last Anglo-Saxon king of was the question at the
Arabic “al-Murabitun” (“people of outsiders to a group of city-states England. England had fallen into heart of the Investiture
the frontier garrisons”)—built an in Nigeria that shared a common the Norman orbit earlier, with Controversy. This 12th-
empire that would eventually language and culture. The oldest Edward the Confessor spending century manuscript
encompass much of northwestern and most prestigious Yoruba his youth in exile at the Norman illumination shows Henry IV
Africa and Muslim Spain (see kingdom was Ife, where a court while Cnut (see 1021–30) requesting mediation from
1081–90). In 1056, the Almoravids sophisticated urban culture was ruled England. William claimed Matilda of Tuscany and Hugh
began the Islamic conquest of well established by the mid-11th that Edward had promised him of Cluny. Matilda was one of
century. Ife was the spiritual and the English crown, but when the most powerful women of
mythical center of the Yoruba, Edward died, in 1066, Harold was the Middle Ages. It was her
but its poor location meant that elected king. He marched north stronghold of Canossa where
to defeat a Norse invasion, before Henry made his penitence.
it never exerted wide-ranging dashing south to Hastings to face
military or political control William, where he was killed and SINCE CHARLEMAGNE’S against the king. In 1077, Henry
over the other Yoruba his army shattered. William the CORONATION BY THE POPE (see IV crossed the Alps in the dead of
states. Ife is most Conqueror quickly took southeast 791–800), the Western emperors winter and appeared at Canossa,
famous for its artistic England, then the southwest, and had considered it their divine right dressed as a penitent, to submit
achievements, most suppressed a great uprising in the to appoint—or invest—bishops. to the pope (see panel, above).
notably terracotta north in 1069. Emperors had derived great He was absolved but controversy
and bronze heads. income and power through their quickly flared up again, with a
In 1059, Pope Under their leader Tughril Beg, dispensation of religious offices, rival, Rudolf of Swabia, being
Nicholas II the Seljuks had occupied Baghdad and Emperor Henry III (1017–56) elected to the German (formerly
recognized Robert and ended the Buwayhid dynasty had gone further still, in 1046, East Frankish) throne. In 1080,
Guiscard the (see 931–50), retaining the Abbasid insisting that it was the Henry had a rival pope elected,
Norman as Duke caliph as a figurehead but giving emperor’s right to appoint the while Gregory allied himself with
of Apulia and him the title of sultan. Tughril Beg pope. Pope Gregory VII Roger Guiscard, Count of Sicily,
Calabria, and died in 1063; his successor Alp represented the opposite view; he against the imperial camp.
Count of Sicily— Arslan extended Seljuk dominion held that only popes had the right
territories under into Anatolia, Armenia, and Syria. to invest clerics. In 1075, at the In 1071, the Seljuks crushed
Byzantine and Arab Lent synod, Gregory issued a the Byzantine army at Manzikert,
control—legitimizing 2:1 Battle of Hastings decree forbidding lay investiture. capturing and ransoming
his attempts to Anglo-Saxon casualties The emperor, Henry IV (1050– Emperor Romanus IV and going
conquer them. outnumbered Norman 1106), who was fighting to reduce on to conquer Anatolia (present-
losses by two-to-one, thanks in part the power of German prelates, day Turkey). This began its
Ife bronze head to their forced march from the north, defied the decree. In 1076, transformation into a Muslim
This head probably dates and the advanced Norman tactics. Gregory excommunicated him, Turkish region. In 1077, the
from the 14th century, but absolving his subjects of their Seljuks established the Sultanate
it represents an artistic oaths of loyalty and triggering a of Rum there, while other
tradition stretching back to rebellion by Saxon nobles conquests brought them Syria
the 11th century that was at and Jerusalem.
least as sophisticated as
any in contemporary Europe.

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1055leDaedasthtoocfivJiKalriseotvsr1ailfa0nev5Ri5nuSselBjBuakugwhTduaayrhkdi,sdetdnaykdneinagsty 1057PEaxgpaannksiiinongnBdouofrmma Hcoa1ns0qt6iuNn6e1gos0Bsrt6;mao9NtfatTolEnerhsnmeogrfalHaanvanardgreyinngo1ro0tfh7te0hrenChNEofnorlgroatlmsha:neSdxrpieLllaendka H1e0r7e1waRagerardbiuentllsheltieoiNnnWoEoarnfmk1ge0alCan7on5ndtSrtoavreteromsfypInbevereotwsrteai1etnu0ndr7tefp6GhoohreApcaleimnbaloyrEcamovnipdvisereIrsttlaom proe1cm0la7pie7mrAsolrhfooimnfsSsoeplafin

128

1081–90 1091–1100

,, LET SUCH AS ARE GOING TO FIGHT FOR
CHRISTIANITY PUT THE FORM OF THE CROSS UPON

,,THEIR GARMENTS THAT THEY MAY OUTWARDLY

DEMONSTRATE THEIR DEVOTION TO THEIR
INWARD FAITH.

Pope Urban II, 1095

Hassan-i Sabbah leads initiations at Alamut, in an illustration
from Marco Polo’s 13th-century Travels.

IN 1090, A GROUP OF ISMAILI IN 1092, CHINESE POLYMATH
SHI’ITES BECAME INVOLVED IN A SU SUNG DESIGNED AND
DISPUTE over the Fatimid CONSTRUCTED A COSMIC ENGINE.
succession in Cairo (see 901–10). This mechanical astronomical
Under the leadership of the clock was 30ft (9m) high, and was
charismatic Hassan-i Sabbah, this water-driven with an armillary
sphere, which showed the position
13group recognized the claims of an of celestial objects.
infant called Nizar, and were THOUSAND
therefore known as Nizari In 1094, a Castilian who had
Ismailis. Forced to flee Cairo, THE NUMBER served both Christian and Islamic
Hassan led the Nizaris to his Masters, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar,
known by the Moors as El Cid
homeland in Persia where they OF PLACES (“the lord”), captured Valencia in
captured a fortress known as eastern Spain and established
himself as ruler.
Alamut in the mountainous region LISTED IN THE
At the Council of Clermont in
of Kazvin and made it the base of a 1095, Pope Urban, a French
Cluniac (see 910), preached to an
DOMESDAYde facto Nizari kingdom. Thus was assembly of mainly Frankish
clerics and nobles about Muslim
BOOKborn the group later known as the “defilement” of the Holy Land,
urging his audience to take up
Assassins—a name derived from arms in a holy war. Urban had
been entreated by the Byzantines
the word “hashashins,” a label for help against the Seljuks, and Battle of the Crusades
saw a way to channel the energies This manuscript illustration shows Crusader knights joining battle with
applied by their enemies who threat. Defeating Alfonso at Zallaka of European nobility away from Saracens—the generic term used by Europeans to refer to their Muslim
constant infighting and toward a foes. Around 30,000 knights took part in the First Crusade.
claimed they used intoxicants such in 1086, they annexed most of Christian expansion that would
benefit the papacy. Fired by
as hashish to brainwash devotees Islamic Spain. religious zeal and spurred by the
promise of remission of sins,
into blind obedience. In 1085, William the Conqueror together with the prospect of
winning booty, land, and control of
Alarmed by the advances of (see 1061) commissioned a survey the lucrative trade with the Orient, and Baldwin of Bouillon, Count became king the following year.
many nobles of France (formerly Raymond of Toulouse, and the Under the overlordship of the King
Alfonso VI of Castile, the of his new kingdom—known as the Norman Bohemond of Otranto, of Jerusalem, the Crusaders
West Francia) and Lorraine took the Seljuk Rum capital of established four principal states:
Abbadids (see 1031) summoned Domesday Book—probably to joined, or “took the cross.” Nicaea in 1097, conquered Edessa the kingdom of Jerusalem, which
Other nations were either in in the same year, captured Antioch thrived on trade mediated by the
the Almoravids from North Africa regulate military service and in 1098, and marched on Italian trading powers; the county
conflict with the papacy or Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey was of Tripoli, set up by Raymond; the
to defend against the Christian assess taxation opportunities. indifferent, so the First elected king of Jerusalem but took county of Edessa, established by
Crusade was a largely the title Defender of the Holy Baldwin; and the principality of
French affair. Taking advantage of Sepulchre; his brother, Baldwin Antioch, set up by Bohemund.
disarray in the Muslim world, three
groups of Crusaders under Godfrey 75,000 The Siege of Antioch
Islamic forces at the Siege
SARACENS of Antioch outnumbered
the Crusaders considerably.
The Domesday Book 15,000 In fact Antioch fell only
Nicknamed “Domesday” in reflection of the trepidation that the great CRUSADERS when a traitor opened a
undertaking inspired in the native English, William’s survey actually gate to a party of knights
comprised two manuscripts; the Great and the Little Domesday. led by Bohemond of Otranto.

10a8c1ceAdleesxitsoCBoymzamnetinnieutshron1e0t8ak5VeaAlselfTnoocnlieasdoionVaSInpda1i0nG8r5egDoeraythVIoIf(bPoorpnec. 1100S28p0b6a)yiBnAa—ltmtAleolfrooanfv1sZi0doats8aldlk9aeeFkfePaaataitinlemedsidtisne 10c9o2omfNpS1oli0ecEr9timnel2ygacSinonusneqSmuuenesgcthbaunilicdaslCcoloscmkicin Pe1k0pi9nrg5CocrPulaosipamedseUFrbi1ra0sBn9ta6sCiloicnasStraunctMioanrcoof, Ve1n0Ci9co7enCstraunstaidn1eo0Crp9sil8sestFeaorccukinadninogrdoefrthe 10t9ak9oefCtJrheuersuFasidraeslretsmCr:uesna1dd0(e9b.911D01e4b0a3e0ot)chfoBJmoaeflerdEuswlsfiiCanrlisedItmking

Ca1r0t8h4usFioaunnmd1ion0ng8a5oosfrtDidcoemrceosmdmayisBsoioocnk.e1d085 ThuAclmeonEetrsriokcliamNnooAsrrtchtic 1089RDomecv.aue1nlp0oe9prse0mqsuAiedensestsnaotcysfelseiinnsAtlaakmeut SSehlj1au0hbk9;es2gSuieDnlltsjeauantkothMEbmoareflpiakikreup ta1k0e9s4 VEalleCnidcia 1 2 91098 AntiochaffatellrsyteoaCr-rluosnagdseairtetseg1me09apn8tdtCoWorueensuctneilirfonyfECBahasurtreic:r1hn0es99 Knights Hoessp1tha1itub0abnl0lielstecihnWoregmidlaleicascmik1di1neII0nfgkr0tooi,lEmfHleuEebdAcnnylrigirnadAlyabdtInirecadlinanrstdloaotLefadBtianth

1101–05 1106–10 1111–15

An illustration from Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of the Rubaiyat; of the 600 Monumental ruins in the city of Great Zimbabwe, capital of the Mwene Mutapa The 12th-century Cathedral of

verses, only around 120 are thought to have been written by Khayyam himself. Empire. After it seized control of the gold trade, the empire grew rich. St. Nicholas at Novgorod, Russia.

