1492: The Year Our World Began (41 page)

in West Africa, 64–67, 74–75

See also
Muslims

Italy, 103–5, 107, 108, 122–
24,
132–33, 136–41, 171

Ivan III, Czar (Russia)

achievements of, 171–72

battle over Casimir’s Russian dominions, 147–49, 163, 164–65

casting Moscow as the Third Rome, 169–71

conquest of Novgorod, 161–63

marriage to Sophia, 169

opening “The Land of Darkness,” 172–75

role in decline of Mongols, 156, 158, 172

self-proclaimed Czar, 155–70

stance against Catholicism, 162, 165–66, 172

wars of expansion under, 155–59

Jami, Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman, 269–72

Japan, 22, 223, 230–37, 239, 319

Jerusalem, 136, 137, 140, 185

Jesus Christ, 6

Jewish expulsion (Spain)

Bernáldez’s account of, 87–88

conversion following, 99, 105, 113–14, 316

decree of, 97–99

disposition of refugees, 24, 99–105, 107–10

persecution by the Inquisition, 88, 91–93, 95–98

pretext for anti-Semitism, 88–91

reasons for, 92–97

Jews, 39, 92, 94, 96–97,
109

Joachim of Fiore, 6–9

João, Dom (Prince, Portugal), 76–77

Kabir of Benares, 258–259

Kiev, 153, 161, 162

Kongo, 77–81, 86, 179

Korea, 14–15, 211, 229–30

Kumbi, 66

Kyoto, 231, 237

La Palma, 278, 280, 282–86

Lamia
(Politian), 129

“Land of Darkness,” 172–75

Las Casas, Bartolomé de, 4, 286

“Last World Emperor,” 8–11, 52, 136, 185

Le Thanh Ton, 265–66

Leo Africanus, 55–57, 63–64, 68–70, 75, 100–102

Lithuania, 147, 153, 154, 163–65, 172, 173

Lodi, Sikandar, 262–63, 318

Louis XI, King (France), 133–34, 137

Lugo, Alonso de, 283–84

Luther, Martin, 144–46

Ma Huan, 223,
224,
247

Machiavelli, Niccolò, 96, 142, 144, 159

Madeira, 178, 179, 182

maize, 289, 301, 302

Mali, 59–65, 69, 71

Mansa, 60–62, 74

Mansa Musa, 59–60, 64, 71, 74

mapmaking, 11–17, 19–20

Mayans, 22, 24

Mayantigo, Chief (Canary Islands), 284

Medici, Lorenzo de’, 115–22, 128–30, 132, 138, 142, 143

Medici family, 116, 119, 121, 142–43, 146

Mediterranean Sea, 111–13

Mehmet II, Sultan (Ottoman), 106–10, 167

Melaka, 226–27, 266, 268

Ming dynasty, 217

modernity, 25, 272, 313–21

Mongols, 149–56, 158, 163, 172, 209, 227, 248

monsoons, 242–244, 249, 256

Moors.
See
Muslims

Morocco, 100–103, 111

Moscow,
148,
156, 170–71

Mossi, 62, 63, 68

Muhammad Nad, 69, 70

Münzer, Hieronymus, 19, 20

Muscovy, 154–59, 164–65, 173, 175

Muslims

aggression toward Hinduism, 262–63

cartography, 12–13

in China, 216, 223, 225, 247

counting time, 21

foothold around Indian Ocean, 258–59, 264–65

Indian resistance to, 259–63

and Jews, 94, 100–103

outclassing Europe, 26

presence in Europe, 28–29

sea exploration, 201–3

in Southeast Asia, 265–68

Sufi, 264, 267–72

See also
Granada war; Islam; Turks

Mwene Mutapa, 84, 85

mysticism, 268–72, 320

nakedness, 192–94

Naples, 132–33, 136–38, 140–41

nature, 23–25

navigation tools, 188–89, 201–2, 227

Nevsky, Alexander, 154, 158, 159, 162

New World, 25–26, 192–98, 203–4, 273–75, 287, 319

Nikitin, Afanasyi, 260

nobility, 45, 49–50

Novgorod, 153, 159–63, 171, 172, 174

Nuremberg,
2,
15, 16, 19, 20

Nzinga Nkuwu (King; Kongo), 78, 86

Orthodoxy, 162, 165–72, 175

Ottoman Empire.
See
Turks

paganism, 64–67, 70, 74, 75, 128, 130

Palencia, Alonso de, 32, 34, 49, 50

Panepistemon
(Politian), 130

Paramesvara, Sultan, 226–27

Paris, Matthew, 152

Paul II, Pope, 169

Peraza, Guillén, 282

Peraza family, 276, 278, 282

Perestrello, Bartolomeo, 182–83

Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, 38, 138, 140

Pinzón, Martín Alonso, 188, 191, 195, 198–99

plague, 18, 24, 102, 103, 286

Plato, 11, 122–23, 128, 130, 142

poetry, 130, 233

Politian (poet), 116, 129–30

Polo, Marco, 187, 209, 251

Porto Santo, 182–83

Portugal,
37

Atlantic exploration, 187–88, 319

Canary Island conquest, 276–79

Indian Ocean exploration, 200–201, 256–58, 264, 319

presence in Africa, 75–81, 83, 86, 179

slave trade of, 76, 80–81, 178, 181, 183

trade with exiled Jews, 103

war with Castile, 277–78

Prester John, 197,
257,
258

Protestantism, 144–45

Ptolemy, Claudius, 12–13, 255

