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12 | (1) |
| Introduction |
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13 | (2) |
| Gateway to the Modern Age |
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15 | (22) |
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37 | (2) |
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Politics in Fifteenth-Century Europe |
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39 | (5) |
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By the end of the fifteenth century, Europe was composed of more than a dozen powerful city-states, many of them battling one another for control over religion, trade, and territory |
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Eyewitness to the Battle of Agincourt |
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44 | (6) |
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Fifteenth-century writer Jean de Waurin describes a battle in the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French armored knights in Agincourt, France |
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50 | (6) |
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When the young peasant girl Joan of Arc heard the voices of the saints telling her to battle the English at Orleans, France, the forces she commandeered helped begin England's defeat during the Hundred Years' War |
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The Conquest of Constantinople |
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56 | (6) |
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The crown jewel of Western Christianity was Constantinople in present-day Turkey |
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The fall of that city to the Ottoman Turks led European Christians to believe that Muslims might someday rule the entire continent |
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Eyewitness to Turkish Invasion |
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62 | (4) |
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Cardinal John Bessarion witnessed the destruction caused by the Ottomans when they invaded Constantinople in 1453 |
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66 | (8) |
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When the Spanish Inquisition was initiated in 1480, it was used to persecute and murder minorities, especially Jewish people who had previously converted to Christianity |
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74 | (4) |
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In the fifteenth century, Czech professor and religious reformer John Hus was condemned for heresy and burned at the stake for his efforts to reform the Catholic Church |
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Ivan the Great Unifies Russia |
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78 | (9) |
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Between 1462 and 1505, Ivan III, known as Ivan the Great, initiated a great unification of Russian lands under a centralized government in Moscow |
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The Flowering Culture of the Ming Dynasty |
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87 | (6) |
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In 1368 a Buddhist monk known as Taizu established the Ming dynasty in China |
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Everyday Life in the 1400s |
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92 | (1) |
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The Citizen Armies of England |
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93 | (5) |
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Wars in the fifteenth century were often fought by ragtag armies made up of average citizens such as farmers, butchers, and bakers |
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Fifteenth-Century Home Life |
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98 | (3) |
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Even the wealthiest citizens of the fifteenth century lived in cold, dark, and uncomfortable quarters where furniture was scarce and the only artificial light was provided by candles or burning animal fat |
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101 | (5) |
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Women in the 1400s were treated as second-class citizens; they were not allowed to own property, had no legal claims to their own children, and were not allowed to attend schools |
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106 | (4) |
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By the mid-1400s, ideals of beauty, cleanliness, luxurious bathing, and stylish clothing came into fashion, and cities with natural hot springs drew well-to-do travelers from across Europe |
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Medieval Medical Practices |
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110 | (5) |
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Medieval doctors used magic, astrology, religion, and many strange and bizarre practices to cure patients |
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Fashions of the Renaissance |
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115 | (5) |
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During the Renaissance, issues of style and fashion were central to the social lives of rich and poor, male and female |
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120 | (8) |
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By the fifteenth century, one of the most fashionable journeys for tourists was a pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem via the city of Venice |
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128 | (4) |
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The Catholic Church had a difficult time maintaining control over some of its priests; as a result, the synod of Paris issued rules for priests to follow in their daily lives |
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The Renaissance in Music, Art, and Literature |
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131 | (1) |
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Travels in Fifteenth-Century Venice |
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132 | (4) |
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Arnold von Harff's eyewitness description of Venice during the Renaissance is one of the more enduring accounts of that city on the Adriatic Sea that was a hub of religion, art, and commerce in the 1400s |
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The Renaissance Rulers of Florence |
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136 | (9) |
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Florence, Italy, was at the heart of the fifteenth-century art Renaissance in part because of the financial generosity of the Medici family who ruled that city |
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Although their great wealth came from banking and industry, Cosimo, Piero, and Lorenzo de Medici were among the greatest art patrons of their time |
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145 | (7) |
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Paintings of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci are among the most well known works of art in modern history |
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In addition to his contributions to the art Renaissance, Leonardo possessed an amazing grasp of anatomy, mechanical invention, and other sciences |
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Leonardo's Ideas on Flying |
