Plagues, Please!
This devastating pandemic killed up to half of Europe's population between 1347 and 1351.
Black Death
This series of holy wars between Christians and Muslims led to increased trade and exposure to advanced knowledge from the Islamic world.
Crusades
This German inventor is credited with creating the first movable-type printing press in Europe around 1440.
Johannes Gutenberg
This empire captured Constantinople in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire.
Ottoman Empire
This massive library and translation center in Baghdad preserved Greek texts and promoted science during the Islamic Golden Age.
House of Wisdom
The Black Death is now known to have been caused by this bacterium.
Yersinia pestis
This long conflict between France and England saw the decline of feudal lords and the rise of centralized monarchies that later supported Renaissance thinking.
Hundred Years' War
The first major book printed by Gutenberg was this religious text.
the Bible
After Constantinople fell, many of these people fled to Italy, bringing classical Greek and Roman texts with them.
Greek (or Byzantine) scholars
This Persian scholar's medical book, The Canon of Medicine, was used in Europe for centuries.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina)?
The plague contributed to the decline of this medieval economic and social system, based on lords and serfs.
feudalism
This empire's wars of expansion across Asia created a safe environment for traders like Marco Polo, opening East-West cultural exchange.
Mongol Empire
The printing press made it easier to spread these new Renaissance ideas that focused on human potential and classical knowledge.
humanism
The Fall of Constantinople blocked European access to this famous trade route to the East, pushing them to explore new ones.
the Silk Road
This branch of math, named after an Arabic word, was developed further by Islamic scholars and introduced to Europe through translations.
algebra
Plague doctors wore masks with long, bird-like beaks filled with herbs to protect them from this problem.
"bad air" or miasma.
This war's outcome in 1453 caused Greek and Byzantine scholars to flee west, bringing classical manuscripts that fueled humanist learning.
Fall of Constantinople
Because of the printing press, this growing group of people could now afford and access books.
the middle class or common people
This Renaissance city in Italy benefited greatly from the flood of knowledge and talent after 1453.
Florence
Islamic astronomers and geographers refined this navigation tool, crucial for Renaissance explorers.
astrolabe
Many scholars believe the Black Death helped spark the Renaissance by weakening this powerful medieval institution.
Catholic Church
This internal conflict between Italian city-states led to fierce rivalry — and a cultural arms race in art, architecture, and innovation.
Italian Wars
This Protestant reformer’s ideas spread rapidly thanks to the printing press, sparking religious change across Europe.
Martin Luther
The loss of Constantinople led to increased interest in these ancient cultures, whose texts were preserved by Eastern scholars.
Greek and Roman civilizations
This Spanish city, under Muslim rule, became a major center of learning and translation—where Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars worked together.
Córdoba (or Toledo)