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he first constructions in Timbuktu were designed by African architects from Djenne and later on by Muslim architects from North Africa. Trade and knowledge were at their height.

Timbuktu became a celebrated center of Islamic learning and a commercial establishment. Timbuktu had three universities and 180 Quranic schools. These universities were the Sankore University, Jingaray Ber University and Sidi Yahya University. This was the golden age of Africa. Books were not only written in Timbuktu, but they were also imported and copied there. There was an advanced local book copying industry in the city. The universities and private libraries contained unparalleled scholarly works. The famous scholar of Timbuktu Ahmad Baba who was among those forcibly exiled in Morocco claimed that his library of 1600 books had been plundered, and that his library, according to him, was one of the smaller in the city.

The booming economy of Timbuktu attracted the attention of the Emperor of Mali, Mansa Mussa (1307-1332) also known as “Kan Kan Mussa.” He captured the city in 1325. As a Muslim, Mansa Mussa was impressed with the Islamic legacy of Timbuktu. On his return from Mecca, Mansa Mussa brought with him an Egyptian architect by the name of Abu Es Haq Es Saheli.

The Emperor also brought Arabs scholars to Timbuktu. To his great surprise, the Emperor has found that these scholars are underqualified compared to the black scholars of Timbuktu

Mansa Mussa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 had made Mali known worldwide. The great rulertook 60,000 porters with him. Each porter carried 3 kilograms of pure gold, that is, 180,000 kilograms or at least 180 tons of gold (Reference: Volume IV UNESCO General History of Africa, pages 197-200). He had so much gold with him that when he stopped in Egypt, the Egyptian currency lost its value and as result, the name of Mali and Timbuktu appeared on the 14th century world map.

deeply affected by the invaders’ interactions with indigenous groups—interactions that, through a combination of violence and disease, resulted in massive declines in indigenous populations.

The Spanish Empire

Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries.

motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions.

The Exploration and Conquest of the New World

Major French exploration of North America began under the rule of Francis I, King of France. In 1524,

A major French settlement lay on the island of Hispaniola, where France established the colony of Saint-Domingue on the western third of the island in 1664.

Shortly after Columbus’ first voyage to the New World, the British Empire funded an exploratory mission of its own led by John Cabot. Cabot explored the North American continent,

Upon the death of Christopher Columbus,

"heraldry"

coat of arms was used to distinguish one knight from another. When a knight had on his full armor, including plate mail and helmet, even his friends couldn't recognize him. Because of this, knights began to paint symbols on their shields.

job of people called heralds to keep track of the different coats of arms.

A coat of arms belonged to the family of the knight. He would pass the coat of arms down to his eldest son.

Knights and nobles in the Middle Ages often had a coat of arms.

original coats of arms had fairly simple designs

As there became more and more

designs became more complicated in order for each one to be unique.

Vengeful Christians burned Jews at the stake or set buildings filled with entire communities on fire. Some Jews responded by setting their own homes on fire before the angry mobs did it for them

all privileges dearest to and most valued by the nobles.

Knights had the right of receiving double rations when prisoners of war; the right of claiming a year's delay when a creditor wished to seize their land; and the right of never having to submit to torture after trial, unless they were condemned to death for the crime they had committed.

of claiming the goods of a person dying on their lands who had no direct heir. They also had the right of claiming a tax when a fief or domain changed hands.

the right of common oven required serfs to make use of the mill, the oven, of the lord

The law followed in a feudal court was largely based on old Germanic customs. The court did not act in the public interest, as with us, but waited until the plaintiff requested service. Moreover, until the case had been decided, the accuser and the accused received the same treatment. Both were imprisoned; and the plaintiff who lost his case suffered the same penalty which the defendant, had he been found guilty, would have undergone.

The burden of proof lay on the accused, who had to clear himself of the charge, if he could do so.

Ordeals, however, formed a method of appealing to God, the results of which could be immediately observed. A common form of ordeal was by fire. The accused walked barefoot over live brands, or stuck his hand into a flame, or carried a piece of red-hot iron for a certain distance. In the ordeal by hot water he plunged his arm into boiling water. A man established his innocence through one of these tests, if the wound healed properly after three days. The ordeal by cold water rested on the belief that pure water would reject the criminal. Hence the accused was thrown bound into a stream: if he floated he was guilty; if he sank he was innocent and had to be rescued. Though a crude method of securing justice, ordeals were doubtless useful in many instances. The real culprit would often prefer to confess, rather than incur the anger of God by submitting to the test and ordeals.

a trial by combat.

The figures are men who seem to be dancing and are naked except for exotic-looking feather head dresses. One appears to have a Mohican-style haircut.

created the work, which shows Jesus' Resurrection, in 1494, just a year after Columbus returned from his first journey of discovery across the Atlantic.

