Unit 2 (1200-1450) American Civilizations, Medieval Europe, Religion in Asia Flashcards
What civilization did the Maya originally descend from?
The Olmec
Maya
-Classical Period 250-900 AD
-Yucatan Peninsula
-City-states linked through alliances and trade
-Cichen Itza (Pyramid of Kukulcan)
-Tikal (Temple Tikal IV)
Mayan social classes
- The king (holy figure, passed on to eldest son)
- The noble class (priests and leading warriors)
- Merchants/specialists (like master artisans)
- Peasant majority
Mayan religious practices
-Prayed
-Offerings of food, flowers, and incense
-Pierced their bodies to offer blood to the gods
-Human sacrifice (occasionally, not as much as other civilizations)
Mayan Advancements
-Religious and solar calendars (Time was a burden gods would take turns carrying so they had to keep track)
-Calculated a solar year accurately
-Had the concept of zero
-Glyphs (hieroglyphic symbols)
-Codex (bark paper book)
-Popal Vuh (creation story
Mayan Decline
-In the late 800s, they abandoned most of their cities
-Some Yucatan cities like Chichen Itza and Uxmal survived longer
-Increased warfare led people to flee +disrupted trade
-Population growth + over faming led to food shortages and disease
-Toltec invaders from the north changed the culture
-By the time the Spanish arrived (early 1500s), the Maya were split into small and weak city-states
The Valley of Mexico
-Central Mexico (where Mexico City is today)
-Mountain basin 7,000 feet above sea level
-Lakes, fertile soil, accessible resources
-Many powerful civilizations emerged here (Teotihuacan, Toltecs, Aztecs)
Teotihuacan
-“City of the gods”
-First major civilization in central Mexico
-Large city-state with a giant pyramid, apartment compounds, and artisan workshops
-Traded obsidian (used to make sharp weapons)
-Abandoned by 750 AD
Toltecs
-From the southwest
-Rose to power around 900 AD and kept it for around 300 years
-Built pyramids, temples, and tall pillars
-Very warlike, society based on conquest
-Worshipped a war god that demanded blood and human sacrifice
-Power declined by the early 1200s
Topiltzin
-Early Toltec king
-Wanted to replace the war god with Quetzalcoatl (peaceful Feathered Serpent god)
-Merged with Quetzalcoatl to become a peaceful god-king
-War god followers rebelled and returned the Toltecs to their warlike ways
Aztec origins
-Mexica people from northern Mexican deserts
-Came to the Valley of Mexico around 1200 when only Toltecs were in control
-Worked as soldiers-for-hire
-Their sun god told them to found their own city in a place where an eagle holding a snake in its mouth perched on a cactus
-They founded Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco
Aztecs
-1325 to 1521
-Triple Alliance
-Tenochtitlan, lake Texcoco
-Tributary rule
-Human sacrifice drove expansion
-Montezuma II (weakened empire, demanded too much tribute, people rebelled)
Pochteca
-Aztec merchants
-Armed
-Spies for the emperor
Tenochtitlan
-On an island in Lake Texcoco
-Capital of the Aztec empire
-Causeways connected to the mainland, canals, aqueducts
-The Great Temple (pyramid with twin temples at top) was in the walled complex
-Huge trade center
Chinampas
-Aztec farm plots
-On marshy fringes of lake
-Produced most of the food in the marketplace
Calpulli
-Aztec social unit
-Main responsibility was collecting tribute for the Aztec state
Aztec religion
-Many gods and religious practices adopted from other Mesoamerican peoples like the Toltecs
-Public ceremonies to communicate with and earn the favor of the gods
-Ceremonies included offerings and ritual dramas, songs, and dances with masked performers
-SO much human sacrifice
-Demanded by sun god, heart carved out on the Great Temple
-Led to expansion and tribute payments for victims
Quetzalcoatl
-Feathered serpent god
-This is the Aztec name, called Kukulcan by the Maya
Hutzilpochtli
-Aztec sun god
-Only made the sun rise if nourished with human blood
Inca
-Settled in Valley of Cuzco around 1200s
-1400 to 1533 was the civilization
-Rulers descended from Inti (sun god)
-Orejones (11 noble families)
-United through Quechua, roads, and Incan schools
-Centralized state ruled from Cuzco
-Expansion driven by emperors needing to raise their own money (money went to their mummy cult when dead)
-Eventually conquered by Spain
Pachacuti
-Became Sapa Inca in 1438
-Expanded the Inca empire greatly
-Used diplomacy (offering honorable surrender) as well as military power
Ayllu
-Inca social unit
-Organized by decimal system (1,10,100,1000,etc)
-Managed mita system
-Built, farmed, stored supplies
-Community aspect influenced Inca governing
Mita
-Inca labor tribute
-All able bodied people had to work for the state a certain amount of days per year
-Farming, producing goods, and building things (canals, roads, palaces) were some of the jobs
-Rewarded with land, supplies, festivals, etc
Incan “socialism”
-Communal aspect with ayllu/mita systems
-Not fully because resources not shared equally (1/3 to emperor, 1/3 to religious stuff, 1/3 to the people)
Inca roads
-Showed the power of the empire
-14,000 mile long network
-Guest houses built along the way
-Chasquis (runners) traveled them as a postal service
-Helped troops move quickly
Chasquis
-Runners on Incan road system
-Formed a postal service
-Relay system, very fast (140 miles per day)
-A job that was part of the mita system
What was an economic difference of the Inca compared to the Aztecs and Maya?