SOMETIME AROUND THE START much to the disarray of the Islamic NOTED FOR ITS FINE ARTS AND THE 12TH CENTURY SAW AN
OF THE 12TH CENTURY, OMAR regimes it had dispossessed. The CRAFTS and construction of EXPLOSION OF CATHEDRAL
KHAYYAM (1048–1131), an Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo was monumental temple mounds, BUILDING all over Europe,
astronomer and mathematician in rich but decadent; the Abbasids the post-Moche culture, known as population growth,
the service of the Seljuk sultans, in Baghdad were little more than as the Sicán or Lambayeque increased wealth, and
composed a series of four-line figureheads; the Seljuk Turks had on the northern coast of Peru, architectural advances
poems, or “roba’iyat,” which failed to forge a unified empire, reached its height in the early combined with religious
became famous thanks to the and instead warlords and tribal 11th century. But a prolonged zeal, civic pride, and
translation made by Edward groups had set up a patchwork of drought, followed by the personal ambition
Fitzgerald in 1859. Khayyam’s competing states such as Rum, catastrophic flooding, led of potentates. The
career reflected the Seljuk era. Danishmend, and Damascus. to cultural and political development of the
At Samarkand, in the early Throughout the early 12th century, collapse. In the early 12th Romanesque and
1070s, he was able century, the state recovered Gothic styles was given
to pursue his the Crusaders battled from the convulsions of the expression in the great
mathematical constantly against these 11th century and rebuilt cathedrals, but each
studies thanks to foes. In 1101, Raymond around a new capital at region developed its
patronage from IV of Toulouse Túcume. New temples were own, distinctive idiom.
a local jurist, (c. 1042–1105) led built and the capital flourished In Novgorod, for
and under a new Crusader until its conquest by the instance, the Cathedral
the strong Chimú (see 1375), by which of St. Nicholas (started
Seljuk sultan Baldwin of Bourcq time there were 26 mounds in 1113) was given
Malik Shah This coin features and accompanying enclosures. domed cupolas.
(r. 1072–92), Baldwin of Bourcq,
Khayyam was cousin of Baldwin I, In central southern Africa, The Investiture Controversy
invited to Isfahan who he succeeded as in what is now Zimbabwe, the between the papacy and the
in 1073 to set up an count of Edessa, then as Mwene Mutapa Empire, also Western emperors rumbled on
observatory and lead king of Jerusalem (see 1118). known as Great Zimbabwe after (see 1071–80). Henry IV’s failure
a team of top scholars. its monumental capital, emerged to reconcile with the papacy had
In this period he made many army from Constantinople as the most significant regional helped bring about his downfall;
mathematical and astronomical against the Sultanate of Rum, power. A kingdom of the Shona concerned that the ongoing
breakthroughs, including taking Ankara in June, only to peoples that emerged around 900, dispute was undermining royal
an unprecedented accurate be destroyed by Danishmend Mwene Mutapa was initially based authority, his own family had
measurement of the length of Turks in August. Baldwin I of on cattle herding, but from around conspired against him, and he
the year to 12 decimal places. Jerusalem (c. 1058–1118) 1100 it took control of the lucrative was imprisoned. His successor,
Although he is now most famous steadily improved his access to trade routes linking the gold, Henry V (1086–1125), launched a
for the Rubaiyat, it is not certain the Mediterranean by taking a iron, and ivory production centers powerful expedition to Italy to
that Khayyam wrote most or any series of coastal cities from the of the interior to the Arab force an imperial coronation.
of the verses involved, and he was Fatimids, defeating them at trading kingdoms on the east
little regarded as a poet in his own Jaffa in 1102, Acre in 1104, and coast, which offered luxury Under duress (he was a
time. Much of the current Ramleh in 1105, although goods from Asia. prisoner of Henry at the
reputation of the work derives Raymond died in an attempt to time), Pope Paschal II
from the very free translation take Tripoli in 1105. Ceremonial knife offered major concessions
by Edward Fitzgerald. This gold knife is from the Middle on the investiture issue in
Sicán culture in Peru. The early the Treaty of Sutri, but he
The success of the First 1100s mark the threshold between repudiated them the following
Crusade (see 1091–1100) owed the Middle and Late Sicán cultures. year and the issue remained
unsettled (see 1122).

c.t1h1Ee0mMa0spwAiGrpeerone,geaaetMlesZuooimtfkanbpoaawbwne 11T0o1oufRlDoRaauuynsmmiesohbinnmuvdtaeiIdnsVeddoseTfSufeuraklttsaendabtye c.o1f1FJ0ae2trimuBsaiadldlsewmaitn,JdIa,efkffaeinagts 11E0m6 pHeernorryoVf Rboemcoemes 11m07AakrHceehsnbpriseyhaIocoepfwoEfintChgalAannntedsreblumr,y 11o0f9aAnOlodfnfobLAndeesr“egaóEoaignnmtVo,hsIpnAoteolaffronCsondtrayssoNloetfialVhtevhIiamIerrsSeeplaf ins” 11c1o1HroIemnnaprtyeiorVniailnofRome 11A1l2BauSuPnrtaamggrsteaisonthefrureke;aiingcghndeoosfmheoifght

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130

1116–20 1121–25

Stained glass window of a Templar Guelph and Ghibelline forces join battle in Italy. These factions, based on the German
Knight in Warwickshire, England. Welf and Hohenstaufen dynasties, would come to dominate Italian politics.

,, IN THIS IN 1121, MOHAMMAD IB-TUMART, SCHOLASTICISM
RELIGIOUS A BERBER LEADER from the Atlas
ORDER HAS Mountains, was hailed as the The school of thought known as Scholasticism—
FLOURISHED al-Mahdi (the Muslim messiah— because it was taught by the scholastics, or
AND IS see 874) and led his forces, known school masters—developed as the dominant
REVITALIZED as the Almohads, in a campaign philosophy of learning in medieval Europe, hand
THE ORDER OF of conquest against Almoravid in hand with the emergence of the universities.
territories in Africa. Scholasticism was an approach to learning
,,KNIGHTHOOD. that used a method of formal discussion and
A synod at the German town of debating. It became the intellectual basis for
From The Primitive Rule of the Worms, in 1122, presided by a medieval religious and philosophical dogma.
Knights Templar papal legate drew up a concordat
(agreement) ending the Investiture at Ascalon (Ashkelon), Venetian Emperor Lothair II (III in some philosopher Boethius of one
In Jerusalem, in 1119, a group of Controversy—although not ships destroyed the Fatimid fleet. sources). Immediately he was treatise on logic. This began to
knights, led by the French Hugues the imperial–papal rivalry. A This marked the start of the plunged into a bitter civil war change in the early 12th century, as
de Payens (c. 1070–1136), formed compromise was agreed along the dominance of Italian maritime with the Hohenstaufens, and the the conquest of Islamic areas such
an order to protect pilgrims lines already adopted between power in the Mediterranean. two opposing sides became as Toledo and Sicily gave Christian
travelling along the dangerous Henry I of England and Anselm entrenched as propapal and scholars access to Arabic works.
road from Jaffa, on the coast, (see 1107), under which the Emperor Henry V died in 1125 proimperial factions known as Increasing exposure to the works
to the holy city. The new king of emperor would be involved with no male heir, and an election the Guelphs and Ghibellines of Aristotle led medieval scholars
Jerusalem, Baldwin II (cousin in investiture but not control it. was held to choose his successor. respectively. They would plague to consider him the “master of
of Baldwin I and his successor as Essentially it was a victory for The closest heir was Conrad of relations between and within the those who know” and the chief
count of Edessa), assigned them the papacy. Swabia (1122–90), of the house city-states of northern Italy authority on matters of reason.
quarters in part of the Temple of Hohenstaufen (allied to the into the 14th century—long after
Mount compound, next to the site In 1123, Frankish forces from they had ceased to dominate In 1125, the French king
where the Temple of Solomon Jerusalem defeated a Fatimid Salian dynasty and their German power politics—as they Louis VI (1081–1137) successfully
had once stood. Accordingly, they army at Ibelin, while off the coast antipapal policies), became associated with class rallied French nobles to repel
called themselves the Poor Fellow but the powerful struggles and reactionary versus an English–German invasion.
Soldiers of Christ and of the archbishops of Mainz reforming parties. This proved to be a milestone in the
Temple of Solomon—also known and Cologne angled French monarchy’s attempts to
as the Knights Templar. for the election of a The work of Aristotle assert its authority, and thus
candidate more friendly (384–322BCE) had survived in in the emergence of France as
Bologna University was the to the Church. Lothair Byzantium and among the Arabs, a nation-state.
first in the western world. It was of Saxony (1075–1137), but Western Europeans only had
founded in 1119 (or possibly of the house of Welf, was access to a translation by the
earlier, depending on the source). chosen and became
Institutions such as Bologna
University were the incubators 25 PERCENTAristotleintranslation THE APPROXIMATE
for the philosophical school of
thought known as Scholasticism A page from a translation PROPORTION OF
(see panel, right). of Aristotle’s Nicomachean ARISTOTLE’S WORK
Ethics, written on SURVIVING TODAY
vellum—a writing material
made from calf skin, which
is more durable than
papyrus or paper.

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1124
131

1126–30 1131–35 1136–40 1141–45

A mosaic shows Roger II being St. Alban’s Chronicle shows Matilda An illustration from a 15th-century copy of the History of the Kings of Britain, A scene from the Siege of Damascus,
symbolically crowned by Christ. of England holding a charter. by Geoffrey of Monmouth, shows Brutus the Trojan setting sail for Britain. a battle of the Second Crusade.

IN 1126, THE JIN—the Jurchen THE DEATH OF HENRY I, IN 1135, IN 1137, LOTHAIR DIED SUDDENLY strengthen his position since IN 1141, JOHN OF SEVILLE
dynasty established by Aguda (see PITCHED ENGLAND INTO DYNASTIC while returning from a taking the crown, alienating TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC
1115) in Manchuria—turned on STRIFE. His only male heir died in successful campaign in Italy many of his nobles on one hand, the Epitome of the Whole of
their erstwhile Chinese allies, 1120 while crossing the English against Roger of Sicily. Lothair’s and powerful clerics on the Astrology, while in 1142 Adelard
overrunning northern China and Channel, and although Henry had plans to concentrate German other. He particularly blundered of Bath translated an Arabic
seizing the Northern Song capital made his nobles swear allegiance territories in the hands of the by arresting his chief minister version of Euclid’s Elements of
at Kaifeng. The Jin took control to his daughter, the Empress Welf clan, and create a stable Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. At Geometry, one of the founding
of northern China and moved the Matilda (1102–67), she had spent inheritance for his son-in-law, a stroke, he lost many of his texts of mathematics. This
capital to Beijing. This marked little time in England and her evaporated when the election of ablest administrators, and was transmission of learning,
the end of the Northern Song. second husband, Geoffrey of 1138 chose the Waiblinger Conrad henceforth unable to rein in the ancient and contemporary, via
However, a Song prince, Gaozong, Anjou, was unpopular with the of Hohenstaufen (1135–95). The depredations of barons and Arabic into Latin, was a key
escaped to the south and English nobles. Among those who Waiblingers were descended from other landowners, who became contributor to the emergence of
established the Southern Song had sworn fealty to Matilda was the dukes of Franconia; the name laws unto themselves. The an intellectual renaissance in
dynasty in Hangzhou in 1127. Henry’s nephew and ward was later corrupted by the Italians country deteriorated into a state Europe, and beyond that to the
Stephen of Blois (r. 1135–54). On into “Ghibelline.” Conrad set about of anarchy famously lamented by scientific achievements of the
The death of Pope Honorius, his uncle’s death he immediately reversing the grants of Lothair, the author of the Peterborough Early Modern period (1500–1800).
in 1130, resulted in the election went to London, secured the taking Saxony away from the Chronicle, who wrote that under
of two rival popes, Innocent II support of most of the nobles and Welfs, which promptly sparked Stephen’s reign the English In an attempt to end
and Anacletus II. During this the Church, and had himself renewed civil war. “suffered nineteen long the civil war that was
papal schism, Roger II, count proclaimed king. However, winters… when Christ and all his convulsing Germany, an
of Sicily, recognized Anacletus Matilda refused to renounce her In 1139, Matilda entered saints slept.” 1142 meeting, or diet,
as pope—his reward was the claim, and their contest would England to reclaim her crown at Frankfurt confirmed
throne of Sicily. lead to a period of warfare and from the usurper Stephen of Sometime around 1140, the the Welf Henry the Lion
Blois. Stephen had failed to Welsh cleric Geoffrey of (1129–95) as Duke of
Song dynasty porcelain ware breakdown of central Monmouth (c. 1100–55) wrote the Saxony (which he had
The Qingbai (“blue-white”) glaze on authority known as the Legendary castle History of the Kings of Britain, already taken by force).
this ewer is characteristic of Song Anarchy (see 1136–40). Tintagel, Cornwall, where the ruins an important example of early Henry engaged in
dynasty porcelain from southeastern In 1133, Lothair II of a 13th-century castle still stand, Anglo-Norman literature that a vigorous renewal of
China, where the dynasty survived (1070–1137) went to Italy to is featured in the Arthurian legends introduced the legend of King German expansion
the Jin invasion. intervene in the papal schism, created by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Arthur to a European audience. to the east, where his
installing Innocent II. In return,
the Pope confirmed the Matildine Pot helm helmet
inheritance (the vast estates of This type of helmet
Matilda of Tuscany, which she had was typical of those
willed first to the papacy and then worn by Crusader
to the emperor, sparking a dispute knights. Made of
that would become tied up with steel, the pot helm
the Guelph versus Ghibelline helmet completely
contest—(see 1121–25) and covered the head
crowned Lothair as emperor. In except for two small
1135, Lothair pacified his rivals, eye slits.
Conrad of Hohenstaufen and his
brother Frederick of Swabia,
apparently securing the German
crown for his son-in-law Henry
the Proud, of the House of Welf.

