During the high Middle Ages, wealth began to return and consumers began to demand luxuries again. Silk, porcelain, spices, incense, gold and gems, all went thousands of miles across deserts, mountains and plains. Glass was in turn imported from Europe to Asia.
Trade was greatly interrupted several times during the Crusades (1095-1291) due to wars between Muslims and Christians, and because of Mongolian Invasions, and later because of the Black Plague. It is thought that the Mongols brought the Plague with them from Asia, and devastated the world population from 1347-1351. Almost a third of the world's population was killed by the plague at this time, although the Americas were not touched by the disease at all.
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (in other words, Buddhists don't believe in a god) that is based on philosophy. It began in India but is almost entirely gone from that area now. Muslim invaders in India drove out this system of beliefs, more or less forcing Buddhism to flee East (where it eventually took strong roots in China).
During the Middle Ages the Mongols created the world's largest contiguous empire, controlling much of Asia, the Middle East, and far eastern Europe. The Mongol Empire was so large and powerful that its strength imposed what was later called the "Pax Mongolica", similar to the Roman Pax Romana ("pax" is Latin for "peace"). With no war inside the Mongol Empire; international trade and diplomacy along the Silk Road greatly expanded.
Mongol leader Genghis Khan built an empire that was so large, it collapsed under its own size (much like Alexander the Great's empire did) around the time of the Khan's death in 1227. The former Mongol empire was split four ways, leaving the Chinese to become the dominant power in the Far East once again. Later, the Chinese took control of northern China again under the Yuan Dynasty.
Around 1405, A Chinese admiral named Zheng He went to explore the world. His fleet of 300 'treasure ships' explored great areas of the Eastern world, and were many times larger than anything the Europeans had built. (A Zheng He Treasure ship was wider than Columbus' ship 'Santa Maria' was long).
The Late Middle Ages were the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, from around 1291 (when the crusades ended) to 1492 (Columbus voyage to the new world). During this period the gun changed war and aristocracy and feudalism became less important. States founded standing armies. Before, armies were only formed when there was a war. Technology, economy and science developed. Cities were founded and existing cities grew larger and richer. France and England fought the Hundred Years' War. The Grand Duchy of Moscow regained its independence from the Mongols just like the Chinese, and under the name "Russia" became the most important state in Eastern Europe. A Plague devasted in Eurasia and North Africa that killed 1/3 to 3/4 of the population (75-200 million people dead). This was one of the deadliest pandemic in the history.
In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire. That event cut off the Silk Road, and the Europeans had to find new trade routes. In turn, the Muslims were driven off Spain. This event triggered the Age of Discovery during the Renaissance.
In the late Middle Ages the Frisians rebelled against the Habsburgians from 1515 until 1523. They were lead into battle by the legendary warriors and warlords Donia and Jelckama. They were eventually defeated and beheaded in Leeuwarden.
Louis Bonaparte
Louis I of Holland ("Lodewijk Napoleon" in Dutch) (1779-1846), was the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. He served with his brother in the Italian campaign of 1796–97 and in Egypt in 1798–99. Napoleon named him king of Holland in 1806. When Louis disagreed with his policies, Napoleon dispatched troops against Holland. Louis abdicated in 1810 and lived most of the remainder of his life in Italy.
Louis was born Luigi Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was a younger brother of Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien and Elisa, and the older brother of Pauline, Caroline and Jerome.
His early career was spent in the army and he served with Napoleon in Egypt. Thanks to Napoleon, he was a general by the age of 25, although he himself felt that he had risen too far in too short a time. Upon his return to France, he was involved in Napoleon's plot to overthrow the Directory. After becoming first consul, Napoleon arranged a marriage for Louis to Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Empress Josephine and Napoleon's stepdaughter. Hortense, who was opposed to the marriage, was convinced by her mother to marry Louis for the sake of the family.
Napoleon made him king of Holland on June 5 1806. He took his duties as king seriously, calling himself Koning Lodewijk I (adopting the Dutch form of his name). He practiced to speak Dutch language and tried to be a responsible, independent ruler of Holland. His attempt at speaking the language earned him some respect from his subjects. He declared that he was Dutch and renounced his French citizenship. He also forced his court and ministers (mostly supplied by Napoleon) to speak only Dutch languages.This was too much for his wife Hortense who refused his request. Two major tragedies occurred during his reign: the explosion of a ship filled with gunpowder in the heart of the city of Leiden in 1807, and a major flood in 1809. In both instances, Louis personally and effectively oversaw local relief efforts, which helped earn him the nickname of Louis the Good.
His reign of the Netherlands was short lived, due to a quarrel with his brother. Napoleon I wanted Dutch troops for his invasion of Russia. Louis refused; Napoleon didn't help defend the kingdom, and the British invaded. Napoleon then suggested that Louis should abdicate but he refused. Napoleon removed Louis from the Dutch throne and took over the entire Kingdom of Holland on July 1, 1810.
After his kingdom was taken from him, Louis remained in Holland for nearly three years and turned to writing and poetry. Louis wrote to Napoleon after the disastrous Russian campaign to restore him to the Dutch throne. Predictably, Napoleon refused and Louis returned to France in 1813.
After the death of his elder brother Joseph in 1844, Louis was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French, although he took little action himself to advance the claim. His son and heir, Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, on the other hand, was at that time imprisoned in France for having tried to engineer a Bonapartist coup d'état. Louis died on July 25 1846, making his son the future Napoleon III.
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (1607 – 1676) was a famous Dutch admiral.
De Ruyter was born in Vlissingen. He fought the English in the three Anglo-Dutch Wars and scored several huge victories. He won amongst others the Four Days Battle and the Raid on Medway, close to London, the English capital. He also fought battles against Sweden and France. He died because of injuries he got on a battle against France, he is buried in Amsterdam.
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (14 January 1798 - 4 June 1872) was an important Dutch politician. In 1848, he wrote a constitution almost on his own. This constitution gave the king less power and the people more, so it made the Netherlands a democracy. Thorbecke was a liberal. Several times he was prime minister, and internal affairs minister.
Thorbecke was a Lutheran and had German roots. He was born in Zwolle and died in The Hague, aged 74.
Karel Doorman
Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (April 23, 1889 in Utrecht - February 28, 1942) was a Dutch admiral (Dutch: "schout-bij-nacht") during World War II.
In 1942 he was made commander of the combined American, British, Dutch and Australian fleet in the Dutch East Indies.