The Black Death

The Black Death took place in the 1300s. The black death was a plague and is known for being on the deadliest pandemics. The plague started in Europe. There were about 12 different trading ships that were known as the death ships. Hence why most of the sailors on the ship ended up dying or were very ill due to the sickness. The symptoms that came along with it varied as swelling in strange places, boils, fever, chills, vomiting etc. The symptoms varied in each person. The pandemic was called the Black Death due to the black spots it left on the ill persons body.

This picture is able to provide an insight of the amount of people that got sick and now are very ill or dead. The
numbers were very high and deadly.

The sickness was caused by an infection of the bacteria Yersina. They believe that the disease started from a rat and it then became a larger issue as there were many rodents sick and it later on transmitted to humans. It also came around during a trade. One the sickness hit it spread so fast that there was no possible way for it to stop spreading. It effected one ship and from there and out it caused a wide spread that led to it being a pandemic. It was proven to be that the Black Death killed about one third of Europe’s population during 1347-1351. This pandemic lasted for a very long time which created some long term effects. The long term effects varied as some were worse than others.

Picture of the map that shows where and when the outbreak of the black death occurred.

There were so many different effects this plague had created for so many countries. The biggest issue that was created during this pandemic was the economy sinking. Since the pandemic lasted so long it created a big hole. First thing being the amount of change that happened during the pandemic was crazy the amount of trade that happened decreased dramatically. Another thing that was majorly effected the economy would be not having enough people to work since so many people were ill or deceased it created a lack of labor. The last effect that it created would be there was issues with the labor shortage and added tax which resulted in a revolt. One of the last things that was effected was the livestock. The livestock also got sick which led to them dying overtime also. With live stock dying it created an issue for the land and crops that were involved in the process. Overall there are so many reasons why it destroyed the economy during that time period.

In the end this plague was one of the worse plagues that has been around. It effected everything in a negative way as resulted in wars, economy crashing, Social effects and so many lives being lost. This pandemic was so spread out that it took a long time for everything to start to die down. By time the pandemic was over they were used to living in the world of having a pandemic. The Black Death was very widely spread. It created a large negative impact that will always be remembered in history as it still is talked about till this day.

sources:

1.https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/black-death

2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death

questions:

1. as we are living in a pandemic right now do you believe that most things are the same thing?
2. Do you believe that the spread could of stopped if different per cautions were taken?
3. Do you think this sickness was actually transmitted through rodents or was it viral as some rumors were being stated?

The Silk Road

The Silk Road is primarily a route that connected other countries. This route was established and used around the 207 BCE- 220 CE time period. The Silk Road was named after the famous silk that is traded. During that period the Silk Road was very important for the trading industries. The route was made for trading across china all the way to Africa. The silk road was about 4,000 feet long. The Silk Road was also used for culture as they often traveled. So many different things were traded such as silk, wool, gold and silver etc. So many things were traded within this route.

This was the route that was used to trade goods to one another. This route was most used and was very important to the people who were big into trading. It also was important for different culture reasons.

This specific map provides a insight were the goods were specifically coming from it also provides another view of what the Silk Road looked like

The Silk Road came along and was more relevant due to the countries becoming more politically stable and along with an advance in technology. Due to so many things enhancing the trades grew so then they decided to make a route that was fast and convenient. Having this route helped so much since it was a direct route that connected other countries. Having the trade route helped numbers grow dramatically with the amount of trading that took place after the road was created. Not only did the route improve on land it also improved the overseas route. So many things were then able to be shipped out over water. Merchants traveled all over due to having the route. Overall it expanded the outlook of what trading looked like.

This video provides an actual insight of what the road did for the citizens that partaked in using the route.

How did merchants travel on the silk path? Most merchants traveled with camels. Camels were very important and helpful during this time period. Camels were worked during the Silk Road time period. Camels were one of the most helpful things around since they could withhold all the amount of weight and also could go through the bad weather and desert like conditions. They were worked since they were able to carry up to five hundred pounds so the merchants often got on a camel and put all of the traded goods on one and traveled back home. Another way that the Silk Road was traveled was by boat since some of the route was overseas. They had sailors and they often had specific time periods of where they would go due to the winds.