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1 3 2112S7oSnogeus1dtt1hya2neb7ralitnssaSthktyeeedpshBef1ern1olg3mIIr0aotdRhfeeHogauBennyrdgzkIaaSIinrnboytgefiincaoeofsmSeicsily 1134buGioltthaitpc1Ca1thco3diaw5fiorcemtLraroeitntis1hoa1ann3i—c(r5be’sh.H i1eyne0eaGn6asr8ersy)reomIdrfuoitaessfnsuE;yrnSpgstelaMpnhadetinlda Death of Lot(hba. i1r0I7I0) MtopareteirlcidolaadiemcnatclelrerodswtEnhn;egs1Alt1aann4frartd0orocnCfhtoyomf pSPlte.atDrioiGesnon—toihsafiBtclhaaaensrdiwclmhieciasatetrikccn.tou1frM1He4ois0ntomGreoyouoftffhrtehwyeorfoKitBfeinrsigtsain 114d1efKeaatraSS-eaKlmjhuiaktWras1ki1aaa4itnb2dliDngiaeettrtoecmfoFnprfltaitncotkefinunrdGte:Wraemnlfa–ny
1139
1137

1146–50

Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, was built during the reign of Suryavarman II. It covers
nearly 500 acres (200 hectares) and the central tower is 138 ft (42 m) high.

,, THOSE WHO ARE OF GOD... STRIVE IN 1146, THE INFLUENTIAL Aquitaine (c. 1122–04), and the
TO OPPOSE THE MULTITUDE OF THE CISTERCIAN MONK BERNARD OF loss of her territories (see 1151–
INFIDELS, WHO REJOICE IN A CRUSADERSCLAIRVAUX (1090–1153) egged onKoutoubia Mosque in Morocco 55). The Byzantines were forced
VICTORY GAINED OVER US, AND by Pope Eugenius III, preached a The Koutoubia (“booksellers”) to step in where the Crusade had
DEFEND THE ORIENTAL CHURCH new Crusade to liberate Edessa Mosque, built by the Almohads, failed, occupying western Edessa,
FREED FROM THEIR TYRANNY BY SO from the clutches of the Zengids; reflects the mercantile success of but Roger of Sicily took
GREAT AN OUTPOURING OF THE Conrad III of Germany (1093– Almohad Marrakech, where book, advantage of Byzantine distraction
1152) and Louis VII of France cloth, and other souqs flourished. to invade and plunder Greece in
,,BLOOD OF YOUR FATHERS... (1120–80) “took the cross.” But 1147. The disasters of the Second
the expedition was a disastrous depleted forces against the Crusade marked the beginning of
Pope Eugenius III, from Papal bull calling for the Second Crusade, 1145 affair, except for incidental powerful Zengids, they decided the decline of the Frankish
success in Portugal achieved by a instead to launch an attack on Crusader kingdoms.
campaigns against the heathen contingent of English and Flemish Damascus, the only Muslim state
Slavs were given the status Crusaders who helped Afonso- that was friendly to the Crusader In 1147, the Almohads under
of Crusades. Henriques, Count of Portugal, kingdoms. Hampered by lack Abd al-Mu’min (1094–1163)
take Lisbon from the Moors in of supplies and threatened by completed the conquest of
In 1144, the atabeg (governor) of 1147. Conrad and Louis took the Zengid leader Nur al-Din, Almoravid Morocco, taking
Mosul, Imad el-Din Zengi different routes to the Holy Land, successor to Imad el-Din, the Marrakech, before invading
(1085–1146), founder of the their armies meeting equally Siege of Damascus also failed. Moorish Spain (although it took
Zengid dynasty, took advantage disastrous fates as they struggled The Second Crusade broke up them until 1172 to subjugate all
of feuding between the Crusader through Anatolia. In 1148, forced having failed to achieve anything the Islamic kingdoms).
principalities to seize the to hitch a ride on a Byzantine ship, beyond a damaging fallout. Louis
Crusader county of Edessa. Fulk, having lost his army at the Battle was cuckolded by one of his Suryavarman II (c. 1113–50)
king of Jerusalem, had died in of Dorylaeum, Conrad met up generals, eventually leading to a was the most warlike Khmer king,
1143 and his successor Baldwin with Louis. Rather than pitch their divorce from his wife, Eleanor of although most of his foreign
III (1130–63) was only a child, adventures were unsuccessful. He
under the regency of his mother 25,000 launched attacks against the Dai
Melisende. She did not have the Vet of northern Vietnam and made
authority to settle a dispute 20,000 repeated attempts to subjugate the
between Antioch and Edessa, Champa. More significant
and Imad el-Din besieged Edessa 15,000 was his building program, the
until it fell to him. The loss of zenith of which was the temple
Edessa caused alarm and 10,000 of Angkor Wat. This vast complex
includes five towers symbolizing
outrage in Europe, and provided 5,000 holy mountains, and large numbers
the trigger for the Second of elaborate carvings.
Crusade (see 1146–50). 0
French German 500
In 1145, Eugenius III issued
a call-to-arms in the form French and German Crusaders ACRES
of a Papal bull. The German force outnumbered the
French contingent during the Second THE AREA OF
Crusade. Neither army achieved any ANGKOR WAT
success: defeat in Anatolia preceded
failure at Damascus.

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133

600–1449 TRADE AND INVENTION

Star–shaped tile
1267 • IRAN
Though distinctively Islamic in its
use of luster (a ceramic technology
mimicking gilding) and arabesques
(stylized foliage), this tile shows
Mongol influence with
the inclusion of
doglike animals.

foliage in
gold leaf

Persian ceramic and gold leaf ewer Bronze vase
1200–1399 • IRAN 18TH CENTURY • CHINA
It was prohibited to make drinking vessels from Although this bronze vase from China
gold and silver, as these were considered indulgent, displays a text from the Qu’ran in
so Islamic craftsmen became expert in alternatives Arabic, it nonetheless shows clear
such as ceramic, which was then richly decorated. Chinese influence.

THE ISLAMIC WORLD

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION COMBINE TO CREATE A UNIQUE HERITAGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS

Islamic arts and crafts were shaped by religious
restrictions, cultural heritage acquired through conquest,
and the elaboration of unique features, notably the use of
ornamentation and color, and inclusion of Arabic script.

Through its rapid conquest of a huge empire, the Islamic caliphate was inlaid with inscription
exposed to a diverse mix of cultural styles and heritages; Islamic art ornate reads “Allah,
reflects these while maintaining a high degree of homogeneity due to foliage Muhammad,
religious uniformity. Restrictions imposed by Islam, such as prohibitions Fatima, and
on representative art and on the use of gold and silver, generated creative
responses, especially stylized abstract designs, elaborate ornamentation, ‘Ali, Hasan,
strong use of color, and the use of Arabic script and Qu’ranic quotations. and Husayn”

Jade necklace Surgical scissors and scalpel
1875–1925 • ORIGIN UNKNOWN 10TH CENTURY • ORIGIN UNKNOWN
Islamic physicians made huge
This jade necklace is made from advances in medicine and surgery,
five pieces, all different in shape including devising a range of
and engraved with verses from surgical instruments such as the
the Qu’ran. Such artifacts mibda (scalpel) and miqass (scissors).
could serve as amulets with
quasi-magical powers.

script border to Khanjar
prevent clipping 19TH CENTURY • INDIA
Although from India, this curved,
double-edged dagger is actually
a traditional Omani blade. It is
decorated with ornate foliage,
a typical Islamic motif.

Pendant Coins Ornate gilded Shi’ite alam
18TH CENTURY • INDIA 720–910 • SYRIA/EGYPT 17TH CENTURY • IRAN
From the Indian Mughal Empire, this gold Coins from the Ummayad and Abbadis This alam, or standard, made
pendant shows how Muslim rulers sometimes caliphates, minted in Damascus and of brass and gold, symbolically
disregarded prohibitions on representative Cairo, bear Arabic text in place of recalls the Shi’ite standard planted
art and the use of precious metals. pictures of heads of state. at the Battle of Kerbala in 680.

134

head is hinged THE ISLAMIC WORLD
to body
rim markings
indicate city
or location

twisted cord

Bowl design in ochre, Feline incense burner Candlestick
1000–1199 • IRAN/IRAQ black, and white 11–12TH CENTURIES • IRAN/AFGHANISTAN 15TH CENTURY • MAMLUK EGYPT
Burners like this, in the shape of a big cat, To circumvent the prohibition on precious
The bold colors of this simple bowl are were used in the courts of Medieval Islamic metals, Islamic metalworkers became
kings—lions and cheetahs symbolized power. adept at combining baser metals like
typically Islamic, as is the interlacing cord The head tilts to allow insertion of charcoal. brass with silver and gold inlay.

design. The lace of highlighted detail lends

a meditative quality to the design.

Calligraphy scissors Qibla compass
1700–99 • IRAN
These scissors were used DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN
for shaping pens and brushes.
The blades are inlaid with This ornamental compass was
gold, a variety of damascening used to indicate the direction,
known as koftgari. qibla, of Mecca, so that
worshipers could orient
Pen case themselves properly for prayer.
1700–1899 • ORIGIN UNKNOWN
This hexagonal case for Islamic lamp
carrying pens bares
geometric shapes, DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN
a typical feature of
Islamic design. This hourglass-shaped lamp
bares a design of Arabic script
on the side, which is picked out
in vibrant blue, a ceramic dye
perfected by Islamic craftsmen.

bold colors no empty space Arabic script illuminations Illuminated Divan
and gold leaf left unfilled inscribed with flout normal 1800–99 • INDIA
careful calligraphy prohibitions A Divan, or Diwan, is a collection or anthology of poems,
inspired by ancient Persian poetry models. This illuminated
Divan of the Persian poet Hafez from 19th-century India
has typical Kashmiri painted lacquer covers.

