Medieval Europe
Europe's Middle Ages are counted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476) to about 1500. Then, small kingdoms replaced one large state. The Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800.
- Feudalism: a king gave land to lords; lords gave land to knights in return for service in war; peasants (serfs) farmed the land on a manor and paid in labour and produce.
- The Church: monks kept books, the Pope was a power in politics, and big churches (cathedrals) rose in towns.
- Towns and trade: from about 1100 towns, guilds (groups of craftsmen) and universities grew.
- Troubles: the Crusades (from 1096), the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and the Black Death (1347–51), which killed a very large share of people, and left fewer workers.
Asian empires
Asia had large and rich states with towns, books and long-distance trade:
- Tang China (618–907): a big, open empire; its capital Chang'an was one of the biggest cities in the world.
- Song China (960–1279): inventions such as printing with moveable type, the compass and gunpowder weapons; paper money; big sea trade.
- Abbasid caliphate (750–1258): the capital Baghdad had a great centre of learning where scholars translated and wrote on maths, medicine and astronomy.
- Mongol empire (from 1206): the largest land empire; it joined many routes and passed ideas and goods across Asia, but it also spread war.
- South Asia: the Chola kings in the south (c. 850–1279) had temples and ships that traded eastward; the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) ruled much of the north.
What joined them: trade routes (land and sea) carried silk, spices, paper, religions and ideas.
African civilisations
Africa had many states. Four examples to remember:
- Ghana (c. 300–1200): grew rich by controlling the gold-for-salt trade across the Sahara.
- Mali (from 1235): its ruler Mansa Musa went on a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 with so much gold that prices fell in places he visited. Timbuktu became a city of books and scholars.
- Great Zimbabwe (c. 1100–1450): a stone-walled trading city in the south, linked to gold and to the Indian Ocean.
- Swahili city-states (such as Kilwa, c. 1000–1500): ports on the east coast trading with Arabia, India and China.
American civilisations
The peoples of the Americas built great cities with no contact with Europe, Asia or Africa:
- Maya (classic period c. 250–900): city-states with pyramids, writing, a very exact calendar and the idea of zero.
- Aztec (Tenochtitlan founded 1325; strong from 1428): a lake city with canals and floating gardens, taxes from many peoples.
- Inca (from about 1438): a mountain empire with its capital at Cusco, a long road network, and quipu (knotted cords) for counting.
All three depended on maize and other crops, often on terraces or garden plots. This changed after 1492, when Europeans arrived.
Try it
In the 3D free-play step, put the slider at 1324. Which states are strong in each part of the world? Then at 1347, name one place the Black Death hit. Finally write one line on how two regions were connected (for example Africa and Asia by the Indian Ocean) and one line on a region that had no contact (the Americas).
Key formulas and definitions
- Medieval time: about 500 to 1500
- Europe: king → lords → knights → peasants + the Church = feudalism
- Asia: empires + trade routes (Tang, Song, Abbasid, Mongol, Chola, Delhi)
- Africa: gold + salt + Indian Ocean ports (Ghana, Mali, Great Zimbabwe, Swahili coast)
- Americas: maize + terraces + temples (Maya, Aztec, Inca), no contact before 1492
Worked examples
1. Explain feudalism in three sentences.
The king gave land to lords. Lords gave land to knights who fought for them. Peasants worked the land of the manor and paid with their labour and crops. Everyone owed something to the one above.
2. Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800 and the Western Roman Empire fell in 476. How many years between them?
800 − 476 = 324 years.
3. Why was gold-for-salt trade so important to Ghana and Mali?
Gold was found in the south and salt in the Sahara; each side needed what the other had. Kingdoms that controlled the routes took taxes and became rich and strong.
4. Give two ways in which Asian empires were connected.
By trade routes on land and sea carrying goods like silk and spices; and by ideas, religions and inventions, such as paper and printing, that travelled with merchants and travellers.
Common mistakes
- Treating "medieval" as only a European word. Every region had its own medieval period and its own story.
- Saying Africa had no states before Europeans came. Ghana, Mali, Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili ports were rich trading states.
- Thinking the Aztec and Inca were the same. Aztec = Mexico (Tenochtitlan); Inca = the Andes (Cusco).
- Believing that the Americas traded with Europe and Asia before 1492.