Final Exam - History Vocab

a thought system that places prime importance on the individual instead of a divine being. Stresses the goodness of human beings, and encourages people to seek rational ways to understand and solve problems with the world.

Humanism

Called the "Father of Humanism"; Poet who popularized love stories

Petrarch

Born in 1475; Created the masterpiece of the biblical hero David in 1504; Painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (the Pope's Residence) with 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

Michaelangelo

1452-1519; A true Renaissance Man: a man of many talents. Painted the Mona Lisa & the Last Supper; Kept an enormous amount of sketches showing his wide knowledge of human anatomy

Leonardo DaVinci

A wealthy individual who spends money supporting the work of creatives (such as artists, sculptors etc).

Patron

Invented moveable type and the printing press in 1455, transformed how the world accesses texts

Johannes Gutenberg

System of printing where one could slide letters into place in a frame, pages of letters were then inked, then stamped onto blank sheets to create books.

Moveable Type

Dutch humanist who wanted vernacular forms of the Bible to make it more accessible to different people

Erasmus

Brought back Greek drama 🡪 wrote Comedies and Tragedies; Wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets that depicted Renaissance life.

William Shakespeare

The movement in which a new wave of scientists changed how humans viewed the world in the renaissance.

Scientific Revolution

Challenged the church - taught that the sun was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it

Nicolas Copernicus

The theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe (not the earth)

Heliocentric

Use mathematics to prove that Copernicus was right; Also proved that planets do not orbit in perfect circles. (they orbit in ellipses).

Johannes Kepler

Agreed with Copernicus and further proved it; Invented first modern telescope and used it to discover other planets, moons of Jupiter, Venus, and that all do orbit the sun.

Galileo Galilei

Changed how we approach the field of science. Created a method to test everything we know: the Scientific Method.

Sir Francis Bacon

Discovered force of gravity. Said that all matter falls at the same rate (in a vacuum, meaning with no outside forces)

Isaac Newton

German monk who grew disgusted with a specific church practice known as the "Sale of Indulgences."; created the first German translation of the Bible; created a list of problems with the Church called the 95 Theses.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther's list of complaints against the Catholic Church, for what he felt was major corruption and abuses of church power

The 95 Theses

The Catholic Church sold these as a way to have sins forgiven or reduce one's time in Purgatory; more serious sins were more expensive to forgive.

Indulgences

Movement started by Martin Luther, that sought to bring about changes and reforms to the Catholic Church.

Protestant Reformation

A government where a king or queen had absolute control over everything.

Absolute Monarchy

Late-Renaissance political movement when people naturally began to question the relationship between themselves and their government.

The Enlightenment

Said that all people have basic, natural rights (life, liberty, property) that are granted by God and must be protected by the government.

John Locke

Believed that one person should never have total control of a government; Advocated for a "separation of powers", where essential powers were split among different people in the government.

Montesquieu

Said that people naturally enter into agreement with their government upon birth, called a Social Contract: citizens agree to allow rulers to rule, and in exchange, their natural rights must be protected. If rights are not protected, people have a right to choose a new government.

Rousseau

The Father of "Free Speech"

Voltaire

Overpowering and controlling other people; forcibly keeping them "less than".

Subjugation

A descriptive atlas of the Middle Ages, giving sailing directions, providing navigational charts, and showing the location of ports and various coastal features

The Portolani

(1394-1460) opened a School for Navigation in Sagres, Portugal

Prince Henry the Navigator

Reached southern tip of Africa in 1487 (Cape of Good Hope)

Bartolomeu Dias

Rounded the Cape of Good Hope and went on to reach India, returning with a cargo worth 60 times the cost of his voyage

Vasco da Gama

The Spanish conquerors of the New World. Often subjugated/enslaved native peoples in their quest for gold and silver.

Conquistadors

Financed by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, landed in the Bahamas believing he was in Asia. Called the indigenous people "Indians". Noted that they were friendly & generous, and would be easy to conquer.