Till this day the Silk Road is still present and is used. It is now a paved highway connecting Pakistan and china. At one point in time they wanted to use the road as a highway and or a part of a rail road. This road is very important to history still even though they are making many changes since it is no longer being used for trade. Overall this road was a important factor back in history as it helped the economy grow stronger after it was already starting to take off. There was so much trading that was going on and having the path helped tremendously. If it was not for this specific route then the trading wouldn’t of been as big of thing since it would of been harder to trade back in forth. Having the road was very conviente until a sickness arised.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think having the Silk Road benefited the merchants and sellers?
2. Did it help to economy grow?
3. Do you think the path was a good route?

SOURCES:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silk-Road-trade-route

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/silk-road/a/the-silk-road

Black Death

Black Death, a pandemic that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence.the disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which was the cause infection most commonly results in bubonic plague. The army would catapulted infected corpses to towns to infect their enemies. The Black Death was in large part spread by human fleas and spread widely to other countries. Black Death plague spread to humans by vermin, like rats and mice.

However, the Black Death’s march across the world was enabled by rodents rather than the movement of humans.

Black death symptoms were similar to Bubonic such as swellings in the groin or under armpits, fever, chills, plague-boils, vomiting, pain in the lymph node, and pain in limbs.

A map illustrating the spread of the Black Death plague from its origins in central Asia to western and then central Europe, 1347-1352 CE.

The effects and significances of black Death were wars, slump in trade, reduction in land under cultivation, a rise in wages for artisans and peasants. There were a shortage in labor compelled to substitute wages or money rents. The livestock were infected as well. The roman catholic church lost some monopoly over the salvation on souls.

1.) What would you do if you live in black death plague time, how would you survive?

2.) What other significances effects came with the Black Death?

3.) Would you catapulte infected corpses to towns or other villages why and why not?

Mongol Empire

Mongol empire is still very important to this day it is very known in history textbooks and is one of the most known empires. The mongol empire was founded by Genghis Khan around the 1206 time period. The empire is located in Asia. This specific empire is known as one of the biggest empires around. Even with it being one of the larger empires it also had its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore they had a steady rise and later on things started to decline and fall.

This is the map of the empire and this is able to create a visual reference on how large the empire actually was.

This is a video that provides a stronger insight of what the rise and fall consisted of. It also helped create a better understanding what it was like to be around during the mongol times.

First of the mongol empire was really strong and they continued to grow stronger. The rise of the mongol empire took place around the 1200 time period. The empire was so large and it seemed to be almost the size of Africa. The leader who’s name is Ghenghis started the rise when he formed alliances with other tribes. When he formed the alliances he did not think much behind it other than trying to find his wife since she had been kidnapped. After the alliances started to grow stronger he then later on became leader of may different tribes. This helped him ascend his throne. With the numbers growing it also then lead to more combat. They were also known for traveling by horse which helped them get there faster. They were very good at combat and overall being strong headed. Another thing that helped them rise in power is the rest of Asia started to get ugly and they were declining at a such fast pace so it made the mongol empire look a lot better. They also had a stronger leader he had very strong beliefs such as the following; he rewarded loyalty no matter what the social status of one was. The second thing being he banned theft and the selling of women. One of the last things that was big for the mongol is he pushed for them to be literate. This empire seemed to be very strong for a long time although it started to fall apart in the end which resulted in a fall.

This picture shows the amount of fighting and stress of the people during the fall of the mongol empire. The fall created. so many bad things to happen to one another.

The fall took place around the 1260 time period. The fall happened for a few reasons. The biggest reason was the empire was so large that it primarily was becoming harder to control. With it being harder to control it lead to people not listening and following the rules. The second reason why the fall happened was the leader of the empire passed away. This created many fights on who was going to run things since Genghis was no longer at control. Due to Genghis passing away it also became harder for someone else to control the way he was controlling so then a bit later on they ended up splitting the empire up into four different empires. One of the last reasons the fall happened was due to the new leader not knowing what he was doing it created a big hole and things started to come crashing down and that was what started to make the fall decline even faster. Overall the empire was strong but it was not enough for it to keep on going it started to deteriorate over time.

Sources:

http://themongoldynasty.weebly.com/rise-and-fall.html

The rise and fall of the mongol empire on YouTube.

Questions:

1. Do you think if the leader of the empire did not die that they would of continued to be a stronger empire or would they of still failed as an empire?
2. Do you agree with Genghis beliefs?
3. What about this empire shocked you the most?

Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire

In the early 1200s Genghis Khan and the Mongol army began their expansion. They quickly gained influence over China, Central Asia, the Middle East and eventually into Europe. Khan died in 1227, not long after beginning his expansion, however his heirs continued to grow his empire. At the height of the empires rule they had control of 9 million square miles of land.

Above is an image of the land acquired by the Mongol Empire at various points in its history.

The Mongols conquered and occupied extensive amounts of land, and that did not come without effects. One major effect was the trade routes. The trade routes were restored under Mongol rule. This was great for trading, and merchants, however it also had its share of undesirable affects. The trade routes meant people were able to easily get between major cities. This allowed for the Bubonic Plague to spread quickly from Eastern Asia to the newly conquered European countries. The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, killed over 50 million people.

Another impact of the Mongol Empire was the Pax Mongolica. Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace, was a period, under Mongol Rule, where it was relatively peaceful throughout Eurasia. This time of peace, in part, allowed for the Silk Road route, and other trade routes to become active again. Trade was also becoming more frequent between cultures. This means that more goods were being traded, and cross-cultural interactions became more common and stable. The trade routes, and cross-cultural trade would also allow for technology, and knowldge to be spread more quickly. This included the spread of various religions.

An image of Genghis Khan. He died in 1227, after building his empire.

While initially the Mongols seemed to be great leaders, and skilled fighters, this did not last. After the death of Genghis Khan his empire was split between his sons. This was the beginning of the downfall. One reason for the downfall was having incompetent emperors. Control of the empire was passed down to Genghis Khans sons, and then grandsons, who were not fit to control the empire. This played a major role in the downfall of the empire. Another reason for the downfall of the Mongols, was that their fighting tactics had been taken on by their rivals.

What had initially given the Mongols the success that they had was their fighting skills. They rode horseback, had unique weapons, and tactics. These however were adopted by the surrounding countries and was a major force in the downfall of the empire.

An image of a Mongol Soldier. He is holding one of the weapons that were unique to the Mongols at that time.

The Mongol Empire today is known as being skilled in warfare, technologically advanced, and known for their era of peace. One of the most significant parts of the Mongol era is the reemergence of the Silk Road trade route.

My questions for you are:

1. What do you think is the biggest success of the Mongol Empire?
2. In what ways, if any, do you think that the Mongol Empire has influenced society today?

References

Blakemore, E. (2019, June 21). Who were the Mongols? Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/mongols/

Chakra, H., & -, D. (2020, October 10). How A Poor Mongolian Soldier Became A General After Almost Killing Genghis Khan With An Arrow. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://about-history.com/how-a-poor-mongolian-soldier-became-a-general-after-almost-killing-genghis-khan-with-an-arrow/

Decline of the Mongol Empire. (2020, September 22). Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/summary/Decline-of-the-Mongol-Empire

Hays, J. (n.d.). DECLINE, DEFEAT AND LEGACY OF THE MONGOLS. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat65/sub423/entry-5256.html

Khan, R. (2020, May 18). 1 in 200 Men Are Direct Descendants of Genghis Khan. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/1-in-200-men-direct-descendants-of-genghis-khan

Szczepanski, K. (2020, February 18). How Did the Mongols Impact Europe? Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/mongols-effect-on-europe-195621

Foreign Cultural Influence

Like all overlords, Kubilai and Chabi had a lot of curiosity and cosmopolitan tate. This drew scholars, artists, artisans, and office seekers from all over to the Yuan court. Some of the most desirable ones came from Muslim kingdoms to the east and came under Mongol rule. Muslims were in the second highest social class right under the Mongols. Persians and Turks were admitted into the inner circle of Kubilai’s administrators and advisors. Muslims designed special buildings of his Chinese-style imperial city and proposed a new and effective tax system. Persian astronomers imported special instruments to help create the chinese calendar. These instruments also helped create some of the most accurate maps that the Chinese had ever seen. Muslim doctors ran the hospitals and added translations of several volumes of Muslim medicine to the library.

Here is a little video on the Chinese calendar and why the Chinese follow a lunar calendar.

The Muslims, Kubilai welcomed travelers from many different lands into his court. Kubilai had a strong interest all religions. Buddhists, Nestorian, Christians, Daoists, and Latin Christians all found their way to his court. The most known latter were members of the Polo family. They were from Venice, northern Italy, they traveled extensively in the Mongol Empire. Marco Polo’s account of Kubilali Khan’s court and empire where he lived. He served as an administrator for 17 years, which is one of the most famous travel account written by a European.

Here is a picture of Marco Polo.