Qawanin Hikam al-Ishraq
(al-Shadili), 268

Quran, 268, 270

racism, 62, 88–91, 263

Reformation, 145, 317

religion, 119, 128–30, 144, 272, 320

Renaissance, 122–23, 141–44, 171–72, 317

Revelation, 7

Rivarolo, Francisco da, 49

Roman Empire, 106, 122, 167–72, 300–301, 303, 317

Rome, 38, 104, 126, 127, 139, 141, 143–45

Royal Hunt of the Sun, The
(play; Shaffer), 299–300

Russia, 152–
57,
159–60, 163, 164, 166–69, 172–75, 204

See also
Ivan III, Czar

Russian Orthodox Church, 162, 165–71, 175

salt trade, 57–59, 63, 64, 69

Santo Stefano, Girolamo di, 251–55

São Jorge da Mina, 75–77,
84,
179, 279

Savonarola, Girolamo, 124–33, 138, 143–46

sea exploration

Canary Islands role in Atlantic, 286–87

challenge of Caribbean, 288

by China, 223–28

chivalry inspiring, 180–82

economics of, 178–79

Europe’s command of, 201–4, 248

following Columbus, 200–201

role of wind in, 3, 178–80, 183, 241–42

shipbuilding and, 202–3, 255

tools of navigation, 188–89, 201–2, 227

See also
Columbus, Christopher; Indian Ocean

secularism, 10, 128–30, 144, 317

al-Shadili, Abu-al-Mewanhib, 268–69

Shaffer, Peter, 299, 300

Shen Du, 246

Shen Zhou, 205–
7,
221–22

Shinkei (Japanese poet), 231–32, 235–36

shipbuilding, 202–3, 255

Siberia, 172–74

Silk Road, 208–9

silver trade, 209–10

Sixtus IV, Pope, 137

slave trade

to Europe, 62, 178–79

impact of Mali downfall, 62–63

indigenous African, 63, 65, 68, 78, 84

Portuguese, 76, 78, 80–81, 178, 181, 183

Sogi (Japanese poet),
236
–37

Songhay.
See
Sonni

Soninke, 65

Sonni,
84

after death of Sonni Ali, 72–74

connection to Islam, 64–67

freedom from Mali, 63, 64

rule of Sonni Ali, 67–73

thriving economy of, 63–64

Sonni Ali Ber, 67–73, 75, 86

Sonni Baro, 72–74

Sophia (wife of Ivan III), 169

Southeast Aisa, 214–15, 227–28, 244, 248, 265–68, 319

Spain,
37,
111–12, 187–88, 276–80, 287–88, 296–99, 303, 306, 308, 319

See also
Ferdinand, King; Granada war; Isabella, Queen; Jewish expulsion

spice trade, 17–19, 244–45, 253

Sufism, 264, 267–72

sugar trade, 178, 179, 183, 186, 279

Suleiman I (Ottoman sultan), 93

Swahili coast, 263–65

syphilis, 102

Talavera, Hernando de, 41–43

Tanausú (leader, La Caldera), 285–86

Taoism, 216–19

technology, 201–3, 289

Tenerife, 278, 280, 286

Tenochtitlan,
290,
291, 293–
99

Tenuch (Tenochtitlan founder), 293–95

Tiahuanaco, 301

Timbuktu, 69–73

time, counting of, 21–23

Tlatelolco, 298,
299

Tlaxcala, 298–99

Tristram of the Isle, 182

Tuareg, 62, 63, 68–71, 74

Turks

Charles VIII desire to conquer, 137

Christians in the Ottoman Empire, 105, 108

Constantinople seized by, 30, 106, 166–70

focus on unity in diversity, 105–7

Jewish refugees in Ottoman Empire, 105, 107–10

under Mehmet II, 106–8

naval efforts, 110–13, 204

relations with Italy, 107, 108, 137

taking of Byzantium, 167–68

as threat to Spain, 9–10, 30

Valera, Diego de, 33–34, 45, 50

Vasily II, Prince (Moscovy), 155, 158, 168

Venice, 104, 112

Vera, Pedro de, 280–82

Vietnam, 214, 223, 265–66

Vijayanagar, 259, 318

Virgil, 10–11, 128–29

Volga, 155

Vyatkans, 174

Wang Zheng, 217

Western civilization.
See
Europe

witchcraft persecution, 24, 96

women, 45–46

Wu Wei, 219–22

Yi Hoe, 14

Yongle, Emperor (China), 223, 245, 247

Yoshimasa, Shogun, 232–35

Yukawa Masaharu, 236–37

Yusuf and Zulaikha
(Jami), 270–72

Záhara, 32–33

Zambezi Valley, 85

Zheng He, 223–27, 245–49

Zhu Yutang, 219

zimbabwes, 85

Zosima (monk), 160–61

Maps by Beehive Mapping

Jacket design: Barbara Fisher, www.levanfisherdesign.com

Cover illustrations (clockwise from top left): Montezuma II by Antonio Rodriguez; Museo degli Argenti, Florence, Italy, Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY.

Miniature illustration from the Haft Awrang, “Seven Thrones,” of Jami/public domain, Wikipedia.

Detail from the Catalan Atlas, 1375 (vellum), by Abraham Cresques (1325–87); Bibliotheque

Nationale, Paris, France/The Bridgeman Art Library. Michelangelo Appears before Pope Julius II in Bologna by Anastagio Fontebuoni © Scala/Art Resource, NY.