Christopher Columbus

1519 - Sails around the southern tip of South America, reaching the Philippines. Is killed by Natives, but his crew completed the first voyage around the globe.

Ferdinand Magellan

Conquered the Aztecs (Mexico) and their King (Montezuma). Was able to defeat them due to advanced weapons, the impact of disease (smallpox), and forming native allies.

Hernando Cortes

Conquered the Incas (Peru - Western South America)

Francisco Pizarro

The grant by the Spanish Crown to a colonist of the labor of a specific number of Native people for a set period of time. Many felt that this treatment of the natives was inhumane.

Encomienda

A (non-existent) waterway through/around North America sought by English and French explorers. If found, it would have been a highly profitable trade route to Asia.

The Northwest Passage

First successful English colony (1607). Survived by planting tobacco to sell in Europe.

Jamestown

Spain and Portugal disagreed over possession of land in the New World. In 1493, the Pope laid out the Line of Demarcation, following a line of longitude, dividing the New World between the two nations.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Trade between a mother country and its colony, which benefits the mother country.

Mercantilism

The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases between the "Old World" (Europe, Africa and Asia) and the "New World" (The Americas). created economic opportunities for Europeans and facilitated European subjugation and destruction of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Americas.

The Columbian Exchange

The horrific journey taken by African slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.

The Middle Passage

The former Eastern Roman Empire, with their capital city at Constantinople; promoted a brilliant civilization, blending ancient Greek, Roman, and Christian traditions with Mediterranean customs

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Emperor known for his written law code and the building of the Hagia Sophia

Justinian

Simplified & organized the previous Roman law system, helping to unify the Byzantine Empire (another example of codified law)

Justinian's Code

Capital city of the Byzantine Empire, named for the Roman emperor who founded it

Constantinople

Immense, arching, ornate, domed church in Constantinople; Justinian had it rebuilt following its destruction in 532

The Hagia Sophia

Refers to the time between the ancient and modern worlds; was a harsh & difficult time for the people of Europe, as the continent adjusted from the disorder and loss of Roman rule

Medieval

A social/political system that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages, in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and the use of land in return.

Feudalism

The economic system in Medieval Europe. Rural society was arranged around a manor house/castle on an estate. Within the estates, serfs worked the land in return for protection and the right to work a separate piece of land for their own basic needs.

Manorialism

The grandson of Charles Martel; built an empire covering France, Germany, and part of Italy; the Pope named him "Emperor of the Romans", placing a crown on his head on Christmas Day in 800.

Charlemagne

The emergence (during the medieval period) of new techniques for farming, such as the iron plow, a plow harness for horses, and the development of the three-field system.

Agricultural Revolution

The emergence (during the medieval period) of new ways of doing business, including banking, business partnerships, insurance, and new ways of handling money.

Commercial Revolution

Generally merchants, traders, and artisans - a new social status between nobles and peasants

Middle Class

Associations representing workers in one occupation, who made rules to protect product quality, set work hours, and set fair prices.

Guilds

At age 7 or 8, a child would become this, a trainee to a guild master, spending 7 years learning the trade

Apprentice

Paid workers who had completed an apprenticeship, and could now earn income from their trade on their own

Journeymen

An independent political unit that has a single government and usually shares a common culture and history.

Nation-State

Also known as the "Great Charter"; a landmark document signed by King John of England which set limits on the power of the monarchy

The Magna Carta

The sacred rites of the Church

The Sacraments

Non-religious

Secular

The idea that the Pope could claim authority over secular rulers, in addition to ruling over the Papal States

Papal Supremacy

A penalty for breaking Church law; being cut off from the Church and all sacraments

Excommunication

If a noble opposed the Church, they could face this, which would ban everyone in their lands from the Church.

