Middle & Early Modern Ages: Exam #1

Apostolic primacy

states that the bishop of Rome (the Pope) is the rightful leader of Christians; biblical justification, Christians in the East rejected this idea, while those in the West championed it

Vikings

non-Christian conquerors, raiders, and explorers from Scandinavia

Feudal society

decentralized, agrarian order; emerges in the absence of a strong central state—chronic insecurity across Western (Catholic) Europe, so best bet is to seek protection from local leaders; find a local lord and promise your services and goods to them—in return, they will protect you; firmly established by around 1000 CE

Chivalry

idealized code of conduct; how you should behave

Franciscans

religious order dedicated to Christian values; they wanted to help people; plentiful in Western Europe; not subject to the laws of the Second and Third Estate; men and women could join

Saint Cyril

Byzantine missionary who christianized the Slavs of Central Europe; created a new alphabet for a Slavic liturgy (Cyrillic Alphabet)

Vladimir the Great

Ruler of kingdom encompassing Russia and Ukraine; converts to Christianity in 988 CE, and declares a mass conversion for non-Christian subjects that same year; accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The Great Schism

1054; the bishops of Rome and Constantinople excommunicated one another (“you’re not a Christian anymore”)

Byzantine Empire

continuation of the Roman Empire in the Eastern half; Greek-speaking; capital was Constantinople

Five Pillars of Islam

There is no God but God (Allah), with Muhammad as the prophet; pray five times a day; give alms to the poor; fast during Ramadan; make a pilgrimage to Mecca (haji) if possible

Caliph

Muhammad’s successor and leader of the Muslim community

People of the Book

Islamic theological concept that called on Muslims to tolerate and protect Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians; they all have sacred scriptures and worship the same god (Allah)

The Abbasid Caliphate

750-1250 CE; built their capital in Baghdad, which became the largest city in the world as well as a center of trade and learning; headed by Muhammad’s successor (the caliph); Arabic language and alphabet became widespread in the Middle East; Sharia (Islamic law) codified

Mamluks

“one who is owned;” non-Arab slave soldiers; caste of professional fighters that often received high-ranking government jobs

Pope Urban II

called for a campaign to liberate Jerusalem in 1096 CE; led to the Crusades

Crusades

series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns to establish Christian control over Jerusalem and other holy sites; Byzantine rulers were hoping Christian crusaders would restore access to pilgrimage routes; the rulers also wanted to push the Seljuk Turks out of their recently gained territory; Pope Urban II wanted to mend the divide between the Catholics (West) and Orthodox East

The Fourth Crusade

1202-1204; intended as a reconquest of Jerusalem and carried out by Latin crusaders; they went to Constantinople first, captured it, declared themselves the rulers of the Byzantine Empire, and the city was under the religious authority of the Latin Pope; Byzantine army eventually recaptures the city (like 50 years later)

Reconquista

Christian reconquest of Spain and Portugal from Muslim rulers

Magna Carta

1215; “great charter;” established rules of government that put legal limits on the king of England; secured representation for elites (Parliament); the king can’t tax people willy-nilly

Guilds

associations of tradespeople and merchants; work together to ensure their collective good & profit; undermines the feudal system

Oxford University

located in England; established in the 12th century

Song Dynasty

960-1279 CE; “the commercial dynasty;” time of scientific innovation and improved government; discovered the formula for gunpowder; issued the world’s first bank notes

Jiaozi

the world’s earliest paper currency, which could be redeemed for a certain quantity of coins; issued by the Song Dynasty

Imperial examination

civil service examination in China that anyone (male) could take; those who passed helped rule China, and were also honored + tax-exempt; merit-based

The Four Great Inventions

four historically significant inventions that developed in China: paper, gunpowder, magnetic compass, and printing

Foot-binding

the custom of binding the feet of young girls painfully tight to prevent further growth; started during the Song Dynasty and continued until the early 20th century; tiny, unusable feet were a sign of status, as you were unable to work

Pastoralists

nomads whose economy revolves around animal husbandry; politics are typically tribal, and their societies produce formidable warriors; prime example is the Mongols

Temujin

1155-1227; Mongolian pastoralist who united Mongolian tribes under his rule and took the title Genghis Khan (“great king”); under his leadership, the Mongols would conquer the world’s largest land empire

Kublai Khan

grandson of Genghis Khan who completed the conquest of the Song Dynasty in China and founded his own Chinese-style dynasty in 1271

Battle of Ain Jalut

1260; decisive victory for Turkish Muslim warriors who defeated the Mongols in close combat just outside of Jerusalem; halted the Mongols advance into Egypt and North Africa; Mongols will not return to this region or threaten Egypt again

Mongol Peace

“Pax Mongolica;” sustained period of peace across Eurasia due to the Mongol conquest; ideas, goods, people, and diseases moved freely across the region/empire

Marco Polo

Italian merchant who traveled in the Mongolian Empire from 1271-1295 and published a book about his travels in 1300 (A Description of the World); his book increased European desire to establish a trade route to Asia

Ibn Battuta

1304-1368; Moroccan Islamic scholar who traveled throughout the Islamic world and reported his observations of different cities in East & West Africa, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia

Black Death

epidemic diseases with origins in East Asia that broke out across the Eurasian continent from 1320-1360; absolutely devastating, especially in cities; killed 30-50% of the population in Europe

Anti-Semitism

hostility or prejudice against Jews or Judaism; outbreaks in Europe during the Black Death

