Europe quiz Flashcards
By about the 12th century, which Italian city states were important and why?
Florence, Bologna, Genoa, Milan, and Venice. They dominated their own districts and the surrounding areas.
Who brought S. Italy into the orbit of the Roman Catholic church, how, and who’s support did they have?
Normans. They overcame Byzantine and Muslim authorities. They had the support of the pope.
What two southern Italian states did the Normans intervene in, when, and how.
In 999, they helped the people of Salerno fight off Muslim raiders. From 1017-1018 they helped Bari in its struggle for independence from the Byzantines.
How did Christians take most of the Iberian Peninsula back from the Muslims?
Christian adventurers from small norther states attacked the Muslims and were joined by the Normans.
What were the Normans who traveled to Spain to join Christian armies in the fight against Muslims called?
Soldiers of fortune.
By the late 13th century, which Christian kingdoms controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula? Which kingdom was still Muslim?
Castile, Aragon, and Portugal. Granada stayed in Muslim hands.
Why is Medieval Europe chaotic and confusing, especially when compared to a land like China?
There was the Byzantine empire, Holy Roman empire, monarchies, city-states, and principalities all vying for power. Furthermore, one wanted to maintain the status quo, they all sought conquest.
Despite the Chaos of Medieval Europe, were public affairs in limited regions still tended to effectivly?
yes
What happened as regional states provided increasingly effective political organization?
Mediaeval Europe grew economically and socially. There was a huge economic revival, and increased agriculture, urbanization, manufacturing, and trade, which made it powerful.
Why did agricultural production increase?
The expansion of arable land improved agricultural techniques, new tools and technologies, new crops, and population growth.
Why did Lords first oppose, and later support, the expansion of arable land?
They opposed it because it reduced the land available for hunting, which lords enjoyed. Later, they supported it because they realized that expanding agricultural production would yield higher taxes.
What were some of the improved agriculture techniques used?
Different crop rotations, growing beans, keeping more domestic animals and ponds for fish.
What were some new tools and technologies which contributed to more agricultural production?
Water mills and heavy plows. Horseshoes, which protected hooves and horse collars, which placed the burden of a heavy load on the horse’s chest, rather than neck.
What did Horseshoes and Horse collars mean for farming?
Europeans could use horses to plow rather than oxen, which were slower. This brought more land under the plow.
What did the European diet consist of before 1000?
Almost entirely of grain and grain products like gruel and bread.
What foods became much more prominent in the European diet from 1000-1300?
Meat, dairy products, fish, vegetables, and legumes like beans and peas.
What sorts of foods became more prominent in the Mediterranean 1000-1300?
Hard durum wheat, rice, spinach, artichokes, eggplant, lemons, limes, oranges, and melons.
European population 800
29 million
European population 1000
36 million
European population 1100
44 million
European population 1300
79 million
What event reduced populations and disrupted economies in Europe and Asia and N. Africa?
Epidemic plague
What events contributed to the revival of towns and trade?
Urbanization, textile production, Mediterranean Trade, The Hanseatic league, and Improved business techniques
What sort of people lived in cities in Europe?
Artisans, crafts workers, merchants, and professionals.
What cities founded during Roman times became thriving centers of government and business?
Paris, London, Toledo.
What regions experienced a lot of urbanization?
Venice, Bergen
N. Italy, Flanders
What was one thing that manufacturing concentrated a lot on?
The production of wool textiles
Where were the cities that were centers of Textile production?
The cities were in Italy and Flanders
What did the counts of Champagne in N. France sponsor.
Year-round fairs that served as vast marketplaces.
Where was the revival of urban society most pronounced? Why?
Italy. It was geographically well situated to participate in the trade networks of the Mediterranean basin.
What did the Cities of Amalfi and Venice do in the 10th century?
They served as ports for merchants engaged in trade with Byzantine and Muslim partners in the E. Mediterranean.
What Italian cities were added to the expanding commercial networks of the Mediterranean in the 11th century.
Genoa, Pisa, Naples.
What did Italian merchants give and get?
They exchanged salt, olive oil, wine, wool fabrics, leather products, and glass for gems, spices, and silk.
What places were the Merchants that dealt with the Italians from?
India, SE. Asia, and China.
What did Italian merchants do as trade expanded?
They established colonies in the major ports and commercial centers of the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Where did Venetian and Genoese merchants maintain large communities?
Constantinople, Alexandria, Cairo, Damascus, and the black sea ports of Tana, Caffa, and Trebizond.
What was the first destination of Nilolo and Maffeo Polo?
Caffa.
What was the Hanseatic League, or Hansa?
A trade network in the Baltic and north Seas. It was made of an association trading cities from Novgorod to London.
What trade did the Hansa dominate?
Trade in grain, fish, furs, timber, and pitch.
What linked the Hansa with the Mediterranean trade network?
The fairs of Champagne, the Rhine, the Danube, and other European rivers.
What improved business techniques did an increasing volume of trade encourage?
Credit, banking, and new forms of business organization.
How did Merchants spread the risks of commercial investments?
They entered into partnerships, and limited liability to the extent of each person’s individual investment.
What were the three estates/classes
Those who pray, those who fight, and those who work
What were the better estates to be in? Why?
It was better to be a member of the clergy or a Lord, because they enjoyed rights and honors denied to those who worked.
What did an emphasis on Chivalry bring to the nobles? What did this encourage among warriors?
Expectations of high ethical standards and refined manners that encouraged warriors to become cultivated leaders of society.
Chivalry definition
An informal but widely recognized code of ethics and behavior considered appropriate for nobles.
Why was Chivalry promoted by Church officials at first?
It was promoted in an effort to curb fighting within Christendom.
What was the ritual by which a young man became a knight like? What did the ritual being this way lead to?
The man would place his sword on a church altar and pledge his service to God. Therefore, rather than seeking power and money, he was devoted to order, piety, and Christianity.
Who made sure the Chivalric code was spread?
Aristocratic women.
What spin did Aristocratic women put on the code of Chivalry?
Instead of emphasizing its religious dimensions, they promoted refined behavior, and tender, respectful relations between the sexes.
Who were the troubadours, and who patronized them?
They were a class of traveling poets, minstrels and entertainers patronized by aristocratic women.
Where were troubadours most active?
S. France and N. Italy
