Unit 2 Updated Flashcards

Chapter 9

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Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer and navigator who made four transatlantic voyages to the islands off

North America, which in turn opened the way for European colonization of the Americas.

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Eunuch: Castrated males, originally in charge of the harem, who grew to play major roles in government;

eunuchs were common in China and other societies.

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Hongwu: 1328-1398 C.E. Personal name of Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty in

China. Reigned 1368-1398.

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Humanist: Scholars interested in the humanities; literature, history, and moral philosophy.

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Hundred Years War: 1337-1453 C.E. Series of intermittent wars between France and England over the control

of modern France.

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Ibn Battuta: Born in 1304 in Morocco. He was the greatest Muslim traveler of his time. He covered 75,000

miles and visited almost every Muslim country and China.

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Leonardo da Vinci: 1452-1519 C.E. Noted Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer for the Renaissance

period.

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Little Ice Age: Period beginning about 1300 CE when global temperatures declined for around 500 years.

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Mandarin: A Chinese bureaucrat-scholar who worked for the government in Imperial China.

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Marco Polo: 1254-1324 C.E. Italian merchant whose account of his travels to China and other lands became

legendary.

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Melaka: Southeast Asian kingdom that was predominantly Islamic.

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Ming Dynasty: 1368-1644 C.E. Chinese Dynasty founded by Hongwu and known for its cultural brilliance.

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Qadi: Islamic judge.

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Qing dynasty: 1644-1911 C.E. Chinese dynasty that reached its peak during the reigns of Kangxi and

Qianlong.

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Renaissance: The French word for “rebirth”

, refers to a period of artistic and intellectual creativity that took

place from the 14th - 16th century and that reflected the continuing development of a sophisticated urban

society, particularly in Western Europe.

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Sharia: The Islamic holy law, drawn up by theologians from the Quran and accounts of Muhammads’ life.

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Sufis: Islamic mystics who put more emphasis on emotion and devotion then on a strict adherence to the rules.

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Tsar: Old Russian term for king which is derived from caesar.

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Yongle: Chinese Ming emperor (r. 1403-1424 C.E.) who pushed for foreign exploration and promoted cultural

achievements such as the Yongle Encyclopedia.

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Zheng He: 1371-1433 C.E. Chinese mariner, explorer, and admiral during the early Ming dynasty who traveled

as far as Malindi in East Asia.

Chapter 10

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Astrolabe: Navigational equipment for determining latitude.

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Captain James Cook: 1728-1779 C.E. British explorer, navigator, and cartographer who served in the British

Royal Navy. Famous for his expeditions to the Pacific Ocean in the eighteenth century.

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Columbian Exchange: A global diffusion of plants, food crops, animals, human populations, and disease

pathogens that took place after the voyages of Christopher Colombus and other European mariners.

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East India Company: British joint-stock company that eventually became a state within a state in India; it

possessed its own armed forces.

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Ferdinand Magellan: 1480-1521 C.E. Portuguese explorer famous for organizing the first circumnavigation of

the globe, by ship, from 1519 to 1522 C.E.

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Joint stock company: Early forerunner of the modern corporation; individuals who invested in a trading or

exploring venture could make huge profits while limiting their risk.

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Manila galleons: sleek, fast, heavily armed ships capable of carrying large cargoes that linked the Philippines

to Mexico.

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Seven Years’ War: (1756-1763) a global conflict that took place in Europe, India, the Caribbean, and North

America that led to 150 years of British imperial hegemony.

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Taino: A Caribbean tribe who were the first indigenous peoples from the Americas to come into contact with

Christopher Columbus.

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VOC: A Dutch trading company that was granted by the Dutch government to have a monopoly on all Dutch

trade between Europe and Asia.

Chapter 11

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Absolutism: Political philosophy that stressed the divine right theory of kingship: French king Louis XIV was the

classic example.

