A visual summary made from HOLT's Medieval to Early Modern Times' visual summary slides. Don't sue me.

1. The Roman Empire at Its Height, 117
N
N o rt h
W Se a Roman Empire
BRITAIN 0 250 500 Miles
E
Londinium
S
(London) 0 250 500 Kilometers
Rhi
GERMANY
n
Lutetia e
(Paris)
River
AT L A NT I C EUROPE
Danu Ca
OCEAN be sp
GAUL
Ri v e r
ia
n
Se
B l a ck Se a
a
SPAIN ITALY
Rome Byzantium Tigris
ASIA Ri
v
MINOR ASIA
er
GREECE Eu
phra
te
s Rive
Carthage r
Athens SYRIA
M e d i t e rr a n e a n Se a Damascus
Jerusalem
AFRICA
Alexandria
EGYPT
Ni
le
Re
River
d
Se
a

2. Barbarian invasions and
internal problems caused
The Romans built a huge,
the collapse of the
powerful empire and
Roman Empire.
made many contributions
to art, architecture, law,
and other fields.
The eastern Byzantine
Empire remained after the
Roman Empire fell and
Western Roman Empire
was an important center
Eastern Roman Empire
of Christianity and trade.

3. Roman Accomplishments
Government Architecture
■ Importance of written laws ■ Large and strong buildings
■ Equal treatment for all ■ Columns and open spaces
citizens
Art
■ Rights and duties of citizens
■ Realistic statues
Engineering
■ Lifelike portraits
■ Excellent, durable roads
Philosophy
■ Strong bridges
■ Focused on improving
■ Aqueducts to move water
people’s lives
■ Building designs that inspired
■ Stoic philosophy emphasiz-
later societies
ing people’s civic duty

4. Medina
ARABIA
Mecca

5. Nomads in Arabia moved
Muslims, followers with their animals as the
of Islam, worship in seasons changed and traded
mosques and study with townspeople for goods.
the Qur’an and the
Sunnah.
Muhammad,
a trader from
Mecca, taught
about a religion
called Islam.

6. Islam spread from Arabia to the west and
east. Later, three large Islamic empires
developed, and Muslims made great The Safavid Empire
contributions to learning. was centered in Persia,
or modern Iran. The Mughal Empire
was centered in
modern India.
ANATOLIA
PERSIA
INDIA
ARABIA
The Ottoman Empire
was centered in Anatolia.

7. S A H A R A
WEST AFRICA
Timbuktu
Nig
er
Ri
er
v
Djenné

8. The Ghana Empire
developed in West Mali’s kings built
Africa and controlled an empire and
the trade in salt spread Islam in
and gold. West Africa.
The Songhai
Empire continued
to spread Islam.
The history of West Africa
has been preserved through
storytelling, writing, music,
and art.

9. He
g
H uan w
(Y e ll o
Chang‘an Riv e r)
Chang J i a ng
(Yan
gz i ver)
Ri
CHINA

10. China was reunified,
and Buddhism
spread during the
Sui and Tang
dynasties.
Farming and trade
grew under the Tang
and Song dynasties.
Confucian thought
influenced Chinese
government and
education.
The powerful Yuan
and Ming dynasties
strengthened China,
and expanded trade,
but then China
became isolated.

11. Chinese Inventions
Paper
Invented during the Han dynasty around 105, paper was one of the
greatest of all Chinese inventions. It gave the Chinese a cheap and
easy way of keeping records and made printing possible.
Porcelain
Porcelain was first made
during the Tang dynasty, but
it wasn’t perfected for many
centuries. Chinese artists
were famous for their work
with this fragile material.
Woodblock printing
The Chinese invented printing during the Tang dynasty, centuries
before it was known in Europe. Printers could copy drawings or
texts quickly, much faster than they could be copied by hand.
Gunpowder
Invented during the
late Tang or early Song
dynasty, gunpowder was
used to make fireworks
and signals. The Chinese
did not generally use it as
a weapon.
Movable type
Inventors of the Song dynasty created movable type, which made
printing much faster. Carved letters could be rearranged and
reused to print many different messages.
Magnetic compass
Invented no later than
the Han period, the
compass was greatly
improved by the Tang.
The new compass
allowed sailors and
merchants to travel vast
distances.
Paper money
The world’s first paper money was invented by the Song. Lighter
and easier to handle than coins, paper money helped the Chinese
manage their growing wealth.

