Unit 4 Age of Conquest Flashcards
Nahuatl
The language of both the Toltecs and the Aztecs.
Huitzilopochtli
A young warrior god whose name translates fully as”Blue Hummingbird of the South”(or of the Left) and who symbolized the sun blazing at high noon. Worshipped at the center of Tenochtitlán, at the pyramid.
Gradually became the most important deity for the Mexica.
Tenochtitlan
A city in the Mexica empire that contained many important temples for sacrifice to important deities such as the sun-god and water god.
Now know as Mexico City
Tecuhtli
Great lords, who dressed luxuriously and lived in palaces.
Acting as provincial governors, they exercised full political, judicial, and military authority on the emperor’s behalf. In their territories, they maintained order, settled disputes, and judged legal cases; oversaw the cultivation of land; and made sure that tribute-food or gold-was paid. They also led troops in wartime. These functions resembled those of the feudal lords in Europe.
Wore elaborate robes and jewelry to distinguish themselves.
Macehualtin
A commoner, ordinary citizens: the backbone of Aztec society, and the majority of it.
The word means worker, and implies boorish speech and vulgar behavior.
Members of this class performed all sorts of agricultural, military and domestic services, and carried heavy public burdens not required of noble warriors.
Paid taxes
The ones in the capital had certain rights, like owning their plot of land for life, and receiving a small share of the tribute.
Tlalmaitl
Landless workers, or serfs.
Like European peasant becoming serfs, because they are under the protection of a lord.
Provided agricultural labor, laid rent, and bound to the soil.
Underneath the commoners.
Performed military service, some rights, more respect than slaves.
Inca
The Andean people who created a large empire that was at its peak around 1500 and was held together by an extensive system of roads.
The vast and sophisticated Peruvian empire centered at the capital city of Cuzco that was at its peak from 1438 until 1532.
Quechua
First deemed the official language of the Incas under Pachacuti, is still spoken by most Peruvians today.
Mita
Inca system where administrators required adult men to work for the state for a certain number of days per year. This system replaced taxes because the Inca’s did not have money.
Labor system for commoners
Mita was required once a man married (as it is only for men) and became head of the household.
Khipu
Khipu are knotted textile record-keeping devices used by the Incas.
Khipu are textile artifacts composed of cords of cotton or occasionally camelid fiber. The cords are arranged such that there is one main cord, called a primary cord, from which many pendant cords hang. There may be additional cords attached to a pendant cord; these are termed subsidiaries.
Ayllu
Basic unit of society in the Andean Highlands
A group of related families who have a common ancestor that work all together, and help each other, as a team, within their community.
The Inca administrators used the ayllu’s to determine the amount of goods and Miya labor a family owed.
All members held allegiance with the clan leader
Curacas
Clan leaders
Conducted relations with outsiders
Prince Henry the Navigator
Infante Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu, was an important figure in 15th-century Portuguese politics and in the early days of the Portuguese Empire.
1394-1460
Aztec
a member of the American Indian people dominant in Mexico before the Spanish conquest of the 16th century.
Also known as the Mexica Empire, a large and complex Native American civilization in modern Mexico and Central America that possessed advanced mathematical, astronomical, and engineering technology.
Vasco Da Gama
~1460-1524
1st Portuguese explorer to sail a new path around Africa from Europe all the way to India
