CNN Perspectives - Millennium A Thousand Years of History (1999) Part 3 The Thirteenth Century Century of the Stirrup

Join CNN's MILLENNIUM for a panoramic sweep over the last 1,000 years, watching the people, events and achievements that shaped the world. The 10, one-hour episodes of MILLENNIUM are extraordinary in their range of vision and compelling in their presentation. Yet MILLENNIUM is neither chronological nor all-encompassing. Instead, it is eclectic, a pastiche of things great–or small–that sculpted the world. Each of the 10 episodes of MILLENNIUM focuses on a single century, brought to life by five vignettes from five different locations worldwide. Inspired by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's book, “Millennium,” and filmed in 28 countries, the series is as geographically far-ranging as the world it covers. Its producers and crews spent more than two years and traveled 100,000 miles gathering footage. MILLENNIUM reconstructs the visual images of past ages using this footage, along with vivid re-enactments and computer-generated graphic animation.

Part 3 The Thirteenth Century Century of the Stirrup

Genghis Khan and his Mongol horsemen thundered across Asia, creating the largest empire the world has ever known. The Mongols were ferocious warriors, but they imposed peace on the lands they conquered. It became possible to travel and trade safely from Europe to the Orient. Grandson of Genghis, Kublai Khan conquered and united the whole of China but was seduced by luxury in his palace at Xanadu. The Mongol advance west was finally halted by the Mamelukes, a Muslim dynasty of former slaves who made Cairo into one of the world's greatest cities. Goods and ideas from the Orient traveled via Venice up into northern Europe.

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