135

1151–55 1156–60 1161–65

Monks Mound, the largest mound at Cahokia, is over 100ft (30m) high. The University of Bologna was The Hassan Tower in Rabat, Morocco, is all that was built of
It has been estimated that it took 15 million baskets of earth to make it. originally a school for jurists. what was intended to be an Almohad super-mosque.

THE CITY OF CAHOKIA SPRANG Mississippians, Cahokia would WITH ORIGINS DATING BACK TO The Bodhisattva Guanyin hereditary, and his son Yusuf
UP AT THE CLIMAX of the decline rapidly, within around PERHAPS 1088, BOLOGNA CLAIMS This 12th-century Chinese statue abn Ya’qub (1135–84) succeeded
Mississippian (or Cahokian) a century, with a return to low- to be the oldest university in the depicts the Buddhist deity Guanyin, him. He would spend most of his
culture of the American Bottom density farming communities. Western world (see 1116–20)— who protects those in danger— reign battling internal opposition,
(an area of the Mississippi river in the sense of an institution perhaps accounting for his popularity. although he was also noted for
valley). Around the mid-12th In 1152, Conrad III (b. 1093), specifically designated as a military success in Muslim Spain
century they constructed more king of the Romans, died and his universitas, as opposed to a IN 1161, THE SOUTHERN SONG and for his patronage of the arts.
than 100 mounds, including one nephew Frederick of Swabia, studium generale, as centers for REPULSED AN INCURSION by the
with a base that is larger than known as Barbarossa (see panel, teaching had previously been northern Jin (see 1126–30), In 1164, the Zengid emir Nur
that of the Great Pyramid at Giza, below) was elected as successor. known. In 1158, the emperor securing their kingdom from al-Din (1118–74) defeated the
along with a huge landscaped Of combined Welf and Waiblinger Frederick I (1122–90), on invasion. A peace treaty of 1165 Crusader princes at Artah.
plaza that may be the biggest parentage (see 1131–35), he the advice of scholars recognized an uneasy truce Throughout the 1160s, Nur al-Din
earthen city square in the world. brought relative peace to who may have been between the two powers. contested with the Crusader
The most remarkable feature of Germany. His coronation as Bologna alumni, granted kingdoms, particularly as they
Cahokia is the speed with which it emperor in Rome was delayed the university a charter, firmly The Almohad caliph Abd vied for control of the ailing
came into existence. Until around because the city was in the grip establishing the institution as al-Mu’min died in 1163, having
1050, Mississippians lived in of a revolutionary commune led an independent center of destroyed the Almoravids and Fatimid kingdom in Egypt,
small villages and had never built by radical reformer Arnold of scholarship. Early universities extended Almohad rule from led by the vizier Shawar.
on anything approaching this Brescia (1090–1155). Frederick tended to specialize in one Morocco to Tunisia (the province Amalric, who had become
scale. By the 1150s the city may allied with the papacy against field of study, and Bologna was of Ifriqiya). He made his office king of Jerusalem in 1162,
have covered 493 hectares (1,200 Arnold and Norman Sicily, making dedicated to law. was the first to occupy
acres) and been home to 30,000 his first expedition to Italy in 1154. Egypt, but Zengid success
people. Its cultural and economic The following year, in the face of In 1159, Alexander III
influence spread across the Roman hostility, he was crowned (c. 1100–81) was chosen as pope, at Artah forced him to march
Midwest, from the present by the new pope, Adrian IV although his election was north, leaving the way clear for
Canadian border to the Gulf Coast. (1100–59), but had to retreat to opposed by the emperor,
Perhaps because urban living Germany, abandoning Adrian, Frederick I. Frederick had Nur al-Din’s general Shirkuh
was so exceptional for the who was forced to ally himself once again invaded Italy, this and his nephew Saladin to
with the Normans. time intent on assuming his full invade Egypt (see 1167).
imperial inheritance. With the aid
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA (1122–90) of the League of Pavia (Bresci, Around the mid-12th
Parma, and others), he had century, the dense urban culture
Energetic and ambitious, subdued Milan and its associated of the ancient Pueblo peoples at
Frederick I was determined to cities, but at the Diet of Roncaglia, Chaco Canyon in North America
make Germany the dominant in 1158, he went too far. Harking collapsed, probably because their
state in Europe, and to reassert back to the Roman era, Frederick marginal system of agriculture
authority over all the imperial insisted that ancient law gave him had overtaxed the fragile dryland
lands in Italy. Aware of the the right to appoint an imperial ecology, leaving them vulnerable
historic context of his office, he podestà (local governor) to rule to drought. Dating of timbers from
desired to restore the imperial each city. Milan was pushed into the Chaco Canyon pueblos shows
crown to Roman-era glory, revolt, and other cities joined that the newest timbers date from
and began to style his realm them in forming a Lombard around the 1160s—in other words,
the Holy Roman Empire. In League under the auspices of the there was no construction after
Germany, he pacified rebels papacy. Alexander III would earn this. Other Pueblo, or Anasazi,
and expanded royal lands. the title “the Great” for leading sites show evidence from this
this anti-imperial rebellion. period of fortification, destruction,
and even cannibalism, but there
is also evidence of orderly
abandonment, presumably by
people moving to new sites.

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1166–70 1171–75

,, WILL NO ONE

,,RID ME OF THIS

TURBULENT
PRIEST?

Attributed to Henry II, 1170

The murder of Thomas Becket is depicted in stained glass at Canterbury Cathedral. Muhammad of Ghur, traveling by elephant, leads his
Canonized in 1173 , Becket became one of the most popular English saints. army in the Islamic conquest of India.

IN 1170, THOMAS BECKET, versus royal jurisdiction. During for instance, replaced the THE GHURIDS WERE A DYNASTY
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, the anarchy of Stephen’s reign Danegeld with new levies, but FOUNDED IN 1151 by Ala-ud-Din
was murdered in Canterbury (see 1136–40), clerical courts had it was the judicial reform that Husayn, who conquered much
Cathedral, England, by four encroached on areas previously brought him into conflict with his of Ghaznavid Afghanistan and
knights of the court of Henry II under royal jurisdiction. Following friend and chancellor Thomas founded a new state based at
(r. 1154–89). Although he swore Stephen’s death, Henry Becket. Becket had already Ghur in western Afghanistan. In
that he had not ordered the crime, Plantagenet came to the throne. been forced into exile after being 1173, Ghiyas-ud-Din became
and was absolved of responsibility He controlled England alongside found guilty of violating the emir, making his brother
by Pope Alexander in 1172, the territories of Anjou, Constitutions of Clarendon Mu’izz-du-Din, better known as
Henry’s famous outburst (see Normandy, and Aquitaine—known (see 1164). On his return he vexed Muhammad of Ghur, co-emir.
above) had prompted the action of as the Angevin Empire—and set Henry by excommunicating Together the brothers brought
the knights. The context for this about instituting a badly needed royally favored bishops. most of Afghanistan under their
outrage was an ongoing dispute reorganization of his new control, and in 1175 Muhammad
over the extent of ecclesiastical kingdom. Taxation reforms, At its height, in the late 12th launched the Islamic invasion of
century, the commercial empire northern India.
tablet in clay of Srivijaya, based in Sumatra,
with molded controlled much of the Malay The Spanish rabbi Benjamin of
design Archipelago. Its authority Tudela (1130–73) was the first
extended to colonies around the recorded European to have
East Indies and as far as Sri approached the borders of China, Leaning Tower of Pisa
Lanka and Taiwan. Srivijayan in an epic journey he made from Pisa’s famous leaning tower is 179ft
power was based almost 1159 to 1173. His account, The (54.5m) tall and 57ft (17.5m) in
exclusively on its maritime Travels of Benjamin of Tudela, diameter at the base.
prowess. By securing the seas recounts many exotic legends,
in the region against piracy, they including Noah’s Ark resting that rejected many of the teachings
enabled and directed trade on Mount Ararat. of Catholicism. Despite initial
between China, India, and the blessing by Pope Alexander III,
Islamic world, but imposition of In the medieval period, the city the Waldensians’ refusal to abide
heavy duties and taxes stoked of Pisa, in Tuscany, became the by his injunction against preaching
resentment and, eventually, revolt. center of a thriving city-state. Its led to their denunciation as
cathedral was constructed in the heretics in 1179 and a long history
Frederick I’s fourth expedition 11th century, but in 1173 work of persecution (see 1206–10).
to Italy, beginning in 1166, began on a separate bell tower.
prompted the renewal of the Even during construction the In 1174, the Zengid emir Nur
Lombard League (see 1156–60) foundations sank and the tower al-Din died. His nephew Saladin,
and the construction of the mighty began to slant. Eventually it who had already assumed control
fortress town Alessandria, came to lean 15ft (4.5m) from of Egypt, quickly marched north to
named for the pope. With this the perpendicular. secure Syria, and was duly
citadel guarding the mountain recognized as sultan of Egypt and
passes, Italy became virtually During the 1170s, a new Syria by the caliph in Baghdad,
independent of imperial authority. religious movement emerged founding the Ayyubid dynasty.
in Lyons. Also known as the Poor
Votive tablet Men of Lyons and the Vaudois,
This votive tablet from the trading the Waldenses were led by Peter
empire of Srivijaya is engraved Waldes (c. 1140–1218), a rich
with Buddhist figures. The ruling merchant who gave away his
Sailendras were ardent Buddhists. property and began to preach a
radical creed of gospel simplicity

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1176–80 1181–85

,, SALADIN’S HOPE HAD AN
EASY PASSAGE, HIS PATHS WERE

,,FRAGRANT, HIS GIFTS POURED

OUT, … HIS POWER WAS MANIFEST,
HIS AUTHORITY SUPREME.

Imad al Din, Secretary to Saladin, from Lightning of Syria, c.1200

This depiction of the Battle of Yashima during the Gempei Wars illustrates a
heavily armed Minamoto discovering the terrified mother of Emperor Taira.

