Medieval and Early Modern African, Arabian and European Civilization

World History

When did Africa start to gain success?

-Seaports and international trade gave rise to various city-states along the eastern coast where cultures such as the Swahili thrived.

-In the African interior, Zimbabwe became a strong kingdom based on the gold trade.

What was Western Africa heavily influenced by and how did this affect trade?

-Western Africa was heavily influenced by Islam. Islam was important because of the religious significance and trade aspects. Created a set of moral rules where people felt comfortable trading with each other because they felt like everyone followed the same code of rules.

Who were the Berbers?

-Berbers are a nomadic people of northern Africa whose origin extends as far back as ancient times, and still exist today.

-They have been referred to by other names such as Libyans, Mauri, and Moors. 

What united the Arabian Peninsula?

-After the death of Muhammad (the prophet of Islam and his teachings were the basis for the Quran), the Muslim Conquests (600-700 A.D.), united the Arab Peninsula (modern day Saudi Arabia) under Islam.

Who was Arabia ruled by?

Arabia was ruled by a succession of caliphs (600-1900), though the Ottoman (Turkish) rulers (1300-1900) tended to use the term sultan.

Where did Islam spread? What teachings is Islam based on?

-Islam spread throughout the Byzantine and Persian empires.

-Ottomans eventually conquered the Byzantines (eastern roman empire)

-Based on the teachings of Muhammad, Islam emphasized the Koran as the source for moral and ethical conduct - good acts, good deeds, living a righteous life.

What are the 4 main duties of an Islamic person?

• pray 5 times a day

• give alms (donating a fixed portion of income to members in need)

• fast during Ramadan

• make a pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca at least once in their life.

According to historians, what is the official end of ancient times and beginning of middle/medieval ages?

Collapse of the Roman Empire

How was Europe different from the ancient structure?

-Unlike ancient times where you had a vast empire ruling huge regions, the European society became fragmented into small regions ruled by lords and the knights who served them

What was the result of no longer having the trade of the Roman Empire?

Because you no longer had the trade of the Roman Empire, the small regions became much more dependant on farming, and gave rise to:

1. The economic system of manorialism: idea of giving land to people who would work that land to pay back people who were giving them the land

2. The political/military system of feudalism: pledge military service in exchange for land

What was the population like during the early middle ages in Europe?

-population in Europe was low during this time due to famine, disease, low birth rate, war, etc.

-the average life span was 30

-focus was on trying to survive/having land to grow food

What is Feudalism?

-Feudalism: based on a vassal’s (usually a knight) pledge to serve a lord in exchange for a fief (land).

-the Knight would fight for the lord in various different circumstances

-A lord and vassal would pledge their fealty in a ceremony called homage

What other country had a similar system to Feudalism? In this country, what is another similarity to Europe?

-this system was also in Japan but with Daimyo (lord) and Samurai (knight) *they have asked about this similarity on the exam before.

-Another similarity is the European system is the Code of Chivalry (a system of value and behaviors that governed the conduct of medieval knights), in Japan they have the Code of Bushido (the “way of the warrior” , ethical principles and rules that guided the samurai).

What would happen to the land when a vassal died?

When a vassal died, his fief (estate) would typically pass to his eldest son, a system called primogeniture.

They didn't split it up between all the sons because that would weaken the estate, a big piece of land = power.

Would only be true if the son keeps providing the military service that his father had promised. If the vassal failed to do so, the land would go back to the lord. 

What group conquered and united much of medieval Europe?

The Franks in particular, Charlemagne, later conquered and united much of medieval Europe. 

-most of what becomes modern day Europe is conquered by the Franks. 

What happened after the Frank Empire collapsed?

After this empire collapsed, a similar region was later ruled by Otto I of Germany, this came to be called the Holy Roman Empire (because the pope crowned Otto the emperor). Not really connected to the ancient Roman Empire, though it does control some of the same regions.

100 Years War

during the 1300-1400s, French and English Kings fought for control of Europe in the Hundred Years War. 

This made people very poor

Bubonic Plague

In the 1300-1400s the bubonic plague, or Black Death, swept throughout Europe. This decimated Europe, killed ¼ of the population

When did Christianity rise?

-Christianity rose in power after becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. and would continue to be the religion of the eastern Roman empire.

What was the original intention of the crusades? What changed?

During the Middle Ages, the crusades (religious wars) were carried out with an initial goal of capturing Jerusalem from Muslim rule, and later with other goals.

-They were unable to capture Jerusalem, so their goals changed.

-Some crusades were to force people to convert, some were to seek holy relics (search for the holy grail) relics important to the religion, knights would go try to find them for their lords

-Did a lot of business with the people of the middle east and near east.

What influence did Catholicism have on European culture and education?

Catholicism had a great influence on European culture and education - because the Catholic seminaries, where people would go to study theology grew to be a place where people studied other subjects, in effect gave birth to the modern university system.