How do you feel about the foreign cultural influence? Do you think it was open? How would you feel coming here during this time, would you feel welcome?

Life in Medieval Europe

While Medieval Europe is often remembered in terms of its royalty, the lives of others looked very different. There were also the peasants and the nobles. Each played an important role in their society. Your role was heavily influenced by your wealth.

Peasants were often farmers, as this was passed down through generations. Shocking to todays society, most slept on beds made of straw because they could not afford proper beds. The homes were smaller and made of wood or stone, with thatch roofs. There was also an area within their home for their animals. They had little furniture and a limited diet. Their diets consisted of mostly grains, and vegetables. Meat was a rarity for them. Starving to death was not uncommon, and would occur, typically in the spring time, after a bad harvest.

The High Middle Ages

This was the most important time for Europe and their immersing growth for many reasons. During this time Europe grew quicker than any country. They had a growing economy, the church was becoming more dominant, people were starting to come together in communities and cities instead of going against each other, and the intellectual side of Europe started to develop.

The economic growth in Europe was booming in the high middle ages. The population grew from 1.5 million to nearly 5 million in less than 300 years. For this time that was a huge stunt in growth. Craft guilds started controlling production, wages, and prices on things and Banking was developed. This was a huge step because the demand for money started to sky rocket soon after.

The social aspect during the high middle ages changed drastically. They went from neighboring cities arguing and disagreeing constantly to coming to terms and coming together. During the High Middle Ages slavery started to die out, the middle class started to develop into towns, and there was little mobility among classes in society. Their lives started to change once they got comfortable in their cities and families started to come up with traditions and these soon started to dominate their lives. Once this happened there was little to no change in their lives.

The Religious aspect during the High Middle Ages grew just as everything else did. The church became the dominate institution. It is what unified the cities and gave them all knowledge. During the drastic changes in the High Middle Ages the pope put catholic beliefs and practices in place . This consisted of indulgences, sacraments being the channel of grace, control over appointments with the bishop, calling of crusades, and belief in purgatory.

One thing that had change the most was the intellectual growth of Europe. They went form not having very many schools or learning in general to building universities and developing a plan for people to learn. Their main goal was to combat logic and religion in what they called scholasticism. An example of this is, their main focus of learning which was salvation and the afterlife. They wanted to learn about abstract realities and this was the best way to do so.

These pictures are examples of how much the cities grew during this time period.

Questions:

During the high middle ages do you think you could adapt to the changes that they had to so quickly?

http://facstaff.bloomu.edu/mhickey/state_and_society_in_the_high_mi.htm

https://nofuturepast.wordpress.com/category/middle-ages/

Gothic style architecture

What is Gothic architecture it’s architectural style in Europe which lasted from mid-12th century to late 16th century. It is characterized by cavernous spaces with expanse of walls that are broken up by overlaid tracery. During the 12th and 13th century the engineering permitted gigantic buildings, but rib vaults, flying buttress, gothic arch, were actually the solution to having very tall structure buildings and it persevere so much natural light. The staindglass window panels were rendered as a sun- dappled interior effects. One of the earliest building had combine elements of coherent style; for example, the Abbey of Saint- Denis, Paris in 1135-44, the high gothic years 1250-1300, which heralded by Charter’s Cathedral that was dominated by France with the development of Rayonnant style. Many places such as Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and many other places uses variations of the Gothic style. By the late 15th century the architecture reached. It’s height in Germany’s vaulted hall churches. Other Gothic style that include British Perpendicular style, french, and Spanish flamboyant style. During the 18th century Gothic style architecture was seen as barbaric due to people often argued that goths sacked Time in the 5th century, and they destroyed proper classical architecture and introduced a backwards coarse style- Gothic in it’s place. Gothic style architecture are often characterized by five elements such as large staindglass windows, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and ornate decorations. The two major characteristics of Gothic style are the increased height and large staindglass windows. Gothic architecture still remains today and is seen in sudden surge in Gothic revival movement that combines a modern architecture with old style. Also, seen a reemergence in interior design and seen in high-end homes.

1.) Do you like gothic style? Why or why not?

2.) Have you ever visited or been inside of any gothic style architecture buildings.

