Primary Sources: Collapse and Restructure

Introduction to this collection

This collection explores the political decentralization, expansion of religious authority, and transformation of trade networks that took place from c. 200 to 1500 CE. The sources in this collection will help us understand how societies in this era overcame challenges and transformed.

Guiding question to think about as you read the documents: To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

WHP Primary Source Punctuation Key

When you read through these primary source collections, you might notice some unusual punctuation like this: . . . and [ ] and ( ). Use the table below to help you understand what this punctuation means.

Punctuation	What it means
ELLIPSES words … words	Something has been removed from the quoted sentences by an editor.
BRACKETS [word] or word[s]	Something has been added or changed by an editor. These edits are to clarify or help readers.
PARENTHESES (words)	The original author of the primary source wanted to clarify, add more detail, or make an additional comment in parentheses.

Source 1 – Sidonius’s Letters, 470–474 CE (0:45)

Title Letters of Sidonius	Date and location 470–474 CE, Roman Empire (present-day France)
Source type Primary source – letters	Author Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 430–c. 485 CE)
Description Sidonius was a Roman aristocrat and bishop who was born and lived in present-day France. He is historically famous for his vast collections of letters he sent and received. His positions of power and influence put him in contact with important people across Europe.
Key vocabulary despot tyrant exacting peremptory prefects collusions imposts	succor incursion palisades ramparts sentries sees

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

470 CE, Letter to [his brother-in-law] Ecdicius¹

Your countrymen of Auvergne² suffer equally from two evils. “What are those?” you ask. Seronatus’³ presence and your own absence…He commands like a despot; no tyrant more exacting than he, no judge more peremptory in sentence, no barbarian falser in false witness….He cries the Goths up and the Romans down; he prepares illusions for prefects and collusions with public accountants. He tramples under foot the Theodosian Code [Roman law] to set in its place the laws of a Theodoric,⁴ raking up old charges to justify new imposts. Be quick, then, to unravel the tangle of affairs that makes you linger; cut short whatever causes you delay. Our people are at the last gasp; freedom is almost dead. Whether there is any hope, or whether all is to be despair, they want you in their midst to lead them. If the State is powerless to succor, if, as rumor says, the Emperor Anthemius⁵ is without resource, our nobility is determined to follow your lead, and give up their country or the hair of their heads. Farewell.

474 CE, Letter to the Bishop Mamertus of Vienne

Rumour has it that the Goths have occupied Roman soil; our unhappy Auvergne is always the gateway on every such incursion . . . we are the sole obstacle to the fulfillment of their ambition to extend their frontiers to the Rhone [river]. . . Their menacing power has long pressed us hard; it has already swallowed up whole tracts of territory around us, and threatens to swallow more. We mean to resist with spirit, though we know our peril and the risks which we incur. But our trust is not in our poor walls impaired by fire, or in our rotting palisades, or in our ramparts worn by the breasts of sentries, as they lean on them in continual watch. . . . now fire, piling mounds of glowing ash upon proud houses fallen in ruin. . . . You saw the city being emptied of its inhabitants, rich and poor taking to flight. . . .

Our ancestors will cease to glory in the name of Rome if they have no longer descendants to bear their memory. . . . We are ready, if needs must, to continue the struggle and to undergo more sees and starvations.

Citation

Hooper, Finley, and Matthew Schwartz. Roman Letters: History from a Personal Point of View. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1991.

1 Roman aristocrat, son of Eparchius Avitus, who was the emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 455 to 456 CE
2 A province of the Roman Empire in central Gaul (present-day France)
3 A senior official in southern Gaul involved in tax collection for both the Roman and Gothic authorities
4 Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths
5 Emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 467 to 472 CE

Source 2 – Ballad of Mulan, 386–535 CE (5:05)

Title Ballad of Mulan	Date and location 386–535 CE, China
Source type Primary source – poems/folksongs	Author Unknown
Description The Ballad of Mulan was composed in northern China during the Northern Wei Dynasty of the fifth century (386– 535 CE). While the Northern Wei Dynasty unified large parts of China, it was a period of relative political instability and conflict. This popular ballad—popular enough to inspire several major films—tells about a female warrior who fights against foreign invaders during this period.
Key vocabulary Levy messmates	scampering