12. JAPAN
Heian
(Kyoto)

13. Japan’s early culture was influenced A golden age of Japanese art and culture After the Heian Period, the Japanese
by China and Korea. occurred during Japan’s Heian Period. created a military society.

14. Samurai Society
Emperor
The emperor was
a figurehead for
the powerful
shogun.
Shogun
A powerful
military leader,
the shogun ruled
in the emperor’s
name.
Daimyo and
Samurai
Daimyo were
powerful lords
who often led
armies of samu-
rai. Samurai
warriors served
the shogun and
daimyo.
Peasants
Most Japanese
were poor
peasants who
had no power.

15. ENGLAND
EUROPE
FRANCE
SPAIN ITALY

16. Life in Europe
was based on
After Rome fell, feudalism and
Christianity spread manor life.
into northern Europe.
JAPAN
Rome
Both Europe and
Japan developed
feudal societies.

17. Feudal Society
Kings and
Queens
Kings and queens
were the greatest
lords of Europe,
and all nobles
and knights were
their vassals.
Nobles
Nobles were
vassals of kings
and queens.
Many were also
lords of lower-
ranking nobles
and knights.
Knights
Knights served
their noble lords
in exchange for
land.
Peasants
Peasants owned
no land, so they
were not part
of the feudal
system. But
many peasants
worked on land
owned by nobles
or knights.

18. The Renaissance
Trade Growth of
with Asia trading cities
Humanism Printing
press
The Renaissance was built on trade with
Asia and the growth of independent trading
cities. Renaissance thinkers focused on the
ideas of humanism, and the printing press
helped spread their ideas across Europe.

19. Protestant
Catholic
Unhappy with the Catholic Church, The Protestant Reformation led to The split in the church changed the
reformers in Europe began to break efforts to reform the Catholic Church. religious map of Europe.
away and form Protestant churches.

20. The roots of the Scientists like The ideas of
Scientific Copernicus and Bacon and
Revolution Newton made Descartes helped
included Greek important create the
and Muslim discoveries about scientific method.
science, the universe.
Renaissance
humanism, and
world exploration.

21. Trade
Exploration Market economies
The Age of Explo-
Beginning in the late ration led to the
1400s, European exchange of plants New trading patterns
explorers sailed around and animals and to led to the development
the globe and discov- the growth of world of market economies
ered the true size and trade. based on supply and
shape of the world. demand.

22. MESOAMERICA
Tenochtitlán
Palenque
Tikal

23. Quito
AN
DE
S
Cuzco

24. People arrived in the By 2500 BC people The Maya built cities in The Maya civilization
Americas sometime in Mesoamerica had the Americas during their eventually collapsed, but
before 10,000 BC. domesticated maize. Classic Age. no one knows why.

25. The Aztecs built a great
empire from their capital
at Tenochtitlán.
Spanish explorers
led by Hernán Cortés
conquered the Aztecs
in 1521.
The Inca Empire stretched
along the west coast of
South America.
Francisco Pizarro and
a group of Spanish
explorers conquered
the Incas in 1537.

26. The Columbian Exchange

27. Enlightenment ideas helped
inspire revolutions in America
and Europe.
The
Enlightenment
New governments created influential
documents based on Enlightenment
Enlightenment thinkers developed new ideas that guaranteed people’s rights
ideas about government and society. and freedoms.

28. Ideas of the Enlightenment
■ The ability to reason is what makes humans unique.
■ Reason can be used to solve problems and improve people’s lives.
■ Reason can free people from ignorance, superstition, and unfair
government.
■ The natural world is governed by laws that can be discovered
through reason.
■ Like the natural world, human behavior is governed by natural laws.
■ Governments should reflect natural laws and encourage education
and debate.

29. Documents of Democracy
The growth of modern
democracy was greatly
influenced by several
key documents, which
are shown here.
Which two documents
contain some of John
Locke’s ideas?
Magna Carta (1215) The English
■ Limited the power of the Bill of Rights (1689)
monarchy ■ Outlawed cruel and
■ Identified people’s rights unusual punishment
to property ■ Guaranteed free
■ Established people’s speech for members
right to trial by a jury of Parliament
The United States Declaration The French Declaration
of Independence (1776) of the Rights of Man and
■ Declared that people have of the Citizen (1789)
natural rights that governments ■ Stated that the French government
must protect received its power from the people
■ Argued that people have the ■ Strengthened individual rights and
right to replace their government equality

30. THE WORLD
0 2,000 mi
0 2,0 00 km
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