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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