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

Click, click, forever click, click;
Mulan sits at the door and weaves.
. . .
The [emperor] has ordered a great levy of men.
The battle-roll was written in twelve books, And in each book stood my father’s name.
My father’s sons are not grown men, And of all my brothers, none is older than I.
Oh let me go to the market to buy a saddle and horse, And ride with the soldiers to take my father’s place.”
. . .
In the morning she stole from her father’s and mother’s house.
At night she was camping by the Yellow River’s side.
She could not hear her father and mother calling to her by her name,
. . .
A thousand leagues she tramped on the errands of war,
Frontiers and hills she crossed like a bird in flight.
. . .
The warriors in ten years had won their rest.
They went home; they saw the Emperor’s face;
The son of Heaven was seated in the Hall of Light.
To the strong in battle lordships and lands he gave;
And of prize money a hundred thousand strings.
Then spoke the [emperor] and asked her what she would take.
“Oh, Mulan asks not to be made A Counselor at the [emperor’s] court;
She only begs for a camel that can march
A thousand leagues a day,
To take her back to her home.”
. . .
She opened the gate that leads to the eastern tower,
She sat on her bed that stood in the western tower,
She cast aside her heavy soldier’s cloak,
And wore again her old-time dress.
She stood at the window and bound her cloudy hair;
She went to the mirror and fastened her yellow combs.
She left the hoe and met her messmates in the road;
Her messmates were startled out of their wits.
They had marched with her for twelve years of war
And never known that Mulan was a girl.
For the male hare has a lilting, lolloping gait,
And the female hare has a wild and roving eye;
But set them both scampering side by side,
And who so wise could tell you ‘This is he”?

Citation

Wang, Robin. Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2003.

Source 3 – Emperor Taizong on Effective Government, 648 CE (8:30)

Title Emperor Taizong on Effective Government	Date and location 648 CE, China
Source type Primary source – political history	Author Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang (598–649 CE)
Description After many centuries of short-lived dynasties, the Tang Dynasty strengthened centralized government in China. Taizong, the second Tang emperor, improved administration, led campaigns, and expanded the state. At the end of his life, he wrote down his reflections on Chinese political history for his heir.
Key vocabulary heir virtue benevolence filial	enfeoff prefectures fiefs prudence

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

When a ruler looks as lofty and firm as a mountain peak and as pure, bright, and illuminating as the sun and the moon, the people will admire and respect him….He cannot expand his territory without majesty and virtue; he cannot soothe and protect his people without compassion and kindness. He comforts his relations with benevolence, treats his officials with courtesy, honors his ancestors with filial respect, and receives his subordinates with thoughtfulness. Having disciplined himself, he practices virtue and righteousness diligently. This is how a ruler should act.

The country is huge and the responsibility for it is heavy. A huge country cannot be evenly governed by the emperor alone; the responsibility is too great for one man. Thus, the emperor should en-feoff relatives to guard the outlying prefectures. . . .

Formerly when the Zhou dynasty was at its height, the empire was divided among the royal clan….In this way, the dynasty was able to survive several centuries. Toward the end of the Qin dynasty, however, the emperor rejected Chunyu’s scheme of enfeoffing relatives and accepted Li Si’s plan to enfeoff nonrelatives. He thus detached himself from his relatives and valued only the wise. With no relatives to rely on, the dynasty fell after two generations….Eager to avoid the Qin’s errors, the Han dynasty, upon stabilizing the land within the passes, enfeoffed the closest relatives generously. Outdoing the ancient system, the largest fiefs were as big as kingdoms . . . the Six Kings harbored ambitions of overthrowing the throne all because they had gained too much territory, military force, and power. . . .

. . . A wise emperor, therefore, knows how to choose the right person for the right task….using the wise for their resourcefulness, the ignorant for their strength, the brave for their daring, and the timid for their prudence.

. . . Government affairs should be departmentalized to make the best use of officials’ abilities. . . . If the right person is given the right task or responsibility, the empire can be governed with ease.

Citation

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, ed. Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. New York: The Free Press, 1993.

