The Middle Ages, though marked by plague in Europe, was a time of increased investigation of the world. People from civilizations around the globe - from the Chinese in Asia to a curious Venetian named Marco Polo - sought to understand the world at large and discover its secrets. ""Exploration in the World of the Middle Ages, 500-1500, Revised Edition"" is an account of travels, expeditions, discoveries, and cross-cultural contacts in the span of 1,000 years throughout the world. This era encompassed periods of sophisticated civilization, learning, and outstanding achievement in many cultures around the world. Coverage of this title includes: the role played by three major religions - Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam - and these religions' pilgrims and missionaries who traveled throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; the Vikings' advanced shipbuilding technology and how they sent exploratory, mercantile, and colonizing expeditions across the North Atlantic; Marco Polo's extensive travels and the wealth of geographical knowledge he gathered around China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Japan, and the lands of the Indian Ocean; and, Portuguese expeditions to Africa and Asia supported by Prince Henry the Navigator Zheng He's monumental seventh voyage between 1431 and 1433 that included 100 ships and approximately 27,500 officers and crew.

 

This book was published 2010 by Chelsea House Publishers .

John S. Bowman received a B. A. in English literature from Harvard University and attended Trinity College, Cambridge University, and the University of Munich. Bowman has worked as an editor for more than 40 years and as a freelance writer for almost as long. He has edited 15 works on general history and another 20 on wars and military history, and is the editor of the America at War set from Facts On File and the Almanac of American History Maurice Isserman holds a B. A. in history from Reed College and an M. A. and Ph. D. in history from the University of Rochester. He is a professor of history at Hamilton College, specializing in 20th-century U. S. history and labor history. Isserman was a Fulbright distinguished lecturer at Moscow State University in 1997 and has received numerous other grants, awards, and fellowships. He has written dozens of articles, reviews, reference book entries, and book chapters, and is the author of 10 books, including four Facts On File titles. Pamela White holds a B. A. from Carleton College and an M. A. from Princeton University in English literature. She also received an M. B. A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. White has worked as an editor and freelance writer for more than a decade. She has taught writing and humanities at the University of Massachusetts and has worked as a lexicographer for Encarta. White is the author and contributing writer to more than a dozen books and articles. ||John S. Bowman received a B. A. in English literature from Harvard University and attended Trinity College, Cambridge University, and the University of Munich. Bowman has worked as an editor for more than 40 years and as a freelance writer for almost as long. He has edited 15 works on general history and another 20 on wars and military history, and is the editor of the America at War set from Facts On File and the Almanac of American History.