Yongle
He sponsored the building of thr Forbidden City, a huge encyclopedia project, the expeditions of Zheng He, and the reopening of China’s borders to trade and travel.
Louis XIV
King of France from 1643 to 1715
Absolute Monarch
The French King who built the palace at versailles
The longest standing King of France “Sun King”
One of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, ruling 72 years
He was famous for his quote, “I am thr state.” *Moved capital to Versailles which became a symbol of power.
Catherine the Great
Russian Czar from 1762-1796
Was an Enlightened Absolutist, came to power when spouse was murdered.
continued Peter’s goal to Westernizing Russia, created a new law code, and greatly expanded Russia, suppessed thenserfs and gave power to the aristocracy. Her boyfriends would become prime ministers. Expanded moslty West and South, and Westernized in literature, philosophy, and art.
Phillip II
King of Spain, 1556-1598
married to Queen Mary I of England
he was the most powerful monarch in Europe until 1588
controlled Spain, the Netherlands, the Soanish colonies in the New World
Ruled wealthy Spanish Empire promoted the arts, defended Catholicism, and fought England
He defeated the Ottoman empire in the Mediterranean, *attempted invasion of England in 1588 by the Spanish Armada, ended in disaster.
Elizabeth I
Queen of England and Ireland between 1588 and 1603
She was an absolute monarch is considered to be one of the most successful rulers of all time
Reestablished Protestantism as the state religion if England followed a policy that was a middle course between Catholic and Protestant extremes.
She sets up a national Church, is declared head of the Anglican church, establishes a state Church that moderates Catholics and Protestants, allowed priests to marry, allowed sermons to be delivered in English, and made the Book of Common Prayer more acceptable to Catholics led the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Kangxi
Qing ruler who embodied the Confucian ideal: a scholar, and effective administrator, and a conqueror who expanded Chinese influence into Tibet and Taiwan.
Tokugawa Leyasu
A Japanese military leader who reunified Japan at the beginning of the 17th century after a long period of civil war, known as the Warring States or Sengoku period. He created a new government controlled by his family that ruled Japan until 1868.
VOC
1602 joint-stock company; chartered to control Dutch trading and to achieve a monopoly between the cape of good hope and the Magellan strait. Manila Galleons. Heavily armed, fast ships that brought luxury goods from China to Mexico and carried silver from Mexico to China. Vasco da Gama.
Mahayana Buddhism
It is called the “Greater Vehicle”, and was developed later. In this section, some view Buddha as a god. It was easier to reach enlightenment, and could even donate to monasteries for merit (buying your way into enlightenment).
Neo Confucianism
May be understood as a revival of Confucian teachings during the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty and a subsequent synthesis of Confucianism with aspects of Buddhism and Taoism. It reached the height of its cultural significance during the Northern Song Dynasty.
Dominated Chinese official culture from the 13th through the 19th century.
Zhu Xi
Lived from 1130 to 1200, during the period of the Northern Song Dynasty in China. He is primarily remembered as a leading Confucian scholar and the most influential figure in Neo-Confucianism. Among other contributions he is credited with compiling the four most important books in Confucian tradition (The Four Books) - Analects of Confucius, Great Learning, Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean.
Primarily remembered by history as a successful military commander.
Silla Dynasty
668-900 CE
Independent Korean kingdom in Southeastern part of peninsula; defeated Koguryo along with their Chinese Tang allies; submitted as a vassal of the Tang emperor and agreed to tribute payment
First ruling dynasty to bring a measure of political unity to the Korean peninsula
Shogun
Japenese term for a powerful general who uses his military power to effectively become the ruling political figure.
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social hierarchy which helped organize land, work, and people's roles. At the top is the monarch, often a king. He basically “owned” all of the land and would grant land, called fiefs, to elites called lords. The lords would then grant some of their own land to other individuals
Bhakti Movement
Hindu devotional movement that flourished in the early modern era, emphasizing music, dance, poetry, and rituals as means by which to achieve direct union with the divine.
