World History Study Guide 1st Semester

Chapter 1: The Peopling of the World

Section 1: Human Origins in Africa
Artifacts - human-made objects such as tools and jewelry
Artifacts help hint to the culture of prehistoric people
Culture - a people's unique way of life
Archaeologists vs. Paleontologists vs. Anthropologists
Archaeologists study the life of early people
Paleontologists study fossils
Anthropologists study artifacts found at archaeological digs
Hominids - human-like creatures that walk upright
Lucy is the oldest hominid found to date (in 1974) at 3.5 million years old
Paleolithic Age - or the Old Stone Age lasted from 2.5 million to 8,000 BC
During this time hominids mastered fire, developed tools and incented language
Took Place during the Ice Age which ended 10,000 years ago
Neolithic Age - or the New Stone Age lasted from 8,000 to 3,000 BC
Technology - ways knowledge, tools, and inventions are used to meet needs
Homo erectus were the first to use fire and possibly the first to use language
Homo Sapiens - modern humans; "wise men" in Latin
Cro-Magnon skeletal remains are identical to those of modern humans
Cro-Magnons and Homo Sapiens did not coexist in peace
In 2002 scientists discovered Chad, a 6 or 7 million year old hominid
Scientists believe that Chad came from when Humans split from appear

Section 2: Humans Try to Control Nature
Nomads - highly mobile people who moved from place to place foraging, or searching for new sources of food
Hunter-Gatherer - a member of a nomadic group whose food supply depends on hunting animals and collecting plant foods
The early humans created hundreds of tools to help survive
This is known as the Technological Revolution
Neolithic Revolution - or the Agricultural Revolution was the beginnings of farming
Slash-and-Burn Farming - a farming method by which people clear fields by cutting and burning trees and grasses of which fertilize the soil
Domestication - or taming of animals
This helped farmers to keep a constant source of meat
The foothills of the Zagros mountains in northeastern Iraq were the birth place of agriculture
9,000 years ago there was an agriculture in that location
In a few thousand years fertile river valleys turned to farming
Around the African Nile, the Yellow River and Chang Jiang River in China and in Mexico, Central America and Peru
Catal Huyuk was a great example of the benefits of settled life Chapter 2: Early River Valley Civilizations

Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent - an arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea
This region provided some of the best farming in the area
Mesopotamia - a land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Fertile Crescent became known as Mesopotamia; Greek for the land between the rivers
The Tigris and the Euphrates (which would flood usually once a year)
The first people to settle Mesopotamia arrived before 4,500 BC
Around 3,300 BC, the Sumerians arrived
To get resources, they traded what they had. To control the flooding, they dug irrigation ditches. To defend themselves, they built mud walls
To get everything done leaders emerged to plan and supervise the projects
These leaders were the beginning of organized government— eventually this became civilization
City-State - a city and the surrounding area functioning as an independent political unit
For Example: Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma and Ur (the center of all of the Sumerian cities)
Dynasty - a series of rulers from a single family
By 2,500 Many Sumerian cities were ruled by dynasties
Cultural Diffusion - the process in which a new idea or product spreads from one culture to another
This is usually caused by trade
Polytheism - the belief in more than one god
The Sumerians believed in life after death but their life wasn't a paradise
The Epic of Gilgamesh a Mesopotamian myth was one of the first written works
Social order: kings, landholders, and priests (upper), wealthy merchants (upper middle), field/workshop workers (middle), slaves (lowest)
Slaves could earn their freedom
Inventions: Sail, Wheel, Plow and they were the first to use Bronze
Architectural innovations: Arch, Column, Ramp, and the Pyramid shape
Empire - the bringing together of several different peoples, nations, or previously independent nations under the control of one ruler
Due to invaders Sumerians moved their capital to Babylon
The Babylonian empire peaked under the rule if Hammurabi (ruled from 1792-1750 BC)
Hammurabi's code listed 282 specific laws that dealt with everything that affected the community
Ex: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
The Code dealt with everyone: old, young, rich, poor, man or woman

Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile
Ancient Egyptians settled the Nile delta (where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean)
Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt the "gift of the Nile"
Lower Egypt was located by the Nile Delta (North of Upper Egypt)
Upper Egypt was located before the First Cataract
By 3,200 BC Lower and Upper Egypt were united by Narmer
Egypt's 2,600 year history contained 31 dynasties
Pharos - Egyptian god-kings
The Pharaoh was who caused the sun to rise, Nile to flood and the crops to grow
Theocracy - government in which rule is based on religious authority
After Pharaohs died they lived on through their eternal life force, or ka
To help the Pharaohs live forever Pyramids were constructed as the Pharaoh's tombs
Two of the most important Egyptian gods were Re (the sun) and Osiris (death)
Mummification - drying a corpse to prevent it from decaying and removing the organs of the diseased
In the Book of the Dead Egyptians contains spells, hymns and prayers to lead the dead into the afterlife
Social Order: king, queen and royal family (Top), landowners, government officials, priests, and army commanders (Upper), merchants and artisans (Middle), peasant farmers and laborers (Lower and largest), slaves (bottom)
Hieroglyphics - an ancient Egyptian writing system where pictures represented ideas and sounds
Papyrus - a paper-like substance made of split papyrus reeds
They developed a 365 day calendar
12 months with 30 days each plus five days of holidays and feasting
A system of numbers for counting, adding and subtracting
This helped with collecting taxes
Egyptians were the first to use columns in homes, palaces and temples
Egyptian doctors could treat a fever, set broken bones and use surgery to treat conditions
In 2180 pharos began to lose power, ending the old kingdom
From 2040-1640 BC new, strong pharaohs regained power over Egypt
In about 1630 BC the Hyksos took over Egypt for about 100 years Chapter 3: People and Ideas on the Move

Section 2: Hinduism and Buddhism Develop
Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs that developed slowly over a long period of time
Hinduism cannot be traced back to one founder
Religion is a way of liberating the soul of illusions, disappointments and mistakes of everyday existence
Upanishads - written dialogs or discussions between a student and a teacher
Usually discussing how to rid suffering and desires moksha - a state of perfect understanding of all things
Reincarnation - an individual soul of spirit is born again and again until moksha is achieved
Karma - good or bad deeds
Karma influences specific life circumstances
Brahman the world soul is sometimes seen as having three personalities
Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the protector; and Shiva, the destroyer
The caste system helped to strengthen the ideas of reincarnation and karma
If you were born a upper-caste male, you must have had good karma in the past life. But if you were born a woman or an untouchable then you must have had bad karma in your previous life
Jainism - a religion founded in India in the sixth century BC, whose members believe that everything in the universe has a soul and therefore should not be harmed
Created by Mahavira
The four noble truths in Buddhism are: birth, death, suffering and freedom from suffering
To attain the latter you must follow the eightfold noble path: Right Speech, Thought, Mindfulness, Meditation, Effort, Livelihood, Conduct and Resolve
Enlightenment - wisdom or understanding of how to be free of suffering
Nirvana - release from selfishness and pain
Section 4: The Origins of Judaism
Palestine - the region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea where the Phoenicians lived
Canaan - the ancient home of the Hebrews, and the Jewish promised land
Torah - the first five books of the Hebrew Bible
Christians included this in their bible as part of the Old Testament
Abraham - the "father" of the Hebrew people as chosen by God
Abraham was born in Ur ,then he moved his people to Canaan, then his descendants moved to Egypt
Monotheism - the belief in one god
Hebrews believed that Yahweh was God and had power over all people, everywhere
Covenant - a mutual promise or agreement¾ especially an agreement between God and the Hebrew people as recorded in the bible
Moses - the man that led the Hebrews out of slavery during exodus
Moses found the Ten commandments. This formed the new covenant between the Hebrews and God
After Moses freed the Hebrews they wandered in the Sinai Desert for 40 years
Israel - a kingdom of united Hebrews in Palestine lasting from 1020-922 BC: later the northern most of the two Hebrew kingdoms: now the Jewish nation that was established in Palestine in 1948
King Solomon built a temple that housed the ten commandments
Israel divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south
Tribute - peace money paid by a weaker power to a stronger one Chapter 4: First Age of Empires

