captured Jerusalem in 1187 and reconquered most of the crusader outposts for Islam
MARCO POLO
VENICE (1254–1324)
Venetian merchant and traveler whose accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade
KUBLAI KHAN
MONGOL EMPIRE/CHINA (YUAN DYNASTY) (r.1260–1294)
Grandson of Genghis Khan, fifth emperor of the Mongol Empire and founder of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in China.
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
NORMANY/ENGLAND F (r.1479–1516) I(r.1474–1504)
became king and queen of a united Spain after centuries of Islamic domination
made Spain a strong Christian nation under the Spanish Inquisition
provided funding to overseas exploration, notably Christopher Columbus.
RICHARD I (THE LIONHEART)
ENGLAND (r.1189–1199)
launched the Third Crusade to retake Jerusalem after it fell to Muslim forces in 1187
reclaimed Acre, but could not take Jerusalem
GENGHIS KHAN
MONGOL EMPIRE (r.1206–1227)
real name is Temujin who united the Mongol tribes into an unstoppable fighting force as a strategic genius
created the largest single land empire in history expanding from the Sea of Japan in Asia to Hungarian Plains in Eastern Europe
JOAN OF ARC
FRANCE (1412–1431)
French peasant girl, heroine and military leader who rallied French troops at the Siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years War to resist the English
captured and executed by the English for witchcraft
