Difficulties And Changes In Empires During The 800 To 1600 CE

Empires during the 800 to 1600 CE saw huge changes in social, economic, political, and cultural ways. Physical items are especially important in shaping an empire, whether these items are foreign items obtained from trading or natural resources found on their land. Additionally, technological advancements and inventions also greatly influence the state. Materialistic goods, foreign, native, and man-made, influence the development and fate of the nation. Technological advancements and inventions special to an empire helped them cement their status among nations and also within their own people. Productivity in smelting iron is a way that China has elevated its status in the world. Persia’s specialty in glassmaking, specifically making glass

In Europe, “Glassmaking had been entirely lost for centuries and would not be recovered for more than two centuries” (Gordan 64). As a result, the glass beads that were produced during this time were extremely valuable to Europeans as they were unable to reproduce these even with the resources. Through analysis of “the chemical composition of the glass and the colors, [it] suggests an origin in Persia, rather than China and India, the only other glass manufacturing regions at that time” (Gordan 64). Even if China and India knew how to smelt glass, they did not know how to make glass as “these manufacturing centers seem to have melted imported glass to make glass beads but could not make glass” (Gordan 64). Persia can establish itself as an esteemed country since it can produce glass from raw materials. This is different than China’s productivity with iron, as Persia’s specialty was making glass, a basic component for other items such as the glass beads. China cemented its place in the world through productivity in making basic components of other

Following Portugal’s effective use of cannons and gunpowder weapons, other empires also started obtaining these weapons to keep up with the changing political and economic landscape of trade. “Islamic rulers in the Spice Islands, in particular, Aceh on the northwestern tip of Sumatra” (Marks 66) started purchasing canons and guns to defend themselves. Trading cities threatened by Portugal's invasions countered these attacks by defending themselves with the same weapons (Marks 66). Following the events in the Indian Ocean, similar developments in oceanic warfare were found in the Mediterranean Sea. In the Mediterranean Sea, the desperation for Asian spices caused conflicts between countries like Venice and Genoa (Marks 63). To gain the upper hand, each country was “preying on each other and seeking protection from North American pirates, each side began building warships to protect their merchant ships.sailors were expected to be fighters too” (Marks