Studied by 33 people
Ming Dynasty
Definition: Succeeded Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644.
Significance:
-trade expansion, established cultural ties with the west.
-culture spread, drama, literature, and porcelain.
-time of economic and cultural expansion, the population doubled.
Manchu
Definition: pastoral nomads with a strong military tradition like the Mongols,
Significance: defeated the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644, which was the last of China's imperial dynasties.
Qing Dynasty
Definition: the last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries. Also known for its extreme isolationism.
Significance:
-created a multiethnic empire that was larger than any earlier Chinese dynasty
-remained in control in part because of a policy that forbade intermarriage
Guttenberg printing press
Definition: movable type printing brought down the price of printed materials and made books available for the masses
Significance: Lead to the spread of the ideas associated with the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. Allowed ideas to be distributed more quickly
Gunpowder Empires
Definition: Muslim empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and the Mughals that employed cannonry and gunpowder to advance their military causes.
Significance: impacted trade and military. Due to their power, these empires controlled the important region of Eurasia that oversaw trade between Europe and Asia
Ottoman Empire
Definition: Major Islamic state centered on Anatolia that came to include the Balkans, the Near East, and much of North Africa.
Significance :
-the arts, including literature, architecture, and music, flourished.
-The Ottomans were patrons of the arts and encouraged the development of a distinct Ottoman style of art and architecture.
Safavid Empire
Definition: Turkish-ruled Iranian kingdom (1502-1722) established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state.
Significance: restored Persia as a major center of political power and cultural creativity, they also established one of the strongest and most enduring centers of Shi'ism within the Islamic world.
Mughal Empire
Definition: Muslim state (1526-1857) exercising dominion over most of India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Significance: brought almost the entire Indian subcontinent under one domain, drawing the subcontinent's regions together through enhanced overland and coastal trading networks.
Ivan IV
Definition: "The Terrible"; Russian ruler
Significance: was cruel and tyranical; murdered nobility; extremely paranoid (killed his own son); taxed people heavily; took title of "czar"
Tamerlane
Definition: Mongol leader who conquered Persia and Mesopotamia
Significance: A "second Genghis Khan" who united Mongols and led them in a series of conquests. His enemies called him "Prince of Destruction"; he subdued Asia, Persia, Mesopotamia and India. Samarkland.
Suleiman I
Definition: Ruler of Ottoman Empire - same time as Charles V
Significance: was the most illustrious sultan of the Ottoman Empire. 'The Lawgiver. ' He significantly expanded the empire in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean.
Shah Abbas
Definition: Also known as Abbas the Great, took the throne in 1587 and helped create the Safavid culture
Significance: a stabilizing force in Iran following a period of civil war and foreign invasion. He strengthened the economy by establishing global trade links between Asia and Europe and revitalized the state religion Shi'a Islam which is still practiced today.
Akbar
Definition: Most illustrious sultan of the Mughal Empire in India (r. 1556-1605). He expanded the empire and pursued a policy of conciliation with Hindus.
Significance: Akbar extended the reach of the Mughal dynasty across the Indian subcontinent and consolidated the empire by centralizing its administration and incorporating non-Muslims (especially the Hindu Rajputs) into the empire's fabric.
divine right of kings
Definition: Doctrine that states that the right to rule comes from God and not people's consent
Significance: The divine right of kings is an important political ideology in Western Europe. It maintains that the king's authority comes from God and, as such, the king is accountable only to God for his actions. Thus it supports the idea of absolute monarchy in which the monarch's power is not checked by any earthly agent.
English Bill of Rights
Definition: King William and Queen Mary accepted this document in 1689. It guaranteed certain rights to English citizens and declared that elections for Parliament would happen frequently.
Significance: created a constitutional monarchy in England, meaning the king or queen acts as head of state but his or her powers are limited by law. Under this system, the monarchy couldn't rule without the consent of Parliament, and the people were given individual rights.
Louis XIV
Definition: (1638-1715) Known as the Sun King. Was an absolute monarch that completely controlled France. One of his greatest accomplishments was the building of the palace at Versailles.
Significance: transformed the monarchy, ushered in a golden age of art and literature, presided over a dazzling royal court at Versailles, annexed key territories and established his country as the dominant European power.
