Here are the answers to the fill-in-the-blank prompts based on historical context:
Black Death: A global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s.
Started in Asia and traveled west all the way to Europe.
The Western Schism of 1378-1417: A split within the Roman Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417.
Some people thought later outbreaks of the bubonic plague were God’s punishment due to this schism.
Feudalism
Fief
Guilds: A group of merchants or craftsmen who organized together for mutual benefit.
Cooperated with local authorities to regulate and promote trade in their territories.
Merchants and craftsmen eventually form a new class - the bourgeoisie, disrupting the traditional feudal system in Europe.
Crusades: A series of wars fought over control of the Holy Land.
Effects of the Crusades include:
- Weakening the Byzantine Empire
- Spreading knowledge and culture
- Increasing trade between Europe and the Middle East.
Golden Age of Islam
Pax Mongolica: Period of peace during Mongol rule that facilitated connections between the East and West.
People and Groups
Aztec
Inca: Developed a vast system of roads.
Used a system of runners and quipu to relay messages.
No written language.
Maya: Built great cities with pyramids made from stone.
Made many advances in math and astronomy.
Developed a hieroglyphic writing system.
Mansa Musa
Kublai Khan: Mongol ruler who defeated the Song dynasty in 1279.
Ming Dynasty
Song Dynasty Innovations credited to the Song dynasty: printing, gunpowder, compass.
Polynesians: Gradually populated the outermost islands of Oceania.
Settled in the Hawaiian islands around 300 CE.
Places:
African Kingdoms: Trade throughout the African kingdoms contributed to the rise of Mali, and later Songhai.
Songhai Empire: Controlled the trade routes in the Sahara Desert, which contributed to their success.
Mali Empire
House of Wisdom
Oceania: Trade between Oceania’s islands helped spread new ideas and crops.
Feudal Europe - Feudalism was based on the relationship between lords and vassals:
- Kings were at the top of the social classes; serfs were at the bottom.
- Warrior class was known as knights and followed the code of chivalry.
- Women generally only had two opportunities in medieval Europe: marriage or becoming a nun.
Feudal Japan - Tax exemptions for land development led to the central government losing power, which gave rise to the system of feudalism.
- Feudalism was based on the relationship between lords and vassals.
- Emperor was at the top of the social classes; peasants were at the bottom.
- Warrior class was known as samurai and followed the code of bushido.