MASS POV ASSIGNMENT
For each document that follows, complete the ASAP identifying: attribute/summary and point of view.
Write no more than two sentences.
1. Attribute/Summary – 1 sentence
2. Point of View – 1 sentence
Document 1
Traditional Tale from Germany, 16th century CE
“A journeyman cooper found work with an old female master in Binsachsen. Once when he was going out
for the evening, the woman asked him if he was not afraid to come home by himself. "No," he said. His way
home led him across a meadow, where a large cat approached him and ran along beside him. He took no
further notice of it.
The next evening he went out again, and his landlady once again asked him if he was not afraid. He told
her about the cat, but said that he had no fear of such a dumb animal. This time when he came to the
meadow the cat was there again, but now it ran toward him and was about to jump on him. He hit it with a
pair of pincers, breaking its left front leg, and it fled screaming.
The next morning the master did not get out of bed. The journeyman pulled back her covers and saw that
her left arm was broken. Thus it was disclosed that the woman was a witch.”
Document 2
An anecdotal story on Boku-den (Tsuka-hara), a great swordsman (sword saint) and Zen Buddhist
monk, 1654 CE
"On a certain occasion Boku-den took a ferry to cross over the Yabase in the province of Omi. There was
among the passengers a Samurai, tall and square-shouldered, apparently an experienced fencer. He behaved
rudely toward the fellow-passengers, and talked so much of his own dexterity in the art that Boku-den,
provoked by his brag, broke silence. 'You seem, my friend, to practise the art in order to conquer the enemy,
but I do it in order not to be conquered,' said Boku-den. 'O monk,' demanded the man, as Boku-den was clad
like a Zen monk, 'what school of swordsmanship do you belong to?' Well, mine is the Conquering-enemywithout-fighting-school.' 'Don't tell a fib, old monk. If you could conquer the enemy without fighting, what
then is your sword for?' 'My sword is not to kill, but to save,' said Boku-den, making use of Zen phrases; 'my
art is transmitted from mind to mind.' 'Now then, come, monk,' challenged the man, 'let us see, right at this
moment, who is the victor, you or I.' The gauntlet was picked up without hesitation. 'But we must not fight,'
said Boku-den, 'in the ferry, lest the passengers should be hurt. Yonder a small island you see. There we
shall decide the contest.' To this proposal the man agreed, and the boat was pulled to that island. No sooner
had the boat reached the shore than the man jumped over to the land, and cried: 'Come on, monk, quick,
quick!' Boku-den, however, slowly rising, said: 'Do not hasten to lose your head. It is a rule of my school to
prepare slowly for fighting, keeping the soul in the abdomen.' So saying he snatched the oar from the
boatman and rowed the boat back to some distance, leaving the man alone, who, stamping the ground madly,
cried out: 'O, you fly, monk, you coward. Come, old monk!' 'Now listen,' said Boku-den, 'this is the secret
art of the Conquering-enemy-without-fighting-school. Beware that you do not forget it, nor tell it to anybody
else.' Thus, getting rid of the brawling fellow, Boku-den and his fellow-passengers safely landed on the
opposite shore."
Document 3
Abu’l Fazl, chief memorist and publicist of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, On Royalty from his Institutes
of Akbar, c. 1580
“No dignity is higher in the eyes of God than royalty, and those who are wise drink from its auspicious
fountain. A sufficient proof of this, for those who require one, is the fact that royalty is a remedy for the
spirit of rebellion, and the reason why subjects obey. Royalty is a light emanating from God, and a ray from
the sun, the illuminator of the universe, the argument of the book of perfection, the receptacle of all
virtues. Many excellent qualities flow from the possession of this light: a paternal love toward the subjects;
a large heart; a daily increasing trust in God; prayer and devotion. He must see that no injustice is done
within his realm.”
