Around 1490, four decades before the Sack of Rome, Europe was a backwater. Paris, London, Barcelona, and Venice were all impressive enough locales by European standards, but an alien visitor looking for the high points of human achievement in that age would have much preferred to travel to Istanbul or Beijing; a contrarian might have chosen the charms of Tenochtitlan, Delhi, Cairo, or Samarkand. (Location 205)
Note: Not braudel view. Eg the champagne fairs and erosion of byzantium
Nobody looking at the world in 1490 would have thought that future likely. (Location 220)
Note: What future wd they have done? What did future mean?
