Unit II: 600 – 1450

Unit II: 600 – 1450

Islam

Name the god, prophet and holy book of Islam, the last of the great monotheistic religions that began on the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century.

Islam

Name the god, prophet and holy book of Islam, the last of the great monotheistic religions that began on the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century.

Allah, Mohammad and the Qu’ran.

Islam

Muslims believe that salvation is won through submission to the will of God, accomplished by following the Five Pillars of Islam. Name the five pillars.

Islam

Muslims believe that salvation is won through submission to the will of God, accomplished by following the Five Pillars of Islam. Name the five pillars.

1. Confession of faith2. Prayer five times daily3. Charity to the needy4. Fasting during the month-long Ramadan5. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during one’s

lifetime

Islam

What’s the difference between the beliefs of Shiite and Sunni Muslims?

Islam

What’s the difference between the beliefs of Shiite and Sunni Muslims?

Shiites hold that Ali, Mohammad’s son-in-law, was the rightful heir to the empire, while Sunnis do not believe that he and his hereditary line are the chosen successors.

Islam

What’s the name for the Islamic mystics who were the most effective missionaries because they stressed a personal relationship with Allah rather than particular forms of ritual?

Islam

What’s the name for the Islamic mystics who were the most effective missionaries because they stressed a personal relationship with Allah rather than particular forms of ritual?

Sufis

Islam

Under the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), Islam established its capital in Damascus and quickly conquered a vast region because of weak surrounding empires and in part by encouraging converts to Islam by pursuing what policy?

Islam

Under the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), Islam established its capital in Damascus and quickly conquered a vast region because of weak surrounding empires and in part by encouraging converts to Islam by pursuing what policy?

Taxing those who chose not to convert

Islam

What dynasty reigned from 750 to 1258 (when they were finally toppled by the Mongols), moved the capital to Baghdad and were heavily influenced by Persian techniques of statecraft?

Islam

What dynasty reigned from 750 to 1258 (when they were finally toppled by the Mongols), moved the capital to Baghdad and were heavily influenced by Persian techniques of statecraft?

The Abbasid dynasty

Islam

Characterize the general status of women under Islam.

Islam

Characterize the general status of women under Islam.Compared to earlier times and most other places, women in Islamic society gained some legal rights, were treated with more dignity and were equal in the eyes of Allah. They were still subservient to men and over time Islamic society became more and more patriarchal.

Byzantium

What was home to Orthodox Christianity in Constantinople, used the Greek language and was heavily influenced by Eastern cultures like those of Persia?

Byzantium

What lasted until 1453, was home to Orthodox Christianity in Constantinople, used the Greek language and was heavily influenced by Eastern cultures like those of Persia?

The Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the old Roman Empire – the western half of which collapsed in 476 CE.

Byzantium

Who was the most famous of Byzantium’s rulers, and what were his most important accomplishments?

Byzantium

Who was the most famous of Byzantium’s rulers, and what were his most important accomplishments?

Justinian (reigned 527-565); his codification of Roman law (Justinian Code) that later in the Middle Ages served as the legal basis for states in the West … and his support of arts and sciences and major architectural projects, including the Hagia Sophia.

Byzantium

What’s the term for what happened in 1054 when the Byzantine patriarch and the pope in Rome mutually excommunicated each other over disputes about what should be considered properly Christian?

Byzantium

What’s the term for what happened in 1054: the Byzantine patriarch and the pope in Rome mutually excommunicated each other over disputes about what should be considered properly Christian?

The Great Schism, or East-West Schism

Byzantium

Where can the Byzantine Empire’s cultural legacy – Orthodox Christianity and Cyrillic alphabet – still be seen today?

Byzantium

Where can the Byzantine Empire’s cultural legacy – Orthodox Christianity and Cyrillic alphabet – still be seen today?

Russia and Slavic Eastern Europe

Europe

What are three cool (and accurate) adjectives that might be used to characterize Europe during the so-called Middle Ages?

Europe

What are three cool (and accurate) adjectives that might be used to characterize Europe during the so-called Middle Ages?

Decentralized, feudal, quarrelsome

Europe

What institution was the single greatest unifying force in western Europe during the Middle Ages?

Europe

What institution was the single greatest unifying force in western Europe during the Middle Ages?

The Catholic Church

Europe

Name the three serious threats of outside invasion Europeans faced during the Middle Ages – a fact that in part explains the region’s adoption of feudalism during this time.

Europe

Name the three serious threats of outside invasion Europeans faced during the Middle Ages – a fact that in part explains the region’s adoption of feudalism during this time.

Vikings from the north (Scandinavia), Magyars from the east (Hungary) and Muslims from the south

Europe

Name the social, economic and political system that included – from the top down – kings, nobles, vassals and peasants (or serfs) in a system of mutual obligations.

