Medieval Europe actively lost its earlier knowledge of the wider world

Evidence

The Middle Ages represented an actual loss of contact with and knowledge of the outside world. Alexander the Great’s conquests (336–323 BC) had taken the Macedonian-Greek armies as far east as the Himalayas. … But in the Middle Ages, Europe closed in on itself. It retained some knowledge of India (especially among Venetian traders), but beyond that lay unknown territory. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 557

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Even skilled Europeans starved in environments where locals thrived without their knowledge — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 129