EMPEROR FREDERICK comprehensive Peace of COAL AND IRON IN BY THE 1180s, THE CRUSADER Saladin mobilized his army,
BARBARROSA’S FIFTH EXPEDITION Constance in 1183 (see 1181–85). MEDIEVAL EUROPE KINGDOMS OF OUTREMER (“beyond intent on punishing Reynald, but
TO ITALY in 1176 (see also the sea,” as they were known in his progress was checked by
1151–55) ended in disaster for the Now reconciled with the Growing populations, new Europe) were in an increasingly Frankish fortresses and another
imperial forces when his army emperor, Pope Alexander III was agricultural implements, and precarious position. Europe was prolonged famine. In 1185,
was crushed at the Battle of able to call an ecumenical council constant military activity deaf to entreaties for Crusader Baldwin died and his sickly infant
Legnano. The battle marked one at the Lateran Palace in Rome, increased the demand for reinforcements, and the Christian nephew inherited the crown as
of the earliest occasions in the in 1179. The council decreed that iron in the Middle Ages. Byzantines were preoccupied with Baldwin V (1177–86).
medieval era when cavalry were papal elections would be solely Charcoal was still the main other matters, such as war with
defeated by infantry. This had in the hands of the cardinals, and source of power for iron Norman Sicily. Meanwhile, their In 1183, the peace between
class implications as knights on that a two-thirds majority was forges, but deforestation Muslim opponents were gathering Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and
horseback generally belonged to needed to elect a pope. It was caused wood shortages. under the leadership of Saladin, or his Italian foes was ratified as the
the feudal aristocracy, while hoped that this would draw a As a consequence, demand Salah al-Din, (c. 1137–93) the Peace of Constance, but although
footmen with pikes represented line under years of contention for coal increased and sultan of Egypt and Syria. By 1183, imperial authority over Italy was
freemen of the rising bourgeoisie. between papal candidates scavenging for sea coal was he had suppressed Christian rebels recognized, the Lombard cities
In 1177, Frederick was forced to elected by the antiimperial party increasingly supplemented at Edessa and Aleppo, and with were granted effective autonomy.
concede the Peace of Venice with and “anti-popes”—persons by mining. The first record both sides reeling from the effects
the pope; a prelude to the more selected by the emperor to of a coal mine comes from of a drought, had brokered a peace The Battle of Dannoura of 1185
oppose the legitimately elected Escomb near Durham, in treaty with the leper king of marked the climax of the Gempei
northern England in 1183. Jerusalem, Baldwin IV Wars. Warrior Minamoto
or sitting pope. (c. 1161–85). The uneasy peace was Yoshitsune, younger brother of
In 1176, the army marked the end of Taira shattered, however, by the actions Yoritomo, the founder of the
domination of Japan (see of Reynald of Châtillon, an shogunate, destroyed the Taira in
of Byzantine 641–650), and the start of the adventurer from the Second the naval battle.
emperor Manuel Minamoto shogunate. Civil Crusade, who persistently raided
Commenus was wars in 1156 and 1159 had left unarmed caravans of Islamic Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria
destroyed by the control of Japan in the hands of pilgrims, and sponsored a pirate Saladin escapes from battle on
Turks of the Taira no Kiyomori (c.1118–81), fleet that pillaged the Red Sea. a camel in this 18th-century
Sultanate of Rum who quickly assumed a similar engraving. He was renowned as
(see 1100–05) level of power to the Fujiwara a generous and principled leader.
at the Battle of clan (see 851–860). Not only did
Myriocephalum. he act as prime minister, but he
The Byzantines were also married his daughters to the
never again able to imperial family, enabling him to
send land forces to place his infant grandson on the
help the Crusaders. throne as emperor in 1180. But
his excessive lust for power and
The Gempei Wars perceived corruption alienated his
(1180–85) in Japan provincial supporters, and in the
same year there was an uprising
Pope Alexander III by the Minamoto clan against
This 14th-century Taira rule, which grew into the
fresco shows five-year-long Gempei Wars.
Pope Alexander III
presenting a sword
to the Venetian Doge
for use against the
emperor, Frederick
Barbarossa.

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138

1186–90 1191–1200

The Horns of Hattin, an extinct volcano crowned with two rocky outcrops, King Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart, is shown
was the site of the Battle of Hattin in 1187. leading Crusaders into battle.

ON JULY 4, 1187, THE CRUSADER 200 Templars and Hospitallers horns made of THE THIRD CRUSADE was CRUSADER ARMOR
ARMY WAS DEFEATED by the were executed, while Saladin gilded wood hampered by infighting among
forces of Saladin. The Crusader personally beheaded Reynald. the European factions of the 69 lb THE WEIGHT
forces were led by the new king of King Guy was later released, OF ARMOR
Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, who but, with his army annihilated, Crusaders of Outremer,
had seized power on the death it was easy for Saladin to cow and although Richard the 3.3 lb THE WEIGHT
of the infant Baldwin V in 1186. many of the remaining Lionheart won most of his OF A SWORD
Baldwin’s regents had negotiated Crusader strongholds into battles, he was unable to
another truce with Saladin, but surrender. He took Acre in July achieve his sworn aim of 0.4 lb THE WEIGHT
and Jerusalem in October. Tyre, “liberating” Jerusalem. The OF A MACE
3:2 Battle of Hattin Antioch, Tripoli, and a few castles Crusade had already gotten off
Saladin’s troops were all that remained of the to a bad start (see 1186–90), and city. With continued infighting
outnumbered the Crusader kingdoms. there were further delays en route among the Crusader barons, the
Crusaders by 30,000 to 20,000, yet when, in 1191, Richard stopped to murder of Conrad of Montferrat
his success was owed to his tactics The Crusader kingdom of conquer Byzantine Cyprus. He by Assassins (see 1081–90)
and the Christians’ desperate thirst. Outremer had been pleading for sold the island to the Templars, soon after being made king,
European assistance for years who would later pass it on to the reinforcements arriving for
once again, Reynald of Châtillon and the fall of Jerusalem in diminished Crusader kingdoms, Saladin, and bad news from
had broken it, raiding a caravan of 1187 finally prompted Pope where it became one of the main England—where his brother John
pilgrims and provoking Saladin Gregory VIII to preach a new supports for continuing Christian was scheming to seize the
into a final campaign to sweep the Crusade. The dispatch of presence in the Holy Land. On crown—Richard was forced to
Holy Land clear of the Christian Anglo-French forces was arriving in Palestine, Richard conclude a peace treaty with
principalities. Goaded by Reynald, delayed by disputes between joined Philip II of France in the Saladin in 1192. Outremer would
King Guy led a combined force Henry II of England and Philip siege of Acre, which was henceforth be confined to a 90
of Crusader knights, Templars, II of France, and then by the actually a double siege—King mile (145km) coastal strip, from
Hospitallers, and English death of Henry and the Tyre to Jaffa, along with Antioch
mercenaries (see 1116–20) across accession of Richard I in Guy had laid siege to the city and Tripoli.
a waterless plateau in the blazing 1189. Richard I and Philip II on his release from captivity
heat to take up a position on finally set out in late 1190. (see 1186–90), but Saladin In 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo
the Horns of Hattin, an extinct Frederick Barbarossa had (see 1181–85) awarded himself
volcano. Between them and Lake already set out overland in had then encircled his the title Seii tai-shogun
Tiberias—the main source of 1189, but was drowned en forces. Acre was taken by (“barbarian-subduing great
fresh water for the thirst-crazed route the following year. the Crusaders in July and general”). Since the end of the
knights—lay the well-rested and much of the population Gempei Wars, Yoritomo had
provisioned army of Saladin. metal plated was massacred. Philip II dispatched all challengers,
Using raiding tactics, Saladin gloves or tekko returned to France, but including his brother Yoshitsune.
drove the Crusaders into Richard I had sworn to As undisputed military dictator,
desperate confusion, surrounding skirts split for ease liberate Jerusalem, and his bakufu, or administration, at
and capturing them all. More than of movement marched along the coast, Kamakura now supplanted the
retaking towns and defeating imperial court. Japan would be
Samurai armor Saladin at Arsuf in September. ruled by shoguns—military
This beautifully presented Although he would go on to dictators—for centuries to come.
Japanese armor dates from clear Muslim forces from
the 19th century, though the the rest of the coastal strip, In 1192, the Ghurids of Persia
first samurai warriors fought and camp within sight of defeated a Hindu rebellion at the
with similar armor in the Jerusalem, Richard did not Battle of Taraori near Thanesar in
12th century. India. The following year, Delhi was
have the forces he needed taken and Muhammad of Ghur
to take and hold the holy founded the Sultanate of Delhi.

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“the
139

1201–05 1206–10

A Persian painting shows Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan, battling the Peterhouse College, Cambridge, was
Tartars. The Tartar tribes fought constantly with the Mongols. founded 75 years after the university.

POPE INNOCENT III HAD Constantinople, where relations avenged the destruction of the BY 1206, TEMUJIN HAD UNITED
capital by deposing the Champa ALL THE TRIBES OF MONGOLIA into
PROCLAIMED A NEW CRUSADE in with the Byzantines quickly king in 1191, suppressed a revolt the Khamag Mongol Ulus, “the All
in the west, restored Angkor, and Mongol State,” reorganizing tribal
1199, intent on restoring papal soured; the city was taken for the finally gained ascendancy over the society into an army grouped on a
Champa kingdom. Jayavarman decimal system. At the Mongolian
supervision to the crusading first time in its history, and was made Mahayana Buddhism the capital of Karakorum, he took the
state religion and taxed the title Chinggis Khan or “ruler of the
movement, and hoping to reunite brutally sacked. A new Latin resources of the kingdom to build world.” His name is now most
great temples, as well as hospitals, commonly spelled “Genghis.”
the Greek and Latin churches to Empire of the East was shrines, roads, and bridges. One In 1208, Pope Innocent III
of his temples, Preah Khan, was proclaimed a crusade against
fulfill his vision of a single proclaimed under a new emperor, served by 98,000 retainers. heretics in the south of France—
the Albigensians (Cathars based
Christian dominion under the Baldwin of Flanders, while Venice In around 1200, the Chimú state, around Albi) and Waldenses
centered on their capital at Chan (see 1171–75). Their teachings
papacy. In 1201, envoys met was awarded nearly half the city, Chan in the Moche Valley in Peru, challenged the worldliness of the
began to expand. Their power established church, while their
Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, to numerous Mediterranean islands, rested on their mastery of anticlericalism attracted nobles
intensive agriculture techniques keen to appropriate church lands;
arrange passage to Egypt for the and other territories. Although the and elaborate irrigation. At Chan the Cathars, for instance, were
Chan, Chimú leaders built under the protection of Raymond
Fourth Crusade. Under the Byzantine emperors relocated to citadels, or palaces, high-walled of Toulouse, who ruled much of
buildings with audience chambers southern France. The pope’s
Peace of Venice (see 1176–80), Byzantine Nicaea, the Fourth and storage depots. It is believed declaration gave license to the
that each new Chimú ruler was French king, Philip II (1165–1223),
the Venetians agreed to transport Crusade marked the end of the obliged to build and fund his own to allow his northern lords to
citadel, which drove the expansion wreak havoc in areas outside of
33,500 men and 4,500 horses for a Byzantine Empire as a true power, of the empire.
KILL THEM
payment of 85,000 marks. In which discredited the Crusading In 1202, the mathematician
Leonardo of Pisa, better known as ,,ALL, GOD
addition, they would supply 50 war movement and helped the Turks. Fibonacci (c. 1177–1250),
produced the most influential WILL KNOW
galleys in return for half of the In the late 12th century, the book in European mathematics to HIS OWN.
date, the Liber Abaci, or Book of
Crusaders’ conquests. Mongolian and Turkic nomads of Jayavarman VII Calculation. Based on Arabic Abbot Arnaud Amaury, on the
When the Crusaders gathered in the steppes were fearsome but This bronze statue of King mathematics, it introduced Albigensian Crusade
disunited. Temujin (c. 1162–1227), Jayavarman VII, in Mahayana Europe to Hindu numerals (0–9)
Venice in 1202, it transpired that who later became known as Buddhist style, portrays a serene and to the word zephirum, a
there were too few of them, and Genghis Khan, was a minor and contemplative king. Latinized version of an Arabic
they could not pay the agreed word that, in the Venetian
dialect, became
bill. Instead, they agreed to help leader who became a nokhor zero in algebra,
addition, and
Venice by taking Zara, Dalmatia— (companion) to Toghril, Khan of neighboring Tartar tribes in 1202, the Fibonacci
sequence.
a rich source of wood for Venetian the Kereits, the dominant tribe in but inciting resentment among

galleys. Pope Innocent protested, Central Mongolia. Through ability other Kereits so that in 1203 he

but worse was to come. In 1204, and charisma, he rose to become clashed with Toghril himself. He

the Crusaders arrived in a great general, crushing the emerged from this confrontation ,,

as the dominant leader among

the Mongol tribes.

