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Inventions 1000 to 1600

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Key Moments

From 1096, Europe began attacking the Arab world in a series of religious conflicts known as The Crusades. These would last for 200 years. Many Arabic or Asian innovations reached Europe from these contacts, including windmills, boat rudders and hospitals. In 1204, the Crusaders sacked the city of Constantinople, destroying the last remaining writings from Ancient Greece.

In 1071 the Battle of Manzinkart was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the (Turkish) Seljuk Empire. The Turks won and went on to dominate Asia Minor. In 1266 Venetian trader, Marco Polo and his relatives, begin the travels to China that would bring many Chinese inventions to Europe. The Byzantine Empire ended in 1453 when Constantinople was conquered by the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans would eventually take over the Muslim regions from the Arabs (after the Battle of Merj-Dabik in modern Syria). Christian Spain conquered Islamic Moorish Spain in 1492. The libraries in Toledo and Cordoba formed the basis of university courses in Venice and Genoa and helped begin the Renaissance ("rebirth") in Europe.

Regular contact between Europe and the Americas began after 1492, lead by Spain. This contact would prove disasterous to the Americans as Europeans would destroy most of their cultures and civilisations, including that of the Incas (began c1300) and the Aztecs (from 1370).

Between 1493 and 1555 many plant products passed from the Americas to Europe, including tobacco, pineapples, capsicums, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, peanuts, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, corn, popcorn, turkeys, chili peppers and beans. Tomatoes, a crucial part of Italian cusine, reached Italy in 1534. In the other direction, Spain took sugarcane to Cuba (1523) and wheat to Mexico (1528).

A rapid fire crossbow was being used in China c1050. This could fire 2000 arrows in 15 seconds. At the same time the Anglo-Saxons used double bladed spades. Bone setting casts made from flour and eggs were used in Sicily c1100. Paris was the first European city to have city paving (1184).

Around 1100, Europe began using paper (via Moorish Spain) and umbrellas. Arabic numerals reached Europe (again via Moorish Spain) c1100. Mechanical clocks were re-invented in Europe c1275. Sometime after 1300 gunpowder and grenades reached Europe. In 1400 porcelain arrived in Europe. In 1460, the Portuguese brought Japanese folding fans and silk screen printing to Europe.

In 1509, Portugal destroyed the Arab fleet at Diu (modern India) taking control of Arab trade routes in the Indian Ocean. In 1588, England defeated the Spanish armada, gaining control of the world's seas.

Various foods passed from Asia to Europe between 1512 and 1600, including nutmeg (from China), aubergine (also known as eggplant, from India) and ice cream. Coffee reached Europe after the Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Empire in 1539. Tea arrived from China via the Arabs and Venetians around 1559.

The Romany (Gypsy) people began migrating from India towards Europe around 1000.

The Battle of Hastings (1066) saw Anglo-Saxon England conquered by the Normans of France. Sugar arrived in 1460 and green peas in 1514.

Moveable type was adapted by Johannes Gutenberg (Germany) who printed the first books in Europe in 1454. Sulphuric acid was prepared in Arabia in 1535.

Notable writers and artists born during this period included:

• Shikibu Murasaki, a Japanese noblewoman who wrote the first novel "The Tale of the Genji" in 1015; it is still being read.
• Persian poet, astronomer and mathematician, Omar Khayyam (born 1050).
• Jewish philosopher, Moses Ben Maimon (known as Maimonides in the West) was born in Moorish Spain (1135).
• Shota Rustaveli, Georgean poet who wrote "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" (1172).
• Roger Bacon (English scholar) born 1220.
• Italian poet Dante Alighieri (known universally by his first name), born 1265. He wrote "Inferno".
• Shams ud-Din Mohammad (better known as Hafiz) was born in 1325. He is the national poet of Persia.
• English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer (1342) wrote "The Canterbury Tales".
• Italian artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci (1452).
• The Spanish author, Miguel de Cervantes (1547).
• Italian philosopher, Giordano Bruno, was born in 1548. He was burnt at the stake for his views about the Universe.
• The English dramatist, William Shakespeare, was born in 1564.
• Theologian James Ussher (1581) used the Bible to determine the "date of creation" as 4004 BC.
• Rene Descartes (French philosopher and mathematician, 1596).

