Song Dynasty
(960-1279 CE) The Chinese dynasty that placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and arts other than military.
Meritocracy
a system in which promotion is based on individual ability or achievement
Civil service exam
System used by Chinese bureaucracy for placement and advancement in the government. Based on knowledge of Confucian texts
Grand Canal
designed to link the original centers of Chinese civilization on the north China plain with the Yangtze river basin to the south; nearly 1200 miles long.
Gundpowder
Although developed in a previous dynasty this was developed for use in guns by the Song dynasty
Champa Rice
Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Introduced through trade. Facilitated the population boom during the Song dynasty.
Horse collar and heavy steel plow
Innovations that made agriculture more efficient and contributed to the population expansion
Proto-industrialization
a set of economic changes in which people in rural areas made more goods than they could sell. Occurred in Song Dynasty China
Artisans
Skilled workers or craftsmen
Commercial Society
A society based on trade. Example: Song Dynasty
Kowtow
Ritual practiced at the Chinese court as part of tribute. Foreigner dignitaries would also bring gifts to the emperor
Scholar gentry
in the Confucian social order, the emergence of families who combined the wealth of the owners of large landed estates (Gentry) with the political power of sons who had become Confucian scholar-bureaucrats; continued to form the bases of the Chinese elite for millennia, despite attempts by people like Wang Mang to limit their influence.
Foot binding
Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.
woodblock printing
A type of printing in which text is carved into a block of wood and the block is then coated with ink and pressed on the page. Developed by Buddhists during the 7th century
Theravada Buddhism
focused on personal spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline. It became the strongest in Southeast Asia
Mahayana Buddhism
focused on spiritual growth for all beings and on service. It became strongest in China and Korea
Tibetan Buddhism
focused on chanting. It became strongest in Tibet
Chan/Zen Buddhism
emphasized direct experience and meditation as opposed to formal learning or studying scripture
Filial piety
In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.
Neo-Confucianism
syncretic faith mixing Buddhism and Confucianism. A social and ethical philosophy, not religious. Combines rational thought with metaphysics.
Daimyo
Land owning lords of feudal Japan
Bushido
The Feudal Japanese code of honor among the warrior class.
Muhammad
Arab prophet; founder of religion of Islam.
House of Wisdom
Created under the Abbasid Caliphate, it center of learning where scholars from all of the world and a variety of religions exchanged ideas and translated texts
Mamluks
Muslim slave warriors; established a dynasty in Egypt; defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260 and halted Mongol advance
Seljuk Turks
nomadic Turks from Asia who conquered Baghdad in 1055 and allowed the caliph to remain only as a religious leader. they governed strictly
Sultan
Military and political leader with absolute authority over a Muslim country
Crusaders
Soldiers who traveled from Europe to the "Holy Land" in order to reopen the land for pilgrims.
Mongols
Nomad group from Central Asia when united ended up creating the largest single land empire in history.
Baghdad
Capital of the Abbassid empire. Center of learning, art, and trade during the medieval period
Abbasid Caliphate
(750-1258 CE) The caliphate, after the Umayyads, who focused more on administration than conquering. Allowed non-Arabs to participate in government and relied heavily on Persians for bureaucracy
Nasir al-Din Tusi
Persian mathematician and cosmologist whose academy near Tabriz provided the model for the movement of the planets that helped to inspire the Copernican model of the solar system.
'A'ishah al-Ba'uniyyah
Sufi poet and mystic. One of the most prolific female writers of Medieval and Early Modern Period
Sufis
mystical Muslim group that believed they could draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, & simple life
Battle of Tours
(732 CE) European victory over Muslims. It halted Muslim movement into Western Europe.
Ibn Rushd
Muslim philosopher who blended Aristotle and Plato's views with Islam
Chola Dynasty
Dynasty that ruled Southern India from 850-1267
Vijayanagara Empire
Name meant "victorious city." Created by brothers who were sent by Delhi sultanate but instead created their own empire
Delhi Sultanate
The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controled a small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi.
Qutub Minar
Large tower built by the Delhi Sultanate in a display of power
Urdu
A Persian-influenced literary form of Hindi written in Arabic characters and used as a literary language since the 1300s.
Bhakti Movement
Reform movement beginning in 12th c that rejected rituals in preference to devotion to a deity in an attempt to reform Hinduism
Srivijaya Empire
flourished from the 600s to 1200s; controlled the Strait of Malacca, based in Sumatra
Mississipian culture
Another mound building culture that emerged in the floodplains of the major southeastern river systems about A.D. 800 and lasted until about A.D. 1500.
