“The Bridge Has Fallen into Ruin”: The Rise and Decline of Cities Before 1450

20 Oct 2025 — 3 min read

From page 61 of the AP World History Course and Exam Description.

Teaching world history often means teaching about historic trading cities (entrepôts). While some cities flourished as trade centers over centuries, others experienced brief periods of rise and decline. Constantinople/Istanbul is a unique example of a city that has flourished for centuries, but also has gone through multiple phases of contraction and expansion.

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Afroeurasian Exchange Networks and the Spread of Religions before 1450

Extensive trade networks crisscrossed Afroeurasia before 1500. These networks facilitated more than the movement of goods; cultural traditions and technologies also spread through the networks. We can easily see this through the spread of the four most popular universal religions. The Source