Medieval Science and the Global Renaissance, 1000–1400

In this article I establish the existence of a global renaissance in the sciences during the medieval period. Between around 1000 and 1400, scholars across North Africa and Eurasia engaged in a self-conscious project of recovery, in which a return to the past was understood as a necessary first step in the creation of new knowledge. Alongside this, and perhaps surprisingly, these scholars occasionally turned to foreign cultures as a source of recovery. In making this argument, I focus on the history of the sciences and associated philosophical traditions in Fatimid Egypt, Song China, and the courts of southern and western India. At the same time, I identify some of the underlying social and economic factors which led to this global renaissance in the sciences, with a particular focus on commercialisation and state-formation. This suggests that a global history of medieval science is not only possible but can also help to clarify several methodological issues in the field. In concluding, I discuss the implications of my argument for the historiography of science post-1400.