Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume--the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World--chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition.
Popes continue to preach crusade, but the hope of a Christian empire comes to a bloody end at the walls of Constantinople. Aristotelian logic and Greek rationality blossom while the Inquisition gathers strength. As kings and emperors continue to insist on their divine rights, ordinary people all over the world seize power: the lingayats of India, the Jacquerie of France, the Red Turbans of China, and the peasants of England.
New threats appear, as the Ottomans emerge from a tiny Turkish village and the Mongols ride out of the East to set the world on fire. New currencies are forged, new weapons invented, and world-changing catastrophes alter the landscape: the Little Ice Age and the Great Famine kill millions; the Black Death, millions more. In the chaos of these epoch-making events, our own world begins to take shape.
Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453--years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.
Table of Contents:
List of Maps -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Preface --
Part 1. Renaissances
-- 1. Logic and Compromise: England, Rome, and the Holy Roman Empire, 1100-1122 -- 2. The Crusader Enemy: Byzantium, Venice, and the Crusader kingdoms, 1100-1138 -- 3. Anarchy: England, Western Francia, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1120-1139 -- 4. The Lost Homeland: China, Dai Viet, and Khmer, 1127-1150 -- 5. Crusade Resurrected: The Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, with visitations from Germany and France, 1128-1149 -- 6. Reconquista and Rediscovery: The Spanish peninsula, 1134-1146 -- 7. Questions of Authority: France and Italy, 1135-1160 -- 8. The New Song: China, 1141-1165 -- 9. The Heiji Disturbance: Japan, 1142-1159 -- 10. Death of an Army: Goryeo, 1146-1197 -- 11. The First Plantagenet: England and Western Francia, 1147-1154 -- 12. Frederick Barbarossa: Germany and Italy, 1147-1177 -- 13. The Almohads in Spain: North Africa and Spain, 1147-1177 -- 14. Many Nations: Africa, sometime in the twelfth century -- 15. The Last Fatimid Caliph: Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1149-1171 -- 16. Monks and Brahmans: South India, 1150-1189 -- 17. Conquest of the Willing: Northern India, 1150-1202 -- 18. Death of a Priest: England and France, 1154-1170 -- 19. Foreign Relations: Byzantium, Hungary, and the Balkans, 1157-1168 -- 20. The Venetian Problem: Byzantium and Italy, 1171-1185 -- 21. Resentments: England Ireland and France, 1171-1186 -- 22. Saladin: The Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1171-1188 -- 23. The Gempei War: Japan, 1179-1185 -- 24. Kings' Crusade: England, France, and the Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1188-1199 -- 25. The Sack of Constantinople: Byzantium and Europe, 1195-1204 --
Part 2. Invasions, Heresies, and Uprisings
-- 26. Westward: Central and South America, 1200 -- 27. The Mongol School of Warfare: China, North and Central Asia, 1201-1215 -- 28. John Softsword: England and France, 1203-1213 -- 29. Sundiata of the Mali: Africa, 1263-1240 -- 30. The Jokyu War: Japan, 1203-1242 -- 31. The Unwanted Throne: The old Byzantine lands, 1204-1225 -- 32. The First Delhi Sultanate: Northern and central India, 1206-1236 -- 33. Heresy: France, 1209-1210 -- 34. Reconquest and Failure: France and the Spanish peninsula, 1210-1213 -- 35. From Bouvines to Magna Carta: France, England and the Holy Roman Empire, 1213-1217 -- 36. The Birth of the Inquisition: France, 1215-1229 -- 37. Moving Westward: China, North and Central Asia, and the Middle East, 1215-1229 -- 38. South of India: India and Sri Lanka, 1215-1283 -- 39. The Fifth Crusade: Egypt and the Crusader kingdoms, 1217-1221 -- 40. From the Golden Bull to the Baltic Crusade: Hungary, Poland, and the lands of the Lithuanians, 1218-1233 -- 41. Lakeshores, Highlands, and Hilltops: Africa, 1221-1290 -- 42. The Sixth Crusade: The Holy Roman Empire, the Crusader kingdoms, and the Ayyubid empire, 1223-1229 -- 43. The Tran Dynasty: Southeast Asia, 1224-1257 -- 44. Young Kings: England France, and the kingdoms of Spain, 1227-1242 -- 45. The Mongol Horde: Most of Asia and Europe, 122P-1248 -- 46. The Debt of Hatred: The Holy Roman Empire, 1229-1250 -- 47. The Shadow of God: India, 