Source 4 – Nestorian tablet, 781 CE (12:15)

Title Nestorian Stele	Date and location 781 CE, China
Source type Primary source – poem inscribed on stone tablet	Author Unknown
Description The Nestorian tablet was about nine feet high and carved with dragons and Christian symbols. The inscription on the tablet records the arrival of Christianity in China c. 635 CE. The Tang emperor Taizong allowed the Christians to build churches and practice their faith. In the ninth century, however, the Tang emperor Wuzong forbade the practice of Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The tablet, made of limestone, was later found under rubble in the seventeenth century and erected when missionaries came back to China.
Key vocabulary esplendent turbulence illustrious edifices concord doctrine calamity exalted homage	filial bequests succor meritorious benevolence elucidate sovereign felicity

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

The true Lord is without origin,
Profound, invisible, and unchangeable;
With power and capacity to perfect and transform,
He raised up the earth and established the heavens.
. . .
The glorious and resplendent, accomplished Emperor,
Whose principles embraced those of preceding monarchs,
Taking advantage of the occasion, suppressed turbulence;
Heaven was spread out and the earth was enlarged.

When the pure, bright Illustrious Religion
Was introduced to our Tang Dynasty,
The Scriptures were translated, and churches built,
And the vessel set in motion for the living and the dead;
Every kind of blessing was then obtained,
And all the kingdoms enjoyed a state of peace.

When Kau-tsung succeeded to his ancestral estate,
He rebuilt the edifices of purity;
Palaces of concord, large and light,
Covered the length and breadth of the land.

The true doctrine was clearly announced,
Overseers of the church were appointed in due form;
The people enjoyed happiness and peace,
While all creatures were exempt from calamity and distress.
. . .
The imperial domain was rich and luxuriant,
While the whole land rendered exalted homage;
Every business was flourishing throughout,
And the people all enjoyed prosperity.
. . .
Tai-tsung the filial and just
Combined in virtue with heaven and earth;
By his liberal bequests the living were satisfied,
And property formed the channel of imparting succor.

By fragrant mementoes he rewarded the meritorious,
With benevolence he dispensed his donations;
The solar concave appeared in dignity,
And the lunar retreat was decorated to extreme.
. . .
The true doctrine, how expansive!
Its responses are minute;
How difficult to name it!
To elucidate the three in one.

The sovereign has the power to act!
While the ministers record;
We raise this noble monument!
To the praise of great felicity.

Citation

Horne, Charles Francis. The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East: With Historical Surveys of the Chief Writings of Each Nation. New York: Parke, Austin, and Lipscombe, 1917.

Source 5 – Letter from the Roman Church to Michael Cerularius, 1053 CE (16:20)

Title Letter from the Pope Leo IX to Patriarch Michael Cerularius	Date and location 1053 CE, Rome or Benevento (present-day Italy)
Source type Primary source – letter	Author Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, Pope Leo IX (1002– 1054 CE)
Description Just because two churches share the same religion doesn’t mean they get along. Tensions ran high between the leaders of the Catholic churches based in Rome and Constantinople. The disputes between Leo IX, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, and Michael I Cerularius, head of the Catholic Church in Constantinople— escalated over the years. These disputes led to a “Great Schism”. The letter excerpted below was written in 1053, one year before the Papal Bull of Excommunication. Scholars debate whether this letter was sent to Constantinople, pointing instead to the Scripta tuae letter of 1054 as the letter that made its way east.
Key vocabulary schism condemnation unexampled presumption effrontery unleavened	subvert see anathema venerable unfettered jurisdiction

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

5…..You are said to have publicly condemned the Apostolic and Latin Church, without either a hearing or a conviction. And the chief reason for this condemnation, which displays an unexampled presumption and an unbelievable effrontery, is that the Latin Church dares to celebrate the commemoration of the Lord’s passion with unleavened bread. What an unguarded accusation is this of yours, what an evil piece of arrogance! You ‘place your mouth in heaven, while your tongue, going through the world’, strives with human arguments and conjectures to undermine and subvert the ancient faith. . . .

11…..In prejudging the case of the highest See, the see on which no judgment may be passed by any man, you have received the anathema from all the Fathers of all the venerable Councils. . . .

32. As a hinge, remaining unmoved, opens and shuts a door, so Peter and his successors have an unfettered jurisdiction over the whole Church, since no one ought to interfere with their position, because the highest See is judged by none. . . .