Section 1: The Egyptian and Nubian Empires
Hyksos - the rulers of Egypt from 1640 to 1570 BC
During this time, Historians believe that this is when the Hebrews moved to Egypt
Queen Ahhotep and her successor Kamose threw the Hyksos out and started the New Kingdom
New Kingdom - 1570-1075 BC, the pharaohs sought to strengthen Egypt
Hatshepsut - declared herself pharaoh in 1472 BC and encouraged trade with other Kingdoms
Thutmose III - Hatshepsut's stepson who was a very war like ruler; he might have killed Hatshepsut
Nubia - conquered by Thutmose III, was one region that expanded the Egyptian empire
Ramses II - ruled Egypt from 1290-1224 BC, he made a peace treaty with the Hittites
He also ordered the Abu Simbel temples to be carved
After Ramses died Egypt was invaded by the "sea people" who might have been Philistines or the Palestines
Egypt never recovered from these attacks and soon fell under constant attack from outsiders
Kush - an ancient Nubian kingdom that Egyptian Rulers controlled between 2,000 and 1,000 BC
Even in Egypt's decline Kushites "guarded" Egyptian culture and values
Painkhi - a Kushite king who overthrew the Libyan dynasty that was controlling Egypt
Assyrians took over Egypt soon after Painkhi took it over
Meroë - where the Kushites moved after being defeated by the Assyrians
The Unification of China
Confucius - China's most influential scholar, who lived during the Zhou Dynasty
There are five relationships: (1) ruler and subject, (2) father and son, (3) husband and wife, (4) older brother and younger brother, and (5) friend and friend
§ A code of proper conduct regulated each of these relationships
Filial Piety - respect for family and ancestors
The Analects - a book of Confucius' words
Bureaucracy - a system of departments and agencies formed to carry out the work of government
Confucianism was never a religion but it was an ethical system
Daoism - the philosophy of Laozi that was the search for knowledge and understanding nature
Legalism - a Chinese political philosophy based on the idea that a highly efficient and powerful government it key to social order (developed by Hanfeizi and Li Si)
I Ching - (also spelled Yi Jing) a Chinese book of oracles, consulted to answer ethical and practical problems
People would throw coins and use the book to interpret them by reading the correct oracle or prediction
Yin and Yang - in Chinese thought, the two powers that govern the natural rhythms of life
Yin was the cold, dark, soft and mysterious and Yang was warm, bright, hard and clear
I Ching ad Yin and Yan helped people understand how they fit into the world
Qin Dynasty - a short-lived Chinese dynasty that replaced the Zhou Dynasty in the third century BC
Shi Huangdi - a Qin Dynasty emperor, whose name means "First Emperor", who tried to unite China
He standardized weights, measurements, law, currency and writing throughout China
He burned books that he felt were "unnecessary" and scholars hated him for it
He started the building of the great wall, build 4,000 miles of roads and increased trade
Autocracy - a government that has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner
By 202 BC the Qin dynasty became the Han dynasty Chapter 5: Classical Greece

Section 1: Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea
Mycenaeans - an Indo-European person who settled on the Greek mainland around 2,000 BC
Trojan War - a war fought around 1,200 BC in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Anatolia
Dorians - a Greek-speaking people that, according to tradition, migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization
There was no writing during the Dorian period
Homer - a blind poet who told the epic poems of the Odyssey and the Iliad sometime between 750 and 700 BC
Epics - narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
Myths - traditional stories, about Greek gods
Section 2: Warring City-States
Polis - a Greek city-state¾ the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece after about 750 BC
Agora - a Greek marketplace
Acropolis - a fortified hilltop
Not all Greek city-states had the same form of government
Monarchy - a government ruled by one ruler or king
Aristocracy - a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families
Oligarchy - a government ruled by a few powerful people
Tyrants - in ancient Greece, a powerful individual who gained control by appealing to the poor for support
Tyrants in Greece were not considered to be harsh and cruel as they are now
In Athens reformers figured out a new form of government
Democracy - a government ruled by the people
In 621 BC Draco took power and developed a code that made all Athenians equal under the law
In 594 BC Solon outlawed debt slavery
Around 500 BC Cleisthenes divided the Athenians into four different social classes, he also determined that only free, adult, landowning, males born in Athens were citizens
Only wealthy Athenian boys could receive an education, girls were educated at home by their mothers
Helots - a peasant, bound to the land in the society of ancient Sparta
When the helots revolted against the Spartans they became a military state
From the time Spartan boys were 7 they went into training, they got out when they were 60
Phalanx - a military formation of foot soldiers armed with spears and sheilds
Persian Wars - a series of wars in the fifth century BC in which Greek city-states battled the Persian Empire
In the battle of Marathon the Persians (with 25,000 men) and the Greeks (with 10,000 men) fought. The Greeks lost about 200 men while the Persians lost 6,000
A modern marathon is 26.2 miles and it was the distance Pheidippides ran to tell the other Greeks of victory
In 480 BC Xerxes assembled an Army of 7,000 against the 300 Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae
The Spartans held the Xerxes' army off for three days but lost the battle after a traitor informed Xerxes of the Spartans' weakness
The Delian League was formed to protect the Greeks from further attack
Section 3: Democracy and Greece's Golden Age
Athens' Golden Age lasted for about 50 years and was mostly lead by Pericles
Direct Democracy - a form of government where citizens ruled directly and not through representatives
Pericles used money from the Delian League to beautify Athens and create the Parthenon
Tragedy - a serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic character
Comedy - a humorous form of drama that often includes slapstick and satire
Thucydides was one of the first historians
Peloponnesian War - a war lasting from 431 to 404 BC, in which Athens and its allies were defeated by the Spartans; after 27 years of battle the Athenians surrendered
Philosophers - a thinker who uses logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society and morality
Socrates - (470-399 BC) "The unexamined life is not worth living"
Plato - (427-347 BC) Wrote the Republic which was his vision of a perfect society
Aristotle - (384-322 BC) Questioned the nature of the world and of human thought, belief and knowledge
Section 4: Alexander's Empire
Philip II - the King of Macedonia who was Alexander the Great's father
Macedonia - a kingdom located just north of Greece but with a rough terrain and a cold climate
In 338 BC Athens and Thebes joined together in order to fight off Philip's army but it was too late, Philip defeated the Greeks in the battle of Chaeronea
Philip was murdered by one of his former guards at his daughter's wedding, leaving his son in charge
Alexander the Great - was taught by Aristotle, and his empire stretched from Macedonia to the Indus river
Darius III - a Persian king who's land was conquered by Alexander and sought revenge
In 11 years Alexander's men marched 11,000 miles
At the age of 32 Alexander died
After Alexander conquered a land he would marry a woman of that land, and adopt the dress and customs of that region
Section 5: The Spread of Hellenistic Culture
Hellenistic - relating to the civilization, language, art, science and literature of the Greek world from the reign of Alexander the Great; the mix of Persian, Greek, Egyptian and Indian Cultures
Many Scholars spoke in Koine (Greek for common) which allowed them to communicate to people all over the Hellenistic world
Alexandria - an Egyptian city that became the foremost center of commerce in the Hellenistic civilization
Alexandria housed a museum, which contained art galleries, a zoo, botanical gardens and a zoo, and a library with a collection of half a million papyrus scrolls that included masterpieces of ancient literature
Astronomy - Aristarchus estimated the suns size and theorized that the earth revolves around the sun.
Ptolemy - incorrectly re-placed earth at the center of the universe.
Eratosthenes - guessed the earth's circumference
Euclid - wrote elements which presented 465 geometric propositions and proofs
Archimedes - accurately estimated p and explained the law of the lever and invented the compound pulley and the Archimedes screw
Stoicism - founded by Zeno and promoted social unity and encouraged followers to focus on what they could control
Epicureanism - founded by Epicurus and said that the greatest food and the highest pleasure came from virtuous conduct and the absence of pain
Colossus of Rhodes - an enormous Hellenistic statue of Nike, that formerly stood near the harbor of Rhodes Chapter 6: Ancient Rome and Early Christianity

