AP World 1.4-1.6

Cahokia

Largest Mississippian mound-building city near present-day St. Louis

Mexica

The ethnic group that formed the core of the Aztec Empire

theocracy

A government ruled by or subject to religious authority; the Aztec state was organized this way

Pachacuti

Inca ruler credited with transforming the Inca state into a vast empire through conquest and administration

Incan Empire

Large Andean empire centered in Cusco that dominated western South America before Spanish conquest

mit'a system

Inca labor tax system requiring communities to provide labor for state projects like roads and buildings

Carpa Nan

Extensive Inca road system connecting the empire across the Andes mountains

Temple of the Sun

Major Inca religious temple dedicated to the sun god Inti

animism

Belief that natural objects

Swahili

East African coastal culture and language blending Bantu and Arab influences

Zanj Rebellion

Major slave revolt in the 9th century in the Abbasid Caliphate near Basra

Great Zimbabwe

Large stone-walled city in southeastern Africa

Mali

West African empire known for wealth from gold-salt trade and the pilgrimage of Mansa Musa

Ethiopia

Christian kingdom in East Africa (Aksum/Ethiopian highlands) known for its ancient Christian tradition

Magna Carta

1215 English document limiting the king's power and establishing that the monarch is subject to law

English Parliament

Representative legislative body in England that developed to limit royal authority and share governance

manors

Self-sufficient agricultural estates in medieval Europe

manorial system

Economic system organizing rural medieval Europe around self-sufficient manors worked by peasants/serfs

feudalism

Political and social system of medieval Europe based on land-holding relationships between lords and vassals

serfs

Peasants bound to the land they worked

primogeniture

Inheritance system in which the eldest son inherits all or most of a family's land and property

bourgeoisie

Emerging urban middle class of merchants and artisans in medieval and early modern Europe

burghers

Middle-class inhabitants of medieval European towns

Crusades

Series of religious wars between European Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land

Marco Polo

Venetian merchant traveler whose accounts of his travels to Asia increased European interest in the East

Renaissance

Period of renewed interest in classical learning and art beginning in Italy in the 14th century

humanism

Intellectual movement of the Renaissance emphasizing human potential

Great Schism

Period when rival popes claimed authority simultaneously

antisemitism

Prejudice

Little Ice Age

Period of cooler global temperatures from roughly the 14th-19th centuries that affected agriculture and society