Citation

Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder. Documents of the Christian Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Source 6 – Al Idrīsī on Zanj trade, twelfth century CE (19:30)

Title Kitāb nuzhat al-mushtāq fi ikhtirāq al-āfāq (“The Pleasure Excursion of One Who Is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World”) or Al-Kitāb al-Rujārī (“The Book of Roger”)	Date and location c. twelfth century CE, Sicily
Source type Primary source – geographic history	Author Muhammad al-Idrīsī (1100–c. 1165 CE)
Description Muhammad al-Idrīsī was a Muslim Arab geographer and cartographer. He served in the court of King Roger II of Sicily, who commissioned al-Idrīsī to create a world map, the Tabula Rogeriana. He also compiled the writings and observations of travelers in order to write a comprehensive geographical survey to accompany this map. Below are selections on trade in East Africa.
Key vocabulary cartographer sorghum camphor	aromatic exploit

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

The Zanj of the East African coast have no ships to voyage in, but use vessels from Oman and other countries which sail to the islands of Zanj which depend on the Indies. These foreigners sell their goods there, and buy the produce of the country. The people of the Djawaga islands go to Zanzibar in large and small ships, and use them for trading their goods, for they understand each others’ language. Opposite the Zanj coasts are the Djawaga islands; they are numerous and vast; their inhabitants are very dark in color, and everything that is cultivated there, fruit, sorghum, sugar-cane and camphor trees, is black in color . . . pearl fisheries and various kinds of aromatic plants and perfumes are to be found there, which attract merchants.

Among the islands of Djawaga included in the present section is Andjuba [Anjouan]. whose people, although mixed, are actually mostly Muslims. . . . bananas are the chief food. The island is very populous; there are many villages and cattle. They grow rice. There is a great trade in it, and each year various products and goods are brought for exchange and consumption.

From Medouna (on the Somali coast) to Malindi, a town of the Zanj, one follows the coast for three days and three nights by sea.

Malindi lies on the shore, at the mouth of a river of sweet water. It is a large town, whose people engage in hunting and fishing. On land they hunt the tiger and other wild beasts. They obtain various kinds of fish from the sea, which they cure and sell.

They own and exploit iron mines; for them iron is an article of trade and the source of their largest profits. . . .

It is two days’ journey along the coast to Mombasa. This is a small place and a dependency of the Zanj. Its inhabitants work in the iron mines and hunt tigers. They have red coloured dogs which fight every kind of wild beast and even lions. This town lies on the sea shore near a large gulf up which ships travel two days’ journey; its banks are uninhabited because of the wild beasts that live in the forests….In this town lives the King of Zanzibar.

Citation

Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P, ed. The East African Coast; Select Documents from the First to the Earlier Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962.

Source 7 – Ibn Kathīr on the fall of Baghdad, fourteenth century CE (23:45)

Title Al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End)	Date and location Fourteenth century CE, Mamluk Sultanate (present-day Syria)
Source type Primary source – historical work	Author Ibn Kathīr (c. 1300–1373 CE)
Description Ibn Kathīr was an Arab historian and Sunni Islamic scholar who lived during the Mamluk era, and was the author of several works. In the excerpt below, taken from his fourteen-volume history, The Beginning and the End, he describes the fall of the Abbasid Empire.
Key vocabulary infidel profligate tyrannical vizier	calamity Tatars amirs

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

The arrival of Hülegü Khan at Baghdad with all his troops, numbering nearly 200,000 fighting men, occurred on Muharram 12 of this year [January 19, 1258]. He came to Baghdad with his numerous infidel, profligate, tyrannical, brutal armies of men, who believed neither in God nor in the Last Day, and invested Baghdad on the western and eastern sides. . . .

. . . in the previous year, when heavy fighting took place between the Sunnis and the Shia, Karkh and the Shi’ite quarter were looted, and even the houses of the vizier’s kinsmen were looted. He was filled with spite because of this, and this was what spurred him to bring down on Islam and its people the most appalling calamity that has been recorded from the building of Baghdad until this time. That is why he was the first to go out to the Tatars. He went with his family and his companions and his servants . . . and met Sultan Hülegü Khan, may God-curse him, and then returned and advised the Caliph to go out to him and be received by him in audience and to make peace on the basis of half the land tax of Iraq for them and half for the Caliph. The Caliph had to go with 700 riders, including the judges, the jurists, the Sufis, the chief amirs, and the notables. When they came near a camp of Sultan Hülegü Khan, all but seventeen of them removed from the sight of the Caliph; they were taken off their horses and robbed and killed to the very last man. The Caliph and the others were saved. . . . But this clique of Shiites and other hypocrites advised Hülegü not to make peace with the Caliph. . . . so that when the Caliph returned to Sultan Hülegü he gave orders to kill him. . . .