Document 4
Extracts from a Treatise, written by Mr. Nicholas Whittington, a merchant of the English East India
Company in the Mughal Empire, about his travels and adventures in the Sind (India), 1617 CE
The Banian [a caste in the Sind] marriages are made at the age of three years or even under; and two
pregnant women sometimes enter into mutual promises, if one of their children should prove male and the
other female, to unite them in marriage. But these marriages are always in the same caste and religion, and in
the same trade and occupation; as the son of a barber with the daughter of a barber, and so on. When the
affianced couple reach three years of age, the parents make a great feast, and set the young couple on
horseback dressed in their best clothes, a man sitting behind each to hold them on. They are then led about
the city in procession, according to their state and condition, accompanied by brahmins or priests and many
others, who conduct them to the pagoda or temple; and after going through certain ceremonies there, they
are led home, and feasts are given for several days, as they are able. When ten years of age, the marriage is
consummated. The reason they assign for these early marriages is, that they may not be left wifeless, in
case their parents should die. Their brahmins are esteemed exceedingly holy, and have the charge of their
pagodas or idol temples, having alms and tithes for their maintenance; yet they marry, and follow
occupations, being good workmen and ready to learn any pattern. They eat but once a day, washing their
whole bodies before and after meat, and use ablutions after the natural evacuations.
Document 5
CLOSED COUNTRY EDICT OF 1635, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan
Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for foreign countries. No Japanese is permitted to go abroad.
If there is anyone who attempts to do so secretly, he must be executed. The ship so involved must be
impounded and its owner arrested, and the matter must be reported to the higher authority.
If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing there, he must be put to death.
If there is any place where the teachings of the [Catholic] priests is practiced, the two of you must order a
thorough investigation. Any informer revealing the whereabouts of the followers of the priests must be
rewarded accordingly. If anyone reveals the whereabouts of a high ranking priest, he must be given one
hundred pieces of-silver. For those of lower ranks, depending on the deed, the reward must be set
accordingly. If a foreign ship has an objection (to the measures adopted) and it becomes necessary to report
the matter to Edo, you may ask the Omura domain to provide ships to guard the foreign ship. . . .
If there are any Southern Barbarians who propagate the teachings of the priests, or otherwise commit
crimes, they may be incarcerated in the prison. . . . All incoming ships must be carefully searched for the
followers of the priests. No single trading city shall be permitted to purchase all the merchandise brought
by foreign ships. Samurai are not permitted to purchase any goods originating from foreign ships directly
from Chinese merchants in Nagasaki. After a list of merchandise brought by foreign ships is sent to Edo, as
before you may order that commercial dealings may take place without waiting for a reply from Edo. After
settling the price, all white yarns brought by foreign ships shall be allocated to the five tradincities 6and
other quarters as stipulated. After settling the price of white yarns, other merchandise [brought by foreign
ships] may be traded freely between the [licensed] dealers. However, in view of the fact that Chinese ships
are small and cannot bring large consignments, you may issue orders of sale at your discretion. Additionally,
payment for goods purchased must be made within twenty days after the price is set. The date of departure
homeward of foreign ships shall not be later than the twentieth day of the ninth month. Any ships arriving in
Japan later than usual shall depart within fifty days of their arrival. As to the departure of Chinese ships,
you may use your discretion to order their departure after the departure of the Portuguese galeota. The
goods brought by foreign ships which remained unsold may not be deposited or accepted for deposit.”
Document 6
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Holy Roman Imperial ambassador to Constantinople, from his observations as
recorded in The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562
No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the deference to be paid to a man is measured by the
position he holds in the public service. There is no fighting for precedence; a man's place is marked out by
the duties he discharges. In making his appointments the Sultan pays no regard to any pretensions on the
score of wealth or rank, nor does he take into consideration recommendations or popularity, he considers
each case on its own merits, and examines carefully into the character, ability, and disposition of the man
whose promotion is in question. It is by merit that men rise in the service, a system which ensures that posts
should only be assigned to the competent. Each man in Turkey carries in his own hand his ancestry and his
position in life, which he may make or mar as he will. Those who receive the highest offices from the Sultan
are for the most part the sons of shepherds or herdsmen, and so far from being ashamed of their parentage,
they actually glory in it, and consider it a matter of boasting that they owe nothing to the accident of birth;
for they do not believe that high qualities are either natural or hereditary, nor do they think that they can
be handed down from father to son, but that they are partly the gift of' God, and partly the result of good
training, great industry, and unwearied zeal; arguing that high qualities do not descend from a father to his
son or heir, any more than a talent for music, mathematics, or the like; and that the mind does not derive its
origin from the father, so that the son should necessarily be like the father in character, our emanates from
heaven, and is thence infused into the human body. Among the Turks, therefore, honors, high posts, and
judgeships are the rewards of great ability and good service. If a man be dishonest, or lazy, or careless, he
remains at the bottom of the ladder, an object of contempt; for such qualities there are no honors in Turkey!
