MEDIEVAL HISTORY YEAR-END ASSESSMENT STUDY GUIDE
Respond to the following questions using the information found below. Only information found in the study guide will be on the test.
1. Describe the Grand Canal. Tang leaders continued projects that had been started under the Sui. One of the largest of these projects was the creation of a huge canal. The Grand Canal was a waterway that linked the Huang River and the Chang River. At more than 1,000 miles long, it is still the longest canal ever built. The Grand Canal helped join northern and southern China, making it possible to supply the capital with large amounts of grain.
2. Describe the strict set of rules for behavior followed by the samurai warriors.
Samurai warriors followed a strict set of rules for behavior, called bushido. They swore an oath to follow these rules without question. According to bushido, honor meant more than wealth or even life itself. This code said that a samurai must never show weakness or surrender to an enemy. The true samurai had no fear of death and would rather die than shame himself.
3. Describe the beliefs of the Hindu religion.
Hindus are polytheistic. They accept many gods, but they believe that all of these gods are just different aspects of one supreme being.
4. How did Akbar make his empire peaceful?
Although he was a Muslim, Akbar gained the support of his Hindu subjects through his policy of toleration. He allowed Hindus to practice their religion freely, and he ended the unfair taxes that had been required of non-Muslims. He also consulted with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. In short, he tried to treat people of different religions fairly.
5. What occurred in Japan in 1192?
In 1192, the emperor gave the title of shogun, or supreme military commander, to the leader of the Minamoto clan. Minamoto Yoritomo became the supreme ruler of all Japan. He set up the Kamakua shogunate, a series of military dynasties.
6. How did Tokugawa prevent Europeans from conquering Japan?
Tokugawa Ieyasu worried that Europeans might try to conquer Japan, so he and the shoguns who ruled after him decided that Japan should remain isolated from Westerners. They outlawed Christianity and forced Europeans to leave. By 1638, they had closed Japan’s ports, banning most foreign travel and trade. For more than 200 years, the Japanese would remain cut off from the outside world.
7. According to Confucius, what makes a society healthy?
Confucius was an ancient Chinese teacher who had taught that all people had duties and responsibilities. Confucius had wanted to bring peace and stability to China. To create this kind of society, Confucius said, all people must treat each other with respect.
8. How did knowledge spread throughout China during its golden age?
During the Song Dynasty, a new way to print books was invented. As a result, books became less expensive. With more people able to afford them, the number and kinds of books increased. More people, including women, learned to read and write. By the 1200s, books about farming, medicine, religion, and poetry were in print. They helped spread knowledge throughout China.
9. Under the feudal system, what was a lord’s main duty toward the people who pledged loyalty to him?
Lords promised to treat their vassals with honor. In addition, the chief (main) duty of lords was to protect their vassals and their lands.
10. Why was the Church so powerful during medieval times?
During the Middle Ages, life was short and hard for most people. They were comforted by the Christian belief that they would enjoy the rewards of heaven after death if they lived according to Church teachings. The Church also held that if people didn’t obey those rules, they would be punished after death. The promise of reward combined with the threat of punishment made most people follow the teachings of the Church. The Church also had great economic power, growing wealthy by collecting taxes. This combination of religious and economic power enabled the Church to take on many of the roles that government performs today. It even made laws and set up courts to enforce them.
11. How did life in the towns differ from life on the manors?
Town life was not at all like farm or manor life. Towns and cities were not self-sufficient. Instead, their economies were based on the exchange of money for goods and services.
12. Why was the Holy Land so important?
The Holy Land was so important because it is regarded as sacred by three of the world’s great religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
13. What was one of the major disagreements between kings and popes during the Middle Ages?
During the Middle Ages, kings and popes quarreled over who should select bishops. Because bishops were Church officials, popes claimed the right to choose them. Kings wanted this right because bishops often controlled large areas of their kingdom. They also wanted to play a role in the Church.
14. As feudalism weakened, how did kings gain power?
One reason for the decline of feudalism was the growth of trade and towns. Kings began to support the new towns in exchange for money. They agreed to protect towns and made laws to help them grow rich. Then, with the money paid by townspeople, kings hired armies and used them to attack troublesome nobles. All of this led to increase in the power of the kings.
15. What were the major problems faced by medieval cities?
Medieval Cities were extremely crowded. Their lack of sanitation brought about unhealthy conditions and disease spread quickly.
16. Why did trade grow during the Middle Ages?
The European ships that carried crusaders and their supplies to the Holy Land returned with rugs, jewelry, glass, and spices. Soon, these goods were in great demand in Europe. Thus, the Crusades helped to revive trade, which in turn led to the growth of cities and towns.
