Page 268 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

NORWAY
SWEDEN DENMARK
ESTONIANS
LITHUANIANS
Novgorod
Slavs of eastern Europe worsened due to the aggression of the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Knights had been founded near the end of the twelfth century to protect the Christian Holy Land. In the early thirteenth century, however, these Christian knights found greater opportunity to the east of Germany, where they attacked the pagan Slavs. East Prussia was given to the military order in 1226, and by the end of the thir- teenth century, Prussia had become German and Chris- tian as the pagan Slavs were forced to convert.
Central and eastern Europe had periodically been subject to invasions from fierce Asiatic nomads, includ- ing the Huns, Avars, Bulgars, and Magyars. In the thir- teenth century, the Mongols burst onto the scene, causing far more disruption than earlier invaders.
Impact of the Mongol Empire
The Mongols rose to power in Asia with stunning speed. A pastoral people in the region of modern-day Outer Mongolia, they were loosely organized in clans and tribes that were often warring with each other. This changed when one leader, Temuchin, unified the Mongol tribes and gained the title of Chinggis Khan (ca. 1162–1227), which means “universal ruler.” From that time on, Chinggis Khan created a powerful mili- tary force and devoted himself to fighting. “Man’s high- est joy,” he remarked, “is in victory: to conquer one’s enemies, to pursue them, to deprive them of their pos- sessions, to make their beloved weep, to ride on their horses, and to embrace their wives and daughters.”2 Chinggis Khan was succeeded by equally competent sons and grandsons.
In the thirteenth century, the Mongols exploded across the steppes of Asia and advanced eastward, eventually conquering China and Korea. One of Chinggis Khan’s grandsons, Khubilai Khan (KOO- bluh KAHN), completed the conquest of China and established a new Chinese dynasty of rulers known as the Yuan. In 1279, Khubilai Khan moved the capital
SIBERIA
POMERANIA
PRUSSIANS
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
POLAND
Krakow
Lublin
KINGDOM OF RUS
Prague
R.
Vienna
HUNGARY MOLDAVIA
CROATS
SERBS
KINGDOM OF
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WALLACHIA
BULGARIANS
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
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MAP 10.4 Northern and Eastern Europe, ca. 1150. Acceptance of Christianity gave many northern and eastern European kingdoms greater control over their subjects. Warfare was common in the region: dynastic struggles occurred in Scandinavia, and the Teutonic Knights, based in East Prussia, attacked pagan Slavs.
Q Which areas of northern and eastern Europe had large Slavic populations? (Look back at Map 8.4.)
landowning class. To the south, in eastern Europe,
Hungary, which had been a Christian state since
1000, remained relatively stable throughout the
High Middle Ages, but the history of Poland and
Russia was far more turbulent. In the thirteenth
century, eastern Europe was beset by two groups of
invaders, the Teutonic Knights from the west and
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In the eleventh century, an independent Polish kingdom existed, but it had no natural frontiers. German settlers encroached on its territory on a reg- ular basis, leading to considerable intermarriage between Slavs and Germans. During the thirteenth century, relations between the Germans and the
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230 Chapter 10 The Rise of Kingdoms and the Growth of Church Power
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