Europe

Name the social, economic and political system that included – from the top down – kings, nobles, vassals and peasants (or serfs) in a system of mutual obligations.

Feudalism

Europe

Large, self-sufficient estates consisting of fields, meadows, forests, agricultural tools and domestic animals, on which serfs were tied to the land with few rights, acted as the backbone of feudal Europe’s economy. What were these entities called?

Europe

Large, self-sufficient estates consisting of fields, meadows, forests, agricultural tools and domestic animals, on which serfs were tied to the land with few rights, acted as the backbone of feudal Europe’s economy. What were these entities called?

Manors

Europe

Over time towns formed economic alliances somewhat akin to regions with integrated city-states. They established common trade practices and secured the regional business environment, which led to the growth of a sizable middle class. Name the most notable of these alliances that controlled trade throughout much of northern Europe and came to influence the Dutch and the English.

Europe

Over time towns formed economic alliances somewhat akin to integrated city-state complexes. They established common trade practices and secured the regional business environment, which led to the growth of a sizable middle class. Name the most notable of these alliances that controlled trade throughout much of northern Europe and came to influence the Dutch and the English.Hanseatic League

Europe

What was arguably the most important long-term impact of the Crusades, the basically unsuccessful military campaigns undertaken by European Christians during the 11th through 14th centuries to take back the Holy Land and convert Muslims and others to Christianity?

Europe

What was arguably the most important long-term impact of the Crusades, the basically unsuccessful military campaigns undertaken by European Christians during the 11th through 14th centuries to take back the Holy Land and convert Muslims and others to Christianity?Europeans were reengaged with the wider world, reacquainted with the Greek classics and thereby newly open to thought outside that of the Church.

Europe

Another thing that weakened the Church and greatly sped up social and economic changes during the Late Middle Ages was the bubonic plague. What’s the name of the plague of the mid-14th century that originated in China and spread westward on trade routes, eventually killing an estimated 35 million people?

Europe

Another thing that weakened the Church and greatly sped up social and economic changes during the Late Middle Ages was the bubonic plague. What’s the name of the plague of the mid-14th century that originated in China and spread westward on trade routes, eventually killing an estimated 35 million people?

The Black Death, or Great Mortality

Europe

What is the significance of the Magna Carta, a document that powerful nobles forced King John of England to sign in 1215?

Europe

What is the significance of the Magna Carta, a document that powerful nobles forced King John of England to sign in 1215?It eventually extended the rule of law to lower classes and laid the foundation for Parliament. It was, thus, a foundational legal document of the long journey away from monarchy and toward representative democracy.

Europe

What’s the name of the conflict between the English and French that eventually led to England’s withdrawal from France and a subsequent consolidation of royal power in France under the Bourbons, who steered the country on a course of increasing power on the European continent?

Europe

What’s the name of the conflict between the English and French that eventually led to England’s withdrawal from France and a subsequent consolidation of royal power in France under the Bourbons, who steered the country on a course of increasing power on the European continent?The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)

China

What were two major internal problems that contributed to the ultimate downfall of the Song dynasty?

China

What were two major internal problems that contributed to the ultimate downfall of the Song dynasty?One was a financial crisis that developed because of the dynasty’s spending on its enormous bureaucracy, which triggered major rebellions over efforts to raise taxes on peasants. A second problem was the failure of the scholar bureaucrats to manage their military and guard China’s borders.

China

Under the Tang (618-907) and early Song (960-1279) dynasties, Confucian philosophy was adapted to Buddhist ideas to become the guiding doctrine and basis for civil service. What was the name of this syncretic belief?

China

Under the Tang (618-907) and early Song (960-1279) dynasties, Confucian philosophy was adapted to Buddhist ideas to become the guiding doctrine and basis for civil service. What was the name of this syncretic belief?Neo-Confucianism

China

What practice became widespread among elite families during the Song dynasty and is perhaps the most notable and enduring cultural practice signifying the subordination of Chinese women?

China

What practice became widespread among elite families during the Song dynasty and is perhaps the most notable cultural practice signifying the subordination of Chinese women?Foot binding

China

Name the system by which China exercised indirect rule and cultural preeminence of surrounding vassal states such as Vietnam, Korea and Tibet – a system that acknowledged the supremacy of the Chinese emperor and sent ambassadors bearing gifts.

China

Name the system by which China exercised indirect rule and its cultural preeminence over surrounding vassal states such as Vietnam, Korea and Tibet – a system that acknowledged the supremacy of the Chinese emperor and involved ambassadors bearing gifts.tribute system

China

Under what dynasty did China develop printing processes that facilitated the spread of literacy and influenced literature in surrounding states like Korea and Japan?

