A Short History of the World Chapter 49 - The Intellectual Revival of the Europeans

In which the gradual rekindling of European intellect is traced through the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, marked by the revival of learning, the influence of the Arab and Mongol worlds, and the birth of experimental science heralded by figures like Roger Bacon. The narrative follows the dawning of a new era of exploration and knowledge, culminating in the voyages of Marco Polo and Columbus that expanded the bounds of the known world and heralded the decline of the old Latin order.