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Anglicans: A Protestant community that emerged in 16th-century England during the reign of Henry VIII. It

combined elements of Catholicism and Reformation theology, establishing the Church of England as

independent from papal authority.

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Calvinists: A protestant community that uses a strict code of morality and discipline. Founded by John Calvin

who advocated for predestination.

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Capitalism: An economic system with origins in early modern Europe in which private parties make their goods

and services available on a free market.

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Carolingian: Germanic dynasty that was named after its most famous member, Charlemagne.

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Catherine the Great: 1729-1796 C.E. was the longest-serving female ruler of Russia (1762 to 1796). She came

to power by overthrowing her husband, Peter II, in a coup.

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Catholic Reformation: 16th century attempt to cure internal ills and confront Protestantism; it was inspired by

the reforms of the Council of Trent and the actions of the Jesuits.

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Charles V: Reigned 1519-1556. Emperor who inherited the Hapsburg family’s Austrian territories as well as the

Kingdom of Spain. When he became emperor in 1519, his empire stretched from Austria to Peru.

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Council of Trentt: 1545-1563 Assembly of high Roman Catholic church officials which met over a period of

years to institute reforms in order to increase mortality and improve the preparations of priests.

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English Civil War: 1642-1649. A series of armed conflicts between the English crown and the English

Parliament over political and religious differences.

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Galileo Galilei: 1564-1642, Italian astronomer, engineer and physicist from the town of Pisa, whose

observations had huge impacts on the development of modern science.

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Glorious Revolution: 1688-1689, The events that led to the replacement of the Catholic English King James II

by his protestant daughter Mary II and her Dutch husband William of Orange.

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Habsburgs: A prominent European dynasty that rose to power in the late Middle Ages, known for its extensive

territorial control and strategic marriages. The family ruled over the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Austria,

shaping European politics for centuries.

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Issac Newton: 1643-1727, English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who played a key role in the

Scientific Revolution.

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Johannes Gutenberg: 1395-1468. German inventor who introduced the movable type printing press to Europe,

revolutionizing the dissemination of information and contributing to the spread of the Renaissance and

Reformation.

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Johannes Kepler: 1571-1630. German astronomer and mathematician who developed the three laws of

planetary motion, demonstrating that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

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Louis XIV: 1638-1715 C.E. Also known as the Sun King, his seventy-two-year reign was the longest of any

monarch in European history.

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Martin Luther: 1483-1546. German monk and Catholic priest who became an central figure in the Protestant

Reformation after challenging the corruption of the church in his Ninety-Five Theses, published in 1517.

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Nicolaus Copernicus:1773-1543 C.E. Polish astronomer who theorized that the Sun, rather than the Earth, lay

at the center of the universe.

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Ninety-Five Theses: A document written by Martin Luther in 1517, challenging the Catholic Church's sale of

indulgences and other practices, sparking the Protestant Reformation.

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Peace of Westphalia: A series of treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years'

War, establishing the modern system of sovereign states and territorial integrity.

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Peter the Great: Reigned 1682-1725. Russian tsar of the Romanov family who sought to modernize Russia

based on the model established by western European states.

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Protestant Reformation: Sixteenth-century European movement where Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others

broke away from the Catholic Church.

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Protoindustrialization: Also called the “putting out system”

, in which entrepreneurs bring raw materials to

countryside families who turn them into sellable products, then the entrepreneurs pay the families, collect the

materials, and sell them to the market.

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Romanov dynasty: Russian dynasty (1610-1917) founded by Mikhail and ending with Nicholas II.

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Scientific revolution: A period from the 16th to 18th century marked by major advances in science and

mathematics, emphasizing observation, experimentation, and the questioning of traditional beliefs.

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Serfs: Peasants who, though not chattel slaves, were tied to the land and who owed obligation to the lords on

whose land they worked.

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Spanish Inquisition: A judicial institution established in 1478 by Ferdinand and Isabella that was created to

combat hearsay and the practice of Judaism or Islam.

