Land-Based Empires (1200-1450)

Question 1

Where were Gunpowder Empires?

Answer 1

The term Gunpowder Empires refers to large, multiethnic states in Southwest, Central, and South Asia that relied on firearms to conquer and control territories. This included the Russian, Ottoman, Safavid, and the Mughal Empires.

Question 2

What was happening in Europe during this time period?

Answer 2

The mid-1400s saw the end of a wave of plagues, the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, and the invention of the Gutenberg printing press followed by an increase in literacy.

Question 3

How was Europe centralizing control?

Answer 3

• England’s King James believed in the divine rights of kings, a common claim from the Middle Ages that the right to rule was given to a king by God.
• In England, the Tudors relied on the “justices of the peace”, which were officials selected by the landed gentry to maintain peace in the counties of England.
• In contrast to developments in England, the French government became more absolute—directed by one source of power, the king, with complete authority—in the 17th and 18th centuries. (EX: Henry IV, Louis VIII, Louis XIV)