China

Under what dynasty did China develop printing processes that facilitated the spread of literacy and influenced literature in surrounding states like Korea and Japan?

Song dynasty

China

The cultural achievement most notable during the Tang dynasty was what?

China

The cultural achievement most notable during the Tang dynasty was what?

Poetry, which reveals much about daily life in China during this time

China

What achievement of the Sui dynasty (589-618) paid dividends for a thousand years because it integrated the economies of northern and southern China?

China

What achievement of the Sui dynasty (589-618) paid dividends for a thousand years because it integrated the economies of northern and southern China?

The Grand Canal, a series of artificial waterways linking the Yellow River in the north with the Yangzi River in the south, both of which run generally east to west

China

Name five technological advancements the Chinese made during this period.

China

Name five technological advancements the Chinese made during this period. 1. Gunpowder2. Magnetic compass3. Watertight bulkheads4. Sternpost rudder

5. Increased production of iron and steel

Japan

What’s the name of the Japanese religion that worships the kami, or nature and all its forces, seen and unseen …where the goal is to become part of the kami by following rituals and practicing obedience and proper behavior … and holds the emperor as a direct descendant of the sun goddess?

Japan

What’s the name of the Japanese religion that worships the kami, or nature and all its forces, seen and unseen …where the goal is to become part of the kami by following rituals and practicing obedience and proper behavior … and holds the emperor as a direct descendant of the sun goddess?Shinto

Japan

During the Tang dynasty, nearby Japan adopted some of the political reforms of China and modeled its capital after the Tang capital … but it rejected Confucianism and the idea of a meritocratic civil service bureaucracy. Why?

Japan

During the Tang dynasty, nearby Japan adopted some of the political reforms of China and modeled its capital after the Tang capital … but it rejected Confucianism and the idea of a meritocratic civil service bureaucracy. Why?Both expressed high regard for education, but in Japan the hereditary noble classes believed that the privileges of birthright came before education.

Japan

Japan had a figurehead emperor and a chief general, or shogun, who wielded the real power over the daimyo, who were samurai warriors and large landowners who divided up their lands to lesser and lesser samurai in a land-for-loyalty arrangement similar to what social and political system also present in Europe at the same time?

Japan

Japan had a figurehead emperor and a chief general, or shogun, who wielded the real power over the daimyo, who were samurai warrior and large landowners who divided up their lands to lesser and lesser samurai in a land-for-loyalty arrangement similar to what social and political system also present in Europe at the same time?

Feudalism

Japan

Samurai, who were like knights, followed what code of conduct that was similar to chivalry in Europe (loyalty, courage, honor … to the point of suicide if obligations weren’t met)?

Japan

Samurai, who were like knights, followed what code of conduct that was similar to chivalry in Europe (loyalty, courage, honor … to the point of suicide if obligations weren’t met)?

Code of Bushido

Vietnam and Korea

Which of these two neighbors of China put up more resistance and fought to keep more of its independence despite the tributary relationship with the more powerful China?

Vietnam and Korea

Which of these two neighbors of China put up more resistance and fought to keep more of its independence despite the tributary relationship with the more powerful China?

Vietnam

India

In the so-called Delhi Sultanate from about 1200 to 1400, what monotheistic religion spread across northern India and came into sharp contrast with the existing polytheism of Hinduism?

India

In the so-called Delhi Sultanate from about 1200 to 1400, what monotheistic religion spread across northern India and came into sharp contrast with the existing polytheism of Hinduism?

Islam

India

Why were Hinduism and Islam so incompatible?

India

Why were Hinduism and Islam so incompatible?1. Hinduism is polytheistic, while Islam is monotheistic.2. Hinduism upholds the caste system, while Islam holds that everyone is equal in the eyes of God.3. Hindus hold cows as sacred, while Muslims eat them (cows, that is, not the Hindus).

Mongols

Who unified the Mongol tribes, conquering the greatest land empire ever and splitting them into hordes (smaller, independent empires)?

Mongols

Who unified the Mongol tribes, conquering the greatest land empire ever and splitting them into hordes (smaller, independent empires)?

Genghis Khan

Mongols

What was the Pax Mongolica, and why was it so important?

Mongols

What was the Pax Mongolica, and why was it so important?The period of Mongol peace from the mid-1200s to the mid-1300s. Although they destroyed much on their way to empire, once in power the Mongols maintained stability sufficient to re-ignite trade and the diffusion of ideas across Eurasia – and Europe, which escaped subjugation by the Mongols, benefited by learning new technologies, such as printing and gunpowder.

Mongols

Beyond the roles it played in cultural diffusion (which eventually narrowed the technology gap between East and West) and helping inadvertently to spread the Black Death, what other major, long-lasting impact did the Mongol Empire have?