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Thirty Years’ War: 1618-1648. A devastating conflict fought primarily in the Holy Roman Empire, involving

religious and political disputes between Protestant and Catholic states, ending with the Peace of Westphalia.

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Versailles: Palace of the French King Louis XIV.

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Witch-hunts: Period in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in which about 110,000 people (mainly women)

were tried as witches in western Europe.

Chapter 12

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Atahualpa: 1502-1533. The last emperor of the Inca Empire, captured and executed by Spanish conquistador

Francisco Pizarro during the conquest of Peru.

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Audiencias: Spanish courts in Latin America.

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Conquistadors: Spanish adventurers such as Cortés and Pizarro who conquered Central and South America in

the sixteenth century.

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Criollos: Creoles, people born in the Americas of Spanish or Portuguese ancestry.

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Encomienda: System that gave the Spanish settlers the right to compel the indigenous peoples of the

Americas to work in the mines or fields.

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Engenho: Brazilian sugar mill; the term also came to symbolize the entire complex world relating to the

production of sugar.

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Francisco Pizzaro: 1478–1541 C.E. Spanish conquistador whose military expeditions led to the fall of the Inca

Empire.

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Hacienda: Large Latin American estates.

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Hernan Cortes: 1485-1587 C.E. Spanish conquistador whose military expeditions led to the fall of the Aztec

Empire.

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Indentured labor: Labor source for plantations; wealthy planters would pay the laboring poor to sell a portion of

their working lives, usually 7 years, in exchange for passage.

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Mestizo: Latin American term for children of Spanish and native parentage.

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Metis: Canadian term for individuals of mixed European and indigenous ancestry.

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Mita system: A labor system used by the Inca Empire and later adapted by the Spanish, requiring communities

to provide workers for public projects or colonial enterprises, such as mining.

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Motecuzoma II: 1466-1520 C.E. Aztec emperor at the time of Hernan Cortes’ invasion.

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New Spain: A Spanish colonial territory established in 1521 following the conquest of the Aztec Empire,

encompassing modern-day Mexico, Central America, and parts of the southwestern United States.

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Peninsulares: Latin American officials from Spain or Portugal.

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Potosi: City in the central highlands of modern-day Bolivia that became the world’s largest silver-producing

area after silver was discovered in 1545.

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Quinto: The one-fifth of Mexican and Peruvian silver production that was reserved for the Spanish monarchy.

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Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec empire, later Mexico City.

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Zambos: Latin American term for individuals born of indigenous and African parents.

Chapter 13

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Ghana: Kingdom in west Africa during the fifth through the thirteenth century whose rulers eventually converted

to Islam; its power and wealth was based on dominating the trans-Saharan trade.

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Great Zimbabwe: Large sub-Saharan African kingdom in the fifteenth centuries C.E.

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Kongo: Central African state that began trading with the Portuguese around 1500; although their kings, such as

King Affonso (r. 1506-1543), converted to Christianity, they nevertheless suffered from the slave trade.

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Mali Empire: West African kingdom founded in the thirteenth century by Sundiata, reached its peak during the

reign of Mansa Musa.

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Manioc: A starchy root crop originating in South America, widely cultivated in tropical regions and a staple food

source in many indigenous and colonial societies.

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Middle passage: The brutal transatlantic journey endured by enslaved Africans as they were forcibly

transported to the Americas as part of the triangular trade.

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Plantations: Large agricultural estates typically in the Americas, where enslaved or coerced laborers produced

cash crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton for export.

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Santeria: A syncretic Afro-Caribbean religion that blends elements of Yoruba traditions with Catholicism,

originating among enslaved Africans in the Americas.

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Songhay Empire: A powerful West African state (15th-16th century) centered on the city of Gao, known for its

wealth, trade networks, and promotion of Islam under rulers like Sonni Ali and Askia Muhammad.

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Timbuktu: City in the Mali Empire known for its large population, wealth, and places of learning.

