The 14th Century: Century of the Scythe (Millennium) 4 of 10

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The 14th Century: Century of the Scythe _________________________________________________________________ Eurasia/Africa: Black Death In the 14th century, civilization faced a new threat. The black death, the deadliest of plagues, scythed through millions of lives across Asia and Europe. In 1347 it reached Cairo, then one of the greatest cities in the world and roughly 10 times the size of Venice, Paris or London. In learning and religion, Cairo was pre-eminent in the Islamic world. Twenty thousand people a day, it was said, died in Cairo. Their bodies were piled in mosques, shops and on the streets. In all, 200,000 were killed by the plague -- a third of the city's inhabitants. The city never quite recovered its former greatness. _________________________________________________________________ West Africa: Golden Kingdom But one culture flourished, apparently beyond the reach of the Black Death. In West Africa, a remote kingdom controlled most of the world's gold -- the empire of Mali. Merchants came to Mali from all points of the horizon. In a single year, a writer reported seeing more than 12,000 camels on just one of the roads. _________________________________________________________________ Asia: Rise of Timur From the same Central Asian steppes that brought the Black Death came a human predator, the last great conqueror to take on the world: Timur the Lame, known to many later as Tamberlaine. In his youth, Timur used to ride out with his companions, taking sheep and horses by stealth from neighbors' flocks. Within a few years, though, his group of rustlers had become an army, and Timur -- eliminating all enemies -- had become lord of Samarkand. Claiming Mongol descent, he aspired to rival Genghis Khan. He saw himself as the champion of Islam -- a conqueror. _________________________________________________________________ Indonesia: Island Wealth Monsoons provided swift passage across the Indian Ocean -- and created the world's busiest trade routes in the 14th century. Summer monsoons blew ships from Africa to India and the Spice Islands. There the ships idled in port, waiting for winter monsoons to blow them back. At the eastern end of the ocean lay Java and the kingdom of Majapahit, an advanced naval state and the emporium of the world's spices. _________________________________________________________________ Europe: Cold and Hungry In the 14th century, Europe descended into a minor ice age. Temperatures fell as floods engulfed the coasts, drowning animals and driving people inland. Glaciers expanded and icebergs moved south. The northern seas grew treacherous. Christendom shrank. Hilltop farms and marginal lands were deserted. Exceptional winters devastated the poor.