The High Middle Ages

The Dark Ages that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire 500 years before are over. In Eastern Europe the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire is surviving (at religious loggerheads with catholic western Europe, which is fragmented into small feudal kingdoms). Christian thought dominates science - the church tells people what they can and cannot believe. For example, the Sun goes around the Earth and it is blasphemy to conduct medical research by dissection. Though the church's monasteries have preserved some of the knowledge of the Classical Greek and Roman past, the church controls all thought and resists challenges to its authority by force. Since the fall of the western Roman Empire there has been a decline in learning, applied knowledge and investigation. Books disapproved of by the church are hidden away or destroyed. Practical technology is forgotten - for example Roman public health systems have fallen into disuse. Though much knowledge is held by the church in hand-copied books it is inaccessible to an illiterate society largely precluded access. The Crusades bring some Islamic ideas to Europe, but their assimilation is slow due to Church opposition to 'heathen practices' - though Arabic numerals, easier to calculate with than Roman ones, are rapidly adopted. By 1200 Europe has its first universities, though the focus of study will remain restricted until the Renaissance.

In the Islamic Middle East the situation is better - science and exploration of new frontiers of knowledge are encouraged providing they do not conflict with religious dogma (dissection is banned here too). The Islamic civilisations also preserve much classical knowledge, and unlike in Europe it is often tested and modified by empirical testing - the origins of modern scientific method. Scholarship and the free exchange of ideas are encouraged. During the Crusades western military technology is willingly adapted, but generally Europe has nothing the Levant can learn.

In China scientific invention is steadily progressing. By 1200 they have gunpowder, printing and compass navigation, but by the time of the Sung dynasty in the 13th century will become backward looking, introspective and less innovative.

Separated from the rest of the world in the Americas the Mayans have developed astronomy and accurate calendars but lack the vital iron technology that will enable their civilisation to flourish.

Trade between this world of divided regions is limited, restricted to high-value consumer goods like spices and silks. Marco Polo's 13th century account of China is dismissed at the time in Europe as fantasy, but will subsequently be proved to mostly true. New ideas are generally considered dangerous since they challenge established order. Free questioning and thinking is discouraged by religion and state.