Vijayanagara Empire
Ruled over most of South Asia
Established by Harihara in 1336 CE
"city of victory" established a Hindu empire after renouncing Islam; fell to Mughal conquerors“
allowed for Muslim and Hindu merchants to trade in southern India
Khmer Empire
A powerful state in Southeast Asia, formed by people of the same name, lasting from 802 CE to 1431 CE. At its peak, the land-based empire covered much of what today is Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam
Mexica
People occupied territory in Mesoamerica, and the capital city Tenochtitlán was located in what today is Mexico City. A militant warrior tradition characterized their culture. They developed a system of feudalism, which had similarities to that of Japan and Europe.
Inca
a member of the small group of Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors
lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s
Cahokia
the largest city ever built north of Mexico before Columbus and boasted 120 earthen mounds. Many were massive, square-bottomed, flat-topped pyramids -- great pedestals atop which civic leaders lived. At the vast plaza in the city's center rose the largest earthwork in the Americas, the 100-foot Monks Mound.
Great Zimbabwe
A medieval African city known for its large circular wall and tower. It was part of a wealthy African trading empire that controlled much of the East African coast from the 11th to the 15th centuries.
Known for it’s great stone city. Evidence of architectural innovation or achievement. Kings taxes trade and exported told, ivory and slaves along trans Saharan route. Embraced Islam to help forge alliances with northern Islamic kingdoms.
Mansa Musa
Ruler of the kingdom of Mali from 1312 C.E. to 1337 C.E
During his reign, Mali was one of the richest kingdoms of Africa, and he was among the richest individuals in the world.
Is most known for his intricate pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. First muslim ruler in West Africa to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Ethiopia
Christian kingdom in the highlands of eastern Africa
Pax Mongolica
Latin for “Mongol peace,” describes a period of relative stability in Eurasia under the Mongol Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries
Ghenghis Khan
(1162-1227)
Establish the largest land empire in history. After uniting the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau, he conquered huge chunks of central Asia and China.
Marco Polo
Venetian merchant traveler and trader
He wrote about his travels in a journal which helped Europeans learn significantly more about Central Asia and China. He was well educated and learned necessary merchant skills such as foreign currency, appraisal, and the handling of cargo ships. His most famous journey began in Constantinople and continued as far east as Pagan in southern Asia. Polo returned to Constantinople, bringing with him many different luxuries including spices, porcelain, gunpowder, silk, and many other new technologies and goods.
Trans-Saharan Trade
Linked the Mediterranean economies that demanded gold—and could supply salt—to the sub-Saharan economies, where gold was abundant.
Indian Ocean Trade
The world's largest sea based network of communication and exchange before 1500 C.E
Stretched from southern China to eastern Africa and included not only the exchange of luxury goods and bulk goods but also the exchange of ideas and crops.
Began with small trading settlements around 800 A.D., and ended in the 1500s when Portugal invaded and tried to run the trade for its own profit.
Not one single trade route but many different ones running all along the port cities lying on the Indian Ocean.
Items commonly traded: from China included spices, silk, and gun powder; east coast of Africa provided gold and sold slaves to be transported to other locations; India sold spices, textiles, minerals, and jewels.
Silk Road
From when the Han dynasty of China opened trade in 130 B.C.E. until 1453 C.E., when the Ottoman Empire closed off trade with the West
A series of ancient trade networks that connected China and the Far East with countries in Europe and the Middle East.
They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas.
Crusades
A series of Christian holy wars conducted against infidels—nonbelievers.
Guilds
Were prolific throughout Europe between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries
Associations of craftsmen and merchants formed to promote the economic interests of their members as well as to provide protection and mutual aid.
St. Thomas Aquinas
1225-1274 CE
An Italian man, who was a great philosopher of the Catholic Church and is considered to be the Catholic's greatest theologian, or studier of Gods and divinity.
Takes Aristotle's argument that political society transcends the village and completes human social existence to prove that the city is natural.