Document 7
James VI of Scotland (also James I of England) from his treatise titled, True Law of Free
Monarchies, 1598
THE KINGS THEREAFTER in Scotland were before any estates or ranks of men within the same, before any
Parliaments were holden or laws made; and by them was the land distributed (which at the first was wholly
theirs), states erected and decerned , and forms of government devised and established. And it follows of
necessity that the Kings were the authors and makers of the laws and not the laws of the Kings. . . . And
according to these fundamental laws already alleged, we daily see that in the Parliament (which is nothing
else but the head court of the King and his vassals) the laws are but craved by his subjects, and only made by
him at their rogation and with their advice. For albeit the King made daily statutes and ordinances, enjoining
such pains thereto as he thinks meet, without any advice of Parliament or Estates, yet it lies in the power of
no Parliament to make any kind of law or statute without his sceptre be to it for giving it the force of a law. .
. . And as ye see it manifest that the King is overlord of the whole land, so is he master over every person
that inhabiteth the same, having power over the life and death of every one of them. For although a just
prince will not take the life of any of his subjects without a clear law, yet the same laws whereby he taketh
them are made by himself or his predecessors, and so the power flows always from himself; as by daily
experience we see good and just princes will from time to time make new laws and statutes, adjoining the
penalties to the breakers thereof, which before the law was made had been no crime to the Subject to have
committed. Not that I deny the old definition of a King and of a law which makes the King to be a speaking
law and the law a dumb King; for certainly a King that governs not by his law can neither be countable to God
for his administration nor have a happy and established reign. For albeit it be true, that 1 have at length
proved, that the King is above the law as both the author and giver of strength thereto, yet a good King will
not only delight to rule his subjects by the law, but even will conform himself in his own actions thereunto;
always keeping that ground, that the health of the commonwealth be his chief law.
Document 8
King Frederick II of Prussia, (1740-1786), from his Essay on the Forms of Government
A sovereign must possess an exact and detailed knowledge of the strong and of the weak points of his
country. He must be thoroughly acquainted with its resources, the character of the people, and the national
commerce.... Rulers should always remind themselves that they are men like the least of their subjects. The
sovereign is the foremost judge, general, financier, and minister of his country, not merely for the sake of
his prestige. Therefore, he should perform with care the duties connected with these offices. He is merely
the principal servant of the State. Hence, he must act with honesty, wisdom, and complete disinterestedness
in such a way that he can render an account of his stewardship to the citizens at any moment. Consequently,
he is guilty if he wastes the money of the people, the taxes which they have paid, in luxury, pomp, and
debauchery. He who should improve the morals of the people, be the guardian of the law, and improve their
education should not pervert them by his bad example. Princes, sovereigns, and king have not been given
supreme authority in order to live in luxurious self-indulgence and debauchery. They have not been elevated
by their fellow-men to enable them to strut about and to insult with their pride the simple-mannered, the
poor, and the suffering. They have not been placed at the head of the State to keep around themselves a
crowd of idle loafers whose uselessness drives them towards vice. The bad administration which may be
found in monarchies springs from many different causes, but their principal cause lies in the character of
the sovereign. A ruler addicted to women will become a tool of his mistresses and favorites, and these will
abuse their power and commit wrongs of every kind, will protect vice, sell offices, and perpetrate every
infamy.... The sovereign is the representative of his State. He and his people form a single body. Ruler and
ruled can be happy only if they are firmly united. The sovereign stands to his people in the same relation in
which the head stands to the body. He must use his eyes and his brain for the whole community, and act on
its behalf to the common advantage. If we wish to elevate monarchical above republican government, the
duty of sovereigns is clear. They must be active, hard-working, upright and honest, and concentrate all their
strength upon filling their office worthily. That is my idea of the duties of sovereigns.