Jayavarman VII (c. 1125–1220)

Novgorod CHAGATAI had returned from exile to claim

Bolgar KHANATE OF THE KHANATE the Khmer crown in 1181. He

Kiev GOLDEN HORDE Karakorum

ASIA

EUROPE Gran Tashkent EMPIRE OF THE KEY
GREAT KHAN

Constantinople Bukhara Beijing Campaigns of Genghis
Khan 1206-1227
Mediterranean Trebizond Nishapur Kashgar Ningxia JAPAN
Sea Hamadan Herat Balkh Lhasa Empire of Genghis
Kaifeng Khan 1227

IL-KHANATE Kabul CHINA Ningbo

Medina Patna Dali
BURMA Guangzhou
Mecca Silk road
AFRICA INDIA Pagan
Arabian Hanoi Map of Genghis Khan’s empire
Sea
South

China
Sea Temujin would go on to unite the Mongol

tribes and conquer a huge empire. His

successors would extend it still further.

c. o1f2PC0ehC0rihumEa,múnceeECnrmhgteaeprnniercdeeoinn 12o0f1dRaEiygsaLtaa(bitnvliispahr)emseenntt- 12o0f2PEhKnFirgilnleligpanncIJIhdofhlobanranthdtlisses 12Z0a2raCrinusDaadlemrast1tiaa2Tk0oe3MghTorenimlgtouoljiibanencoloveemardeceodrmome1s2iCn0oa4nnCtstraunstaidneorpslesack 12B0u5dlegSafaeenracdiotacsnnaLdpEatmtuirnpeiEsremBpailrdewin I 12t0a6kKehTcsaeontmnitqauleunjiednG1s2ebtS0neou6gdgflhyitAQnanisssunaitasobtfy-Duodef-lshdliia,nvfeoAuikbninadkgs,s, India
1205 HojoshYoroegsguhenintaottkeoi,fbiKnpeaaecmurorigmuoauldkeeruosairnftaiHnJgoajpoan 12p0rCo9rcuPlasoiapmdeesInAinnlboLciagenengntusIeIiFIadrnBoa1cne2,cz0eie9rMs,aLbsasynaCgcrruueesdoaofdce,rs
cE. 1m2p0Jih0areeyKiarghvehmaatrceumhrneadsnerVII 12b0o2oFkibLoibneaprcrAcoidb’suaccie1d201mTarkeeasFtyopuroorfvtVhiseCinorincuefsoarde 1204BLaEalsdttiownafbiEnBlimysI zhapamninrdeteipnnuatenrodEtfiemtiropni1re204mJoosht nFroetfnhEcenhAgtnleagrnerdivtiolnorsiEeemsspofire

140

1211–15 1216–20 1221–25

,, ,,I AM THE

PUNISHMENT
OF GOD...

Genghis Khan, Mongolian warlord

This 19th-century oil painting depicts the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, A detail from the south gate of the
said to have been the decisive battle of the Reconquista. great Khmer city of Angkor Thom.

PERSECUTION OF PETER II OF ARAGON (1178–1213) law when it suited him. The barons 26 DOMINGO DE GUZMAN, A CASTILIAN
THE CATHARS AND ALFONSO VIII OF CASTILE revolted and after a brief civil war, CLERIC, DIED IN 1221. In 1203, he
(1155–1214) defeated the John was forced to sign the Articles FEET had gone to Rome to ask
Although only 200 Cathars Almohads (see 1146–50) at the of the Barons, known in history as permission to do missionary work
lived in the town of Beziers Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Great Charter or Magna Carta. THE HEIGHT OF with the Tartars (see 1201–10), but
in Languedoc, Crusaders 1212. Alfonso had earlier been Although this mainly concerned the THE WALLS OF was sent to France to preach to
massacred the entire crushingly defeated by the rights of barons, its statement that ANGKOR THOM the Cathars of Languedoc
population in 1209. Asked Almohads in 1195 but had fought the king was not above the law was instead. By adopting absolute
how the attackers should off invasions by the other Christian an important milestone for human poverty, he was able to challenge
distinguish between Spanish kingdoms and rebuilt his rights. King John immediately the Cathars and make some
Catholics and heretics, army. After this decisive victory, the disowned the charter, and war headway, although ultimately his
crusade leader Abbot Almohads were soon expelled from failure to “correct” the heretics led
Amaury is reputed to have Spain, leaving only local Muslim 3 clauses 4 surviving to the Albigensian Crusade (see
given his famous order to dynasties that could not stand up to still in use copies 1206–10). However, like Francis of
“kill them all.” In its pursuit the Christian advance. Accordingly, Assisi (see 1226–30), he had
of Cathars, the papacy would this battle is traditionally said to be 63 40 JAYAVARMAN VII DIED IN AROUND created a new kind of monastic
eventually create the a decisive point in the Christian 1220, having seen his greatest order—the Dominicans—adapted
Inquisition (see 1231–35). reconquest or Reconquista of CLAUSES ORIGINAL COPIES creation take shape. At Angkor, in to the new urban culture. The
Moorish Spain (see 1241–45). modern-day Cambodia, he Dominicans and Franciscans
his control, preparing the way for The Magna Carta created a new city, Angkor Thom, were mendicant friars, mainly
an expansion of royal power. Having lost most of his lands in Of the 63 clauses contained in the centered on the great temple of recruited from the middle classes,
France, King John of England original Magna Carta, only three Bayon. The temple comprises living off charity rather than
In 1209, Cambridge University (1166–1216) joined in alliance with survive as laws today. Numerous towers decorated with huge farming, and devoted to preaching
was founded by scholars who had Emperor Otto IV (1178–1215) and copies were made, to be distributed sculpted faces; the identities of and charity in towns and cities.
relocated from Oxford. By 1226, others, but they were crushed at around England; four survive. these are disputed, although they
they had acquired some formal the Battle of Bouvines in Flanders may include Jayavarman himself. A largely ineffective affair, the
organization. in 1214 by Philip II of France and broke out once more, this time Fifth Crusade was the fruit of
the rival German emperor, with added French involvement. Having conquered most of Pope Innocent’s determination to
Frederick II. This ended Anglo- Retreating from a French invasion Central Asia and northern China, reboot the Crusading movement.
Norman hopes of regaining French force in 1216, the king lost his Genghis Khan’s empire (see Targeting Egypt, the Crusaders
territories. King John’s barons baggage train—and his royal 1201–05) now bordered the took that but then lost Damietta,
were forced to concentrate on treasure—while crossing the Wash Khwarazm Empire of Persia. and failed to account for the Nile
England, where they had cause for in Lincolnshire, England, and died floods, which foiled their advance
discontent. Thanks to a dispute soon after. His infant son, Henry III Mongolian dagger on Cairo. They high-handedly
with the pope, the king had been (1207–72) came to the throne. The Mongolians had a deservedly rejected a treaty offered by the
briefly excommunicated. More fearsome reputation. After archers sultan that would have given them
importantly, he was taxing the had decimated the enemy, fighters Jerusalem, and left Egypt in 1221
barons heavily and invalidating the with hand weapons would close in. having accomplished nothing.

12C0a9EmnFgbolruaindndgdiengUnoifver1s2iEt0ym9, pOetrtoorIV elected 12c1o1CneGqinnuevtenrargadslheKAissasJKiraianh-aaCKnnhhdiintaai, 12G1e1erlCmetoicvatOineltdystoatrrisIviVfaFelrieenmdepr1ei2crd1oke2rITIBoalottslae,oSfpLaains1N2d1ae4avfaetPsaBhtaialtitnplteIiI-oCafnaBpdoeFutrivaeindneearslil,ciaFknrIacIence 12K1i6EnngDgeJlaoathnh1nd2oJo(1fbaf8.y 1aD1ve6aa6rtm)h aonf VII (b. 1125) 12C2r1wuFisDtaihfadtmlheosieesnttdoafsand 1re2(t2br1.De 1aoD1tme7a0int)h,icfaoonfu1sSn2tdK.2ehD1SraoaGonmmfestniaahngrceikhckaissnd
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141

1226–30 1231–35 1236–40

This 13th-century painting by Giotto di Bonodore This 14th-century image shows Pope Steppe landscape; little changed
shows St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds. Gregory IX receiving a list of heretics. since the days of the Mongol Empire.

1,000,000 IN 1231, POPE GREGORY IX ON HIS DEATH, GENGHIS KHAN had
established the Papal Inquisition, informally divided his empire
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE a campaign by the church among four of his sons. Given
KILLED DURING THE against heresy. Prior to 1231, the authority over the west, Batu
ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE investigation of heresy had been Khan (c. 1207–55) established the
the responsibility of bishops but Kipchak Khanate, also known as
THE RENEWAL OF THE was followed eventually by the Crusader coin it now became the preserve of the Golden Horde Khanate. In
ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE (see submission of Raymond VII, Count A rare Crusader coin from the specialist inquisitors, mostly the winter of 1237, when the
1206–10) in 1226 was in spite of of Toulouse —the Cathars’ Kingdom of Jerusalem illustrates drawn from the Dominican and frozen rivers allowed his cavalry
the Pope declaring an “official” protector. Under the Treaty of the effects of intermingling policy: Franciscan orders (see 1221–25). to cross, Batu invaded Russia.
end to the Crusade at the Fourth Meaux (also known as the Peace the inscription is written in Arabic. In 1233, the Dominicans were Over the next four years, his
Lateran Council of 1215. In reality, of Paris) of 1229, the town of charged with bringing the armies conquered the Russian
the battle for the south of France Toulouse was ceded to the Meanwhile, Emperor Frederick II Inquisition to Languedoc in principalities and blazed a trail of
descended into vicious guerrilla Capetian dynasty—the ruling of Germany realized that peace France, where the Cathar heresy destruction deep into Central
warfare. Renewal of the Crusade house of France from 987 to 1328. with the Muslims was better than clung on despite the military Europe. Under the overlordship
military adventures that could not defeat of the Count of Toulouse of Ogodei (see 1231–35), the
be won. In 1229, he concluded a (see 1226–30). expanding reach of the Mongol
treaty with the sultan of Egypt that Empire had important
restored Jerusalem and some Mongolian expansion implications for pan-Eurasian
surrounding land to the Christians. continued, although Genghis trade. The Pax Mongolica or
The Sixth Crusade thus passed Khan (see 1201–05) had died “Mongol Peace” achieved in the
without bloodshed, although in 1227 while suppressing a lands under Mongolian control
Frederick was roundly condemned rebellion in Xia Xia in China. He made the perilous passage
for this achievment. was succeeded by his second son, across Central Asia and the silk
Ogodei (c. 1186–1241), who was road increasingly viable, enabling
A former soldier, Francis of still more ambitious. Ogodei sent the first direct contact between
Assisi, had founded the armies to the east and west, Europeans and the Chinese
Franciscan order in 1209 (see leading the final assault on the since Roman times in
1221–25). In 1224, he received the Chinese Jin Empire (see 1126– around 1240.
stigmata (the wounds of Christ), 30), which was conquered by
and he was canonized just two 1234. The Southern Song had By 1236, the Teutonic
years after his death in 1226. aided the Mongol advance, but Knights—a military order formed
when they tried to seize Kaifeng in 1198 by German merchants
Cathar stronghold in northern China in 1235, the serving at the Hospital of St. Mary
The Cathar castle of Peyrepertuse in Mongols turned on them. of the Teutons in Jerusalem—had
the Pyrenees was located in a completed the subjugation of the
strategic defensive position on the In 1235, Sundiata, king of the Pomeranians, a pagan tribe in
French–Spanish border. Keita, a Mande people from Prussia. Under their grand
sub-Saharan Mali, defeated the master, Hermann von Salza
Susu king Sumnaguru at the (c. 1179–1239), the knights
Battle of Kirina. The Susu had established numerous
destroyed the old Ghana Empire strongholds, and in 1237, they
(c. 830–1235), and Sundiata now merged with the Livonian
built a new Mande empire on the Brothers of the Sword and
ruins of Ghana. advanced into Livonia (present-
day Estonia and Latvia).

