The Medieval World
Sandwiched between the Classical and Early Modern eras are the aptly-named Middle Ages. While Europe may have been pretty hard hit at the beginning of this era other societies were flourishing!
Europe and the Near East in The Middle Ages
Europe began The Middle Ages in rather rough fashion with The Dark Ages (video is to the right) while the rise of Islam (middle video to right) saw Islamic scholars continue Greek, Egyptian, Persian and Indian learning.
After you've watched those videos learn about several clever developments that led to progress After 1,000 in Europe. (bottom right)
Asia in The Middle Ages
China was fractured for a good while when The Han Dynasty collapsed-BUT! having many centuries of advancement China did not slide backwards like Europe! Please stop when the video gets to the Mongols.
(Asian reviews are in the Africa-Americas section below)
China's Sung Dynasty (the guys with the tiny-foot fetish) was brought down by the Mongols- who did not last a century in China before The Ming Dynasty threw them out (we'll learn about the Ming in the next unit, The Early Modern Era). The worksheet and this video will help you understand the outstanding success of the Mongol armies.
Japan learned much from China then developed their own, distinct culture (please watch this Crash Course video before mine). Please stop the video after the trailer for the video game Shogun 2.
Medieval Africa and the Americas!
From trade empires rich in gold in the west to the wealthy city-states and their thriving Indian Ocean ports in the east, Africa had huge amounts of trade in the Middle Ages.
Across the Atlantic the Mayans were ending their term as the Incas and Aztecs were beginning their empires!
Reviews for the Americas will be in the next unit (along with Exploration)
