Western Civilizations I > The Western Experience - Final > Flashcards
The Western Experience - Final Flashcards
10,000 years ago
Agricultural Revolution
5000 years ago
First river valley civilizations
2500 b.c.
Giza Pyramids built
404 b.c.
Golden Age of Greece ends
323 b.c.
Death of Alexander the Great
6-4 b.c.
Birth of Jesus
44 a.d.
Death of Julius Caesar
476 a.d.
End of Roman Empire
1066 a.d.
Battle of Hasting (William the Conqueror)
1338 a.d.
Hundred Years War
1443 a.d.
Beginning of Black Plague
1450 a.d.
Gutenberg’s Printing Press
1492 a.d.
Columbus discovers America
1517 a.d.
Luther’s 95 Thesis Beginning of Reformation
1588 a.d.
Defeat of Spanish Armada (Elizabeth I)
1660 a.d.
Charles I returns to English monarchy
Associations formed by merchants and master artisans to defend and promote their interests and to regulate the quality of the goods they produced and sold.
Guilds
the philosophical and theological system of the medieval schools, which emphasized rigorous analysis of contradictory authorities; often used to try to reconcile faith and reason
scholasticism
law common to the entire kingdom of England; law system developed by judges sharing case files with each other
Common Law
practice in which someone other than a member of the clergy chose a bishop and invested him with the symbols of both his temporal office and his spiritual office; led to the Investiture Controversy, which ended by compromise in the Concordant of Worms in 1222
lay investiture
Grants to sinners by the Roman Catholic Church that reduce time for their souls in purgatory before they can ascend to heaven. Indulgences became a regular practice of the Christian church in the High Middle Ages, and their abuse was instrumental in sparking Luther’s reform movement in the 16th century
Indulgences
the outbreak of plague (mostly bubonic) in the mid14th c that killed from 25-50% of Europe’s population
Black Death
Rosetta Stone
Indispensable key to the Egyptian past, which was found when Napoleon occupied parts of Egypt in 1798. Now in the British museum, the stone from 196 b.c. contains preserved hieroglyphic texts, the sacred carvings, or pictorial writings of the Egyptians, which suggests began in 3200 b.c.
Mecca
birthplace of Muhammad, founder of Islam and believed to be the last prophet of Allah. Mecca is considered the holiest site in Islam, located in the western part of the Arabian peninsula, toward which Muslims pray.
Johannes Gutenberg
German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe. He improves or invents three items: the printing press, movable metal type, and an oil-based ink. His first work is the 42-line Bible in Latin. The Gutenberg press brought down the price of printed materials and made these materials available for the masses.
characterized by huge, thick stone walls with small windows
Romanesque Architecture
characterized by pointed arches, high ceilings, flying buttresses, and large stained-glass windows
Gothic Architecture
Latin for Great Charter, first issued in 1215. English royal charter of liberties granted by King John. Intended to settle disputes over the rights and privileges of England’s nobility.
Magna Carta
a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were the largest wars that had ever taken place, much like today’s World Wars. The term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus), meaning “Carthaginian”, with reference to the Carthaginians’ Phoenician ancestry. The main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflict of interests between the Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. The Romans were initially interested in expansion via Sicily (which at that time was a cultural melting pot), part of which lay under Carthaginian control. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was a rapidly ascending power in Italy, but lacked the naval power of Carthage.
Punic Wars
Predestination
The belief that God decided (preordained) whether a person would be saved or damned, and nothing can be done to reverse this fate.
Conquistador
A Spanish minor nobleman who led his country’s expedition of conquest into Central and South America in the sixteenth century.
Feudalism
An economic, political, and social organization of medieval Europe. Land was held by vassals from more powerful overlords in exchange for military and other services.
Papyrus
Egyptian writing material from papyrus plant from which comes our modern word paper. Papyrus grew abundantly in the Nile River valley.
Herodutus
Greek from Asia Minor, who has been called the Father of history. He wrote The Histories, documenting the Persian Wars 440 b.c. First to use the historical method of asking why do events happen - hypothesis, validity, and conclusion.
Three Field System
Method of crop rotation developed by Northern Europeans in which estates were divided in three large fields of 700 acres each. Two of three were cultivated each year. Winter wheat, spring crop. Dormant pasture for animal grazing.
Mount Olympus
An actual mountain in northern Greece which was believed to be the home of the Greek gods. Led by the sky god, Zeus, the Greeks believed their gods were anthropomorphic, different in the physical perfection and immortality.
Sunni and Shiite
The Islam religion was founded by Mohammed in the seventh century and broke them into to two factions, Sunnis “well-trodden path” or “tradition” and Shiites, “party” or “partisans” of Ali. The Sunni-Shiite split is rooted in the question of who should succeed Muhammad in leading Muslims after his death in 632. Shiites say the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali was his rightful successor but was cheated when authority went to those the Sunnis call the four “Rightfully Guided Caliphs” — Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman and, finally, Ali.
Lay Investiture
Although investiture meant the ecclesiastical ceremony, lay investiture was the appointment of bishops, abbots, and other church officials by feudal lords and vassals. The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such as bishops and abbots. Although the principal conflict began in 1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, a brief but significant struggle over investiture also occurred between Henry I of England and the papacy of Paschal II in the years 1103 to 1107, and the issue played a minor role in the struggles between church and state in France as well. The entire controversy was finally resolved by the Concordat of Worms in 1122.
Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus (ad subjiciendum) is Latin for "you may have the body" (subject to examination). It is a writ which requires a person detained by the authorities be brought before a court of law so that the legality of the detention may be examined. The name is taken from the opening words of the writ in medieval times. The Habeas Corpus Act passed by Parliament in 1679 guaranteed this right in law, although its origins go back much further, probably to Anglo-Saxon times. began as a weapon for the king and the courts became - as the political climate changed - protection for the individual against arbitrary detention by the state. Stated in Article 39 of the Magna Carta.
Excommunication
form of ecclesiastical censure by which a person is excluded from the communion of believers, the rites or sacraments of a church, and the rights of church membership, but not necessarily from membership in the church. Simply put, the word excommunication means putting [someone] out of communion. famous examples of men who were excommunicated are the Roman Emperor Theodosius, King Henry II of England, Emperor Henry IV of Germany, and King John of England.
Alchemy
The belief that matter could be understood and transformed by mixing substances and using secret formulas. Believed to have originated in Egypt, can mean medical, spiritual, or practical alchemy - whether turning a sick body into a healthy one, or a corrupt soul to the divine, and turning lead to gold. Roger Bacon, a 13th century Franciscan Friar, who is considered one of the earliest proponents of the scientific method, is considered the first real European alchemist.
Coliseum
largest amphitheatre in the Roman world, capable of holding up to 70,000 spectators. Started by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavia family, it was opened by his son Titus in 80 A.D. It is elliptic in shape in order to hold more spectators. It had four floors; the first three had eighty arches each; the Colosseum was a freestanding structure made of stone and concrete. The distinctive exterior had three stories of arched entrances–a total of around 80–supported by semi-circular columns. Each story contained columns of a different order (or style): At the bottom were columns of the relatively simple Doric order, followed by Ionic and topped by the ornate Corinthian order.
Geoffrey Chaucer
medieval English poet King Richard II appoints Geoffrey Chaucer to the position of chief clerk of the king’s works in Westminster on this day in 1389. He wrote Canterbury Tales, in which a mixed group of nobles, peasants, and clergy make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury.