Millenarianism

belief that the end of the world is about to occur; people across Eurasia believed the Black Death foretold the apocalypse; many thought God was angry; especially prevalent among Islamic and Christian peoples

Yuan Dynasty

1371-1368; short-lived dynasty that collapsed after less than a hundred years; founded by Kublai Khan; peasants revolted after a series of floods, famines, and internal disorder (Red Turban Rebellion)

Ming Dynasty

1368-1644; reestablished ethnic Han Chinese rule after a century of Mongol domination; emperors built a huge navy and standing army in order to project their power

Zheng He

Chinese admiral who undertook multiple voyages of discovery during the Ming Dynasty; purpose of these voyages was to display the power and prestige of the empire, as well as collect tribute and information from overseas people

Ottoman Turks

Islamic imperial people who began building an empire on the Anatolian Peninsula (Turkey) in the wake of Mongol decline

The Fall of Constantinople

1453; signified the end of the Byzantine Empire and the ascendance of the Ottoman Empire, which renamed the city Istanbul; the Ottoman Turks used bronze cannons to breach the walls of Constantinople

Ivan the Great

1440-1505; the grand prince of Moscow who, in his lifetime, tripled the territory of his state; ended Mongol dominance over Russia and laid the foundations for the modern Russian state; married into a Byzantine royal family

The Third Rome

the term Russians used to describe the city of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church after 1453; it expressed the belief that the Russia czars (caesars) were the divinely chosen heirs of the roman and Byzantine Empires

Dromedary camels

made it possible to cross the Sahara desert, as they can go a long time without water

Griots

West African storytellers who memorized historical chronologies and legal precedents to advise leaders

Mali Empire

founded by a Muslim family (Keita clan); kings took the title mansa (“king of kings”); wealth came from monopolizing gold trade

Timbuktu

caravan city in West Africa at its peak during the Mali Empire; famous Mansa built a mosque and recruited Arab scholars

Mansa Musa

r. 1312-1337; king of the Mali Empire; built Timbuktu’s first mosque and madrasa; helped spread Islam in West Africa; took a trip to Mecca and everyone wrote about him; very wealthy

Sufis

Islamic mystics who combined traditional spiritual practices (making amulets, healing, warding off evil spirits) with Islamic belief; helped spread Islam at the village level

Talking drum

Hourglass drum from West Africa; pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and rhythm of human speech (languages are tonal in this part of Africa)

Swahili

language and culture developed from the interaction between Arabs and Bantu Africans along the East African coast

Mombasa

coastal city in modern-day Kenya; has a naturally defensible harbor; trading center; Arab traders introduced Islam

Incas

ethnic group in highland Peru who conquered a vast empire stretching from northern Ecuador to central Chile; largest, most administratively complex empire in the Americas before the Spanish Conquest

Cuzco

the capital of the Incan empire located in highland Peru; where the Incas control their vast empire

Mitimaes

communities whom the Incas resettled in designated regions for strategic purposes

Quipu

string of knots used to keep administrative records; knot ledgers that held census and tax information, tracked births, deaths, etc.

Mayas

a people in southeast Mesoamerica known for their art, architecture, math, astronomy, and for creating the only fully-developed written language of pre-Columbian America

Mayan cities

city-states; shared a common way of life and culture, but were not politically united; each city had its own king and ceremonial center; by 800 CE, there were about 25 city-states that traded and went to war with one another

Long count calendar

an absolute calendar with fixed dates—a starting point and an end point; facilitates historical reconstruction because Mayan temples are dated and histories of recorded rulers are according to these fixed dates; begins Sept 6, 3113 BCE; ends Dec 21, 2012 CE

Mexica

ethnic group originally from northern Mexico who came to the Valley of Mexico in 1250 CE; locals see them as uncouth and uncivilized, but they excelled at warfare; sold their services as mercenaries; no permanent home or city

Tenochtitlan

the “island city” established by the Mexica in 1325 CE: will be the capital of the Aztec Empire; becomes the largest city in the Americas and one of the largest in the world

The Aztec Triple Alliance

the Mexica aligned with two other cities (Texcoco and Flacopan) in 1428, and together they dominated the valley of Mexico & formed the Aztec Empire

Renaissance

European recovery and revival of classical learning, art, and philosophy; began in Italy during the 14th-15th centuries and then spread to the rest of Europe; fostered new scientific and secular values over traditional religious ones

Empiricism

the view that knowledge comes from experience, especially of the sense; implies the pursuit of new knowledge, which might contradict traditional understanding

Humanism

attaches importance to the human experience, dignity, concerns, and capabilities; sees individuals as capable of employing reason to solve problems and control their own destinies

Leonardo da Vinci

1452-1519; Italian scientist, inventor, and polymath who lived in Florence; made contributions to several scientific fields such as botany and anatomy; contributed to the arts, including visual, poetry, and music

The Gutenberg Bible

earliest major book printed in Europe using mass-produced metal movable type

New monarchs

the emergence of strong kings and queens in Western Europe after 1450; these monarchs funded overseas exploration

Caravels

small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed by the Portuguese in the 15h century to explore the W. African coast + Atlantic Ocean

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese monarch who patronized a school of navigation in Lisbon during the 15th century; underwrote multiple expeditions to explore the W. African coast, and these expeditions laid the basis for subsequent Portuguese achievements

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese sailor who reached Calicut, India in 1498; most of the crew died before returning to Lisbon, but the expedition was a stunning financial success

Globalization

the integration of economies, societies, and cultures worldwide; a major wave occurred after 1500 as a result of European colonialism and new overseas trade networks