Interdict

A wealthy Italian who gave up his wealth to preach and do good works; founded the Franciscan order of Friars.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Prejudice against Jews

Antisemitism

A permanent split between eastern and western Christianity; The Byzantine Church becomes the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the western Church becomes the Roman Catholic Church

The Great Schism

A series of 9 (mostly unsuccessful) religious wars launched by the Roman Catholic Church over 200 years, with the goal of recapturing the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks.

The Crusades

The area of land surrounding and including the city of Jerusalem.

The Holy Land

Medieval approach to learning - stated that reason, logic and faith can exist together, and that reason and logic will eventually lead to the same truth as faith - that God rules over an orderly universe. Followers believed that learning is done to lead one to greater understandings about God.

Scholasticism

Early medieval architecture known for solid stone buildings with Roman influences, a "fortress" look, with few, tiny windows that made the interior dark and dimly lit.

Romanesque

Medieval architecture known for flying buttresses, high, thin walls, stained glass, and allowing in lots of light.

Gothic

The medieval practice of decorating/enhancing texts with painted decoration or illustrations, sometimes in gold or silver

Illumination

Another name for the Bubonic Plague, which swept through Europe around 1350.

The Black Death

Famous medieval Scholastic scholar who wrote "Summa Theologica" - stated that faith and reason exist in harmony because both lead to the truth that God rules over an orderly universe.

Thomas Aquinas

Medieval author of The Divine Comedy - the story of a soul's journey through hell, purgatory, and into heaven.

Dante Alighieri

Medieval author of the Canterbury Tales - a collection of the stories told by a varied group of religious pilgrims on their way to the shrine at Canterbury.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The most holy city in Islam, which was the place of the Prophet Muhammad's birth, and is the location of the Kaaba

Mecca

Shepherd and merchant from Mecca who, according to Islamic belief, encountered an angel and was chosen as God's messenger/prophet

Muhammad

Originally home to numerous pagan/polytheistic idols, it is a cube-shaped structure located in Mecca, which is now the holiest place in Islam.

Kaaba

City North of Mecca where Muhammad gained a large amount of followers after having to flee Mecca

Medina

The journey of Muhammad and his small group of followers from Mecca to Medina

The Hijra

The holy book of Islam, which instructs Muslims on how to live properly

The Quran

Muslim houses of worship

Mosques

The religious pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lives

The Hajj

Islamic laws based on the Quran and Muhammad's life; Applies religious principles to all legal situations

Sharia

Muslims who believe that Muhammad's successor should be a very religious male from Muhammad's tribe; they believe that any Muslim may interpret the Quran.

Sunni

Muslims who believe that Muhammad had designated his son-in-law, Ali, to be his successor; they believe that only an Imam (religious leader) may interpret the Quran.

Shiite

644 C.E .- 750 C.E. - the Caliphate that spread Islam mainly through conquest and war

Umayyad Caliphate

750 C.E .- 1258 C.E. - The Caliphate that spread Islam mainly through cultural diffusion and trade (height of the Islamic Golden Age)

Abbasid Caliphate

A period of relative peace and prosperity when culture flourishes and advancements are made

Golden Age

A major center in modern day Baghdad: contained massive libraries, open halls for debate, taught multiple languages, and preserved culture for millions.

House of Wisdom

Borrowed from Hindu culture, these digits work in groups of ten and the system includes the concept of zero.

Arabic Numerals

Largest desert in the world; covers approximately ⅓ of the African continent

Sahara

Dominates the landscape of Central Africa - it is hot, dry, and full of diverse wildlife

Savanna

Strong, wealthy East African kingdom, located in modern-day Ethiopia

Axum

Powerful and wealthy trade city, known for being a center of education and culture; was also the capital of Mali

Timbuktu

The first of the wealthy West African kingdoms - ruled from 800-1076 CE. Controlled & profited from the Gold/Salt trade in West Africa.

Ghana

Replaced Ghana and ruled from 1235 until 1400 CE; Also became extremely wealthy and powerful from control of the gold/salt trade

Mali