17. Why was the Hundred Years’ War fought?
The Hundred Years’ War, fought between England and France, lasted from 1337 to 1453. They fought because both wanted to control the English Channel and dominate trade in the region. It began when the French king died. King Edward III of England, whose mother had been a French princess, claimed to be king of France under feudal law. When the French nobles did not agree, Edward II invaded France and the war began.
18. During the Middle Ages, why was life in northern Italy different from life in the rest of Europe?
During the Middle Ages, northern Italy was different from the rest of Western Europe. Most people in northern Europe lived under feudalism. They labored for their lords and depended on their lords for protection. Manors, rather than cities, were the centers of economic life. In northern Italy, however, people lived in city-states, or cities that were both cities and independent states. They had their own governments and were not as closely controlled by nobles or the Church. Instead, wealthy families or wealthy merchants held power. These merchants controlled European trade with Asia. Italian merchants bought precious goods such as silk and spices in Muslim trading centers around the Mediterranean Sea. They then transported these goods throughout Europe, reselling them at high prices.
Being at the center of this lively international trade exposed Italian city-states to other cultures and ideas. And because trade brought them wealth, many Italians had more time to think, to read, and to create and enjoy art. The wealthy became great patrons, or financial supporters, of scholarship and the arts. By the 1430s, the city of Florence, ruled by the prosperous Medici family, had become a center for the arts.
19. According to Martin Luther, what was the key to getting into heaven? In Luther’s view, faith in God, coupled with common sense, and not obedience to the Church, was the key to a proper Christian life.
20. Why did Portugal lead Europe’s exploration of the world?
Portugal was able to lead Europe’s exploration of the world because Prince Henry, son of Portugal’s king, opened a school for mapmakers, shipbuilders, and navigators. At this school, ideas were explored, knowledge shared, and exploration encouraged.
21. How did Columbus believe he could reach India? While the Portuguese were exploring to the east, Christopher Columbus became convinced that he could reach India by sailing west, across the Atlantic Ocean.
22. How did Queen Elizabeth make England stronger?
Elizabeth I strengthened England by using compromise to prevent religious wars between Protestants and Catholics. She also defeated the Spanish in 1588, giving England the most powerful navy in the world.
23. Which European country was the first one to carve an empire in the Americas?
By conquering the Incas and the Aztecs, the Spanish were the first European power to carve out an empire in the Americas.
24. Why were European countries looking for a new trade route to Asia?
By the early 1400s, many Europeans had grown tired of paying high prices to Italian merchants for Asian goods. Europeans wanted to gain control of the rich trade with Asia themselves. To do this, they would have to find a new route to Asia—one that did not use the Mediterranean Sea and the land routes controlled by the Ottomans.
25. How was the monarchy of France able to gain absolute power?
Over a period of about 150 years, starting in the late 1400s, French kings had gradually taken power away from the nobles. Much of this transfer of power was accomplished by Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister to Louis XIII. To limit the power of the French nobles, he allowed wealthy merchants to buy titles of nobility. He, then, stripped the nobles of some of their rights, giving those powers to the king.
26. What were two major changes Napoleon brought to France?
Napoleon brought many reforms to France. Perhaps the most important one was reforming French law. The new system of laws, called the Napoleonic Code, embodied such Enlightenment principles as equality of all citizens before the law. The Napoleonic Code had far-reaching effects. It became the basis for the legal systems of many European countries that came under French control in the 1800s. Napoleon made another important change. He permitted the Catholic Church to operate freely again, but he also allowed freedom of worship to followers of other religions.
27. What gave the people of northern Italy the ability to sponsor learning? Northern Italy was different from the rest of Western Europe. Its people lived in city-states not on manors, so they were not as closely controlled by nobles or the Church. Instead, wealthy families or wealthy merchants held power. Because they were at the center of international trade, they were exposed to other cultures and ideas. And because trade brought them wealth, many northern Italians had the time to think, to read, and to create and enjoy art.
28. Describe some of the achievements of Michelangelo.
Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. He could sculpt marble so that it looked like flowing cloth, rippling muscle, and twisting hair. However, his most famous work was a series of paintings that cover the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City in Rome.
29. Describe Magellan’s expedition, being sure to indicate why it was so important.
With backing from the Spanish king, Magellan set out in 1519 with five ships. They sailed west to South America and then south along the South American coast. They then sailed through the Strait of Magellan and into the Pacific. Magellan was killed in the Philippines, but 18 members of his crew made it all the way back to Spain, the first people to ever circumnavigate the world.
30. In what ways did Peter the Great change Russia?
Peter modernized the Russian army and navy and improved Russian farming and industry by adopting Western European technology. Peter also expanded Russia’s territory, and he strengthened serfdom as well.
31. How were the Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro able to conquer the Incas? Although the Spanish had a very small army, they were able to conquer the Incas for three main reasons. First, a civil war was already raging within the empire, and some of the people rebelling against Incan rule sided with Pizarro. Second, as Cortes had done, Pizarro kidnapped the empire’s ruler. Leaderless, the empire was easy prey. Finally, European diseases such as smallpox killed or weakened millions of people in the region.