Document 9
Sentence pronounced against Galileo by the Ecclesiastic court of the Inquisition, 1633 CE
Whereas you, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei, of Florence, aged seventy years, were denounced in
1615, to this Holy Office, for holding as true a false doctrine taught by many, namely, that the sun is
immovable in the center of the world, and that the earth moves, and also with a diurnal motion; also, for
having pupils whom you instructed in the same opinions; also, for maintaining a correspondence on the same
with some German mathematicians; also for publishing certain letters on the sun-spots, in which you
developed the same doctrine as true; also, for answering the objections which were continually produced
from the Holy Scriptures, by glozing the said Scriptures according to your own meaning; and whereas
thereupon was produced the copy of a writing, in form of a letter professedly written by you to a person
formerly your pupil, in which, following the hypothesis of Copernicus, you include several propositions
contrary to the true sense and authority of the Holy Scriptures; therefore (this Holy Tribunal being
desirous of providing against the disorder and mischief which were thence proceeding and increasing to the
detriment of the Holy Faith) by the desire of his Holiness and the Most Emminent Lords, Cardinals of this
supreme and universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the sun, and the motion of the
earth, were qualified by the Theological Qualifiers as follows:
1.
The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd,
philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures.
2. The proposition that the earth is not the center of the world, nor immovable, but that it moves, and also
with a diurnal action, is also absurd, philosophically false, and, theologically considered, at least erroneous
in faith.
Therefore, invoking the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His Most Glorious Mother Mary,
We pronounce this Our final sentence: We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo have
rendered yourself vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy.
Document 10
Orders issued by King Ferdinand of Spain for the administration of the islands and Indians of the
Caribbean, 1511 CE
1. You will take over your offices very peaceably, endeavoring to gain the good-will of Ponce and his friends,
that they may become your friends also, to the island's advantage. 2. This done, you will attend to the
'pacification' of the Indians. 3. Let many of them be employed in the mines and be well treated. 4. Let many
Indians be brought from the other islands and be well treated. Let the officers of justice be favored (in the
distributions of Indians). 5. Be very careful that no meat is eaten in Lent or other fast days, as has been
done till now in la Española. 6. Let those who have Indians occupy a third of their number in the mines. 7. Let
great care be exercised in the salt-pits, and one real be paid for each celemin extracted, as is done in la
Española. 8. Send me a list of the number and class of Indians distributed, if Ponce has not done so already,
and of those who have distinguished themselves in this rebellion. 9. You are aware that ever since the
sacraments have been administered in these islands, storms and earthquakes have ceased. Let a chapel be
built at once with the advocation of Saint John the Baptist, and a monastery, though it be a small one, for
Franciscan friars, whose doctrine is very salutary. 10. Have great care in the mines and continually advise
Pasamonte (the treasurer) or his agent of what happens or what may be necessary. 11. Take the youngest
Indians and teach them the Christian doctrine; they can afterward teach the others with better results. 12.
Let there be no swearing or blasphemy; impose heavy penalties thereon. 13. Do not let the Indians be
overloaded, but be well treated rather. 14. Try to keep the Caribs from coming to the island, and report what
measures it will be advisable to adopt against them. To make the natives do what is wanted, it will be
convenient to take from them, with cunning, all the canoes they possess. 15. You will obey the contents of
these instructions until further orders.
Document 11
Instructions by the Viceroy of Peru on the question of castes, 1585
Throughout this realm there are many Blacks, mulattoes, mestizos and many other mixtures of people, and
every day their number increases ... These people grow up with great vices and [excessive] liberty, without
working nor having any trade, and they are often to be found drinking or engaging in witchcraft. Those
[Spaniards] who reflect on this matter with care, fear that in time the number of these [castas] will become
much larger than that of the children of Spaniards born here (who are called criollos)... and that therefore
they will be able to raise a city in revolt; and if they so raise one city, an infinite number of Indians would
join them, since they are all of one casta, and understand each others' thoughts because they have been
raised together ... and if so many joined together, it would be easy for them to take all the cities in this
realm [Peru] one by one ...