Section 1: The Roman Republic
In legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars and a Latin Princess
The first Romans settled the land between 1,000 to 500 BC
Three groups inhabited the region, the Greeks, the Latins and the Etruscans
The Greeks settled southern Italy and Sicily, the Latins built the original settlement of Rome and the Etruscans were native to northern Italy
Around 600 BC an Etruscan became king of Rome and within the next few decades the Rome grew from a small hilltop to a 500 square mile city
The last king of Tome was Tarquin the Proud who was driven from power in 509 BC, Rome created a new form of government
Republic - a form of government in which power rests with the citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
In Rome, only free-born male citizens had the right to vote
Patricians - wealthy land owners who held most of Rome's power in the early republic
Plebeian - the common farmers, artisans and merchants who made up most of Rome's population
Tribunes - in ancient Rome, an elected official by the plebeians to protect their rights
The Twelve Tables - all free Roman citizens hand a right to protection under the law
The Romans took the best features from many different forms of government to create their new one
Consul - in the Roman republic, one of the two powerful leaders elected in Rome each year to command the army and direct the Government
Senate - in ancient Rome, the supreme governing body, originally made up of only aristocrats
Dictator - in ancient Rome, a political leader given absolute power to make laws and command the army for a limited amount of time
All citizens were required to serve in the army and seekers of public offices had to serve for 10 years
Legion - a military unit of the ancient Roman army, made u of about 5,000 foot soldiers and a group of soldiers on horseback
Legions were divided into groups of 80 men called a century
Slowly, Rome conquered most of Italy and many of the surrounding lands
Rome began to move south to take over the northern parts of Africa
Punic Wars - a series of three wars between Rome and Carthage (264-146 BC); resulted in the destruction of Carthage and Rome's dominance over the western Mediterranean
Hannibal - a Carthaginian general who tried to lead a surprise attack on Rome by taking a roundabout way to Rome through Spain and the Alps during the second Punic war
He brought an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 60 elephants (on the journey about half died)
The war waged for over ten years but in the end the Roman allies prevented Hannibal from capturing Rome
Scipio - the Roman general who devised a plan to attack on Carthage (the third Punic war 149-496 BC)
In the third Punic war Carthage was set aflame and its 50,000 citizens were sold into slavery

Section 2: The Roman Empire
As Rome grew the gap between the rich and the poor became huge
Tyberius and Gaius Gracchus were two tribunes who attempted to help the poor
In the senate they were both murdered by senators who felt threatened by their ideas
Civil War - a conflict between two political groups in the same country
Rome's once loyal military now became only faithful to their commanders
Julius Caesar - a Roman military leader who in 60 BC joined forces with Crassus, a wealthy Roman, and Pompey, a popular general, and was elected to council
Triumvirate - a group of three rulers
First, Caesar invaded Gaul and declared himself the governor. Then, he defeated Pompey's armies in Greece, Asia, Spain and Egypt. Last, Caesar was declared dictator in 46 BC and dictator for life in 44 BC
Julius proved to be a good leader but his reforms usually went against the traditional Roman standards
Because of Caesar's success, growing power and popularity he was stabbed to death on March 15, 44 BC
Civil war broke out again and Caesar's adopted son Octavian created the second triumvirate with Mark Antony (an experienced general) and Lepidus (a powerful politician)
Octavian and Mark Antony became rivals when Antony fell in love with Cleopatra (another civil war)
Augustus - Octavian's title as the unchallenged ruler of Rome and its 60-80 million inhabitants
Pax Romana - the 207 years of Roman peace, started by Augustus
Augustus created a system that kept Rome functioning well that lasted even after his death in AD 14
90% of Romans were engaged in farming
Romans honored strength over beauty, power over grace and usefulness over elegance
Romans used slaves more than any previous civilization
Numina - spirits that resided in everything around the Romans
Lares - Guardian spirits of each family
By AD 250 there were 150 holidays in a Roman year and all of the Romans, rich or poor would gather in a coliseum to watch the Gladiator games

Section 3: The Rise of Christianity
Jesus - a Jew whose different take on Judaism eventually led to a new religion, Christianity
Apostles - Jesus' 12 disciples or pupils
Jesus was killed by a Roman governor Pontius Pilate who arrested him and sentenced him to be crucified
The Apostles were convinced that Jesus was the messiah and began to refer to him as Christos and the name Christianity is derived from Christ
Christianity spread slowly throughout the Roman empire because of his followers
Paul - was an apostle who never met Jesus but began to preach his teachings after having a vision
Christianity spread easily because of the Pax Romana
Diaspora - the dispersal of the Jews from their homeland in Palestine¾especially during the period of more than 1,800 years that followed the Roman's destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70
During the end of the Pax Romana many Christians were exiled, persecuted and executed
But by the third century AD millions of Romans were Christians
Constantine - a Roman emperor who saw an image of a cross before a battle and proceeded to win the battle the next day. He credited the victory to the Christian God and in AD 313 he stopped the persecutions of the Christians
Bishop - a priest who supervised several local churches
Peter - the first apostle to travel to Rome and Peter was the "rock" on which the Christian church was built on
Pope - the father or head of the Christian Church
Church leaders added the New Testament to the Hebrew bible to solidify Christian;s belieft
Christianity continued to rise even as the Roman Empire Crumbled

