The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople

by Susan Wise Bauer

Overview

A lively and fascinating narrative history about the birth of the modern world.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393059762
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/23/2013
Pages:	816
Sales rank:	73,774
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Susan Wise Bauer is an educator and academic who has worked with parents and students for more than twenty years. She taught at the College of William and Mary in Virginia for fifteen years. Her previous best-selling titles for Norton include 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

Table of Contents

List of Maps xv

List of Illustrations xix

Acknowledgments xxi

Preface xxiii

Part 1 Renaissances 1

1 Logic and Compromise: England, Rome, and the Holy Roman Empire, 1100-1122 3

2 The Crusader Enemy: Byzantium, Venice, and the Crusader kingdoms, 1100-1138 13

3 Anarchy: England, Western Francia, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1120-1139 19

4 The Lost Homeland: China, Dai Viet, and Khmer, 1127-1150 25

5 Crusade Resurrected: The Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, with visitations from Germany and France, 1128-1149 34

6 Reconquista and Rediscovery: The Spanish peninsula, 1134-1146 43

7 Questions of Authority: France and Italy, 1135-1160 49

8 The New Song: China, 1141-1165 55

9 The Heiji Disturbance: Japan, 1142-1159 61

10 Death of an Army: Goryeo, 1146-1197 69

11 The First Plantagenet: England and Western Francia, 1147-1154 76

12 Frederick Barbarossa: Germany and Italy, 1147-1177 81

13 The Almohads in Spain: North Africa and Spain, 1147-1177 88

14 "Many Nations": Africa, sometime in the twelfth century 94

15 The Last Fatimid Caliph: Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1149-1171 102

16 Monks and Brahmans: South India, 1150-1189 108

17 Conquest of the Willing: Northern India, 1150-1202 117

18 Death of a Priest: England and France, 1154-1170 126

19 Foreign Relations: Byzantium, Hungary, and the Balkans, 1157-1168 134

20 The Venetian Problem: Byzantium and Italy, 1171-1185 141

21 Resentments: England Ireland and France, 1171-1186 148

22 Saladin: The Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1171-1188 155

23 The Gempei War: Japan, 1179-1185 161

24 Kings' Crusade: England, France, and the Turkish and Crusader kingdoms, 1188-1199 166

25 The Sack of Constantinople: Byzantium and Europe, 1195-1204 176

Part 2 Invasions, Heresies, and Uprisings 185

26 Westward: Central and South America, 1200 187

27 The Mongol School of Warfare: China, North and Central Asia, 1201-1215 195

28 John Softsword: England and France, 1203-1213 202

29 Sundiata of the Mali: Africa, 1263-1240 207

30 The Jokyu War: Japan, 1203-1242 211

31 The Unwanted Throne: The old Byzantine lands, 1204-1225 217

32 The First Delhi Sultanate: Northern and central India, 1206-1236 225

33 Heresy: France, 1209-1210 233

34 Reconquest and Failure: France and the Spanish peninsula, 1210-1213 242

35 From Bouvines to Magna Carta: France, England and the Holy Roman Empire, 1213-1217 248

36 The Birth of the Inquisition: France, 1215-1229 257

37 Moving Westward: China, North and Central Asia, and the Middle East, 1215-1229 262

38 South of India: India and Sri Lanka, 1215-1283 270

39 The Fifth Crusade: Egypt and the Crusader kingdoms, 1217-1221 275

40 From the Golden Bull to the Baltic Crusade: Hungary, Poland, and the lands of the Lithuanians, 1218-1233 281

41 Lakeshores, Highlands, and Hilltops: Africa, 1221-1290 287

42 The Sixth Crusade: The Holy Roman Empire, the Crusader kingdoms, and the Ayyubid empire, 1223-1229 293

43 The Tran Dynasty: Southeast Asia, 1224-1257 298

44 Young Kings: England France, and the kingdoms of Spain, 1227-1242 303

45 The Mongol Horde: Most of Asia and Europe, 122P-1248 310

46 The Debt of Hatred: The Holy Roman Empire, 1229-1250 318

47 The Shadow of God: India, 1236-1266 326

48 The Seventh Crusade: France, Egypt, and Syria, 1244-1250 332

49 The Splintering Khanate: The Mongol conquests, 1246-1264 339

50 The Mamluks of Egypt: Egypt, Syria, and the Mongol lands, 1250-1268 346

51 Louis the Saint: France and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1250-1267 353

52 The Lions Den: Germany, Italy, Sicily, and England 1252-1273 359

53 The Recapture of Constantinople: The Latin Empire and the empire of Nicaea, 1254-1261 367

54 The Last Crusades: North Africa, Egypt, France, Italy, and the Crusader kingdoms, 1270-1291 372

55 Kublai Khan: China, Japan, Goryeo, Champa, and the Dai Viet, 1273-1294 379

56 The Sicilian Vespers: Germany, Italy, Sicily, Aragon, and France, 1274-1288 388

57 The Wars of Edward I: England Scotland Wales, and France, 1275-1299 394

58 The Second Sultanate of Delhi: India, 1287-1300 403

59 The End of the Papal Monarchy: France, Germany, and Italy, 1301-1317 410

60 The Appearance of the Ottomans: Byzantium and the Turks of the Il-khanate, 1302-1347 419

61 The Fall of the Khilji: India, 1303-1320 427

62 The Triumph of the Bruce: Scotland England and Ireland 1304-1314 433

Part 3 Catastrophes 441

63 The Great Famine: All of Europe, 1310-1321 443

64 The Sultan and the Khan: Egypt, the Il-khanate, and the Golden Horde, 1310-1335 449

65 Mansa Musa of Mali: West Africa, 1312-1360 455

66 After the Famine: France and England, 1318-1330 461

67 The Southern and Northern Courts: Japan, 1318-1339 470

68 Rebellions: India, 1320-1351 478

69 Naming the Renaissance: Germany, Italy, and France, 1322-1341 484