The Inca state didn’t allow much private commerce/trade (they regulated everything)
Inca agriculture
-Farmers worked on all types of land (state, religious, and community)
-Terrace system to produce maize and quinoa
-Changed the temperature to allow crops to grow
-Freeze dried their potatoes (called chuno)
Colcas
Incan storage units
-Food, weapons, textiles
Quipu
-Incan accounting device
-Knotted strings represented numbers
-Color of knot also conveyed info (red=warriors)
Inca calendars
-Two calendars: one for day, one for night
-Tracked the gods ruling the day/time
Mamakuna
-Young women called “virgins of the sun”
-Assisted the priests in sun-worship services
-Drafted for a lifetime of service (teaching, spinning, weaving, beer making)
-Sometimes sacrificed
Cuzco
-Administrative+ceremonial capital of the Incan empire
-Temple of the Sun (golden)
-Very splendid- temples and palaces
Machu Picchu
-Mysterious
-Had a sun temple, public buildings, a water system, and a central plaza
-Some think it was an estate of Pachacuti, others think it was a retreat for rulers + the elite
Feudalism
-Decentralized political system (kings didn’t have much power, local Lords did)
-Common people worked for Lords and got protection in exchange (manorial system
European Cities in 1200:
-High Middle Ages
-Age of Faith
-Low populations
-Trade starting
-Way less advanced than other parts of the world
Trade in Europe
-Trade fairs in Champagne and Cologne
-Hanseatic League dominated Western European trade from 1200-1500s (German towns and merchants founded it)
-Far less trade than West+East Africa, Middle East, Eastern Asia, etc
European agricultural advances
-Shift from a two-field to a three-field system in 1000 (only one third left fallow)
-Horses instead of oxen (much faster)
-Horse collar instead of yoken harness (didn’t restrict breathing)
-Iron plows
-Led to huge population increase
Causes of Crusades
-Byzantine emperor asked Pope Urban II for help to fight off the Seljuk Turks
-Clermont speech to the knights
-Primogeniture (younger sons wanted power/money)
-Peasants willing to fight to get off the manors
First Crusade (1096–1099)
-Europe wins, Jerusalem captured
-Four Crusader states formed (Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, Tripoly)
Second Crusade (1147–1150)
Europe loses Jerusalem to Saladin, big failure
Third Crusade (1189–1192)
-“Kings’ Crusade
-King Philip II of France
-King Richard I of England (Lionheart)
-Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
-Won pilgrims’ access to Jerusalem, so a partial victory
Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)
-Europeans and Venitians attack the Byzantine Empire (Constantinople) and loot it
Effects of the Crusades
-More contact with the Muslim world (commercial revolution, renaissance)
-Church gained power and wealth (cathedrals show this)
Commercial Revolution
-Bankers started using a credit system (Muslim concept)
-Joint-stock companies (made foreign trade possible)
-Moving away from barter economy and towards a monetary one
Scholastic Movement
-Created and controlled by the church
-Scholastics were church scholars who combined Christian theology with Greek philosophy
-Thomas Aquinas wrote Summa Theologica (argued that faith and reason should go together)
European cities emerge
-Large cities emerge due to population increase and contact with the Muslim world
-Land owning Nobles convinced by wealthy merchants to sign charters to allow cities to be created where taxes were paid to Lords
-Centers of trade, commerce, and culture
-Lacked sanitation
-Centers of scholarship and universities (Oxford and Bologne)
Vernacular
-Local languages, as opposed to Latin (language of scholars)
-The Divine Comedy (Italian)
-Canterbury Tales (English)
Capetian Dynasty
-Brought France to power
-Gained power and land around Paris
-Eventually became kings
-Combined Germanic and Roman law with bailiffs
Bailiffs
-Sent by Capetian family
-Administered justice and collected taxes throughout their territories
-Angered the Catholic Church because they previously had dominated the law
William of Normandy/William the Conqueror
-Lord and Norman warrior who descended from Vikings settling in France
-Rose to power with the death of Saxon King Edward the Confessor in 1066
-Defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings to become the first King of England (William I)
-He gave English land to Norman lords as a reward for helping him defeat Harold
King John I
-1200s king who started to bankrupt England by losing battles to the French
-A group of English nobles/barons refused to pay taxes to him and defeated him at the Battle of Runnymede
-Forced to sign the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
-Great Charter
-Gave nobles rights like the prevention of wrongful imprisonment and a right to a fair trial
-Set the precedent for citizens in the future to use documents to limit the government’s power (constitutionalism)
English Parliament
-Created in the 1300s
-Two house legislature: House of Lords and House of Commons (townspeople)
-Sought to control the king imposing taxes
-Eventually became more powerful than the monarchy (starts of a constitutional government)
In 1300, what pope tried to enforce papal authority over kings, and what king did he do it to?
