Led by Zhu Yuanzhang, named himself the Hongwu Empire. Spearheaded the fall of the House of Yuan with rebel armies.

The Hongwu emperor was mindful of his dependence on bureaucrats but he sought to put clear limits on their influence and to institute reforms that would check the abuses.

He also introduced measures that would improve the lot of the common people.

Hulegu focused his energies on conquering Mesopotamia and North Africa. 

• Early Mongol victories were eventually reversed by the Mamluk victory over the Mongols in 1260. 

• After this defeat, Hulegu decided to focus on the territory he already controlled.

2^nd caliphate, based in Damascus, Syria  

• The Islamic Caliphate reached its greatest size, from Spain to Central Asia; Ruled through collab w/ local elites

• Christians and Jews tolerated as “people of the book”

Western Africa was dominated by a succession of land empires. 

• The earliest of the expansive savanna states, Ghana, emerged by the end of the third century C.E. Ghana and its successors were shaped by a blend of African and Islamic influences. 

• The kingdom of Maghrib in Western North Africa was an Islamic land that gained its independence from the Abbasid regime.

Abbasid caliphate

• Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads, created 3^rd caliphate

• Capital moved to Baghdad, Iraq; power was dispersed, not centralized.

• Struggled with Byzantines, Persians, Turks, Europeans

• Presided over “Golden Age of Islam”

  • Flourishing trade: manufacturing, silk roads, Indian ocean  

  • Extensive learning: math, science, medicine, engineering, Greeks & Romans

• 1258CE Mongol conquest caused collapse

Led by Mongol conqueror Kubalai Khan

• Kubilai passed many laws to preserve the distinction between Mongol and Chinese. Nonetheless, he introduced some elements of Chinese culture into his court. 

• In the Yuan era, a new social structure was established in China, with the Mongols on top and their Central Asian nomadic and Muslim allies right below them in the hierarchy.

The creation of interlocking Mongol states was the single most important development in world history between 1200 and 1450. 

The Mongol period was so important because it accelerated and redirected interregional exchanges that had already been reshaping societies in many parts of Afro-Eurasia.

Teotihuacan in Central Mexico from around 500 CE to 800 CE

The nomadic Toltecs built a large empire centered in central Mexico. They established a capital at Tula about 968CE and adopted many cultural features from sedentary peoples, and added a militaristic ethic, including a cult of sacrifice.

Northern nomadic invasions probably caused the collapse of the Toltec empire around 1150CE. Power shifted to valley of Mexico.

Militant Aztecs migrated to region. Around 1325 they founded Tenochtitlan on lake islands. By 1434, the Aztecs had become the dominant regional power. Became very successful tribute-based empire.

During the period following the disintegration of the states of Tihuanaco and Huari (c.550–1000 C.E.), smaller regional states exercised power in the Andes.

Inca empire rose to power. Huayna Capac consolidated the conquests; by his death in 1527 the Inca empire—Twantinsuyu—stretched from Colombia to Chile, and eastward to Bolivia and Argentina. From 9 to 13 million people were under Inca rule.

Inca empire became second great American empire.

The Renaissance, a cultural and political movement grounded in urban vitality and expanding commerce, began in Italy during the 14th century. 

The Renaissance, above all, was a cultural movement, inspired by the humanists’ passion for the Ancient Greek and Roman past. It began in Florence and focused on literature and the arts. 

The earlier phases involved literary and artistic themes more friendly to the secular world than the previous religiously oriented outlook. Artists and writers became more concerned with personal reputation and glory. 

The early Renaissance did not represent a full break from medieval tendencies. It had little impact outside of Italy, and in Italy it focused on high culture. Still, the Renaissance marked the beginning of important changes in Western development.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Renaissance blossomed further. New realism appeared in painting, and religion declined as a central focus. Humanism, a focus on humanity as the center of endeavor, was a central focus. 

Renaissance ideas influenced politics and commerce.

However, by the 16th century, Italy declined as the center of the Renaissance. (See Northern Renaissance)

The Northern Renaissance emerged in France, the Low Countries, Germany, and England and spread to eastern Europe. Northern Humanists like Erasmus tended to be more religious than Italian humanists. 

Writers such as Shakespeare, Rabelais, and Cervantes mixed classical themes with elements of medieval popular culture and established a new set of classic works. 

Northern rulers became patrons of the arts, tried to control the power of the church, and sponsored trading companies and colonial ventures. 

Renaissance influence can be overstated. Feudal political forms remained strong. Ordinary people were little touched by the new values, and general economic life was not much altered.