Splendor
(~1000 – 1400 CE)

European Gothic cathedrals (Notre-Dame, begun 1163) and the Crusades (1095–1291) dominate the conventional telling of this period. There are several parallel high civilizations, however, that flourished in this time including Mali, Angkor, Cahokia, and Great Zimbabwe (whose stone city flourished from the 11th–15th centuries).

The Mali Empire reached its height under Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337), whose 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca is widely cited as involving enough gold to disrupt Mediterranean prices for years — he remains one of the wealthiest individuals in recorded history.

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, was the largest religious monument in the world, and in North America the Mississippian city of Cahokia reached a population estimated to rival contemporary London.

Meanwhile, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368) became history’s largest contiguous land empire, linking East and West under the Pax Mongolica.

Historical Cultures: the Mongol Empire, the Delhi Sultanate, Cahokia, Mali, Angkor, and Great Zimbabwe.

Contemporary Cultures: South Asian, Indigenous, West African, and Central Asian LA.