United States History Student Edition

02

A Changing World

Europe and the World GUIDING QUESTION What factors led to the European era of exploration?

READING STRATEGY Analyzing Key Ideas and Details As you read, take notes about key technological advances made by European explorers.

For centuries after the Roman Empire fell in 476 C.E., people in Western Europe were cut off from the rest of the world. Western Europe was made up of small kingdoms and city-states dominated by the Catholic Church. Then, in the early 600s C.E., a new religion, Islam, began to spread rapidly in the Middle East and Africa. The rise of Islam

would soon end Western Europe’s isolation . Europe and Expanding Trade

Technological Advances

In the 900s and 1000s C.E., Muslim rulers took over Christian lands. European Christians launched a series of attacks against Muslims, known as the Crusades , in an attempt to gain back these lands. As a result of the Crusades, Europeans became interested in Asia. Crusaders brought back new goods and foods, and interest in trade grew. European merchants began to buy spices, sugar, silk, and other Chinese and Indian goods from Arab traders in the Middle East. The merchants then sent the goods overland by caravan, or groups of travelers, to the Mediterranean and Black seas. From there, the goods traveled by ship to Italian ports in Venice, Genoa, and Pisa. These cities prospered as centers of the growing trade. In the late 1200s, interest in Asia grew even more after Italian explorer Marco Polo returned from a long trip to China. He told fabulous stories about Asia’s people, great riches, and splendid cities. isolation the state of being set apart or cut off Crusades a series of expeditions Europeans made to regain control of Christian holy sites in the Middle East from the 1000s C.E. to the 1200s

FLORIDA BENCHMARKS

• SS.8.A.2.1 • ELD.K12.ELL.SI.1

This illustration from c. 1400 shows Marco Polo with a ship holding exotic animals.

The Protected Art Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

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