Document 12
John Calvin, from his Institutes on the Christian Religion, 1536 CE
The forms of civil government are considered to be of three kinds: Monarchy, which is the dominion of one
person, whether called a king, or a duke, or any other title; Aristocracy, or the dominion of the principal
persons of a nation; and Democracy, or popular government, in which the power resides in the people at large.
It is true that the transition is easy from monarchy to despotism; it is not much more difficult from
aristocracy to oligarchy, or the faction of a few; but it is most easy of all from democracy to sedition.
Indeed, it these three forms of government, which are stated by philosophers, be considered in themselves,
I shall by no means deny, that either aristocracy, or a mixture of aristocracy and democracy, far excels all
others: and that indeed not of itself, but because it very rarely happens that kings regulate themselves so
that their will is never at variance with justice and rectitude; or, in the next place, that are they endued
with such penetration and prudence, as in all cases to discover what is best. The vice or imperfection of men
therefore renders it safer and more tolerable for the government to be in the hands of many, that they may
afford each other mutual assistance and admonition, and that if any one arrogate to himself more than is
right, the many may act as censors and masters to restrain his ambition. And as I readily acknowledge that
no kind of government is more happy than this, where liberty is regulated with becoming moderation, and
properly established on a durable basis, so also I consider those as the most happy people, who are permitted
to enjoy such a condition; and if they exert their strenuous and constant efforts for its preservation and
retention, I admit that they act in perfect consistence with their duty. And to this object the magistrates
likewise aught to apply their greatest diligence, that they suffer not the liberty, of which they are
constituted guardians, to be in any respect diminished, much less to be violated: if they are inactive and
unconcerned about this, they are perfidious to their office, and traitors to their country. But if those, to
whom the will of God has assigned another form of government, transfer this to themselves so as to be
tempted to desire a revolution, the very thought will be not only foolish and useless, but altogether criminal.
All these remarks, however, will be unnecessary to those who are satisfied with the will of the Lord. For if it
be his pleasure to appoint kings over kingdoms, and senators or other magistrates over free cities, it is our
duty to be obedient to any governors whom God has established over the places in which we reside.
Document 13
Jean Rousset de Missy, French historian, used travelers’ and visitors’ accounts to write Life of Peter
the Great, c. 1730
The tsar labored at the reform of fashions, or, more properly speaking, of dress. Until that time the
Russians had always worn long beards, which they cherished and preserved with much care, allowing them to
hang down on their bosoms, without even cutting the moustache. With these long beards they wore the hair
very short, except the ecclesiastics, who wore it very long. The tsar ordered that gentlemen, merchants, and
other subjects, except priests and peasants, should each pay one hundred rubles a year if they wished to
keep their beards; the commoners had to pay one kopek. Officials were stationed at the gates of the towns
to collect that tax, which the Russians regarded as an enormous sin on the part of the tsar and as a thing
which tended to the abolition of their religion. These insinuations, which came from the priests, occasioned
the publication of many pamphlets in Moscow, where for that reason alone the tsar was regarded as a tyrant
and a pagan; and there were many old Russians who, after having their beards shaved off, saved them
preciously, in order to have them placed in their coffins, fearing that they would not be allowed to enter
heaven without their beards. As for the young men, they followed the new custom with the more readiness as
it made them appear more agreeable to the fair sex. Their garments, like those of the Orientals, were very
long, reaching to the heel. The tsar issued an ordinance abolishing that costume, commanding all the boyars
[i.e., the nobles] and all those who had positions at court to dress after the French fashion, and likewise to
adorn their clothes with gold or silver according to their means. As for the rest of the people, the following
method was employed. A suit of clothes cut according to the new fashion was hung at the gate of the city,
with a decree enjoining upon all except peasants to have their clothes made on this model, upon penalty of
being forced to kneel and have all that part of their garments which fell below the knee cut off, or pay two
grives every time they entered the town with clothes in the old style. Since the guards at the gates
executed their duty in curtailing the garments in a sportive spirit, the people were amused and readily
abandoned their old dress, especially in Moscow and its environs, and in the towns which the tsar often
visited. The dress of the women was changed, too. English hairdressing was substituted for the caps and
bonnets hitherto worn; bodices, stays, and skirts, for the former undergarments. . . The same ordinance also
provided that in the future women, as well as men, should be invited to entertainments, such as weddings,
banquets, and the like, where both sexes should mingle in the same hall, as in Holland and England.
