Review: Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and Islam

  1. The Byzantine Empire did what in terms of religion?

Converted Slavic peoples to Christianity

  1. What is the most important effect of Islamic expansion on the civilization of medieval Europe?

The transmittal of Greek and Arab learning

  1. How did Byzantine emperors maintained political unity after the 6th century CE?

By making dynastic marriages and diplomatic alliances

  1. What contributed most to the decline of both the Roman and Abbasid empires?

Growing reliance on mercenary armies

  1. How did the Magna Carta affect centralized power in England?

It did little to stop the growth of centralized power in England

  1. What is a similarity between the Vikings and the Mamluks?

Both groups converted to the dominate religion of the lands they conquered

  1. Monasticism is a characteristic of which religions?

Catholicism

  1. Be able to recognize the Byzantine Empire on a map
  1. What geographic features characterize the Arabic peninsula?

Coastal cities and agricultural villages close to sources of water and a large empty quarter in the central areas

  1. What is similar about the Code of Hammurabi and the Justinian Code?

The importance of each was that they attempted to organize laws in ways that people could understand

  1. How were Vikings similar to Arabs?

Raided and traded, Vikings using ships and Arabs using horses and camels

  1. Describe the vassal relationship.

It was a complex system of sworn military alliances in exchange for fiefs

  1. What is a caliph and what in function will the caliph operate?

Was considered to be the successor to Muhammad as well as a political leader

  1. What is the major difference between the classic periods in Rome and the Islamic civilizations?

While Roman society had strict social class delineations and little mobility, Islam was egalitarian with few barriers to social mobility for Muslims

  1. What does Islam mean? What are the requirements of a true Muslim?

Islam means submission to God; To submit to the will of God in all of life

  1. Vladamir I, ruler of Kievan Russia, imposed what religion on his subjects?

Orthodox Christianity

  1. Describe Islamic art and architecture.

Islamic art focused on abstract geometric patterns and ornate calligraphy in Arabic

  1. What was a major factor in the spread of Eastern Orthodoxy?

The development of the Cyrillic alphabet

  1. During the Medieval period, which was the dominant ethnic group in Eastern Europe?

Slavs

  1. Feudalism and manorialism were different in which ways?

Feudalism was a political system while manorialism was an economic system

  1. How did the split between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims occur?

Disagreement over leadership succession issues

  1. In the 100s, manorialism began to end in European nations for these reasons:
  2. The development of a money-based economy
  3. The formation of towns and cities
  4. Peasant and serf rebellions against nobles
  1. Why did the Orthodox Church and the Latin Church split?

Formally split over doctrinal disputes in the eleventh century but still united to fight together in the Crusades

  1. What happened in Holy Roman Empire?
  2. The empire did not have one common language or nationality
  3. The empire had a decentralized government with strong local autonomy
  4. The empire granted citizenship to men in some conquered territories
  1. What was the universal language of the Muslim empire?

Arabic, because it was the language of the Quran

  1. What played a role in the Crusades?
  2. Militaristic and expansionist European monarchs
  3. The promise of salvation to Christian crusaders
  4. A desire to capture the wealth of the Holy Lands
  1. What was one of Emperor Justinian’s greatest accomplishments?

Codification of a thousand years of Roman legal tradition in the Corpus IurisCivilis

  1. Describe women’s rights before 800 CE.

According to Muslim law, women could own property, inherit belongings, and have dowries

  1. Who were the mamluks?

Turkic mercenaries in the Abbasid caliphate who rose to control powerful Muslim states

  1. Why are the Crusades an important event in world history?

They provided an opportunity for the diffusion of technology and culture

  1. Describe the cultural background of the Byzantine Empire.

Built on the Roman imperial model but followed Greek cultural and religious traditions

  1. What are characteristics of Islam?
  2. A monotheistic belief in one god that must be worshipped as the only god
  3. A belief in a community of believers unified by their faith above all else
  4. A belief in the importance of prayer, fasting, and charity
  1. Cities were important in Islam because:
  2. They were places to learn Arabic
  3. They were central as places of trade
  4. They were administrative centers for government
  1. Who was in control of Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades?

Seljuk Turks

  1. Describe the experiences of women in Christendom in the period 600-1450.

Noblewomen in particular were closely monitored in terms of behavior and personal relationships, and the majority of women were expected to marry

  1. What conflicts were created by the investiture controversy?

Between the pope and the kings of western Europe over who had the authority to appoint bishops

  1. Describe manor life.

Created a localized, basic ,and self-sufficient agricultural economy that kept serfs protected

  1. How did Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire differ politically?

The Byzantine Empire maintained a centralized government while western Europe broke apart into localized political entities

  1. How did Kievan Russia base its economic wealth?

Based its economic wealth on trade and traded extensively with the Byzantine Empire

  1. Be able to identify the Abbasid Empire on a map.