70 The Cities in the Lake: Central America, 1325-1375 491

71 A Hundred Years of War: France and England 1329-1347 497

72 The End of the World: Asia, Europe, and India, 1338-1353 505

Part 4 Regroupings 513

73 The Will to War: France, England and the Spanish kingdoms, 1349-1369 515

74 White Lotus, Red Turban: China, 1351-1382 525

75 After the Mongols: Southeast Asia, 1351-1399 531

76 The Turks and the Desperate Emperor: Byzantium and the lands of the Turks, with side journeys to France and Italy 537

77 The Disintegration of Delhi: India and Sri Lanka, 1352-1388 544

78 The Union of Krewo: Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania, 1364-1399 551

79 The Rebirth of the Mongol Horde: Central Asia, the Middle East, India, and the lands of the Rus', 1367-1399 557

80 Compromises and Settlements: The Korean peninsula and Japan, 1368-1392 565

81 The House of Visconti and the Papal States: France and Italy, 1368-1390 571

82 Bad Beginnings: France and England, 1369-1381 577

83 Dislocation: Africa, 1370-1399 587

84 Madness and Usurpation: Castile, Portugal, England, and France, 1383-1401 591

85 The Battle of Nicopolis: The Ottoman empire, Constantinople, and the lands of eastern Europe, 1385-1396 598

86 The Union and Disunion of Kalmar: Scandinavia, 1387-1449 604

87 The Hussite Uprising: Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bohemia, 1388-1419 611

88 The Taking of France: France and England 1401-1420 620

89 After Timurlane: The north of India, the empire of Timur, the lands of the Ottoman Turks, Egypt, and Byzantium, 1401-1415 627

Part 5 Endings 635

90 The Withdrawal of the Ming: China and the land of the Dai Viet, 1405-1455 637

91 Failure: The old lands of the Holy Roman Empire and the remnants of Byzantium, 1412-1440 645

92 Perpetual Slavery: Portugal, Castile, and Africa, 1415-1455 654

93 The Loss of France: France and England 1422-1453 662

94 The Fall: The Byzantine and Ottoman empires, along with Hungary, Germany, Wallachia, Bohemia, and Serbia, 1430-1453 673

Notes 683

Works Cited 723

Permissions 749

Index 751

Editorial Reviews

Readers hoping for a glimpse into the life and times of Michelangelo and Da Vinci will be disappointed by Bauer’s newest (after The History of the Medieval World): “This is not a history of ‘the Renaissance.’ Rather, it is a history of the world during… a rebirth of interest in classical learning.” That said, this volume is still rife with captivating figures, momentous movements, violent wars, and climactic upheavals. Beginning with the 12th-century rise of the Plantagenets in England and ending with the 1453 Ottoman overthrow of the Byzantine Empire, Bauer ranges far and wide, touching on everything from the gruesome murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the ascendancy of the first king of the Incan Empire; the terrorization of the Asian Steppe by Mongol hordes; the relocation of the papacy from Rome to Avignon; the birth of the Inquisition in Toulouse, France; the beginnings of the African slave trade; and the bubonic plague’s decimating sweep across Europe. In five sections (Renaissances; Invasions, Heresies, and Uprisings; Catastrophes; Regroupings; and Endings), Bauer covers a bewildering amount of territory in her attempt to offer a tantalizing global perspective of a tumultuous epoch. Unfortunately, she too often sacrifices depth for breadth. 22 illus. & 96 maps. Agent: Richard Henshaw, Richard Henshaw Group. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Another expertly clarified primer by Bauer (History/Coll. of William & Mary; The History of the Medieval World, 2010, etc.) organizes by themes the chaos of the medieval world into a semblance of cohesive law, migratory logic and religious fervor that would later explode into the Renaissance. The author has an excellent eye for presenting her subject in bold strokes, memorable themes and without undue clutter. Her work is grounded in the notion of the Renaissance (or, as she posits in the plural: renaissances) as gaining seismic steam in the 12th century, with translation of classic texts by Gerard of Cremona and others. The debate between reason and faith was engaged, proving hugely subversive to central powers. The violent, epic thrusts of peoples also marked the period: The Crusades were launched by the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople; the Muslim kingdoms battled to capture the Spanish peninsula, spreading into Africa and northern India; England and France dissolved into frequent anarchy and civil war, leading to the rise of the Plantagenets; roiling ensued in the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms of Sri Lanka and India; the shoguns ruled in Japan, the Ming in China; great empires like the Incas and later Aztecs rose in South and Central America; and the Mongols galvanized their ferocious military might and set their sights to the west and south. This was the era of Genghis Khan, Frederick Barbarossa, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Osman, Robert Bruce and Mansa Musa of Mali, as well as the Magna Carta, Inquisition, the plague and the spread of the Portuguese slave trade into Africa. Already splintered, Byzantium would be eclipsed by the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453, provoking new exoduses of peoples, west and east, "the seeds of new nations; the roots of new wars." Bauer ably captures it all. A wide-angle, thorough world survey for students, complete with immensely useful timelines and maps.

Kirkus Reviews