Mongols

Beyond the roles it played in cultural diffusion (which eventually narrowed the technology gap between East and West) and helping inadvertently to spread the Black Death, what other major, long-lasting impact did the Mongol Empire have?Its rule over Russia (the Golden Horde) delayed that country’s unification and cultural development. Serfdom, for example, lasted into the 1800s – centuries after its dissolution in western Europe.

Africa

What’s the name of the empire that arose around modern-day Ethiopia, carried on extensive trade with the Mediterranean world and converted to Christianity – the legacy of which can still be seen today in a large Christian community?

Africa

What’s the name of the empire that arose around modern-day Ethiopia, carried on extensive trade with the Mediterranean world and converted to Christianity – the legacy of which can still be seen today in a large Christian community?Axum

Africa

To what does the term Swahili Coast refer?

Africa

To what does the term Swahili Coast refer?The eastern coast of Africa, which was linked through trade with India and Southeast Asia. Swahili is Arabic for “coasters” and the Swahili language is a mix of the original Bantu language of Africa and Arabic supplements, brought via the interaction of Muslim merchants trading African ports for gold, slaves, ivory and other exotic products from the interior of the continent.

Africa

Who was the great Mali ruler who built a capital at Timbuktu and was perhaps the wealthiest king in the world during the 14th century, when he made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and helped spread the influence of Islam in West Africa?

Africa

Who was the great Mali ruler who built a capital at Timbuktu and was perhaps the wealthiest king in the world during the 14th century, when he made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and helped spread the influence of Islam in West Africa?Mansa Musa

Africa

Describe the nature of trade in West Africa that explains why kingdoms like Ghana (800-1000) and Mali (1200-1450) were heavily influenced by Islam.

Africa

Describe the nature of trade in West Africa that explains why kingdoms like Ghana (800-1000) and Mali (1200-1450) were heavily influenced by Islam.Islamic traders from north Africa brought salt (and later a lot of other things) from the Sahara south into that region, where they exchanged it for gold. Their religion took root in West Africa as trade flourished there.

Americas

Name the three great civilizations of Central and South America that developed before Europeans arrived in the late 15th century.

Americas

Name the three great civilizations of Central and South America that developed before Europeans arrived in the late 15th century.the Maya (around Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Central America), the Aztecs (central Mexico) and the Incas (western coast of South America, along the Andes Mountains)

The Aztecs

How did the Aztecs administer their empire?

The Aztecs

How did the Aztecs administer their empire?Instead of an elaborate bureaucracy, they demanded tribute from conquered areas and then allowed them to self-govern. Roads were built to keep together the far-flung parts of the empire.

The Aztecs

Why was the Aztec religious system tied closely to the military?

The Aztecs

Why was the Aztec religious system tied closely to the military?The military was used to obtain the tens of thousands of men and women sacrificed each year in religious ceremonies.

The Incas

Like other indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Incas lacked large domesticated animals such as oxen and horses – so the prime source of labor was human and the wheel was nonexistent. What was the minor exception to this rule?

The Incas

Like other indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Incas lacked large domesticated animals such as oxen and horses – so the prime source of labor was human and the wheel was nonexistent. What was the minor exception to this rule?They had llamas and alpacas.

The Incas

The Incas, ruling as a military elite, used a large class of bureaucrats to administer their empire, which spanned 2,500 miles along the Andean coast and where private property did not exist. What major building project helped facilitate the administration of empire?

The Incas

The Incas, ruling as a military elite, used a large class of bureaucrats to administer their empire, which spanned 2,500 miles along the Andean coast and where private property did not exist. What major building project helped facilitate the administration of empire?A paved road system running north and south totaling perhaps 10,000 miles, where runners on official state business could carry messages up to 140 miles a day in a “pony express” fashion.

The Incas

The Incas never invented a system of writing, but they kept an accounting of harvests and a census record using a set of colored, knotted strings. What’s the name of this device?

The Incas

The Incas never invented a system of writing, but they kept an accounting of harvests and a census record using a set of colored, knotted strings. What’s the name of this device?The quipu (KEY-poo)

Trade

Thanks to advances in naval technologies, the trade linking societies from East to West across Eurasia migrated more and more south from the Silk Road to this region, where traders from Persia, Arabia, India and China operated in various sub-sectors, thereby creating multicultural societies as traders far from their homes took local wives.

Trade

Thanks to advances in naval technologies, the trade linking societies from East to West across Eurasia migrated more and more south from the Silk Road to this region, where traders from Persia, Arabia, India and China operated in various sub-sectors, thereby creating multicultural societies as traders far from their homes took local wives.The Indian Ocean (Indian Ocean Maritime System)