Section 4: the Fall of the Roman Empire
During the third century AD the Roman Empire began to weaken
Rome had reached the limit of their expansion and was beginning to be attacked from outsiders
Inflation - a drastic drop in the value in money coupled with a rise in prices
Agriculture was becoming harder and harder due to overworked soil and wars fought on the farmland
The Roman army was once again more loyal to their generals than they were to their country
Mercenaries - foreign soldiers who fought for money
Romans began to not care about the fate of their country anymore
Diocletian - in AD 284 he came to power and split the roman empire into the east and west
Those who lived in the east spoke Greek while the people who lived on the west spoke Latin
Constantine gained control of the western Roman Empire and moved the capital to Byzantium in the Eastern empire
Constantinople - Byzantium's new name or the city of Constantine
After Constantine died the empire divided into the East and West
The West would fall and the East would survive
The Western Roman Empire declined over many years but finally collapsed because of the separation from the Eastern empire, worsening internal problems and outside invasions
As the Mongol nomad Huns moved into Germanic territory the Germanic people began to move into Roman Land.
The Western empire's army could not defend Rome from the plundering of the Germanic tribes
In 444 Attila the Hun stormed the Eastern Roman empire and attacked and plundered 70 cities
In 453 Attila's men tried to attack Rome but famine and disease kept them from conquering the city
Romulus Augustulus was the 14-year-old Roman emperor at the very end of the Roman Empire
The Eastern empire became known as the Byzantine empire and flourished for the next 1,000 years

Section 5: Rome and the Roots of Western Civilization
Greco-Roman Culture - the mixture of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman culture also called classical civilization
Romans artists, philosophers and writers adapted the Greek and Hellenistic models to fit their needs
Roman Fine Art - realistic sculpture, bas relief, or imaged projecting from a flat background and mosaics
Pompeii - a city near Mount Vesuvius that was covered in a thick layer of ash when the mountain erupted, the ash killed around 2,000 residents in AD 79 and preserved much of the Pompeian art and buildings
Virgil wrote the Aeneid which praised Rome and Roman virtues
Ovid wrote light witty poetry for enjoyment and wrote Amores
Livy wrote a multivolume history of Rome but mixed many legends in with the facts
Tacitus wrote a more accurate Roman history in his Annals and Histories
Latin was the official Roman language, remained the language of learning in the west and was the official language of the Roman Catholic Church into the 20th century
The five romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian) are derived from Latin
Aqueducts - water channels that brought water into cities and towns
Roman roads lasted into the middle ages and some are still used today
Important principles of Roman law:
All persons had the right to equal treatment under the law
A person was considered innocent until proven guilty
The burden of proof rested with the accuser rather than the accused
A person should be only punished for actions, not thoughts
Any law that seemed unreasonable of grossly unfair should be set aside
Some say Rome never fell because it turned into something greater¾an idea¾and achieved immortality Chapter 7: India and China Establish Empires

Section 1: India's First Empires
Mauryan Empire - the first empire in India, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 326 BC
Maurya battled one of Alexander the Great's generals in 305 BC and won
By 303 BC the Mauryan empire stretched over 2,000 miles and Maurya had an army of 60,000 foot soldiers, 30,000 soldiers on horseback and 9,000 elephants
Chandragupta divided his empire into four provinces and those provinces were divided into districts
Asoka - Chandragupta's grandson who brought the Mauryan empire to its greatest heights as emperor
Asoka began to rule by the Buddha's teachings after he destroyed his neighboring state of Kalinga
Religious Toleration - acceptance of people who held different religious beliefs
Asoka built roads with rest stops every nine miles and demonstrated concern for his subjects' well-being
When the Mauryan empire fell the Andhra dynasty arose and controlled the region for centuries
Starting in 185 BC, and lasting for 500 years, invaders from Greece, Persia, and Central Asia introduced new culture and language into the Indian Culture
Tamil - a language of southern India and the people who lived there and a region that wasn't conquered by the Mauryans
Gupta Empire - the second empire in India, founded by Chandra Gupta I in AD 320
During the Gupta empire the Hindu culture thrived and so did the Indian civilization
In 320 Gupta took the title of "the Great King of Kings"
His son Samudra expanded the empire through 40 years of conquest
Patriarchal - relating to the social system in which the father is the head of the family
Matriarchal - relating to the social system in which the mother is the head of the family
The Gupta empire ended in 535 when they were overrun by the Hunas

Section 2: Trade Spreads Indian Religions and Culture
Both Buddhism and Hinduism Change over the years
Mahayana - a sect of Buddhism that offers salvation to all and allows popular worship
Thervada - a sect of Buddhism focusing on the strict spiritual discipline originally advocated by the Buddha
Stupas - mounded stone structured built over holy relics
Around the same time that Buddhism changed Hinduism did too
The three most important Hindu gods were now:
Brahma - the creator of the world
Vishnu - the preserver of the world
Shiva - the Destroyer of the world
India entered a highly productive period in art, literature, science and mathematics
Kalidasa - was one of India's greatest writers and wrote Shakuntala
In the second century Madurai became a site of writing academies. More than 2,000 Tamil poems still exist
During the Gupta empire, astronomers proved that the earth was round, mathematicians developed modern numerals, zero and decimals, and doctors described over 1,000 diseases and 500 medicinal plants
Silk Roads - a system of ancient caravan routes across Central Asia, along which traders carried silk and other trade goods
Sea trade increased which allowed Indians to collect spices that they could sell to the Romans
Because of all the trade banking began in India
The trade helped to spread Hinduism and Buddhism

Section 3: Han Emperors in China
After Shi Huangdi's reign ended civil war broke out and powerful leaders emerged
The Han Dynasty - a Chinese dynasty that ruled from 202 BC to AD 9 and again from 27 to 220 AD
Liu Bang was the first emperor of the Han Dynasty
Centralized Government - a form of government in which a central authority controls the running of a state
Liu Bang introduced lower taxes and softened punishment, people throughout China appreciated his peace and stability
When Liu Bang died his son took over but his mother, Empress Lü, actually ruled China
Liu Bang's grandson, Wudi, ruled from 141 to 87 BC and expanded the Chinese empire through war
Chinese emperors had a divine right to authority
Peasants owed the government a month's worth of labor or military service every year
Civil Service - the administrative department of a government¾especially those in which employees are hired on a basis of their scores on examinations
Early Han emperors hired Confucian scholars as court advisors because Confucius taught the qualities that government officials should have
The civil service system that Wudi established lasted until 1912
The Chinese developed paper, the horse collar, the wheelbarrow, perfected the plow and began using mills to grind grain
During the Han Dynasty China's population grew to 60 million so farming became an honored occupation
Monopoly - when a group has exclusive control over the production and distribution of certain goods
For example: the mining of salt, the forging of iron, the minting of coins and the brewing of alchahol
Silk became a very valuable item of trade because of the Silk Road
Assimilation - the adoption of a conqueror's culture by a conquered people
Sima Qian wrote some of China's history Records of the Grand Historian and History of the Former Han Dynasty
Women in the higher society could become shopkeepers and practice medicine
Wang Mang overthrew the Han dynasty during a time of economic change and political instability
Wang Mang produced a new currency of money and distributed it all throughout China and increased spending
In 11 AD there was a flood that killed thousands and left millions homeless, people began to revolt and a rebel group was created and then they assassinated Wang Mang
The second Han dynasty came to power and took control of the silk road, returning prosperity to China Chapter 10: The Muslim World