Document 14
A Poem Written by the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II, conqueror of Constantinople, 1451 – 1481 CE
To obey, Fight hard for Allah, is my aim and my desire;
'Tis but zeal for Faith, for Islam, that my ardor doth inspire.
Through the grace of Allah, and th' assistance of the Band Unseen,
Is my earnest hope the Infidels to crush with ruin dire.
On the Saints and on the Prophets surely doth my trust repose;
Through the love of God, to triumph and to conquest I aspire.
What if I with soul and gold strive here to wage the Holy War?
Praise is God's! ten thousand sighs for battle in my breast suspire.
O Mohammed! through the chosen Ahmed Mukhtar's glorious aid,
Hope I that my might may triumph over Islam's foes acquire!
Document 15
Hongwu, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, a discussion with his chief ministers, 1369 CE
"The last ruler of the Yuans [name of the Mongol dynasty which ruled China] took heed only of his pleasures.
The great, profiting by his indolence, thought of nothing save of how to enrich themselves; the public
treasures being exhausted by their malpractices, it needed only a few years of dearth to reduce the people
to distress, and the excessive tyranny of those who governed them led to the forming of parties which
disturbed the empire even to its foundations. Touched by the misfortunes with which I saw them oppressed,
I took up arms, not so much against the Yuans as against the rebels who were engaged in war with them. It
was over the same foe that I gained my first successes. And if the Yuan prince had not departed from the
rules of wise government in order to give himself up to his pleasures, and had the magnates of his court
performed their duty, would all honorable men have taken up arms as they did and declared against him? The
misconduct of the race brought me a large number of partisans who were convinced of the rectitude of my
intentions, and it was from their hands and not from those of the Yuans that I received the empire. If
Heaven had not favored me should I have succeeded in destroying with such ease those who withdrew into
the desert? We read in the Shujing [Book of Documents from the Xia through the Zhou] that after the
destruction of the Shang family there remained more than ten thousand of their descendants who submitted
themselves to the Zhou, because it was the will of Heaven. Cannot men respect its decrees? Let them put in
the public treasure-house all the spoil brought back from Tartary [Chinese name for the land of the
Mongols], so that it may serve to alleviate the people's wants. And with regard to Maitilipala (Togan Timur’s,
the last Yuan ruler of China, grandson), although former ages supply examples of similar sacrifice, did Wu
Wang, I ask you, when exterminating the Shang family, resort to this barbarous policy? The Yuen princes
were the masters of this empire for nearly one hundred years, and my forefathers were their subjects, and
even although it was the constant practice to treat in this fashion the princes of a dynasty which has ceased
to reign, yet could I not induce myself to adopt it."
Document 16
Ludovico Verthema, a Portuguese merchant and traveler, from his book about his travels in Southwest
Asia and India, 1503 CE
The king and people of Calicut [India] are idolaters, and worshippers of the devil, though they acknowledge
one supreme God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the first chief cause of all things. But they allege that
God could have no pleasure in his government, if he were to take it upon himself, and hath therefore given it
in charge to the devil, who was sent as they say from heaven, to rule over and judge the world, rendering
good or evil to men according to their deserts. The great God they call Tamerani, and this devil or
subordinate deity Deumo. The king has a chapel in his palace, where this Deumo is worshipped. This chapel
has an open vault or arch on all the four sides, about two paces in breadth, and it is about three paces high.