1236-1266 -- 48. The Seventh Crusade: France, Egypt, and Syria, 1244-1250 -- 49. The Splintering Khanate: The Mongol conquests, 1246-1264 -- 50. The Mamluks of Egypt: Egypt, Syria, and the Mongol lands, 1250-1268 -- 51. Louis the Saint: France and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1250-1267 -- 52. The Lions Den: Germany, Italy, Sicily, and England 1252-1273 -- 53. The Recapture of Constantinople: The Latin Empire and the empire of Nicaea, 1254-1261 -- 54. The Last Crusades: North Africa, Egypt, France, Italy, and the Crusader kingdoms, 1270-1291 -- 55. Kublai Khan: China, Japan, Goryeo, Champa, and the Dai Viet, 1273-1294 -- 56. The Sicilian Vespers: Germany, Italy, Sicily, Aragon, and France, 1274-1288 -- 57. The Wars of Edward I: England Scotland Wales, and France, 1275-1299 -- 58. The Second Sultanate of Delhi: India, 1287-1300 -- 59. The End of the Papal Monarchy: France, Germany, and Italy, 1301-1317 -- 60. The Appearance of the Ottomans: Byzantium and the Turks of the Il-khanate, 1302-1347 -- 61. The Fall of the Khilji: India, 1303-1320 -- 62. The Triumph of the Bruce: Scotland England and Ireland 1304-1314 --
Part 3. Catastrophes -- 63. The Great Famine: All of Europe, 1310-1321 -- 64. The Sultan and the Khan: Egypt, the Il-khanate, and the Golden Horde, 1310-1335 -- 65. Mansa Musa of Mali: West Africa, 1312-1360 -- 66. After the Famine: France and England, 1318-1330 -- 67. The Southern and Northern Courts: Japan, 1318-1339 -- 68. Rebellions: India, 1320-1351 -- 69. Naming the Renaissance: Germany, Italy, and France, 1322-1341 -- 70. The Cities in the Lake: Central America, 1325-1375 -- 71. A Hundred Years of War: France and England 1329-1347 -- 72. The End of the World: Asia, Europe, and India, 1338-1353 --
Part 4. Regroupings -- 73. The Will to War: France, England and the Spanish kingdoms, 1349-1369 -- 74. White Lotus, Red Turban: China, 1351-1382 -- 75. After the Mongols: Southeast Asia, 1351-1399 -- 76. The Turks and the Desperate Emperor: Byzantium and the lands of the Turks, with side journeys to France and Italy -- 77. The Disintegration of Delhi: India and Sri Lanka, 1352-1388 -- 78. The Union of Krewo: Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania, 1364-1399 -- 79. The Rebirth of the Mongol Horde: Central Asia, the Middle East, India, and the lands of the Rus', 1367-1399 -- 80. Compromises and Settlements: The Korean peninsula and Japan, 1368-1392 -- 81. The House of Visconti and the Papal States: France and Italy, 1368-1390 -- 82. Bad Beginnings: France and England, 1369-1381 -- 83. Dislocation: Africa, 1370-1399 -- 84. Madness and Usurpation: Castile, Portugal, England, and France, 1383-1401 -- 85. The Battle of Nicopolis: The Ottoman empire, Constantinople, and the lands of eastern Europe, 1385-1396 -- 86. The Union and Disunion of Kalmar: Scandinavia, 1387-1449 -- 87. The Hussite Uprising: Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bohemia, 1388-1419 -- 88. The Taking of France: France and England 1401-1420 -- 89. After Timurlane: The north of India, the empire of Timur, the lands of the Ottoman Turks, Egypt, and Byzantium, 1401-1415 --
Part 5. Endings -- 90. The Withdrawal of the Ming: China and the land of the Dai Viet, 1405-1455 -- 91. Failure: The old lands of the Holy Roman Empire and the remnants of Byzantium, 1412-1440 -- 92. Perpetual Slavery: Portugal, Castile, and Africa, 1415-1455 -- 93. The Loss of France: France and England 1422-1453 -- 94. The Fall: The Byzantine and Ottoman empires, along with Hungary, Germany, Wallachia, Bohemia, and Serbia, 1430-1453
-- Notes -- Works Cited -- Permissions -- Index.
Susan Wise Bauer is a writer, educator, and historian. Her previous books include the Writing With Ease, Writing With Skill, and Story of the World series from Well-Trained Mind Press, as well as The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had, Rethinking School, The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory, and the History of the World series, all from W. W. Norton. She has a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, as well as an M.A. in seventeenth-century literature and a Master of Divinity in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature. For fifteen years, she taught literature and composition at the College of William and Mary.
W. W. Norton & Company
Pub Date: September 23, 2013
1.7" H x 9.3" L x 6.3" W
816 Pages
Hardcover