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1241–45 1246–50

This miniature from the Annalistic Code of the 16th century depicts the “Battle of the Ice,” In this 16th-century painting, Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Lon, accepts
fought on the frozen waters of Lake Peipus, Novgorod. the surrender of the city of Seville from the Moors in 1248.

IN 1241, THE GERMAN TRADING Medieval trade traditional, Batu withdrew his IN 1247, FERDINAND III OF CASTILE Theobald of Navarre had
TOWNS OF LUBECK AND HAMBURG A manuscript forces back to Karakorum, the AND LEON (c. 1199–1252) laid launched a crusade in 1239, but
formed an alliance to protect the illumination of the port Mongol capital, for the election siege to the Moorish city of Seville. it was so unsuccessful that it is
Baltic trade routes. This was the of Hamburg, a founder of a new leader. Elsewhere, It fell to him in 1248, and with it not usually recognized as an
first act in the formation of the member of the Mongol forces had penetrated the last Moorish kingdom in ordinate crusade; Louis’ crusade
Hanseatic League (from the Hanseatic League, the Indian subcontinent, sacking Spain—with the exception of of 1248 is accounted the
medieval Latin hansa, meaning which had its roots in Lahore in 1241. Granada. Here, Mohammad Seventh, the last Crusade of this
a group or association). Lübeck an alliance of 1241 ibn-Yusuf ibn Nasr had magnitude ever undertaken.
quickly became the center of with Lübeck. In 1244, Jerusalem, which established the Nasrid dynasty in Louis landed in Egypt and took
expanding German trade in the had been under partial Christian 1230. By 1238, the Nasrids had Damietta without opposition, but
Baltic region, which extended to extend their control since Frederick II’s treaty begun to reconstruct an old in 1250 his army was destroyed
along the Russian rivers as far Livonian territories with the sultan of Egypt (see fortress, the Alhambra, which by the Egyptians at Fariskur and
as Novgorod, and linked to the eastward and launch 1226–30), was lost to medieval would become one of the wonders he was taken captive. His mother,
European trading centers of the conversion of the Christians for the final time. The of world architecture by the Blanche of Castile, raised a large
England and Flanders. Russians from the Egyptian sultan, Ayyub, was mid-14th century (see 1350–55). ransom to buy his freedom.
Greek to the Roman engaged in a contest with the In 1246, the emir of Granada
In 1242, the efforts of the church were checked Syrian branch of the Ayyubids agreed to become Ferdinand’s The Mamluks (or Mamelukes)
Teutonic Knights (see 1236–40) by defeat at the (see 1171–75) at Damascus, vassal, but the last relic of of Egypt were slave soldiers
Battle of Lake which had allied itself with the Moorish al-Andalus would resist captured from Turkic and
RECONQUISTA Peipus. Led by Christian Crusader kingdoms. Christian pressure until 1492 (see Circassian tribes (of the Pontic–
Alexander Nevski, In 1244, Ayyub’s forces overran 1490–92). Caspian steppes), who formed the
The notion of the prince of Novgorod, Jerusalem and expelled the main component of the Ayyubid
Reconquista—the Christian the Russians Christians. Louis IX of France (1214–70) army. Eventually they became
reconquest of Islamic Spain— checked the knights’ progress and was much respected throughout strong enough to take power for
as a single, continuous Lake Peipus thereafter served as Europe and had a reputation themselves murdering Turan
project, is a myth, first created the eastern limit of Livonia. for justice. Under his reign, royal Shah, the last Ayyubid sultan of
by clerical propagandists in control was extended to the Egypt, in 1250. At first the Mamluk
the 14th century. In practice, In a series of stunning victories Mediterranean, and the previously commander Izz-ad-Din Aybak
the advance of the Christian in Eastern and Central Europe, autonomous realms of Languedoc used the sultan’s widow as a
kingdoms was by degrees, the Mongol armies destroyed all and Provence would become part puppet ruler, but he soon married
driven by the need for land, opposition. Early in 1241, an army of French Capetian territories. In her and founded the Mamluk
and facilitated by Muslim of horsemen crossed the frozen 1244, Louis “took the cross,” dynasty, the first slave dynasty to
dissention and advances in Vistula River into Poland, sacking embarking on a crusade in 1248. hold power in its own name.
military technology. Kracow and defeating an alliance
of Poles, Silesians, and Teutonic THE CRUSADES
Knights at Leignitz in April.
Just three days later, another 1096–99 FIRST CRUSADE
force under Batu (see 1236–40) 1145–49 SECOND CRUSADE
overwhelmed the Hungarian 1189–92 THIRD CRUSADE
army in their camp at Mohi. By 1202–04 FOURTH CRUSADE
December, Batu was destroying 1213–21 FIFTH CRUSADE
Pest, the largest city in Hungary. 1228–29 SIXTH CRUSADE
The Mongols had reached the 1248–54 SEVENTH CRUSADE
gates of Vienna when, in 1242, the
news reached them that Ogodei,
the Great Khan, had died. As was

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143

600–1449 TRADE AND INVENTION

sharp
obsidian blade

eagle head
sculpted
in gold

Lip ornament Human mask Warrior effigy pot

AZTEC/MIXTEC AZTEC MOCHE

This eagle-shaped lip plug, or labret, Found at the Great Temple of the This pot from the Moche culture of the
would have been worn by a member of Aztecs in their capital Tenochtitlán north coast of Peru shows a warrior in
the Aztec elite. The Mixtec, a conquered (now Mexico City), this greenstone a headdress grasping a club. Constant
tribe, made most Aztec gold jewelry. mask was a votive offering. warfare was a way of life.

THE AZTECS, heavy wooden
handle

INCAS, AND MAYA
THE EXTRAORDINARY ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA THAT SPANNED MILLENNIA

The Incas, Aztecs, and Maya were advanced civilizations Obsidian knife
with sophisticated arts and crafts and highly developed
graphic systems. The artifacts they created dazzled the AZTEC
medieval European invaders and still fascinate today.
Long-bladed, razor-sharp
The art and culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and obsidian knives such as
the Andes represent the height of ancient traditions stretching back to the this one were used by
4th millennium BCE. The conquistadors had a devastating effect on these warriors and in the gory
cultures, but the artifacts that survive are a testament to their rich heritage. human sacrifices practiced
Much of Incan culture came from client states, such as the Moche, while the by the Aztecs.
Aztecs and Mayans derived theirs from older cultures, such as the Olmecs.
Maquahuitl
Sun stone
AZTEC
AZTEC
Lacking iron or steel, pre-Columbian
This sun stone, or calendar stone, is the Americans used obsidian (volcanic
largest Aztec sculpture ever found. glass) to form cutting edges. The
It represents the Aztecs’ mythical maquahuitl—a wooden club fringed
history of the universe. The Sun, with obsidian blades—was a
believed to have been formed common Aztec weapon.
in the most recent era of
creation, is at the center. skin of flayed
victim
decorated with
pictoglyphs

band showing
days of month

disc is 13 ft (4 m) Xipe Totec, god of the springtime Priceless heart
across
AZTEC AZTEC

The name of this grisly god translates as The heart was considered the most
“our flayed lord”; he is depicted wearing precious organ that could be offered to
the skin of a sacrificial victim, denoting the gods, and this replica was carved in
the spring renewal of the Earth’s “skin.” jade, which the Aztecs regarded as their
most valuable substance.

Necklace THE AZTECS, INCAS, AND MAYA

INCA Tomb figurine

Turquoise was highly valued by the INCA
Incas (Aztecs and Mayans preferred
jade and other greenstones), and this This cast gold figurine
rare necklace is made from beads representing an Inca god
of gold, turquoise, and red shell. made up part of the grave
goods interred in the tomb
hunter disguised ornate of a high-status individual.
as deer headdress
size and position of
heavy knots records numbers
earplugs
Panpipes

INCA

Known in Europe
as the syrinx, the
panpipes were
among the most
common Inca musical
instruments. This unusual
set is made of quills from
the feathers of a condor.

elaborate
carvings

Decorative plate Greenstone yoke Counting device

MAYA MAYA INCA

This plate from the Yucatán Maya shows hunting Yokes were worn as protective belts in the This quipu, or counting device, was a
scenes—in the center, a hunter drapes a deer he sacred ball game ulama, played by most versatile accounting tool that helped
has caught across his head and shoulders, while Mesoamerican cultures. This ornate yoke the Incas keep track of the tribute and
around the edges other hunters wear deer masks. was probably a ceremonial replica. population of their empire—data was
recorded in lengths of string and knots.
Codex Tro–Cortesianus Jaina figurine bars and dots
represent numbers codex was read
MAYA MAYA from top to bottom,
then left to right
One of only four surviving Mayan codices, This pottery figure from the island of Jaina
this one records instructions for divination shows a powerful man dressed in all his
(predicting the future) and priestly rituals. finery, with a heavy bead necklace, massive
Sheets of bark paper were coated in gesso headdress, and ear plugs.
(chalky paste) to form a writing surface.

145

1251–55 1256–60

Although not as sophisticated as Mayan hieroglyphs, Aztec pictographs such This illustration of Mongols battling the Seljuks is from a chronicle by Rashid
as the one shown could express simple concepts. al-Din, a Muslim minister in the service of the Il-Khanate.