They [the Tatars] came down upon the city and killed all they could. . .

. . . And Baghdad, which had been the most civilized of all cities, became a ruin with only a few inhabitants, and they were in fear and hunger and wretchedness and insignificance.

Citation

Lewis, Bernard, ed. Islam, from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople. New York: Walker, 1974.

Source 8 – Travels to Timbuktu, 1526 CE (27:20)

Title Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica (Cosmography and geography of Africa)	Date and location 1526 CE, Rome
Source type Primary source – geographic history	Author Al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi (c. 1494–c. 1554 CE)
Description Al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi Ibn Kathīr, also known as Johannes Leo Africanus, was born in the Emirate of Granada and grew up in Morocco. He became a diplomat and traveled to Timbuktu, Constantinople, and Cairo. As a young man, he was captured by Christian pirates and enslaved. His captors freed him and al-Fasi moved to Rome where he was baptized and presented to Pope Leo X. He was converted to Christianity (though he later reverted to Islam) and given a pension by Pope Leo X, who asked al-Fasi to write a detailed survey about Africa. In the excerpt below, he writes about the Islamic city of Timbuktu and its wealthy king, Mansa Musa.
Key vocabulary Berber Ducats	Ingol> cowrie

Guiding question

To what extent did states and networks collapse in this era?

Excerpt

The name of this kingdom is a modern one, after a city which was built by a king named Mansa Suleyman in the year 610 [1232 CE] . . . around twelve miles from a branch of the Niger River. . . .

The shops of the artisans, the merchants, and especially weavers of cotton cloth are very numerous. Fabrics are also imported from Europe to Timbuktu, borne by Berber merchants.

The women of the city maintain the custom of veiling their faces, except for the slaves who sell all the foodstuffs. The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country. . . .

There are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu; and in addition, when the Niger is in flood, canals deliver the water to the city. Grain and animals are abundant, so that the consumption of milk and butter is considerable. But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots. One of these ingots weight 970 pounds.

The royal court is magnificent and very well organized. When the king does from one city to another with the people of his court, he rides a camel and the horses are led by hand by servants. . . . The king has about 3,000 horsemen and an infinity of foot-soldiers armed with bows made of wild fennel [?] which they use to shoot poisoned arrows. This king makes war only upon neighboring enemies and upon those who do not want to pay him tribute. . . .

There are in Timbuktu numerous judges, teachers and priests, all properly appointed by the king. He greatly honors learning. Many hand-written books imported from Barbary are also sold. There is more profit made from this commerce than from all other merchandise.

Instead of coined money, pure gold nuggets are used; and for small purchases, cowrie shells which have been carried from Persia, and of which 400 equal a ducat. Six and two-thirds of their ducats equal one Roman gold ounce.

Citation

Africanus, Leo. “Description of Timbuktu.” In Reading About the World, Volume 2. Translated by Paul Brians. Harcourt Brace Custom Books, 1999. https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/11/04/leo-africanus-description-of-timbuktu-from-the-description-of-africa-1526/.

Primary Sources: Collapse and Restructure

Cookie Policy

Introduction to this collection

WHP Primary Source Punctuation Key

Contents

Source 1 – Sidonius’s Letters, 470–474 CE (0:45)

Guiding question

Excerpt

Citation

Source 2 – Ballad of Mulan, 386–535 CE (5:05)

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Excerpt

Citation

Source 3 – Emperor Taizong on Effective Government, 648 CE (8:30)

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Citation

Source 4 – Nestorian tablet, 781 CE (12:15)

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Citation

Source 5 – Letter from the Roman Church to Michael Cerularius, 1053 CE (16:20)

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Excerpt

Citation

Source 6 – Al Idrīsī on Zanj trade, twelfth century CE (19:30)

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Excerpt

Citation

Source 7 – Ibn Kathīr on the fall of Baghdad, fourteenth century CE (23:45)

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Excerpt

Citation

Source 8 – Travels to Timbuktu, 1526 CE (27:20)

Guiding question

Excerpt

Citation

Eman M. Elshaikh

Image credits