Cahokia
an ancient settlement located near present day St. Louis, it served as a trading center for 40,000 at its peak in A.D. 1200.
Matrilineal Society
a society in which descent & inheritance come through the mother's kinship line. Mississippian society is an example
Chaco
An urban center established by Anasazi located in southern New Mexico. There, they built a walled city with dozens of three-story adobe houses with timbered roofs. Community religious functions were carried out in two large circular chambers called kivas.
Mesa Verde
The largest complex of Anasazi cliff-dwellings in the United States Southwest, built between about AD 1150 and AD 1300
Maya
Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.
Mexica
also known as the Aztecs
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins.
Chinampa system
System in which farmers dredged up muck from the lake to plots of land, allowing some cultivators to grow up to seven crops a year, floating gardens
Inca
Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco.
Pachacuti
Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471; launched a series of military campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca
Mita System
economic system in which taxes were paid through mandatory public service such as constructing roads
Temple of the Sun
Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas
Carpa Nan
Road system of the Inca empire
Bantu
A major African language family. Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. Famous for migrations throughout central and southern Africa.
Hausa Kingdoms
Prosperous city-states loosely united by kinship. Profited from proximity to Trans-Saharan Trade Network.
Kingdom of Ghana
First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th - 13th century). Located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali, it acted as intermediary between Arab and Berber salt traders to the north and gold and ivory producers to the south.
Sundiata
the founder of Mali empire. He crushed his enemies and won control of the gold trade routes
Great Zimbabwe
City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.
Swahili
Bantu language with Arabic loanwords spoken in coastal regions of East Africa.
Ethiopia
Established in the 12th century, carved stone churches from rock
Indian Ocean Trade Network
Sea based exchange routes that connected Africa, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia
Trans-Saharan Trade
route across the sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading
Feudalism
A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land
Code of Chivalry
Social codes of knighthood that originated in France in the Middle Ages; associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honour and of courtly love; came to known as 'gentlemanly conduct.'
Manors
Large farm estates of the Middle Ages that were owned by nobles who ruled over the peasants living in the land
manorial system
self sufficient, economic structure that is the relationship between the Lord and the peasants or serfs who produced all the necessary goods to keep the manor running
three-field system
A rotational system for agriculture in which one field grows grain, one grows legumes, and one lies fallow. It gradually replaced two-field system in medieval Europe.
Estates General
An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.
estates
one of the three classes in French society before the revolution: First Estate (clergy, or church officials); Second Estate (nobles); and Third Estate (peasants and townspeople). Also, a large piece of land with a grand house
Lay Investiture Controversy
A disagreement between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII about who should appoint church officials.
Magna Carta
the royal charter of political rights given to rebellious English barons by King John in 1215
English Parliament
Established in the 13th century as an advisory body to the king. Eventually became the chief legislative body of England.
Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
Series of campaigns over control of the throne of France, involving English and French royal families and French noble families.
Great Schism
the official split between the Roman Catholic and Byzantine churches that occurred in 1054
University of Bologna
The university in the Italian city of Bologna was the first great medieval school to receive recognition. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa issued it a charter in 1158, and it became a model for schools in Italy, Spain and southern France. Bologna was a guild of students, who unionized to ensure that landlords and tavern owners charged them fair prices and teachers gave them excellent instruction. The students hired professors, set pay scales and assigned lecture topics. Bologna was Europe's premier center for advanced studies in law
Monasticism
Living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating chastity, obedience, and poverty. (Primary Centers of Learning in Medieval Europe)
Primogeniture
right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son
Crusades (1095-1291)
The religious wars between Western Catholic Europe and the Islamic Turks over the holy lands in Jerusalem
Marco Polo
Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.
Bourgeoisie
Urban class during the middle ages, consisted of merchants and skilled workers.
Little Ice Age
A period of five centuries during which lower global temperatures decreased agricultural activity
Antisemitism
hostility to or prejudice against Jews.
Renaissance
"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome
Humanism (Renaissance)
A Renaissance intellectual movement in which thinkers studied classical texts and focused on human potential and achievements
Dante Alighieri
an Italian poet famous for writing the Divine Comedy that describes a journey through hell and purgatory and paradise guided by Virgil and his idealized Beatrice (1265-1321)