The Age of Explorers
This Venetian traveler's account of his journeys to China in the late 13th century inspired European curiosity about the East.
Who is Marco Polo?
Also known as the Black Death, this disease outbreak in the mid-14th century decimated populations across Eurasia.
What is the Bubonic Plague?
The term for an Islamic judge who interprets and administers religious law.
What is qadi?
This Moroccan Muslim traveler and qadi is famous for his extensive travels across Eurasia and Africa in the 14th century, covering over 73,000 miles.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
This bustling, strategic port city on the Strait of ________ became the major location for the spice trade in Southeast Asia, visited by fleets like Zheng He's.
What is Melaka
He received funding from Spain for a westward voyage to Asia, leading to his 1492 arrival in the Caribbean.
Who is Christopher Columbus?
This period of climate cooling from the 13th to 19th centuries led to shorter growing seasons and agricultural distress in Europe.
What is the little ice age?
The code of Islamic religious law, literally meaning "the way." Ibn Battuta was often appointed to administer this in various lands.
What is sharia?
The most famous of the early European Christian missionaries to China who worked there during the Yuan dynasty.
Who is John of Montecorvino?
This city on the North African coast was captured by the Portuguese in 1415, marking a critical early step in European overseas expansion.
What is Ceuta?
This imperial eunuch led massive Chinese naval expeditions throughout the Indian Ocean during the early 15th century under the Yongle Emperor.
Who is Zheng He?
This long-running conflict between the monarchies of England and France fundamentally changed medieval warfare and politics.
What is Hundred Years’ War?
Castrated men who served in high-ranking administrative and military positions in the imperial courts of the Ming Dynasty.
What is eunuch?
Mystical Islamic missionaries and ascetics who traveled widely, spreading their faith through personal piety and spiritual guidance.
What are Sufis?
The commerce in humans, often originating in West Africa and facilitated by Portuguese expansion under Prince Henry the Navigator.
What is slave trade?
In 1488, this Portuguese mariner was the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa, proving a sea route to Asia was possible.
Who is Bartolomeu Dias?
This title, meaning "Caesar," was adopted by the rulers of the Russian state, symbolizing their imperial ambitions after the fall of Constantinople.
What is tsar?
A class of powerful scholar-officials in the imperial government of China, particularly prominent during the Ming dynasty.
What is mandarin?
A Nestorian Christian monk who traveled from China to the Middle East and Europe to forge an alliance with Christian rulers against the Muslims., specifically the Mamluks in Egypt.
Who is Rabban Sauma?
The ambitious third emperor of the Ming dynasty who commissioned the great naval voyages and oversaw the creation of the massive encyclopedia.
Who is Yongle?
Known as "the Navigator," this Portuguese royal promoted voyages of exploration down the coast of West Africa, starting the European slave trade and search for a sea route to Asia.
Who is Prince Henry the Navigator?
A period of cultural and artistic "rebirth" in Europe, beginning in Italy during the 14th century, characterized by a renewed interest in classical learning.
What is Renaissance?
The founder of the Ming dynasty who drove out the Mongols and centralized power, initially ruling under the name of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Who is Hongwu?
The most influential of the Christian humanists of the Renaissance, known for his critical edition of the New Testament.
Who is Desiderius Erasmus?
The dynasty that succeeded the Ming dynasty in the mid-17th century, founded by the Manchu people.
What is the Qing dynasty?