Section 1: The Rise of Islam
Bedouins - Arab nomads that were organized into groups called clans
By the early 600s the Arabian trade routes went through the Silk Road, the Byzantine and Persian empires and Yemen
During holy months caravans stopped in Mecca to worship an ancient shrine in the city called the Ka'aba
The Ka'aba contained over 360 idols of worship brought in by many tribes
Allah - God (an Arabic word, used mainly in Islam)
Muhammad - the founder of Islam who taught that Allah was the only God and all others should be abandoned. He believed that he spoke with the angel Gabriel
Islam - "submission to the will of Allah"
Muslim - "one who has submitted"
In 622 Muhammad moved to the town known as Yathrib, this was known as the Hijrah
The Hijrah attracted many devoted followers and later Yathrib was renamed Medina
Muhammad became a military leader and in 630 he and 10,000 of his followers marched to Mecca with him and Mecca's leaders surrendered
Many Meccans converted to Islam and joined the umma or the Muslim religious community
Muhammad died at the age of 62 but he had converted most of the Arabian Peninsula to Islam
The Five Pillars: Faith, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, Pilgrimage
Mosque - an Islamic house of worship
Muslims must face towards Mecca and pray five times a day
Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca
Qur'an - the holy book of Islam
Muslims consider the Arabic version of the Qur'an to be the true word of Allah
Sunna - Muhammad's exampile which is considered the best model for proper living
Shari'a - a body of law governing the lives of Muslims
The Christian, Muslim and Jewish people all worship the same God

Section 2: Islam Expands
Caliph - a supreme political and religious leader in the Muslim government; it means "successor" or "deputy"
In 632 Abu-Bakr became the first caliph and chose three more¾Umar, Uthman and Ali¾called Muhammad
Abu-Bakr invoked jihad which means "striving" and can refer to struggle against evil
By 634, when Abu-Bakr died, the Muslim state controlled all of Arabia and by 750 the Muslim empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus River
Muslim armies would invade countries where their state religions were being prosecuted and often those being persecuted would welcome the Muslims and accept Islam
Christians and Jews could not spread their religion but they could be officials, scholars and bureaucrats
In 656 Uthman was murdered and five years later Ali was murdered
Umayyads - a family of caliphs who moved the Muslim capital from Mecca to Damascus
Most Muslims accepted the Umayyads rule but some resisted
Shi'a - a branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad
Sunni - a branch of Islam whose member acknowledge the four caliphs as being the rightful successors of Muhammad
Sufi - a Muslim who seeks to achieve direct contact with God through mystical means
Abbasids - A dynasty that ruled much of the Muslim Empire from AD 750 to 1258
The Abbasids ruthlessly murdered much of the Umayyad caliphate before taking power
One prince Abd al-Rahman escaped and fled to Spain where the African Muslims had already conquered and settled al-Andalus - a Muslim ruled region in what now is Spain, established in the eighth century AD
The Abbasids moved the Muslim capital to Baghdad where it lied on key trade routes
Fatimid - a caliphate formed by the Shi'a Muslims who claimed to be descended from Muhammad's daughter Fatima
The Muslim Empire was the first to use checks due to the trade that went on in that region

Section 3: Muslim Culture
Until Baghdad was built Damascus was the leading Islamic city
Córdoba (the Umayyad capital), Cairo (the Fatimid capital) and Jerusalem also grew in size
The social classes in Baghdad - Muslims at birth (upper class), converts to Islam (second class), "protected people" included Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians (third class), slaves and prisoners of war (lowest class)
Men and Women are equal according to the Qur'an and the shari'a gave women specific legal rights
The House of Wisdom - the center of learning, established in Baghdad in the 800s
The Thousand and One Nights was a collection of fairy tales, parables and legends
Calligraphy - the art of beautiful handwriting
Al-Khwarizmi was the inventor of al-jabr or algebra
Ibn al-Haytham wrote Optics which revolutionized ideas about vision and his ideas were used in the development of telescopes and microscopes
Moses Ben Maimon wrote the book The Guide for the Perplexed which blended, philosophy, religion and science
Even though the Muslim state was unified it broke into three empires¾the Ottoman, the Safavid and the Mugal

Chapter 11: Byzantines, Russians, and Turks Interact

Section 1: The Byzantine Empire
Justinian - a Byzantine nobleman who succeeded his uncle to the thrown in 527
In 16 years Justinian was able to regain most of the formerly Roman territory
Most people in the Byzantium empire spoke Greek
Justinian Code - the body of Roman civil law collected and organized by the order of the Byzantine emperor and was split into four works, the Code, the Digest, the Institutes and the Novallae
The Justinian code lasted in the Byzantine Empire for 900 years
There was a 14-mile long wall built to alone Constantinople's western boarder
Hagia Sophia - the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople, built by the order of emperor Justinian
Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek
Hippodrome - a Byzantine form of entertainment place that held chariot races and performance acts
For the chariot races many fans would get very involved and form rowdy teams
Nika Rebellion - in 532 two of these teams started citywide riots that later lead to citizens demanding that Justinian be overthrown
Justinian considered fleeing the town but his wife, Theodora convinced him to not run away
Towards the end of Justinian's reign the bubonic, or black, plague swept over Constantinople
For hundreds of years outside attackers attempted to invade Constantinople but in 11th century the Turks slowly took over the Byzantine territory
By 1350 the tip of Anatolia and a strip of the Balkans was all that was left of Constantinople but in 1453 the city fell to the Ottoman Turks
Patriarch - the principal bishop in the Eastern branch of Christianity
Icons - a religious image used by eastern Christians
Excommunication - the taking away of a person's of membership in a Christian Church
After 1054 the Christian church split into the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church
Cyrillic Alphabet - an alphabet for the writing of Slavic languages, devised in the ninth century by Saints Cyril and Methodius Chapter 12: Empires in East Asia