Peter the Great
Definition: czar of Russia who introduced ideas from western Europe to reform the government
Significance: he worked to modernize Russia and transform it into an empire that rivaled anything in Europe. He instituted a series of reforms to make Russia more closely resemble European states, brought the church under his control, moved the capital and consolidated his power by taking it from the noble class.
devshirme
Definition: The tribute of boy children that the Ottoman Turks levied from their Christian subjects in the Balkans; the Ottomans raised the boys for service in the civil administration or in the elite Janissary infantry corps.
Significance: system increased the efficiency of the Ottoman government, was a huge part of the government system. With the empowerment and expansion of the state, the system was implemented more effectively and many children from the Balkans were taken.
Janissaries
Definition: Christian boys taken from families, converted to Islam, and then rigorously trained to serve the sultan
Significance: With the support of the Janissaries military Muslim empire maintained political power. Janissaries were used as military troops to defeat and enslave other Christian nations and cultures.
daimyo
Definition: A Japanese feudal lord who commanded a private army of samurai
Significance: played a key role in Japanese politics for hundreds of years because they controlled large landed estates.
Tokugawa Japan
Definition: Peaceful Japan as governed by a shogun from the Tokugawa family from 1600 to 1868
Significance: brought order and unity to Japan by carefully managing social hierarchies and foreign contact. It was a rare case of peaceful rule by military leaders.
Tokugawa shogunate
Definition: was a semi-feudal government of Japan in which one of the shoguns unified the country under his family's rule.
Significance: notable for restoring order and unity to Japan, and it did this partly through upholding strict social hierarchies. This was in some ways influenced by the Confucian idea that society was made up of four social classes. From the top-down, they were: warrior, farmer, artisan, and merchant.
zamindars
Definition: Archaic tax system of the Mughal empire where decentralized lords collected tribute for the emperor.
Significance: collected revenue and taxes from the peasants and gave them to the Mughal Emperor.
Taj Mahal
Definition: beautiful mausoleum at Agra built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (completed in 1649) in memory of his favorite wife
Significance: known as the "jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history.
Versailles
Definition: A palace built by Louis XIV outside of Paris; it was home to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Significance: built outside of Paris to glorify his rule and subdue the nobility.
serfdom
Definition: A type of labor commonly used in feudal systems
Significance: laborers work the land in return for protection but they are bound to the land and are not allowed to leave or to peruse their a new occupation. This was common in early Medeival Europe as well as in Russia until the mid 19th century.
Henry VIII
Definition: English king
Significance: created the Church of England after the Pope refused to annul his marriage (divorce with Church approval)
Thirty Years' War
Definition: Protestant rebellion against the Holy Roman Empire ends with peace of westpahlia.1618-48)
Significance: A series of European wars that were partially a Catholic-Protestant religious conflict. It was primarily a batlte between France and their rivals the Hapsburg's, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire.
indulgences
Definition: in the Roman Catholic Church, pardon for sins committed during a person's lifetime
Significance: part of the Christian church, and significant to the Protestant Reformation. -an individual could reduce the length and severity of punishment that heaven would require as payment for their sins.
simony
Definition: the buying and selling of church offices
Significance: permitted the church to raise large sums of money on church lands without having to pay royal taxes, thus creating conflicts between kings and the papacy
Counter-Reformation
Definition: the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation reaffirming the veneration of saints and the authority of the Pope (to which Protestants objected)
Significance: clarified doctrine, corrected abuses and corruption, and put a new emphasis on education and accountability.
Inquisition
Definition: A Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy - especially the one active in Spain during the 1400s.
Significance: purpose was to find and destroy unorthodox Christian worship (any worship outside the realm of the Catholic church) in Catholic Europe.
Jesuits
Definition: Also known as the Society of Jesus; founded by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) as a teaching and missionary order to resist the spread of Protestantism.
Significance: encourage the renewal of Catholicism through education and preaching; it soon became a leading Catholic missionary order beyond the borders of Europe.
Martin Luther
Definition: was a German priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, professor, and Augustinian friar
Significance: His beliefs helped birth the Reformation—which would give rise to Protestantism as the third major force within Christendom, alongside Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
95 Theses
Definition: Martin Luther's ideas that he posted on the church door at Wittenburg which questioned the Roman Catholic Church.
Significance: This act began the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
Definition: A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church.
Significance: resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.
Sikhism
Definition: Indian religion founded by the guru Nanak
Significance: emphasizes the equality of all people and rejects the caste system that is a part of Hinduism. The core beliefs of Sikhism are contained in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikh religion
empiricism
Definition: the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
Significance: a profound impact on epistemology, leading to many debates about the nature and limits of human knowledge -- increases culture and knowledge
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