Salah al-Din

No great historical Islamic leader, outside of perhaps the prophet Mohammad himself, is as widely known as general Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (“Righteous of the Faith, Joseph, Son Of Job”), or Saladin for short. Saladin was responsible for bringing an end to the Fatimid caliphate and forming his own Ayyubid dynasty, as well as later recapturing many territories taken during the first crusade and temporarily uniting the Islamic world a large segment of the Islamic world, including Syria, parts of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Yemen, and territories in North Africa.

Fig 1: Portrait of Saladin by Andre Thevet from the 15th century AD

Saladin was born in 1137/1138 in Tikrit, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) into a prominent Kurdish family. His childhood was largely uneventful; he married at the age of 14 and was sent to train as an emir under Sultan Nur Al-Din (Zengi), and subsequently came into the service of his uncle, Shirkuh, a military commander, as a member of his staff.

After his uncle died, Saladin was appointed commander of Syrian troops occupying Egypt, and his status continued to rise with a string of successful military and diplomatic ventures, culminating in his victory in the battle of Hattin against the Frankish crusaders over control of the Christian/Muslim holy city of Jerusalem (which was, at the time, a Latin Christian kingdom) after nearly a century of occupation by the Franks. This battle was distinct because of its relatively peaceful transition of power, as Saladin had originally wanted to kill all the Christians in the city in retaliation for the slaughter of many of Jerusalem’s Muslims during the 1^st crusade of 1099, but instead decided to let them purchase their freedom in exchange for the guarantee of safety for the Muslim population. Despite what they had agreed to, Saladin let many Christian families who could not pay the random go.

This unusual magnanimity and devotion to his own ideals was uncharacteristic of most military leaders of the day, and what set Saladin apart from many other famous conquerors, earning him the respect of both friends and foes alike. His primary goal was to bring about a united Muslim world, and believed in jihad (holy war) to spread the Islamic devotion. This is probably why he was able to temporarily pacify the animosities of the Sunni-Shiite factions of the Islamic world, who tended towards zealotry and in-fighting with each other to a much greater extent than what was seen with Orthodox vs Roman Catholic Christians of that day. This sense of higher ideals did not prevent from waging war against enemy Muslim factions, though, as he did in 1175 against his Zengid rivals, who he had previously served under.

Despite being known primarily for his military exploits, Saladin was a very humane ruler. His treaty, known as the Treaty of Jaffa or treaty of 1192, signed after being defeated at the battle of Jaffa by Richard the Lionheart, briefly ended hostilities between Saladin and Richard while also formally ending the 3^rd crusade. It was a mutual concession from both sides, and showed the more humane side of Saladin, as although it was unlikely that Richard could take Jerusalem, it was neither in the best interests of Saladin to formally recognize the Christian conquests. The treaty allowed un-harassed Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem while retaining Islamic control of the city, as well as honoring some of the crusader’s territory acquisitions along the Palestinian coast, from Tyre to Jaffa. He also corresponded with Richard through Saladin’s brother as a messenger on the value of Jerusalem to each respective faction and other affairs.

Saladin contracted yellow fever in 1193 and died that same year. He gave away all of his personal wealth to his poor subjects around the time of his death, and was unable to pay for his own funeral. The legacy of his virtue lived on both in the Islam world, who viewed him as a and the west, who viewed him as a chivalrous knight due to his defense of his people and beliefs, his generosity, and his higher ideals. Richard the Lionheart considered him the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world, and called him a great prince. Although Saladin’s Ayyubid went into decline shortly after his death, his legacy and universal renown has only increased as time went on.

Q1) If Saladin had slaughtered the Christians of Jerusalem during its retaking, do you think it would have more strongly influenced an anti-Islam sentiment during that day? Do you think it would have affected the treaty of Jaffa’s terms if they had?
Q2) Despite being adversaries, Saladin and Richard were closer than most enemies, considering each other to be exemplars of their peoples. When Richard’s horse was shot during the battle of Jaffa, Saladin reported bought and sent him a new one. On the other hand, Richard was good friends with Saladin’s brother and reportedly was very fond of Saladin’s newphew who accompanied him during their correspondance. Do you see their relation as merely political, or do you think they might have been friends under different circumstances? In other words, do you think their allegedly warm relation sincere or just for show?

WORK CITED

Davison, D. (2019, September 02). Today in Middle Eastern history: The Treaty of Jaffa ends the Third Crusade (1192). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://fx.substack.com/p/today-in-middle-eastern-history-the-468

Saladin. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saladin

Cartwright, M. (2020, October 29). Saladin. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.ancient.eu/Saladin/

Saladin. (2020, October 24). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin