Contact between Empires: c. 600 CE - c. 1450
AP Concept: 3.2 Continuity and Innovation in State Forms and Their Interactions
Key Concepts
Japan
Trade
The Renaissance
The Crusades
Key Concepts
- Contact and conflicts between empires encouraged technological and cultural transfers
- Contact with Korea and China led Japan to adopt a number of foreign concepts, some more successful than others
- The Yamato clan (600s CE) attempted to create a strong, centralized government based on China's empire, but were unsuccessful, as a number of clans maintained more control than the emperor
- Japan adopted Chinese technology and script, as well as Buddhism, which it later adapted to its own needs
- The Heian period (794 - 1185) turned inward and cut off contact with China
- Increased trade and expanded networks could lead kingdoms and empires to grow when they otherwise would have remained small. Religion often spread this way, as well
- West Africa's reliance on trans-Saharan trade introduced Islam to local rulers (many of whom converted) through Muslim merchants, as did the Indian Ocean trade for east Africa
- Between the 1300s and 1500s, contact with the Islamic world reintroduced ancient Greek and Roman texts to European thinkers
- Arabs had preserved these texts and developed ideas first set forth in Greece and Rome
- This focus on classical texts marked a change from Europe's previous focus on church teachings, and led European scholars and artists to create a secular foundation for eudcation
- Artists such as Michelangelo drew on the ideas in these texts to create realistic works of art
- The Roman Catholic Church led a series of Crusades, or holy wars, against non-believers between 1095 and 1204
- The series of wars attempted to recapture the Holy Land for Christianity, but Christians were never able to hold Jerusalem for long. The Fourth Crusade briefly conquered Constantinople, which weakened the Byzantine Empire
- The Crusades encouraged trade with Muslim merchants and reconnected Europe with Asian trade
- Italian merchants in particular became involved with Asian trade
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Related Links: AP World History Quizzes AP World History AP World History Notes Economic Production: c. 600 CE c. 1450 |