Notable scientists, inventors and explorers born during this period included:

• Leonardo Fibonacci, Italian mathematician who advocated the use of Arabic-Indian numerials, born 1170.
• Marco Polo (Italian explorer) was born in 1254. His stories of his travels to China told of a glittering civilisation in that region.
• Ibn an-Nafis (Arab physician, born 1288) wrote a book describing the circulation of blood between heart and lungs.
• Uzbek astronomer, Ulugh Beg (1393).
• Cristobel Colon (better known as Christopher Columbus) born Italy, 1451, sailed to the Caribbean and the Americas, thinking he had found a Western route to Asia.
• Amerigo Vespucci (Italian navigator, 1454) was the first to realise that the lands found in the Western Atlantic were not Asia but a new continent. It was named America after him.
• Vasco de Gama (Portuguese explorer, 1460) was the first to circumnavigate Africa since the Phoenicians.
• Polish astronomer, Mikolai Kopernik (known as Nicholas Copernicus) born 1473.
• Ferdinand Maggellan (Portuguese explorer, 1480); his voyage (during which he died) was the first to circumnavigate the world.
• The Flemish geographer, Gerardus Mercator (born 1512) produced the first modern atlas.
• Tycho Brahe (Danish, 1546) was the last of the naked eye astronomers.
• John Napier (Scottish mathematician, 1550).
• Galileo Galilei (Italian mathematician and astronomer, 1564); the first to turn the telescope onto the skies.
• Hans Lippershey (Dutch lens maker who invented the telescope, c1570).
• Johannes Kepler (German mathematician, 1571); proved that planets go around the Sun in eliptical orbits.
• William Harvey (English physician, 1578) described the complete circulation of the blood.

Notable monarchs and religious or military leaders born during this period included:

• Salah ad-Din (known in the West as Saladin), Kurdish fighter against European Cruscades, born 1138.
• Temujin (known as Gengis Khan), Mongolian warrior, born 1162.
• Kublai Khan, Mongol ruler of China, born 1215.
• Rudolf I (born 1218) was the first of the Hapsburg monarchs.
• Osman (born 1258); he founded the Osmanli (or Ottoman) Empire in (modern) Turkey.
• Chu Yuan-Chang (born 1328) founded the Ming Dynasty in China.
• Lorenzo Medici (born 1449), ruler of Florence and patron of the arts and sciences.
• Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born in India in 1469.
• Moctezuma (born c1480) was the last emperor of the Aztecs; he was killed by Spanish invaders.
• Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483. His activities lead to another split of the Christian Church: Protestants and Catholics.
• Babur (born 1483) founded the Moghul Empire in India.
• English king, Henry VIII was born in 1491. Modern England developed during his rule.
• The Ottoman Emperor, Suleiman The Magnificent (born 1495) took that empire to its greatest extent.
• Atahualpa (born c1502) was the last emperor of the Incas; he was killed by Spanish invaders.
• Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537) united Japan.
• Abbas I (1571) became Shah of a resurgent Persia.
• Michael Romanov (1596) founded the Romanov line of monarchs in Russia.

Settlements and cities founded during this period include:

• Tartu (modern Estonia), founded 1030.
• Oslo, (modern Norway), 1050.
• Marrakech (Morroco) set up as Saharan trading post in 1062.
• Three Alpine cantons (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden) united in 1291 to form Switzerland.
• Tenochtitlan (on the site of Mexico City) founded by the Aztecs in 1325.
• Havana, (modern Cuba), 1515.
• Rio de Janeiro, (modern Brazil), 1568.
• Buenos Aires, (modern Argentina), 1546.

Structures and buildings constructed during this period include:

• Westminster Abbey: London, 1065.
• The Church of the Holy Sepelcher: Jerusalem, 1096.
• The Abbey of St Denis, near Paris (1137) was the first Gothic church.

In 1054, a star appeared in the constellation of Taurus. It was a supernova (exploding star) that was bright enough to be visible in broad daylight (for two months) and to cast shadows at night. It disappeared after two years. Although observed and written about in China, Japan and Arabia it was not reported in Europe.

On 9 May 1386, the Treaty of Windsor was signed between Portugal and England. This treaty has never been broken and is the longest lasting treaty between any two nations. African slaves went on sale in Lisbon (capital of Portugal) in 1441. This would lead to a slave trade that would result in the forced movement of 20 million people from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean.

By 1502, the Julian Calender, which had been in use since 45 BC, had got eleven days out of step with the seasons. A new calendar was created under Pope Grogory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar). To remove the extra days, it was decided that 4 October of that year was to be followed by 15 October. The Catholic countries adopted the calendar immediately; eventually all European countries adopted this calendar and it is now used by the whole world for business purposes.

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