The entrance is by a wooden gate, ornamented with carved work of monstrous forms or shapes of devils. In
the midst of the chapel is a royal seat or throne of copper, on which sits the figure or image of the devil,
likewise of copper. On the head of this image is a crown like that worn by the pope, but having the addition
of four horns, besides which he is represented with a great gaping mouth, having four monstrous teeth. The
nose is horridly deformed, with grim lowering eyes, a threatening look, and crooked hands, or talons like
flesh-hooks, and feet somewhat like those of a cock; forming on the whole, a monster terrible to look at. In
every corner of the chapel there are other figures of devils of shining copper, as if flames of fire devouring
miserable souls. These souls are about the size of half a finger, some of them larger, and each figure puts
one of these souls into his mouth with the right hand, while the left is on the ground lifting up another. Every
morning the priests, who are called Brahmins, wash the idol with rose water, and perfume him with sweet
savors, after which they pray to him prostrate on the earth.
Document 17
Hernan Cortés, conqueror of the Aztecs, from his Second Letter to Emperor Charles V, 1520
This city has many public markets and other places for buying and selling. There is one square where are daily
assembled more than sixty thousand souls, engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of
merchandise that the world affords as for instance articles of food, as well as jewels of gold and silver, lead,
brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails, and feathers. There are also exposed for sale
wrought and unwrought stone, bricks burnt and unburnt, timber hewn and unhewn, of different sorts. There
is a street for game, where every variety of birds in the country are sold, as fowls, partridges, quails, wild
ducks, fly-catchers, widgeons, turtledoves, pigeons, reed-birds, parrots, sparrows, eagles, hawks, owls, and
kestrels; they sell likewise the skins of some birds of prey, with their feathers, head, beak, and claws. There
are also sold rabbits, hares, deer, and little dogs, which are raised for eating. There is also an herb street,
where may be obtained all sorts of roots and medicinal herbs that the country affords. There are
apothecaries' shops, where prepared medicines, liquids, ointments, and plasters are sold; barbers' shops,
where they wash and shave the head; and restaurateurs, that furnish food and drink at a certain price. Wood
and coal are seen in abundance, and braziers of earthenware for burning coals; mats of various kinds for
beds, others of a lighter sort for seats, and for halls and bedrooms. There are all kinds of green vegetables,
especially onions, leeks, garlic, watercresses, nasturtium, borage, sorrel, artichokes, and golden thistle;
fruits also of numerous descriptions, amongst which are cherries and plums; honey and wax from bees, and
from the stalks of maize, which are as sweet as the sugar-cane; honey is also extracted from the plant called
maguey, which is superior to sweet or new wine; from the same plant they extract sugar and wine, which they
also sell. Different kinds of cotton thread of all colors in skeins are exposed for sale in one quarter of the
market. Painters' colors, deerskins dressed and undressed, dyed different colors; earthen-ware of a large
size and excellent quality; large and small jars, jugs, pots, bricks, and endless variety of vessels, all made of
fine clay, and all or most of them glazed and painted; maize or Indian corn, in the grain and in the form of
bread, preferred in the grain for its flavor to that of the other islands and terra-firma; patés of birds and
fish; great quantities of fish---fresh, salt, cooked and uncooked; the eggs of hens, geese, and of all the
other birds. Every kind of merchandise is sold in a particular street or quarter assigned to it exclusively, and
thus the best order is preserved. There is a building in the great square that is used as an audience house,
where ten or twelve persons, who are magistrates, sit and decide all controversies that arise in the market,
and order delinquents to be punished. In the same square there are other persons who break measures that
were not true.