Section 1: Tang and Song China
The Sui Dynasty (established by Wendi and lasted from 581 to 618) built 1,000 miles of waterways and continued work on the great wall
The second Sui emperor was assassinated in 618 by a member of the imperial court
Tang Taizong - established the Tang dynasty which lasted for 300 years
Wu Zhao - the only woman in China to assume the title of emperor in 690
The Tang rulers built more roads and canals to bring China together and they promoted foreign trade
In the mid-700s the Tang dynasty began to impose high taxes on its people due to military expansion
In 907 Chinese rebels burned and sacked the Tang Capital and murdered the last Tang emperor, a child
After the Tang Dynasty fell china broke apart into separate kingdoms
In 960 Taizu reunited China and established the Song dynasty which lasted for about 300 years
In the early 1100s the Manchurians captured northern China leaving the song Dynasty with southern China
Because of this move, Chinese trade with Europe and western Asia grew greatly
Movable Type - blocks of wood or metal, each bearing a single character, that can be arranged to make a page for printing
The Chinese invented gunpowder, which lead to bombs, grenades, small rockets and cannons. Also porcelain, paper money, the mechanical clock and the magnetic compass were created
During the decline of the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese lost control over the silk road. Ocean trade let the Chinese continue to trade
Through sea trade Buddhism spread to Korea, Japan and other countries and Islam and Christianity entered China
Li Bo and Tu Fu were Tang and Song Dynasty poets
Chinese painting featured a lot of Daoist influence
Gentry - a class of powerful well-to-do people who enjoy a high social status
During the Tang and Song dynasties young Chinese girls had their feet bound to get the "lily foot" look and were essentially crippled for life

Section 2: The Mongol Conquests
Steppe - a belt of dry grassland located on the across the landmass of Eurasia
Modern-day Mongolia was the first home of the Huns, the Turks, and the Mongols
Pastoralist - a member of a nomadic group that herds domesticated animals
The Asian nomads depended on their animals for their food, clothing and housing
Clans - a group of people descended from a common ancestor
Many times nomadic clans would invade border towns because they would see the benefits of settled life
Usually, they would just invade a city but occasionally, a nomadic could take over a whole empire
Genghis Khan - Temujun, a mongol leader, who later accepted the title "universal ruler" of the Mongol clans
In 21 years, Genghis conquered most of Asia, starting with china in 1211, by 1225 the Mongols had Central Asia under their control
Genghis' armies were split into 10,000 man armies, 1,000 man brigades, 100 man companies and 10 man squads also silk underwear was worn to help soldiers carry on even after being shot with an arrow
Genghis was a gifted strategist and terrified many of his enemies into surrender
In 50 years Genghis conquered the area from China to Poland creating the largest unified empire in history
In 1250 Genghis' descendants broke the empire into four sections or khanates
Often, when the Mongols would invade an area they would wipe out the populations and destroy the ancient irrigation systems
Over time the khanates adapted aspects of the culture of the regions that they ruled, this lead to the splitting up of the empire
Pax Mongolica - the "Mongol Peace"¾the periof from the mid-1200s to the mid-1300s when the Mongols imposed stability and law and order across much of Euraisa
During this period gunpowder reached Europe along with the Bubonic Plague
Section 3: The Mongol Empire
Kublai Khan - the grandson of Genghis Khan who ruled the khanate that included Mongolia, Korea, Tibet, and Northern China
Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, after invading China in 1279, and for the first time in 300 years all of China was united under one ruler
In 1274 and again in 1281 Kublai Khan tried to conquer Japan but both times the Japanese turned back the Mongol Fleets
During the second Mongol invasion, on the 53rd day, a typhoon destroyed the Mongol's fleet of 150,000
Kublai built a paved highway that ran for 1,100 miles from Hangzhou to Beijing
Kublai encouraged foreign merchants to visit China
Marco Polo - a Venetian trader served Kublai for 17 years, when he returned to Venice's rival city Genoa imprisoned him and while in jail he told his storied of China to all who would listen
Later a fellow prisoner wrote down many of Polo's stories
Towards the end of Kublai Khan's rule he attempted to invade Southeast Asia but failed miserably
In 1368 Chinese rebels overthrew Kublai's successors and established the Ming Dynasty

Section 4: Feudal Powers in Japan
Japan is made up of over 4,000 islands that extent into an arc that is more than 1,200 miles long.
The four largest islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku
The first historic mention of Japan was in the first century BC by the Chinese
Shinto - meaning the "way of the gods", was the Native religion of Japan
Shinto worshipers believed in Kami, divine spirits that dwelled in nature
By the AD 400s the Yamato clan established themselves as the leading Japanese clan, by the seventh century the Yamato chiefs called themselves the emperors of Japan
During the 400s Chinese cultures and customs began to influence those of the Japanese
In the mid-700s Buddhism arrived in Japan through the Koreans and some Buddhist and Shinto rituals combined with each other
Prince Shotoku converted to Buddhism and in 607 he sent some of his men to China to learn Chinese ways
The Japanese adapted the Chinese ways to suit their own needs
The Heian Period lasted from 794 to 1185 and was the time when many Japanese noble families moved to Heian and a highly refined court society emerged
During the eleventh century central power began to decline as feudalism was on the rise
Samurai - one of the professional warriors who served Japanese feudal lords
Bushido - the strict code of behavior followed by samurai warriors in Japan
Dying an honorable death was more important than living a long life
Shogun - in feudal Japan, a supreme military commander who ruled in the name of the emperor
Kamakura shogunate was a military headquarters at Kamakura but when the Kamakura were not paid they switched back to their local shoguns
This pattern of government lasted in Japan until 1868 Chapter 13: European Middle Ages

Section 1: Charlemagne United Germanic Kingdoms
Middle Ages - the era in European history that followed the fall of the Roman empire lasting from about 500 to 1500 also called the medieval period
Soon after the Germanic invaders mixed in with the Roman population a common language was lost and learning began to decline
By the 800s the romance languages had evolved from Latin
As the Germanic kingdoms replaced the Roman kingdoms the Church provided order and security
Franks - the Germanic people who settled in the Roman province of Gaul (roughly the area now occupied by France) and established a great empire during the Middle Ages
Their leader, Clovis, brought Christianity to the region. By 511 the Frankish kingdom and the church marked the start of a strong partnership between two forces
Monastery - a religious community of men (called monks) who have given up their possessions to devote their life to prayer and worship
Women who did the same lived in covenants
Benedict and Scholastica created guidelines that were later used in other European religious communities
Pope Gregory I, or Gregory the Great, made papacy, or pope's office, more than just a spiritual role
Secular - concerned with worldly, rather than religious, matters
In 700 the major domo, or mayor of the palace, became the most powerful person in the Frankish world
In 719 Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) was more powerful than the king
Charles defeated the Muslim invaders in the Battle of Tours in 732
This made him a Christian hero
Pepin the Short inherited Charles' power when Martel died.
The pope appointed Pepin to be the "king by the grace of God"
Carolingian Dynasty - a dynasty of Frankish rulers, lasting from 751 to 987
Charlemagne - the ruler of the Frankish kingdom after Pepin died in 771
Charlemagne conquered land and spread Christianity to those areas.
He reunited the western Europe for the first time since the Roman empire
Charlemagne lead the revival in Europe and began to promote education
Charlemagne left his Empire to his son Louis the Pious and when he proved he left his land to his three children, Lothair, Charles the Bald and Louis the German
The three sons signed the Treaty of Verdun in 843 which essentially ended the Carolingian dynasty and started Feudalism in Europe