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152 | (2) |
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Leonardo was fascinated with flying from the time of his childhood, and he spent many years attempting to perfect a flying machine |
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The notes he left behind on the subject provide insight into the inventive artist's mind |
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154 | (3) |
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Along with art and literature, music underwent its own Renaissance in the 1400s thanks to composers such as John Dunstable and Guillaume Dufay, who focused on human voices and introduced polyphonic musical styles |
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The Printing Press Changes the World |
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157 | (8) |
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Before the invention of the printing press, books were rare, expensive, and possessed by only a very few wealthy people |
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After Gutenberg perfected movable type in the 1450s, the availability of new books created a revolution in learning |
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164 | (1) |
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The Building of the Aztec Empire |
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165 | (6) |
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The Aztecs started out as a small, disorganized tribe wandering through central Mexico |
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By the fifteenth century, however, they were the undisputed rulers of the most powerful kingdom in Central America |
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Quetzalcoatl: The Great God of the Aztecs |
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171 | (4) |
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Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpent, was the chief god of the Aztecs, who was believed to fashion humans from bones and blood |
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175 | (6) |
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The Aztecs believed that their gods could be appeased only through human sacrifice |
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As such, Aztec culture was based on sacrificing thousands of people by ripping their still-beating hearts out of their bodies |
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181 | (7) |
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The Incas created the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth century, controlling an estimated 12 million people in present-day Peru, Ecuador, and parts of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina |
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The Incas gained their power in less than a century, conquering and assimilating many cultures |
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Growing Up in Inca Society |
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188 | (8) |
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The Inca empire, based in South America's Andes Mountains, ruled over a large and ecologically diverse region |
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To maintain order over such a huge area, Inca rulers exerted great influence over the way children were raised so that youngsters could grow up, work for the government, and maintain control over the farthest reaches of the kingdom |
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195 | (1) |
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The Exploits of the Chinese Dragon Fleet |
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196 | (4) |
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Although European explorers could not find a sea route to India until the late 1400s, the Chinese ruled the Indian Ocean basin from 1405 to 1433 with more than three hundred treasure ships manned by twenty-eight thousand sailors |
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This so-called Dragon Fleet was the most powerful navy in the world at the time and could have easily conquered Europe if it so desired |
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Portuguese Explorations in Africa |
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200 | (6) |
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Portuguese explorers were eager to discover a sea route to India by sailing around the African continent |
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Unfortunately, sailing conditions were so difficult that it took more than fifty years for the mariners to round Africa's southernmost point |
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It would take another decade before Vasco da Gama finally made the journey from Portugal to India |
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African Kingdoms in the 1400s |
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206 | (5) |
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European explorers began to travel to Africa in the 1400s, but northwestern African kingdoms such as Mali, Ghana, and Songhai and cities such as Timbuktu had been centers of learning, trade, and advanced civilization for centuries |
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Culture Clash in Black and White |
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211 | (6) |
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When Portuguese seamen first sailed to Africa, they considered the continent to be mysterious and unknown |
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The cultural practices of the people of Africa were unfathomable to the European mind |
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This clash of cultures would affect the African people in a myriad of ways for centuries to follow |
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Da Gama Navigates to India |
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217 | (5) |
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For decades, Portuguese explorers had tried to sail around the African continent to reach India |
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Vasco da Gama finally managed to reach the city of Calicut, on India's Malabar coast, in 1498, opening up a new trade route to Europe |
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Christopher Columbus: Admiral of the Ocean Sea |
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222 | (11) |
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Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus believed he could find an ocean route to India, which lay to the east of Europe, by sailing west |
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Columbus tried to find backers for his dream for decades, often facing ridicule and scorn for his vision, until the king and queen of Spain financed his journey |
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Columbus Describes the New World |
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233 | (7) |
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After Columbus landed on the West Indies island he called San Salvador, the explorer wrote a detailed letter to his benefactors---the king and queen of Spain---describing the wonders he had seen in the New World |
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| Chronology |
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240 | (3) |
| For Further Research |
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243 | (4) |
| Index |
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247 | |
Other versions by this Author
