Chapter 8 Test Review

Pax Romana

200 year period of peace and prosperity in Rome.

Mercenaries

Foreign soldiers who fought for money.

Constantinople

City founded as the second capital of the Roman Empire. The capital was moved from Rome to Byzantium, which eventually became this city.

Attila

Leader of the Huns who put pressure on the Roman Empire's borders during the 5th century.

William the Conqueror

The Duke of Normandy, who was famous for invading England and claimed the English crown after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Common law

legal system based on custom and court rulings - applied to all of England.

Magna Carta

In 1215, this document was written by English nobles as a way to limit the power of the monarch and to guarantee some political rights.

Parliament

A body of representatives that makes laws for a nation.

Charles I

1600-1649; King of England 1625-1649; numerous conflicts with Parliament; fought wars with France, Spain, and Scotland; eventually provoked Civil War, convicted of treason, and beheaded.

English Civil War

a conflict, lasting from 1642 to 1649, in which Puritan supporters of Parliament battled supporters of England's monarchy.

Oliver Cromwell

Led the Puritans to victory in the English Civil Warm seizing power from Charles I in 1649.

Restoration

the period of Charles II's rule over England, after the collapse of Oliver Cromwell's government.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system of governing in which the ruler's power is limited by law.

Habeas corpus

A document requiring that a prisoner be brought before a court or judge so that it can be decided whether his or her imprisonment is legal.

Glorious Revolution

the bloodless overthrow of King James II of England and his replacement by William and Mary.

Cabinet

A group of advisors or ministers chosen by the head of a country to help make government decisions.

Governor General

in Canadian government, the direct representative of the reigning monarch of Great Britain.

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.

Lord

In feudal Europe, a person who controlled land and could therefore grant estates to vassals.

Serf

A medieval peasant legally bound to live on a lord's estate.

Fief

an estate granted to a vassal by a lord under the feudal system in medieval Europe.

Knight

A man who received honor and land in exchange for serving a lord as a soldier.

Feudal contract

under feudalism, the unwritten rules that determined the relationship between a lord and his vassal.

Vassal

in Feudal Europe, a person who received a grant of land from a lord in exchange for a pledge of loyalty and services.

Monarch

A government ruled by a king or queen

Autocratic rule

a governmental system where unlimited power is concentrated in the hands of a single person.

Absolute monarchy

A government in which the king or queen has absolute power.

King John

King of England who raised taxes and punished his enemies without a trial. He is best known for being forced to sign the Magna Carta.

Enlightenment

A European movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason and scientific method to all aspects of society.

Social contract

An agreement by which the people define and limit their individual rights, thus creating an organized society or government.

John Locke

A philosopher and humanist living in the 1600s who held that all people were equal with three natural rights

Thomas Hobbes

This person defended the absolute power of monarchs and argued that society needed them for structure and to have a safe society. Believed people are born selfish, and need a strong authority to overrule.

Philosophes

A group of social thinkers during the Enlightenment that uses logic and reasoning to investigate the universe and society.

Voltaire

A French philosopher and writer who defended reason, liberty and freedom of speech.

Montesquieu

an influential French writer during the Enlightenment concerned with the study of political liberty.

Rousseau

a passionate defender of personal freedom, and an essayist during the Enlightenment. He explained his position on the Social contract, thinking that human beings are good by nature but become corrupt by society, and disagreed with Hobbes.

Natural Rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property.

Beccaria

This person believed that laws existed to preserve social order. The degree of punishment should be based on the seriousness of the crime. He also believed capital punishment should be abolished.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and feminist, who published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, arguing that women out to be entitled to education. She urged women to enter male-dominated fields such as medicine and politics.

Salons

Informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchanged ideas. Held by women in Paris and other European cities during the Enlightenment.

American Revolution

This political revolution began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 where American colonists sought to balance the power between government and the people and protect the rights of citizens in a democracy.

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

a statement of the reasons for the American colonies' break with Britain, approved by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.

Thomas Jefferson

American political leader, and primary writer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Checks and balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power.

Bill of Rights (1787)

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which protects basic citizens' rights and freedoms.

Us Constitution (1781)

A document that embodies the fundamental laws and principles by which the United States is governed.