Pope Boniface VIII
King Philip IV
What happened after King Philip IV asserted his authority over French bishops?
-Pope Boniface VIII responded with an official document that said kings must obey popes
-The king sneered at this document and held him prisoner in 1303 (he was rescued but then died a month later)
-Never again could a pope make monarchs obey him
Avignon
-French city
-Where a second pope lived during the Great Schism
Great Schism (1378-1417)
-The split within the Roman Catholic Church where two popes ruled from different cities (Rome and Avignon)
-Each called the other a false pope
-Ended with Martin V being sole pope
Who challenged the idea that the pope should be the head of the church?
-Englishman John Wycliffe
-Jesus Christ was the real leader
-Said clergy shouldn’t have land or wealth
-Bible was the final authority, had an English translation of the New Testament made
-Professor in Bohemia Jan Hus
-Inspired by Wycliffe, taught his beliefs
-Excommunicated, seized by the church leaders, burned at the stake in 1415 as a heretic
Bubonic Plague
-The “Black Death”
-Yersinia Pestis was the bacteria
-Spread through fleas (carried on rats)
-Symptoms included buboes (swellings) on lymph nodes, dark spots on skin, and intense fevers
Origins of Bubonic Plague
-Started in Issyk-kul (on Silk Road with Mongols)
-Trade and war (Jani Beg) brought it west
Kaffa
-Black Sea Port
-Controlled by Genoese
-Attacked by Mongols (Jani Beg)
-Italians fled back home
Messina
-Sicily
-Where Genoese from Kaffa fled to
-Port of entry to Europe for the plague
Impact of Bubonic Plague
-Killed 1/3 of Europe
-Trade declined, prices rose
-Serfs left manors in search of better wages
-Nobles resisted paying more, led to peasant revolts
-Capitalism increased (people owned their own businesses because the trade guilds were too expensive)
-Jews blamed for the plague (St Valentines Day Massacre)
-Church lost prestige (praying didn’t stop death)
Hundred Years’ War
1337-1453
-On French soil
-Marked the end of medieval Europe
-When last Capetian king died with no successor, England’s Edward III claimed right to the French throne (he was the grandson of Philip IV)
-French won, drove out English except for in port city Calais
Longbow
-Cheap, easy to carry, fired quickly (15 arrows/minute)
-Could penetrate armor, very deadly
-Demonstrated power at Crecy (1346), Poitiers(1356), and Angincourt (1415)
-Led to fall of chivalric warfare (knights, horseback, heavy armor) because it was cheap, anybody could be a soldier
Joan of Arc
-Teenage French peasant girl
-In 1429, Joan had visions/heard from the saints, telling her to drive the English from France and make Charles VII king
-Led the French into battle at Orleans, defeated England
-Brought Charles VII to Reims, crowned king
-Captured by the Burgundians (English ally) and given over to England
-Put her through a trial, burned at the stake as a witch and heretic for hearing voices in 1431
-King Charles VII did nothing to stop this, despite the fact that she essentially made him king
Impact of Hundred Years’ War
-Nationalism and pride of the kings in both England and France
-Power and prestige of the French monarch increased
-This war is considered the end of the Middle Ages due to the declining power of the church and the loss of the code of chivalry
Hinduism
-No specific founder/set of beliefs
-Goal is to achieve moksha (break out of samsara) by right thinking, right action, or religious devotion
-Atman (soul of individuals) and Brahman (soul of universe)
-Reincarnation, karma
-Dharma (following rules of the religion)
-Supported the caste system
Hindu texts
Vedas
Upanishads
Mahabharata
Bhagavad Gita
Brahman’s 3 personalities of gods
Brahma- creator
Vishnu- preserver
Shiva- destroyer
Jainism
-Founded by Mahavira in the 500s BC
-Believe that everything had a soul and therefore shouldn’t be harmed
-Typically work in trade and commerce (nonviolent jobs) and are some of the wealthiest in India
-Believe in religious tolerance and don’t try to convert people (pretty much all followers still in India)
Buddhism
-Siddhartha Gautama (childhood stuff, journey, fig tree, enlightenment, becomes Buddha)
-Four Noble Truths (everything suffers, suffering caused by desire, end desire=end suffering, end desire by following Eightfold Path)
-Eightfold Path (Middle Way, staircase, over multiple lifetimes to reach nirvana)
-No caste system
-Dharma
-Reincarnation
-Monks (vow of poverty, Nalanda)
Types of Buddhism
Theravada:
-Purer form
-Buddha isn’t a “god”, and is skinny
-Practiced by monks in Burma, Cambodia Thailand
Mahayana
-More popular
-Absorbed the beliefs of the areas it spread
-Buddha is fat (fat=wealthy in China)
-Worship Amatabha Buddha (one of five Buddhas)
-Go back to earth and teach after reaching nirvana
-Nature influences
-China, Korea, Japan
What religions fell, and which rose, during the postclassical era in India?
