The History Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained)

The flowering of arts and ideas in the Renaissance meant that Europe ceased to be a cultural backwater. Printing and paper, both originally invented in China, were used by Europeans to create mass-produced books that went on to revolutionize the dissemination of information. Gunpowder weapons, also invented by the Chinese, were deployed most effectively by European armies and navies. Above all, explorers and sailors from Europe’s western sea-board established oceanic trade routes that laid the foundations for the first global economy.

At midnight on January 2, 1492, Abu ‘Abd Allah, the Muslim Emir of Granada, handed over the keys of his city to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, joint rulers of the Christian Spanish states of Aragón and Castile. This act marked the end of nearly 800 years of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula and the eclipse of a great civilization renowned for its architectural splendors and a rich tradition of scholarship. At the same time, it signaled the birth of a self-confident, united Spain that would soon divert its energies away from crusading against its Muslim neighbors, turning them instead towards building an overseas empire in the New World.

While the Aztecs provided some security to their subjects, they gave little else. At Tenochtitlan, artificial islands (chinampas) were created at great expense to expand the land available to produce food, but no such works were carried out for the subject cities. Defeated states did not provide troops for the Aztec army, and so did not share in the spoils of future victory, and little effort was made to propagate the Aztec language. It was an empire built on fear and in the end it proved brittle: when it was invaded by a small party of Spaniards led by Cortes in 1519, the subject peoples rallied to the newcomers rather than defending the Aztecs, and the empire collapsed within two years.

After Mansa Musa’s death, Mali initially thrived under his son, but thereafter, weak rulers, external aggression, and the need to keep rebellious tribes in check sapped its strength until it was eclipsed by the Songhai Empire of Gao: by 1550 it was no longer a major political entity. Mansa Musa’s great empire—one of the most prosperous states in the 14th century—may have been short-lived, but his celebrated hajj had longer-lasting effects, helping to spearhead the spread of Islamic civilization in West Africa.