Section 2: Feudalism in Europe
The Vikings were a Scandinavian Germanic Tribe who were ruthless warriors
They also were traders, farmers and explorers
The Magyars attacked Europe from the east in the late 800s
The Muslims attacked Europe from the South
Fief - an estate granted to a vassal by a lord in the feudal system in Medieval Europe
Lord - in feudal Europe, a person who controlled land and could there for grant estates to vassals
Vassal - in feudal Europe, a person who received a grant of land from a lord in an exchange for a pledge of loyalty and services
Knight - in Medieval Europe, an armored warrior who fought on horseback
Serf - a medieval peasant legally bound to live on a lords land
Manor - the lords estate
A lord lived on a manor and granted fiefs to the vassals. A knight pledged their servitude for fiefs, too.
The lord provided the serfs with lands, farmland and protection from bandits. In exchange, the serfs tended to the land, took care of the animals and performed tasks to maintain the estate
Generally 15 to 30 families lived on a manor
The Peasants and Serfs raised and produced everything the lord needed for daily life
Peasants paid a price to live on the lords land, there were taxes on marriage, church, and grain
Tithe - a families payment of one-tenth of their income to a church
The average life expectancy for a peasant or serf was 35 years, in that time most peasants never traveled more than 25 miles from their homes
Section 3: The Age of Chivalry
In the 700s Europeans invented stirrups and saddles (they were invented 500 years earlier in Asia)
The average knight did about 40 days of combat every year
Chivalry - a code of behavior for knights in medieval Europe, stressing ideals such as courage, loyalty and devotion
At age 7 a boy would be shipped off to a castle where he would be a page and began to practice fighting skills. By 14 the page became a squire which was a servant to a knight. Around 21 a squire would become a knight.
Once someone was a knight they gained experience by fighting in local wars
Tournament - a mock battle between groups of knights
By 1100 castles dominated most of the countryside
Epic Poetry became popular, stories were usually told of King Arthur of Charlemagne
Troubadour - a medieval poet and musician who traveled from place to place, entertaining people with songs of courtly love
A noblewoman in feudal society could inherit her husband's land if he died
A peasant woman worked endless labor at home, worked in the fields, and bore and raised children Chapter 14: The Formation of Western Europe

Section 1: Church Reform and the Crusades
The monasteries established new religious and the pope worked to reform the church.
Simony - the selling or buying of a position in a Christian church
In the 1100s and 1200s the church was restructured to resemble a kingdom
Friars - wandering preachers who, traveled from place to place to, spread and preach Christianity
Gothic - relating to a style of church architecture that developed in medieval Europe, featuring ribbed vaults, stained glass windows, flying buttresses, pointed arches and tall spires in order to be closer to heaven
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was one of the taller cathedrals at the time at over 100 feet tall
Between 1170 and 1270 nearly 500 gothic cathedrals were built
Pope Urban II issued a call for what he called a "holy war" or Crusade
Crusade - one of the expeditions in which medieval Christian warriors sought to recover control of the Holy Land from the Muslims
The Church saw the Crusades as a chance to reunite Christendom by regaining control of Palestine
Kings and the Church used the Crusades as an opportunity to get rid of knights who fought each other
According to the pope those who died in the Crusades were guaranteed a place in heaven
On July 15, 1099 the Crusaders captured Jerusalem
In 1144 Edessa (one of the cities conquered in the First Crusade) was recaptured by the Turks
Saladin - a Kurdish warrior and Muslim leader who captured Jerusalem
He gained control in the Second Crusade
Richard the Lion-Hearted - one of the powerful European monarchs from England during the Third Crusade
He fought along with Philip II (Augustus) of France and the German emperor Frederic I (Barbarossa)
In the Third Crusade the Crusaders failed to recapture Jerusalem but made a truce so unarmed Christians could visit Jerusalem's holy places freely
The Fourth Crusade to capture Jerusalem failed in 1204 along with the four other Crusades in the 1200s
The Children's Crusade took place in 1212 when about 30,000 children attempted to capture Jerusalem
Most died on the journey and the others who lived either drowned or were sold into slavery
Reconquista - the effort by Christian leaders to drive the Muslims out of Spain lasting from the 1100s until 1492
Inquistion - a Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy¾especially the one active in Spain during the 1400s
Even after Muslims and Jews converted to Christianity some were suspected of heresy and was either questioned and even tortured. Once a suspect confessed they were often burned at the stake

Section 2: Changes in Medieval Society
During Europe's revival, farming changed to supply the growing civilization
Three-Field System - a system of farming developed in medieval Europe, in which farmland was divided into three fields of equal size and each of these was successively planted with a winter crop, planted with a spring crop and left unplanted
This system allowed villagers to have more to eat which led them live longer, healthier lives
Guild - a medieval association of people working at the same occupation, which controlled its members' wages and prices
The guilds helped craftspeople manufacture quality goods for local and long-distance trade
Commercial Revolution - the expansion of trade and business that transformed European economies in the 16th and 17th centuries
Cloth was the most common trade item. Other items included bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine, leather, dyes, knives and ropes
Credit was established so merchants didn't have to carry around large amounts of cash
The Christian church thought that usury, lending money at interest, was a sin but later relaxed their rule
Many people moved to towns where they could earn a living and choose where they lived
From 1000 to 1150 Europe's population is suspected to have increased from 30 million to 42 million
Europe's largest city, Paris, probably had no more than 60,000 in 1200
Because there was no plumbing in medieval Europe, most townspeople dumped their waste into the streets
A serf could become free by living in a town for a year and a day
Burghers - a medieval merchant-class town dweller
The word university originally referred to a group of scholars meeting whenever they could
Vernacular - the everyday language of people in a region of country
Most works were written in Latin but some writers wrote masterpieces in vernacular
Thomas Aquinas - a mid-1200s scholar who argued that the most basic religious truths could be proved by a logical argument
Scholastics - scholars who gathered and taught at medieval European universities

Section 3: England and France Develop
In the 800s, Alfred the Great, an Anglo-Saxon king in Britain, turned back the invading Vikings
In 1013 a Danish king conquered England, in 1042 King Edward the Confessor took back the English throne but dies without an heir leaving a power struggles for the throne
William the Conqueror - the duke of Normandy who later went on to claim the English crown
Normandy came from a referring to the Vikings, North men, or Norman. The Normans were descendants of Vikings but they were French in language and culture
After fighting an Anglo-Saxon leader for control of England and winning William laid the foundation for centralized government in England
Henry II - ruled England from 1154 to 1189 and married Eleanor of Aquitaine from France. He also added juries to English courts
Henry's son was Richard the Lion-Hearted who ruled England during the Crusades
Common Law - a unified body of law formed from ruling of England's royal judges that serves as the basis for law in many English-speaking countries today, including the United States
John Softsword, Richard the Lion-Hearted's younger brother, ruled from 1199 to 1216 lost Normandy and the other regions in northern France
Magna Carta - "Great Charter"¾a document guaranteeing basic political rights in England, drawn up by nobles and approved by King John on June 15, 1215
The Magna Carta is now considered to be the basic legal rights in both the United States and England
Parliament - the body of representatives that makes the laws for a nation
Both the Magna Carta and Parliament were used to keep a check on royal power
Louis the Sluggard was the last of the Carolingian Dynasty and died in 987
Hugh Capet - a duke who ruled one small territory with Paris at its heart. He formed the Capetian dynasty
Philip II - the most powerful Capetian king (ruled from 1180 to 1223), he established a stronger central government and tripled the lands under his direct control
Philip's grandson Louis IX created a French appeals court and was known as the ideal king
Estates-General - an assembly of representatives from all three estates, or social classes, in France
England and France began to set up centralized government