BY THE MID-13TH CENTURY, THE In 1253, Hulagu led a huge army HULAGU KHAN (SEE 1251–1255) KUBLAI KHAN (1215–94)
MEXICA TRIBE—better known into Western Asia to conquer the CONTINUED HIS CAMPAIGN
today as the Aztecs—were Great Seljuk sultanate (see AGAINST THE SELJUKS and other The grandson of Genghis Khan,
established in the Valley of 1031–40), while Kublai launched Islamic powers. In 1256, he Kublai spent eight years
Mexico. Aztec legend suggests campaigns against the Southern crushed the Order of the campaigning in southern China
that they migrated from the Song and the Kingdom of Assassins (see 1081–90), taking before succeeding his brother
ancestral homeland of Aztlan in Nanchao in China. their stronghold at Alamut in Mongke as Great Khan in 1260.
the early 12th century. Settling at Persia. In 1258, he sacked His own kingdom, the Great
Chapultepec, near Lake Texcoco, Baghdad and executed the Khanate, encompassed
Mexico, in around 1250, they were Abbasid Caliph—the figurehead Mongolia and China, where he
soon expelled by the Tepanecs, of Islam—in just one of countless founded the Yuan dynasty,
one of the tribal confederations atrocities committed by Mongol moved the capital to Shangdu,
competing for dominance in the invaders who massacred and did much to foster trade
wake of the Toltec collapse in the hundreds of thousands of and international links.
early 12th century. Muslims during their campaigns.
In 1259, Hulagu penetrated deep regain his Syrian conquests and formally made sultans of Egypt,
Although the Mongols had into Syria, but as with Batu’s the westward expansion of the Syria, and the Levant.
conquered most of the Russian campaign in Europe 18 years Mongol Empire was halted.
principalities (see 1236–40), and earlier (see 1241–45), his Hulagu’s conquests, which Alfonso X of Castile (r. 1252–
the Golden Horde Khanate had encompassed Iran, Iraq, most of 1284) won the nickname “the Wise”
claimed authority over Russia, progress was halted by news of Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and thanks to his learning, patronage of
surprisingly little changed for the death of the Great Khan, Georgia, became the Il-Khanate, the arts and Castilian literature,
the Russians. In return for and he withdrew his armies or Ilkhanate. Meanwhile, the sponsorship of natural philosophy,
tribute and military service, while he returned to the Mamluks gave refuge to a fugitive and judicial reforms. He oversaw
the Russian princes were left Abbasid prince, setting him the final expulsion of the
in power and the Russian Mongolian capital to help up in Cairo as the new caliph. Almohads (see 1121–25) from
Church was not interfered select a new leader. Recognized as guardians of the Spain in 1257.
with. Alexander Nevski Taking advantage of Hulagu’s Islamic faith, the Mamluks were
(c. 1220–63), the prince of withdrawal, the Mamluk
Novgorod who had led the ,, HAD I BEEN PRESENT
Russians to victory against the general al-Zahir Baybars AT THE CREATION, I
Teutonic Knights in 1242, marched north and struck at WOULD HAVE GIVEN
became the dominant Russian the Mongol garrisons in
noble, appointed Grand Duke of Syria. At the Battle of ,,SOME USEFUL HINTS FOR
Vladimir after his brother was Ayn Jalut in Palestine,
driven out by the Mongols. General Baybars THE BETTER ORDERING
defeated the OF THE UNIVERSE.
Under the support of the new Mongols and
Great Khan, Mongke (r. 1251–59), expelled them from Alfonso X, the Wise, on the Ptolemaic system
his brothers Kublai and Hulagu Palestine and Syria.
renewed the Mongol expansion. On his return to Egypt
he murdered the
Prince of Novgorod sultan and took his
This statue depicts Russian leader, place. Distracted by
Alexander Nevski, whose name dynastic struggles, and
derives from the Russian victory at later by a protracted
the Battle of the Neva River. inter-khanate war,
Hulagu was not able to

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1261–65 1266–71 1272–75

This example of Mamluk architecture from the height of the sultanate adorns Geneta Mariam church in Ethiopia, Former stronghold of the Knights Hospitaller, Krak des Chevaliers or “fortress
the entrance to the mausoleum of Qalawun in Cairo, Egypt. built during the Solomonid era. of the knights” in Syria was taken by the Mamluks and fortified further.

ITALIAN NOBLEMAN AND LATER Paleologus would campaign COST OF EUROPE KHANATE OF THE CHAGATAI EMPIRE
DOMINICAN MONK, THOMAS tirelessly to restore lost PARCHMENT Venice GOLDEN HORDE KHANATE OF THE
AQUINAS (1225–74) became one of Byzantine lands. Rome GREAT KHAN
the most important philosophers ASIA Karakorum
in the history of Western thought. The Second Baron’s War in GOBI Shangdu
Renowned for his work in uniting England between 1264 and Constantinople Khanbaliq
faith and reason, Aquinas’s 1267 was brought about by a
period of greatest productivity combination of newly kindled Mediterranean Sea Antioch Tabriz Hangzhou
occurred between 1258 and 1273, national consciousness and Quanzhou
when he penned his two best- resentment at foreign COST MAMLBUKagShdad Balkh H i mTaI Bl ET CHI N A Guangzhou
known works, the Summa contra interference. Henry III of England OF IL-KHANATE ayas
Gentiles and the Summa (r. 1216–72) had introduced many South
Theologiae. foreign officers into government PAPER Hormuz China
and taxed the English heavily to Sea
In 1261, Michael VIII Paleologus fund overseas adventures and Sahara Mecca INDIA
(r. 1259–61), the Byzantine papal extortion. Rebels led by Red Sea Pagan
emperor of Nicaea, concluded the Simon de Montfort, Earl of Cost of paper versus parchment
Treaty of Nymphaeum with the Leicester, captured the king at After paper-making technology was Arabian
Genoese, agreeing to cede them Lewes in 1265 and summoned the introduced to Italy, the cost of
all the trading privileges once first European parliament that vegetable-based paper fell to 1/6 of MALI Aden Sea Calicut Angkor
enjoyed by the Venetians (see included elected representatives. the cost of animal-based parchment.
981–990). He had already secured AFRICA
an alliance with the Bulgarians, Meanwhile, the Mamluks began THE SOLOMONID DYNASTY IN
and was now poised to achieve his a push to rid the Holy Land of the ETHOPIA was founded in 1270 by INDIAN OCEAN
dream of re-taking Constantinople Crusader kingdoms once and Yekuno Amlak, displacing the
from the Latin Empire for all. previous Zagwe dynasty, and Travels of Marco Polo KEY
(Constantinople and environs, claiming to have restored the To reach China, Marco Polo traveled through
captured from the Byzantines legitimate line of the ancient Anatolia, Iran, and Afghanistan. On his return, Route of Marco
during the fourth crusade), Christian kings of Aksum. Amlak he sailed to Hormuz in Persia via Sumatra. Polo 1271–1295
and reconstituting the claimed descent from the biblical
Byzantine Greek Empire. In Solomon, via the possibly Silk road
July 1261, a Byzantine army Ethiopian Queen of Sheba.
took advantage of the IN 1271,THE VENETIAN MERCHANT the Holy Land, having forced the
absence of the Venetian fleet The town of Fabriano in Italy lies AND EXPLORER, MARCO POLO Mamluks to conclude a 10-year
to cross the Bosporus strait close to the Adriatic port of Ancona, (c. 1254–1324), traveled to China. truce in his attempts to destroy
and take Constantinople. The which was notable in the 13th Arriving at Kublai Khan’s court in Acre, one of the last remaining
Latin emperor, Baldwin II century for trade with the Muslim 1275, the Great Khan employed Crusader footholds in Outremer.
fled, and the Paleologus world. This is probably how paper Marco Polo in various capacities. The Mamluks had already taken
Empire was established. manufacture became established In 1292, he escorted a Mongol the apparently impregnable Krak
there in the 1270s. Use of animal princess to Persia, returning to des Chevaliers from the Knights
Thomas Aquinas gelatin in place of more degradable Italy three years later and writing Hospitaller in 1271.
This 15th-century altarpiece vegetable gel made Fabriano a travel memoir while a prisoner
depicts Thomas Aquinas, paper more durable, and the town of the Genoese. Polo’s memoir, 22
whose philosophy still became the principal paper The Travels—known by Italians as
underpins Catholic dogma. manufacturing site in Europe. Il Milione, because of the belief PERCENT
that it contains a million lies THE WORLD
In 1270, Louis IX of France made —is a fascinating portrait of the LAND AREA
another attempt at crusading, but Mongolian Empire at its height. COVERED BY
on the request of Charles of Anjou, The Pax Mongolica (see 1236–40) THE MONGOL
the Eighth Crusade was diverted to allowed freedom of movement EMPIRE AT ITS
Tunis, where disease killed Louis through lands under the authority HEIGHT
and his army. of Il-khanate, and it was said that
a virgin with a pot of gold on her
head could pass unmolested from
Constantinople (modern-day
Istanbul) to Beijing.

In 1272, Edward Plantagenet
(r. 1272–1307), heir apparent to
the English throne, returned from

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of

1276–85 1286–90

Statues adorn the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, India. Originally constructed by Kulasekhara Pandya, the Guglielmo Berardi da Narbona was
temple was destroyed by Muslim invaders and later rebuilt. killed at the Battle of Campaldino.

IN SOUTHERN INDIA, KING greatness of the Pandya court was New Zealand around 1280, MAORI CARVING IN THE 1280S, A TRIBE OF
KULASEKHARA I (r. 1268–1308) attested to by Venetian merchant dividing the territory between TURKOMAN NOMADIC HORSEMEN
expanded the empire of the Marco Polo, who would pass hapu (clans). Hapu that traced a Maori culture is noted for its and raiders based in northwestern
Pandyas to its greatest extent. through in 1293, but the empire common ancestry formed iwi tradition of arts and crafts; Anatolia, known as the Ottomans,
The Pandyas were an ancient was short-lived, breaking up in (tribes), some of which could trace chief among these is te toi elected Osman (1258–1354) as
Tamil people of the far south, who the early 14th century due to family their lineage back to a single waka whakairo (carving). Master their chieftain. At this time, the
contended for supremacy over quarrels and Muslim invasions. houra (ocean-going canoe). craftsmen were believed to political map of Anatolia was
the centuries with neighboring fractured: the Mongol onslaught
kingdoms such as the Cholas and By the late 13th century, the Having conquered Korea and channel the voices had broken up Seljuk Rum and
the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Maori had settled in New Zealand most of China, Kublai Khan of the spirits and replaced it with many small
Under Sundara (r. 1251–68) the (with the exception of Antarctica, (1215–94) set his sights on ancestors, and principalities, while also driving
Pandya empire had expanded the last land mass to be colonized Japan, sending embassies intricately carved waves of Muslim refugees into the
dramatically and reduced some by humans). Dating the Maori demanding submission as early posts and lintels region. Meanwhile, the Byzantine
neighboring states to vassalage. colonization is contentious. as 1268. Under the bold adorning Empire had been successively
His son Kulasekhara went on to According to estimates based leadership of the Hojo regency, structures reduced and broken up by Seljuk
conquer Kerala, Kongu, and on Maori traditions, the first the Japanese refused to be around the marae and Latin encroachment. Osman
Ceylon, and in 1279 he defeated Polynesians visited the islands in cowed. After a failed invasion (sacred space) was able to lead his tribe in a
the last Chola king, Rajendra III, the early 10th century, and waves attempt in 1274, Kublai sent and waka territorial expansion, rapidly
and annexed his territories. The of colonization climaxed with the 150,000 men in two huge (canoes) were conquering Byzantine territory.
arrival of the Great Fleet of fleets in 1281, but the believed to
Divine wind ocean-going canoes in 1350. Japanese held off the invading accumulate and Florence, like many other Italian
An engraving shows the destruction Archaeological findings tell a armada until a great typhoon, pass on mana cities, had developed into a largely
of the Mongol fleet by the kamikaze slightly different story. However, it known in Japan as the (spiritual power). autonomous republic or
(“divine wind”) in 1281. seems likely that Polynesians, kamikaze (“divine wind”), commune. It was typically easier
probably from Tahiti, arrived in devastated the Mongol fleet. for the German emperors—the
notional feudal overlords—to grant
cities powers of self-government
than try to control them directly.
Since the mid-13th century,
Florence had see-sawed violently
between Guelph and Ghibelline
regimes (see 1221–25). This
Guelph–Ghibelline conflict had
gripped the Italian city-states,
providing a vehicle for the
expression of local class tensions
as well as national and
international politics. When one
faction gained the upper hand in a
city, the other was typically
expelled. In the 1280s, the
Guelphs had the upper hand, and
Guelph partisans exiled from
Arezzo encouraged them to take
up arms against the rival city. The
Florentines defeated Arezzo at the

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