32. What effects did the slave trade have on Africa?
The slave trade created a disaster, both in the Americas and in Africa where society truly suffered. In addition to being deprived of their liberty and taken from their homeland, enslaved African suffered terrible brutality.
33. What was the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment was a revolution in thought that was characterized by a reliance on reason and experience rather than on religious teachings and faith.
34. Who was Nicolaus Copernicus and what was his revolutionary theory? In the 1500s, Copernicus said that the earth revolved around the sun. This was in direct opposition to the views of the Catholic Church which taught that God had made earth the center of the universe.
35. According to John Locke, what basic rights do all people have? Locke believed that people were basically reasonable and good. He argued that people also had natural rights, including the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to own property. According to Locke, people form governments to protect their natural rights. Governments draw the right to rule from the people they govern. Therefore, rulers should govern only as long as they have the support of the people. If a government breaks the agreement by taking away people’s rights, the people have the right to change, or even replace, that government.
36. What were the causes of the English Civil War?
Charles I, who did not recognize Parliament’s power, summoned them in 1640, when he needed funds to put down a rebellion in Scotland. This Parliament, however, would not bow to the power of the king, refusing to provide him with the money he wanted. Parliament then tried and executed some of the king’s own ministers, and declared that it could not be dissolved without its own consent. In response, Charles led troops into the House of Commons. Parliament leaders who escaped raised their own army, and the English Civil War began.
37. William and Mary were officially offered the throne of England with one condition. What was that condition?
Parliament offered William and Mary the throne on the condition that they accept the English Bill of Rights, which stated that all laws had to be approved by Parliament and gave the House of Commons the power to raise and spend money.
38. Upon whose ideas about government did Thomas Jefferson base many of his own ideas?
Jefferson based many of his ideas about government on those of John Locke.
39. Describe the rule of Louis XIV.
Louis XIV was the absolute monarch of France for 72 years. He was so powerful that he became known as the Sun King. He lived in incredible luxury at Versailles, his huge palace outside Paris. To raise money, he taxed the peasants. He also encouraged the growth of industry and supported efforts to build an empire in Asia and the Americas. These wars for empire cost huge sums of money, yet they won France little in the way of land or power. By the time Louis XIV died in 1715, France had huge debts. These money problems were so bad, that even the silverware at Versailles had to be sold to help pay for France’s wars.
40. How were most products made before the Industrial Revolution?
Until the middle of the 1700s, most people lived on farms or in very small towns. Agriculture was the basis of their economies. Most goods that people needed were made by hand, either at home or in small shops.
41. What was the Industrial Revolution and where did it begin?
From about 1760 to about 1860, the way manufactured goods were produced shifted from simple hand tools in homes and shops to complex machines in factories. This change is called the Industrial Revolution and it began in Great Britain. It changed the lives of people and the structure of society by greatly increasing the amount and variety of goods available to ordinary folks. Moreover, cities grew as people left farms and settled near factories. The Industrial Revolution created many jobs in these factories and led to the growth of the middle class.
42. When factories were first built, how was the machinery powered?
When factories were first built, the machinery was powered by flowing water.
43. What were the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution?
Factories were noisy and dirty, and the work was mind-numbing. Factory workers did the same simple action, over and over, hundreds of times a day. The work could also be dangerous and the pay was very poor. People who had produced goods in their homes or in a local shop had been able to spend time with their families. Factory workers, on the other hand, often spent 12 to 14 hours a day, every day, away from home at work in a factory.
44. What event ended the French Revolution?
The French Revolution ended in 1799 when Napoleon took control of the French government.
45. Describe what occurs when Napoleon tries to invade Britain in 1805.
In 1805, when Napoleon tried to invade Britain, the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar.
46. What are the four technological advances that allowed Europeans to explore the world during the Age of Exploration?
The magnetic compass, the caravel, the astrolabe, and better, more accurate maps gave Europeans the tools they need to explore the world.
47. What four (4) things did Europeans bring to Japan in the years between 1543 and 1614?
The Europeans brought Christianity, tobacco, guns, and potatoes to Japan.
48. Compare life before and after the Industrial Revolution.
Before the Industrial Revolution, most people lived on farms or in very small towns. Most of the goods they needed were made by hand, either at home or in small shops. They worked at their own pace, and were able to spend time with family.
After the Industrial Revolution began, many people moved to cities and took jobs in factories. There they worked 12 to 14 hours a day, every day. Goods were made more quickly and efficiently, and a larger variety of goods were available for purchase. A middle class began to grow.
These cities, though, were often crowded and dirty. Sanitation was poor and diseases often spread rapidly.