It means "year of our lord" in Latin, meaning the number of years since Jesus.
The years before the AD ones are labeled 'BC', for "Before Christ".
Both of those labels are the reasons why many people, especially
non-Christians, such as for example Jews and Muslims, prefer to
label the years as 'BCE' and 'CE', meaning "Before the Common Era"
and "Common Era".
Questions to Guide Your Reading
What factors led to the decline of the Yuan Dynasty?
Where did the Black Death begin? What factors allowed it to spread across Afro-Eurasia?
What were the social, political, and economic effects of the Black Death on Europe?
How did European states and religious institutions change during the late Middle Ages? What caused these changes?
What were the sources of the Italian Renaissance? How did it alter European culture?
Why did Timur attempt to “externalize” the violence of the steppe?
Key Terms
Council of Constance
Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Humanism
Hundred Years’ War
Italian Renaissance
Malthusian Limits
Mamluk Sultanate
Ottoman Empire
Reconquista
Timur
