Early World History Flashcards
Crusades
Religious wars that were fought in an effort to recover the Holy Lands from the Muslims.
Socrates
Greek. The “Father of Western Philosophy”
Feudalism
Europe has a social system that is split up by class. The kings let the lords own the land, the knights were the fighters, and the peasants or serfs did the work.
Division of The Roman Empire
Divided by the Emperor Diocletian into the Eastern and Western Empires (285 CE)
Age of Faith
The Middle Ages were a time when people thought and acted like Christians, but they were also very superstitious and didn’t know much.
Renaissance
Europe’s interest in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, such as their art and writing, began to grow again. (from 1453 to 1600). Mostly because of trade and the Crusades.
Constantine
Ruler of Rome; adopted Christianity as the official Roman religion
Golden Age of Greece
Around 450 BCE, there was a time in ancient Greece, focused on Athens, when there was no war and the arts and architecture were thriving.
William The Conqueror
Leader of the Normans, conquered Great Britain in 1066
Polytheism
the belief in and the worship of more than one god.
Sophocles
Greek. A playwright of dramas and comedies still performed today
Medici
During the Renaissance, the wealth of the most important family in Florence came from being bankers. They used this money to improve the city through art and architecture.
Dark Ages
From 476 to 1050, the first part of the Middle Ages. The fall of Rome and the fall of Western culture marked the start of this time.
Acropolis
An old fortress on a high hill in Athens, Greece, that has the remains of many old buildings, including the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena.
Direct Democracy
A form of government in which everyone who is eligible can vote on every problem.
Pope Urban II
Pope who called for a Holy Crusade to drive the Muslim Turks out of Constantinople and take back the Holy Land of Jerusalem.
Silk Road
From 100 BCE to 1300 CE, things and ideas moved along the Silk Road, which ran from China through Afghanistan, Persia, and Eastern Europe.
Roman Catholic Church
The most powerful group in the Middle Ages, the church was the leader in religious affairs and a force in politics as well.
Normans
a people from France who invaded Great Britain in 1066 CE
Homer
Greek. Author of the first known novels, the Iliad and the Odyssey
Peloponnesian War
Between 431 and 404 BCE, the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta fought a war. After winning the war, Sparta became the strongest city-state in Greece.
Scientific Revolution
Refers to the progress made in science and math in Europe because of a new trust in progress and a new way of thinking that emphasized experimentation.
Charlemagne / Charles The Great
He was the ruler of Western Europe and often used armed force to try to unite Germanic countries and convert them to Christianity.
Pharaohs
The Egyptian rulers who were often called god-kings.
Eastern Orthodox Church
Began in CE 1054, when the Church of the Eastern Roman Empire split.
Alexander The Great
Greek military leader and king who took over the Persian country and spread Hellenistic culture (Greek culture) all over the known world.
Francis Bacon
Introduced the idea of the scientific process and experiments based on empirical (verifiable) evidence.
Plato
Socrates’ student in Greece, he wrote The Republic and was an important political scientist.
Thucydides
Greek. Authored accounts about the Peloponnesian War and the battles between Athens and Sparta
Middle Ages / Medieval Period
A time in Europe between 476 CE and 1453 CE, when Rome fell and Constantinople fell. Kings ruled over areas or empires that were smaller than what Rome had been. The Black Death is one of them.
Pharaoh Menes
In 3150 BCE, he was the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt. This made the Egyptian Empire stronger.
Great Pyramids
Pharaohs were placed in large, geometrically perfect tombs. They show how far the Egyptians had come in terms of technology.
Rene Descartes
Developed the theory of deductive reasoning; also called the Father of Modern Philosophy.
Euclid
Greek. “Father of Geometry”
Pericles
The leader of Greece during its Golden Age
Eratosthenes
Greek. Mathematician, geographer, and astronomer who was the first to calculate the circumference of the world.
Pythagoras
Greek. Mathematician and philosopher who developed the Pythagorean theorem which is still widely used in advanced mathematics classes today.
Aristotle
Greek. He was Plato’s student, inspired philosophers from the Renaissance to today, and was Alexander the Great’s personal teacher.
