The Human Record

Alfred Andrea received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vermont, where he taught from 1967 through 2001. His initial training concentrated on medieval European history, with an emphasis on Byzantine-Western relations and the Crusades. He has since published four books on the Crusades, as well as numerous articles on a variety of historical issues. For the past thirty years, his teaching, research, and writing have focused increasingly on world history before 1600, with a particular interest in cross-cultural contacts across the Silk Road. In 2002 he was Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Louisville, and he served as president of the World History Association (WHA) in 2010-2012. In 2014, the WHA recognized him as a Pioneer of World History. James H. Overfield, Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont, received his BA from Dension University, his MA from the University of Chicago, and his PhD from Princeton University. During his career at Vermont he received the University’s outstanding teacher award, and served many years as Department of History Chair, in which capacity he was a strong advocate for the study and teaching of global history. His publications include Humanism and Scholasticism in Late Medieval Germany (Princeton University Press, 1984), as well as numerous articles on late medieval and early modern European thought. He served as editor for three volumes (1750-1914) of the ABC-CLIO World History Encyclopedia and is author of Sources of Global History since 1900 (Cengage: 2013).

• Part I: AN ERA OF CHANGE AND INCREASED GLOBAL INTERACTION: THE FIFTEENTH THROUGH SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.1. Europe in an Age of Conflict and Expansion.European Expansion: Afonso d’Albuquerque, Speech to Men of the Portuguese Fleet before the Second Attack on Melaka (August 11, 1511); Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, Agreements with Columbus, April 17 and April 30, 1492; Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse on Western Planting Martin. Religious Controversy in the Reformation Era: Luther, Table Talk; Lucas Cranach the Younger, Two Kinds of Preaching: Evangelical and Papal. Marriage and Families in Early Modern Europe: Leon Battista Alberti, Book of the Family; Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait; Erhard Schön, No More Precious Treasure Is on the Earth Than a Gentle Wife Who Longs for Honor. An Expanding Intellectual Universe: Letter of Cencio de’ Rustici to Francesco de’ Fiana and Letter of Leonardo Bruni to Poggio Bracciolini; Raphael di Santi, School of Athens; Michel de Montaigne, “On Cannibals”; Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina.2. The Islamic Heartland and India.Rulers and Their Challenges in the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires: Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Turkish Letters; Eskandar Beg Monshi, History of Shah Abbas the Great; Jahangir, Memoirs. Religion, Society, and Culture in South and Southwest Asia: Sultan Selim I, Letter to Shah Ismail of Persia; Khayral-Din Ramli, Legal Opinions; Abul Fazi, Akbarnama; Lord Krishna Lifts Mount Govardhan and Jahangir’s Dream.3. Africa and the Americas.Multiple Voices I: Africa’s Diversity through Visitors’ Eyes: Leo Africancus, History and Description of Africa; Olfert Dapper, An Accurate Description of the Regions of Africa; Domãio de Góis, Chronicle of King Manuel the Fortunate; Duarte Barbosa, Account of the Countries Bordering on the Indian Ocean and their Inhabitants.Africans and the Portuguese: Nzinga Mbemba (Alonso I), Letters to the King of Portugal; A Benin-Portuguese Saltcellar and A Benin Wall Plaque; João dos Santos, Eastern Ethiopia. Encounters in the Americas: Bernardino de Sahagún, General History of the Things of New Spain; David Pieterzen DeVries, Voyages from Holland to America. Land and Labor in Spanish America: Alonso de Zorita, The Brief and Summary Relation of the Lords of New Spain; Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, Compendium and Description of the West Indies4. Continuity and Change in East and Southeast Asia.Confucianism in China and Japan: Meritorious Deeds At No Cost; Kaibara and Token Ekiken, Common Sense Teachings for Japanese Children and Greater Learning for Women; Wang Daokun, Biographies of Zhu Jiefu and Gentleman Wang; Zhang Hong, Landscape of Shixie Hill and Sheng Maoye, Scholars Gazing at a Waterfall. Political Decline in China and Political Recovery in Japan: Yang Lien, Memorial to Emperor Ming Xizong Concerning Eunuch Wei Zhongxian.Multiple Voices II: The Reunification of Japan Under Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa Clan: Edicts on Christianity; Edict on the Collections of Swords (1588); Edict of the Change in Status, 1591; Laws Governing the Military Households (1615); Closed Country Edict (1635).Part II: A WORLD IN TRANSITION, FROM THE MID-SEVENTEENTH CENTURY TO THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.5. Europe and the Americas in an Age of Science, Economic Growth, and Revolution.An Age of Monarchy - Absolute and Limited: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Polititics Derived from the Worlds of Holy Scripture; Peter the Great, Edicts and Decrees; English Bill of Rights. An Age of Science and Enlightenment: Sébastien Le Clerc, The Royal Academy and Its Protectors and A Dissection at the Jardin Des Plantes; Voltaire, Treatise on Toleration; Marquis de Condorcet, Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind. Stirrings of Economic Change: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations; Petition of the Yorkshire Cloth Workers (1786) and Proclamation of the Leeds Cloth Merchants (1791). The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon: Declaration of the Rights o