TR3.5

Europe in the 1500s

Houjun Liu 2021-09-27 Mon 12:00

1 Europe on the Brink

Before its transformation in the 1500s, Europe was quite behind in terms of its technological + cultural developments. European knowledge of oriental culture was fragmentary + wrong => Constructed based on retold tales

1.1 The Weak Europe

1.1.1 Geography

  • Shaped awkwardly (ice + water bound)
  • Easily invaded by land from the east
    • By 1500, Granada, the Muslim rule of Spain has just collapsed 8 years ago
  • Easily arrived by water from the western front
  • Fall of Constantinople happened 1453

1.1.2 Technology

  • Did not invent modern numbers a la arabia + China
  • Did not engage in active foreign trade a la India and Islam
  • Most of what it had was borrowed from Eastern counties

1.1.3 Leadership

  • Never did all of Europe acknowledge one leader
    • Small kingdoms + lordships => Fighting
    • Could not ralley around religious image