The apartments were named after the notorious Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI. He commissioned Pinturicchio and his assistants to paint several frescoes for the apartments, which are part of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

abandoned after the death of Pope Alexander in 1503. Subsequent popes did not want to be associated with the scandal-ridden family. They were only reopened in 1889 by Pope Leo XIII, and are now used to display a collection of religious art.

Pope Alexander soon found himself playing a pivotal role in the New World discoveries – he had to arbitrate between the competing claims of Spain and Portugal.

he pope had himself painted into the lavish fresco – dressed in sumptuous golden robes, he is kneeling down on the left hand side, his hands clasped in prayer. He is clearly contemplating Jesus' resurrection, but he also appears to be directing his gaze at the tribesmen – ruminating, perhaps, on the enormous implications of Columbus’s historic discovery

the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide — requires “both strength of mind and body.”

in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary — strengths which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415

Vatican to hold a conclave to elect a new pope by mid-March,

All cardinals under age 80 are allowed to vote in the conclave, the secret meeting held in the Sistine Chapel where cardinals cast ballots to elect a new pope. As per tradition, the ballots are burned after each voting round; black smoke that snakes out of the chimney means no pope has been chosen, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.

Girls were virtually ignored when it came to education.

There were kitchens and pantries where food was stored for everyday preparation. The Great Hall and the bedchambers were there too.

The Great Hall

The Bedchamber

Kitchen

A wealthy knight, his family and guests ate well. Unlike most people, they had plenty of meat like deer, goose and rabbit. On Fridays and Holy Days meat was forbidden by the church, so they ate fish or eels. If there was a special feast, the people working in the kitchens would prepare wild boar, roast swan, or even roast peacock, served with all its feathers as decoration. Some of these would be caught by the lord of the castle and his friends while out hunting with their hawks.

Many castles had stone toilets built over holes in the outer walls. These emptied into a pit way below.

Medieval castles did not have running water, yet people did like to bathe at least once a year. In some castles there was a room next to the kitchen where they bathed in groups. The lord might have hot water brought to his bedchamber and poured into a big wooden tub, where he sat on a low stool in. The water might have perfume or rose leaves sprinkled in it. Soap was made of sheep fat with ashes and soda. Teeth were cleaned by scraping them with a hazel twig and rubbing them with a woollen cloth.

geo means “earth” and -graphy means “to write.” 

located in relation to other places,

what their own and other places were like, and how people and environments were distributed. These concerns have been central to geography ever since.

Throughout human history, most societies have sought to understand something about their place in the world, and the people and environments around them.

More importantly, they also raised questions about how and why different human and natural patterns came into being on Earth’s surface, and why variations existed from place to place. The effort to answer these questions about patterns and distribution led them to figure out that the world was round, to calculate Earth’s circumference, and to develop explanations of everything from the seasonal flooding of the Nile River to differences in population densities from place to place.

Advances in geography were chiefly made by scientists of the Muslim world, based around the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. Geographers of this Islamic Golden Age created the world’s first rectangular map based on a grid, a map system that is still familiar today. Islamic scholars also applied their study of people and places to agriculture, determining which crops and livestock were most suited to specific habitats or environments.

They were the first to use the compass for navigational purposes.

helped to undermine feudalism

Thousands of barons and knights mortgaged or sold their lands in order to raise money for a crusading expedition

they helped to break down the power of the feudal aristocracy, and to give prominence to the kings and the people.

The Crusades were therefore one of the principal fostering influences of Chivalry

They went out from their castles or villages to see great cities, marble palaces, superb dresses, and elegant manners; they returned with finer tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies

helped to awaken in Western Europe that mental activity which resulted finally in the great intellectual outburst known as the Revival of Learning and the period of the Renaissance.

This was called the Peoples Crusade, it is also referred to as the Peasants Crusade. Dividing command of the mixed multitudes with a poor knight, called Walter the Penniless, and followed by a throng of about 80,000 persons, among whom were many women and children, Peter the Hermit set out for Constantinople leading the Peoples Crusade

The Peoples Crusade was badly organised - most of the people were unarmed and lacked the command and discipline of the military crusaders. The Byzantium emperor Alexius I sent his ragged allies as quickly as possible to Asia Minor, where most of them were slaughtered by the Turks.

Peoples Crusade were slaughtered. Peter the Hermit did survive and eventually led the Crusaders in a procession around the walls of Jerusalem just before the city was taken.

a book about her father and the crusaders called the Alexiad which provides historical details about the first crusaders

The daughter of Alexius, called Anna Comnena wrote

Those crusaders who crossed the Bosphorus were surprised by the Turks

Peoples Crusade fell in battle with the natives of the countries through which they marched, and thousands more perished miserably of hunger and exposure.