History Exam Flashcards
Why were the Greeks important?
They were the first Indo-European civilization
Life was easier and they didn’t have to work as hard to survive, so they had time to think
Other people saw Hellenistic culture as superior to their own so they embraced the culture. This lead to the Greek culture spreading quickly and to a wide variety of places
What were the Greeks the first to think about?
Power of the human mind
What defines beauty
The concept of freedom
Different political systems
What were the Classical Virtues?
Order, balance, symmetry, clarity, control and all things in moderation
Why did the Greek civilization collapse?
The Spartans were extremely good at fighting, and they never retreated. People hired them to fight for them so the city state became rich
Sparta allied themselves with the Persian Empire. They got together and destroyed the Athenian city state (4th century BC)
This didn’t end Hellenistic civilization and values as it continued in other places, becoming a cornerstone of Western civilization
What is important about the Romans?
What was left of the Greek world was taken over by the Roman Empire
The Romans borrowed from both Athenian and Spartan cultures
Rome covered from Persia to Britain (the known world)
People who were conquered embraced being Roman which allowed the population to grow and Rome to gain wealth
Rome was the first to have written down laws (The Twelve Tablets) which have citizens rights and protected them outside their city
Describe the spread of Christianity in Rome?
The greatest cultural force to come out of the Roman Empire was Christianity
At first Christians got prosecuted (stoned, burned, thrown to lions)
Christianity brought a new concept of what it meant to be human. Greeks thought of the mind, Christians thought of soul and meaning of life
Equality in the eyes of God meant everyone was valued and felt they were special
What lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire?
It’s success became its downfall
People didn’t want to serve in the army so it began to grow weak.
Partied themselves to death
The Roman Empire rotted from within, it got weak
Germanic tribes ended it in 476 AD
What were the Dark Ages?
Occurred from 500 to 1500 AD (right after the fall of the Roman Empire)
All the knowledge on how to do things was lost
The three forces that shaped Europe at this time were Roman traditions, Christian Church, Germanic tribes
The Church was the government by default, they were the only ones who could read and write
What was Feudalism in the Dark Ages?
Feudalism was a new system of government.
Everyone below held allegiance to everyone above
Everyone on the top held responsibility to protect everyone below
Feudalism brought order out of the Dark Ages
What were the Crusades?
In the 11th century, the Church organized Crusades
Pope Urban II preached they had to go reclaim the holy land
People agreed because if they did they would be spiritual heroes
In 1291, Islamic peoples seized the last Christian stronghold, ending the Crusades
What were some positives of the Crusades?
People could safely travel East to visit the Holy Land
Trade opened up between Christian and Islamic cultures
Pushed Western civilization towards the Renaissance because of how advanced Islam was
Money and banks were created
Describe the Bubonic Plague and the Hundred Years War
The Bubonic plague stopped development in society but lead to an interest in medicine and science
The Hundred Years War changed how the army worked
What was the Renaissance?
The city states of Italy were really rich because of banks
There was a new quest for knowledge and rich families wanted their children to be educated
Rich families also wanted to show how wealthy they were by paying artists to create paintings, sculpture, and architecture
Renewed interest in Greek and Roman culture, literature, history, and classical philosophy
The idea that man could improve himself flourished (Renaissance Man)
What was the Reformation?
The Church was the one constant in Europe since Rome, but in the 13-1400s many people started to question the Church
There was corruption and need for money, so they started to charge fees for religious things (indulgences to go to heaven)
Martin Luther wrote out his criticisms on a big list and nailed it to a Church. This lead to a split in the Church that redefined society
From this point on there were two religions in Western civilization
What were the two big scandals in the Church that lead to the Reformation?
Babylonian Captivity - The Pope came to France but the King didn’t want him to leave so he built him a palace
Great Schism - Two Bishops (eventually a third) claimed the title of Pope