-Jainism and Buddhism fell
-Hinduism (south) and Islam (north) rose
Why did Buddhism fail in India?
-Buddhists wanted to join Hinduism and Islam because they promised salvation
-Turkish invaders destroyed Buddhist stupas and shrines
-In 1196, Muslim overran the city of Nalanda (destroyed buildings, killed and exiled monks)
Devotional Cults
-Very popular in Hindu southern India
-Individuals/families honored their chosen deities (typically a local spirit/deity associated with Vishnu or Shiva)
-They venerated images of Vishnu/Shiva, made offerings of food and drink, and meditated to achieve a mystic union with the gods to bring salvation
Shankara
-Early 800s
-Worshipped Shiva
-Wanted to synthesize Hindu writings
-Believed that the physical world was an illusion (this concept was called maya)
-Mistrusted emotional services and ceremonies
-Preferred disciplined logical reasoning as the way to understand Brahman
Ramanuja
-1000s-1100s
-Devotee of Vishnu
-Disagreed with the importance of logic/understanding
-Instead stressed the importance of personal union with the deity (more of a devotional cult stance)
-Followed the Bhagavad Gita in its intense devotion of Vishnu
Initial response to Islam in India
-Merchant communities accepted it because Muslim merchants settled down with local Indian women
-People generally resented the religion though because Turkish invaders tried to force it upon them
-There were also few incentives to join because Muslim conquerers didn’t give important military/political positions to Indians, even if Muslim
What was a motivation for some Hindus to convert to Islam?
-Trying to escape their low caste
-Didn’t really work because often a whole community of the same caste would join at the same time
Sufi mystics
-Most successful agents of conversion to Islam
-Encouraged an emotional/devotional approach rather than following strict doctrine
-Pious and sincere, attracted people wanting a faith that could provide meaning to their lives
-Let people continue some of their existing traditions
Bhakti Movement
-Started in southern India during the 1100s originally just promoting devotion to Hinduism
-Spread north and was exposed to Islamic values of monotheism and spiritual equality of all believers
-Failed to fully harmonize Hinduism and Islam but built bridges between the communities
Guru Kabir (1440-1518)
-Blind weaver and bhakti teacher
-Claimed that Shiva, Vishnu, and Allah were all manifestations of a single, universal deity
Why were religions like Hinduism and Buddhism helpful for Southeast Asian rulers?
They reinforced their divine right to rule
Southeast Asian States
-Funan
-Srivijaya (670-1025)
-Angkor (889-1431)
-Singosari (1222-1292)
-Majapahit (1293-1520)
-Melaka
Funan
-Mekong River, near modern Cambodia/Vietnam
-Agricultural economy
-Indian Influence
-Hinduism spread
-Sanskrit used
-Divine right to rule
Srivijaya
-Island of Sumatra
-Taxed ships between China and India
-Kings were Buddhist
Singosari
-Island based (Java)
-Taxed ships between China and India
-Mix of Buddhist, Hindu, and indigenous religion (syncretism)
Angkor Thom
-Microcosmic reflection of the Hindu world order
-Center was a temple representing the Himalayan Mount Meru (abode of Shiva)
-Surrounded by smaller temples representing other parts of the Hindu universe
-When the kings converted to Islam, Buddhist temples were added to the temple complex without removing the Hindu ones
Angkor Wat
-Half a mile from Angkor Thom
-A smaller but more elaborate temple complex built there in the 1100s
Melaka
-Economy based on taxing ships
-Islamic faith promoted
-Ruling class converted
-Theologians and sufis came to Melaka
-Sponsored missionary trips around the region
-Mosques defined the urban landscapes of Java, Sumatra, and Malay