Section 4: The Hundred Years' Was and the Plague
Philip captured and imprisoned pope Boniface in September 1303, after he the pope died in October and after that no Pope was able to force monarchs to obey them
Avignon - where Rome was moved to in 1305 by pope Clement V, Popes lived there for the next 69 years
Great Schism - a division in the medieval Roman Catholic Church, during which rival popes were established in Avignon and in Rome (Pope Urban VI and Pope Clement VII)
In 1414 the Council of Constance tried to end the Great Schism by electing another pope, now there were three popes
In 1417 the Holy Roman Emperor and the Council forced all three popes to resign and they chose a new pope, Martin V
This ended the Great Schism but left the papacy greatly weakened
John Wycliffe - an Englishman who preached that Jesus Christ was the true head of the church, not the pope. His beliefs lead the New Testament to be translated into English
Jan Hus - a professor who taught that the Bible was higher than the pope. Hus was excommunicated in 1412 and in 1414 he was seized by the church and tried as a heretic. In 1415 he was burned at the stake
Bubonic Plague - a deadly disease that spread across Asia and Europe in the mid 1300s, killing millions
The Bubonic Plague was also known as the black death
Before the plague ran its course it killed almost 25 million Europeans and millions more in Asia and Africa
Because of the plague: town populations fell, trade declined, prices rose, the manorial system began to crumble, peasants revolted against nobles, Jews were blamed for the plague, the Church lost its prestige
Hundred Years' War - a conflict in which England and France battled on French soil on and off from 1337 to 1453 and changed the style of European warfare
The longbow allowed the English army to take down the French knights from a distance and then use long knives to slaughter the French
The English use of the longbow marked the end of chivalric warfare
Joan of Arc was a teenage peasant girl who felt moved by God to give the true French king, Charles VII, the son of Charles VI
Joan led the French army into a siege of Orleans which lead them to victory and made Charles VII king
In 1430 English allies captured Joan and turned her over to England who gave her to the Church
On May 30, 1431 Joan was burned at the stake for being a witch and a heretic, King Charles did nothing to save her even though he owed his position to her
Some say that the Hundred Years' War marked the end of the Middle Ages Chapter 16: People and Empires in the Americas

Section 2: Maya Kings and Cities
The Maya empire covered the Yucatan peninsula
Mayans trace their ancestry back to the Olmec
The period from 250 to 900 is known as the Classic Period of Maya civilization
Tikal - a major Mayan that was ruled by a god-kind and served as a center for religious ceremonies and trade. These cities featured giant pyramids, temples and stone carvings dedicated to gods
Other important sites include Chichén Itzá, Copán, Palenque and Uxmal
Mayans used cacao (chocolate) beans as a form of currency for trade
Trade items included: salt, flint, feathers, shells, honey, cotton textiles and jade ornaments
Mayans grew maize, beans and squash
Mayan social structure: King (top and dynastical kingdoms), priests and warriors (noble class), merchants (middle class), peasant (lower class and the majority)
Gods influenced Mayan everyday life and gods were associated with colors and directions
Mayans practiced human sacrifice, usually of captured enemeies, to keep the gods happy
Mayans offered offerings into a deep sinkhole called cenote
Things offered included gold and jade
Mayans developed a 260 day religious calendar and a 365 solar calendar which worked together to choose the best times to plant crops, attack enemies and crown new rulers
Mayans came up with the concept of zero and made a base-20 system
Glyphs - a symbolic picture¾especially one used as part of a writing for carving messages in stone
Codex - a book with pages that can be turned
Popol Vuh - a book containing a version of the Mayan story of creation
In the late 800s the Maya suddenly abandoned their cities and cities like Tikal and Copan disappeared
Section 3: The Aztecs Control Central Mexico
Teothichacán was a the first major civilization in central Mexico, an organized city-state
Obsidian - a hard, glassy volcanic rock used by early people to make sharp weapons
It was the most valuable trade idem in Teothichacán
Teothichacán means "City of the Gods"
By 750 Teothichacán had been virtually abandoned by its people
Around 900, the Toltec's rose to power and ruled over the heart of Mexico for about 300 years
They built pyramids and were extremely warlike
Toplitzin was a Toltec leader who tried to change the Toltec religion and end human sacrifice
Quetzalcoatl - "the Feathered Serpent"¾a god of the Toltec's and other Mesoamerican peoples
His followers believed that his return would result in a golden age
Around 1200 the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, which contained a few city-states that survived the fall of the Toltec emire
Aztecs were originally called Mexica
Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec god of the sun and warfare and needed human blood
Triple Alliance - an association of the city-states of Tenochtitlán, Texcoco and Tlacopan, which lead to the formation of the Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire covered some 80,000 square miles, was divided into 38 provinces and had an estimated population of 5 to 15 million people
Aztecs demanded their subjects to pay tribute, if they didn't then the Aztecs would destroy the rebellious villages and slaughter or capture the inhabitants
Tenochtitlán was a planned Aztec city, built on an island
Montezuma II - the Aztec emperor who was in control when the Aztec Empire began to fall
During Montezuma's reign the fair-skinned, bearded strangers from across the sea arrived
Many Aztecs believed that this was the return of the Quetzalcoatl

Section 4: Thin Inca Create a Mountain Empire
One in eleven noble families were descendants from the sun god.
Pachacuti - an Incan ruler who conquered all of Peru
By 1500 the Incan Empire stretched 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America (the Andes Mountains) and was home to about 16 million people
Incans conquered people after winning their loyalty and friendship
The official Incan language was Quechua and the capital (which all roads lead to) was Cuzco
Ayllu - in Incan Society, a small community or family group whose members worked together for the common good
Mita - in the Inca Empire, the requirement that all able-bodied subjects work for the state a certain number of days each year
Usually, mita would take the form of work on state projects or work on state farms
People supported the state so the state cared for them in return
Quipu - an arrangement of knotted strings on a cord, used by the Inca to record numerical information
Eventually, colors were added to represent different categories of information
Incans believed in fewer gods than the people of Mexico
Viracocha was the Incan creator and Inti was the Incan sun god
Incan rulers were considered to be descendants of Inti
Machu Picchu was an isolated and mysterious city that may have been a religious center or a place for retreat for Incan rulers and nobility
In the early 1500s, the Incan empire reached the height of its power under Huayna Capac but he died while traveling through Ecuador
His two sons started a war over who would get the empire which essentially tore the empire apart
On the last days of the battle the Spanish arrived and divided the empire for themselves