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Triangular trade: Trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas that featured finished products from Europe,

slaves from Africa, and American products bound for Europe.

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Voudou: Syncretic religion practiced by enslaved Africans and their descendants in Haiti.

Chapter 14

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Analects: A collection of the sayings and teachings of the fifth century B.C.E. Chinese philosopher Confucius,

collected by his students.

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Civil service examinations: A battery of grueling tests given at the district, provincial, and metropolitan levels

that determined entry into the Chinese civil service during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

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Daimyo: Powerful territorial lords in early modern Japan.

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Filial piety: A Confucian principle emphasizing respect, obedience, and care for one’s parents and ancestors,

central to East Asian social and family structures.

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Foot binding: A traditional Chinese practice among elite women, beginning in the Song Dynasty, involving the

tight binding of feet to achieve a smaller size, symbolizing beauty and status.

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Jesuits: A Catholic religious order founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola, dedicated to education, missionary

work, and countering the spread of Protestantism.

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Manchu: Manchurians who conquered China putting an end to the Ming dynasty and founding the Qing

Dynasty (1644-1911).

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Neo-Confucianism: Philosophy that attempted to merge certain basic elements of confucian and Buddhist

thought; most important of the early Neo-Confucianists was the Chinese thinker Zhu Xi (1130-1200).

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Shogun: Japanese military leader who ruled in place of the emperor.

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Tokugawa: Last shogunate in Japanese history (1600-1867); it was founded by Ieyasu who was notable for

unifying Japan.

Chapter 15

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Akbar: 1542-1605 C.E. The third Mughal emperor who ruled from 1556-1605 and was known for his religious

tolerance.

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Aurangzeb: 1618-1707 C.E. The sixth Mughal emperor, who ruled for forty-nine years over almost all of the

Indian subcontinent, known for his lack of religious tolerance and favoring Muslims over Hindus

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Babur: (1483-1530) Central Asian descendent of Chinggis Khan and Tameralen who founded the Mughal

dynasty in northern India in 1526.

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Devshirme: Ottoman requirement that the Christians in the Balkans provide young boys to be slaves of the

sultan.

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Dhimmi: Islamic concept of a protected people that was symbolic of Islamic toleration during the Mughal and

Ottoman empires.

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Jahangir: 1569-1627. The Mughal emperor of India (r. 1605-1627) known for his patronage of the arts,

administrative reforms, and struggles with internal rebellion and external threats.

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Janissaries: Highly respected, elite infantry units of the Ottoman empire, who formed the first modern standing

army in Europe.

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Jizya: Tax in Islamic empires that was imposed on non-Muslims.

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Millet: An autonomous, self-governing community in the Ottoman Empire.

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Mughal Empire: Islamic dynasty that ruled India from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century; the

construction of the Taj Mahal is representative of their splendor; with the exception of the enlightening reign of

Akbar, the increasing conflict between Hindus and Muslims was another of their legacies.

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Ottoman Empire: Powerful Turkish empire that lasted from the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453

until 1918 and reached its peak during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent

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Safavid Empire: Later Persian Empire that was founded by Shah Ismail and that became a center for Shiism;

the empire reached its peak under Shah Abbas the Great and was centered on the capital of Isfahan.

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Shah Abbas the Great: Fifth Safavid Shah of Iran who is generally considered the strongest of the Safavid

rulers.

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Shah Jahan: Fifth Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal for his favorite wife, Mumtaz, as her mausoleum.

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Shiism: Islamic minority in opposition to the Sunni majority; their belief is that the leadership should reside in

the line descended from Ali.

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Sufis: Islamic mystics who placed more emphasis on emotion and devotion than on strict adherence to rules.

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Suleyman the Magnificent: Ottoman Turkish ruler (r. 1520-1566) who was the most powerful and wealthy ruler

of the sixteenth century.

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Sunni: “Traditionalists” the most popular branch of Islam; they believe in the legitimacy of the early caliphs.