Document 18
Father Jeronimo Lobo, Portuguese Jesuit from Goa, India, from his Voyage to Abyssina (Ethiopia),
1635
Yet though there is a great difference between our manners, customs, civil government, and those of the
Abyssinans, there is yet a much greater in points of faith; for so many errors have been introduced and
ingrafted into their religion, by their ignorance, their separation from the Catholic Church, and their
intercourse with Jews, Pagans, and Mohammedans, that their present religion is nothing but a kind of
confused miscellany of Jewish and Mohammedan superstitions, with which they have corrupted those
remnants of Christianity which they still retain. They have, however, preserved the belief of our principal
mysteries; they celebrate with a great deal of piety the passion of our Lord; they reverence the cross; they
pay a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and the saints; they observe the festivals, and pay a
strict regard to the Sunday. Every month they commemorate the assumption of the Virgin Mary, and are of
opinion that no Christians beside themselves have a true sense of the greatness of the mother of God, or pay
her the honors that are due to her. There are some tribes amongst them (for they are distinguished like the
Jews by their tribes), among whom the crime of swearing by the name of the Virgin is punished with
forfeiture of goods and even with loss of life; they are equally scrupulous of swearing by St. George. Every
week they keep a feast to the honor of the apostles and angels; they come to mass with great devotion, and
love to hear the word of God. They receive the sacrament often, but do not always prepare themselves by
confession. Their charity to the poor may be said to exceed the proper bounds that prudence ought to set
it, for it contributes to encourage great numbers of beggars, which are a great annoyance to the whole
kingdom, and as I have often said, afford more exercise to a Christian’s patience than his charity; for their
insolence is such, that they will refuse what is offered them if it be not so much as they think proper to ask.
No country in the world is so full of churches, monasteries, and ecclesiastics as Abyssinia; it is not possible
to sing in one church or monastery without being heard by another, and perhaps by several. They sing the
psalms of David, of which, as well as the other parts of the Holy Scriptures, they have a very exact
translation in their own language; in which, though accounted canonical, the books of the Maccabees are
omitted. The instruments of music made use of in their rites of worship are little drums, which they hang
about their necks, and beat with both their hands; these are carried even by their chief men, and by the
gravest of their ecclesiastics.
Document 19
St. Francis Xavier: Letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome, 1543
We have in these parts a class of men among the pagans who are called Brahmins. They keep up the worship
of the gods, the superstitious rites of religion, frequenting the temples and taking care of the idols. They
are as perverse and wicked a set as can anywhere be found. They are liars and cheats to the very backbone.
Their whole study is, how to deceive most cunningly the simplicity and ignorance of the people. They give out
publicly that the gods command certain offerings to be made to their temples, which offerings are simply
the things that the Brahmins themselves wish for, for their own maintenance and that of their wives,
children, and servants. Thus they make the poor folk believe that the images of their gods eat and drink,
dine and sup like men, and some devout persons are found who really offer to the idol twice a day, before
dinner and supper, a certain sum of money. When they are in need of any supplies, and even before, they give
out to the people that the gods are angry because the things they have asked for have not been sent, and
that if the people do not take care, the gods will punish them by slaughter, disease, and the assaults of the
devils. And the poor ignorant creatures, with the fear of the gods before them, obey them implicitly. These
Brahmins have barely a tincture of literature, but they make up for their poverty in learning by cunning and
malice. Those who belong to these parts are very indignant with me for exposing their tricks. Whenever they
talk to me with no one by to hear them they acknowledge that they have no other patrimony but the idols, by
their lies about which they procure their support from the people. They say that I, poor creature as I am,
know more than all of them put together.
Document 20
Wang Yang-ming, Chinese Confucian scholar, c. 1540 Inquiry on the Great Learning
Master Wang said: The great man regards Heaven and Earth and the myriad things as one body. He regards
the world as one family and the country as one person. . . . Therefore when he sees a child about to fall into a
well, he cannot help a feeling of alarm and commiseration. This shows that his humanity ( jen) forms one body
with the child. It may be objected that the child belongs to the same species. Again, when he observes the
pitiful cries and frightened appearance of birds and animals about to be slaughtered, he cannot help feeling
an “inability to bear” their suffering. This shows that his humanity forms one body with birds and animals. It
may be objected that birds and animals are sentient beings as he is. But when he sees plants broken and
destroyed, he cannot help a feeling of pity. This shows that his humanity forms one body with plants. It may
be said that plants are living things as he is. Yet even when he sees tiles and stones shattered and crushed,
he cannot help a feeling of regret. This shows that his humanity forms one body with tiles and stones.