World History and Geography Study List

World History and Geography Study List

Middle Ages

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Reasons the Carolingian Empire Declined - They were causes of the breakup of Charlemagne's empire. They were the lack of an effective tax system so the central government didn't have enough money, poor communication making it hard to enforce laws in the empire and, most important, the German practice of dividing landholdings among sons causing quarrels and constant small wars that weakened the kingdom.
Treaty of Verdun - It was the division of Charlemagne's empire into three parts by his grandsons in A.D. 843. None of the three brothers was strong enough to rule with any real authority.
Vikings - They had a saying. "Cattle die, kinfolk die, and we ourselves must die. One thing I know will never die--the dead man's reputation." Their reputation was of great explorations, raiding, and as settlers. They explored then settled in Russia, Sicily, France, Britain, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, etc. They deserved their reputation as feared raiders of Western Europe from the 800s until well after the 1000.
Normans - They were Vikings who repeatedly raided the coast of West Frankland. In 911 they made a deal with the Frankish king to accept territory for settlement and to adopt Christianity. They eventually developed a well-governed Christian state.

Viking Sagas

Leif Erikson - He was the son of Eric the Red. He sailed from Greenland to North America around the year A.D. 1000. He sighted new lands including Flatstone Land, Forest Land and Vinland. He brought a supply of wood and grapes back to Greenland after wintering in Vinland.
Bjarni Herjulsson - He is the first identified discoverer of North America. He was a Viking who was blown off course while going from Iceland to Greenland. In A.D. 985, he sighted Vinland and several other lands while trying to find his way back to Greenland.
Thorfinn Karlsefni - He led the first Viking settlement of North America by sailing to Vinland with 65 settlers to start a permanent settlement. After two years of repeated battles with Indians he and the other settlers were forced to abandon the colony.
Erik the Red - He was a Viking who left Iceland in 982 and spent three years exploring the southwest coast of Greenland and founded of the Greenland Viking colony in 985. He named it Greenland to make it attractive to colonists.
Vinland - It was the land in North America sighted first by Bjarni Herjulsson and where a few years later Leif Erikson over wintered. Indians killed Thorvald, Leif’s brother here in another expedition. Next Thorfinn Karlsefni set up what was to be a permanent settlement, which lasted but two years because of Indian clashes. Snorri was born here. Lastly Leif's sister Freydis co-led the last expedition. Here she arranged the murders of some of her fellow Vikings and personally killed five women before returning to Greenland.
Snorri - He was the first recorded white child born in North America. His father was Thorfinn Karlefni and mother was Gudrid.

Handout: Vikings and Their Ships

Olaf the Holy - He was the early 11th century Norse King of Norway. He was a Christian king who fought against the traditional Viking gods of Thor, Woden, etc. and won. He Christianized Scandinavia.
Viking Burials - They were the funeral arrangements made for Viking chieftains when they died. They were often entombed in their own ships with all their possessions inside a mound.

Handout: Vikings and Their Ships

Longship - It was a narrow and lengthy ship built for speed and maneuverability by the Vikings. They used it for raiding and war.
Knorr - It was a heavy cargo ship used by the Vikings for exploration across the Atlantic Ocean. It was powered by sail or by oar. It was a wide, stable ship with plenty of storage space.

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Knight - It is a mounted man-at-arms serving his feudal lord. In return for military service he was granted landholdings. He usually developed his land into farming estates and built a castle to live in and for protection from enemies.
Church - It was the Western Christian organization of believers. It was the great unifying force of the Middle Ages. Its influence was so strong that most Europeans believed eternal salvation could only come through the Church. It held vast areas of land and its clergy were involved in the feudal rivalries.
Feudalism - It is the system that developed from the remains of the Roman Empire and Charlemagne's empire. Under this system private lords hold the ruling power. These lords had contracts of responsibility to their lords and vassals.
Serfs - They were like slaves. They were at the bottom of the social hierarchy in Europe during the middle Ages. They were the vast majority of the population who were agricultural laborers.
Vassal - It is the term for a person who received land from a lord. The feudal contract layed out this person's rights and duties to his lord.
Fief or Feud - It is their term for a parcel of land granted by a lord.
Nobles - They were kings, vassals, and lesser lords. Some common names of their ranks include baron, count, duke, prince and king. Their status was inherited.
Clergy - They were the church officials. In the Middle Ages they were generally the only group educated in subjects other than warfare. Bishops lived like wealthy lords. Village priests usually came from the lower classes and often had little education.
Peasants - They were the vast majority of the population and at the bottom of the social ladder. Most were serfs and bound to the land they worked. A serf could never become a noble. They could become a priest and rise in status within the Church.
Villeins - They were a very small group who worked the land but had higher status than serfs, but lower than nobility. They rented land from the lord. They could hire someone to work the land for them and could leave the land to work elsewhere if they found a tenant to replace them.
Manorial System - It was the economic system of the Middle Ages. It was an agricultural system centered on self-contained estates. Most goods and services were produced on these estates, which were run by nobles. The peasants worked the farmlands in return for protection by the noble and his knights.
Demesne (di-main) - It is the manorial land actually legally possessed by the lord and not by tenants. Its heart was the manor house, often a fortified castle. Nearby were various building such as the lord’s barns, stables, mill, bake house, and cookhouse. The peasant’s village was usually nearby along with the fields, meadows, woodlands and pasture.
Three Field Planting System - It was the agricultural plan that kept the land from being overworked. It consisted of the spring planting ground, the autumn planting ground and the fallow ground. The three fields were rotated each year so that the land remained fertile. The fields were further divided into long narrow strips that were allotted to various people.
Steward - It is the term the official with the highest rank who did the day-to-day running of the estate for the lord. He was the legal adviser to the lord and traveled from one manor to another, checking on conditions, reviewing accounts and holding court.
Bailiff - It is the term for the official who supervised the peasants and farm work. He was responsible for getting the crops harvested plus collecting rents, dues, and fines owed by the peasants.
Reeve - It is the term for the assistant to the bailiff. He helped supervise the work on the manor. He oversaw the growing and storage of hay, the care of bees and herds, plus the harvesting of the crops. He also told the lord of any complaints that peasants had about manor officials.
Medieval Hut - They were simple shelters with dirt floors, poles and branches daubed with river clay making the walls. Their roofs were either rounded igloo like tops or thatch. Life in these shelters for the peasants of the Middle Ages was one of grime, disease, hunger, cold, and endless hard work.
Condition of Medieval Women - It was the life of women in the Middle Ages. Peasant women took care of the home, raise large families, did most every kind of farm work and even thatched roofs. Noble women managed the estate in the absence of the lord and performed medical services since doctors were few. Women of all classes married young, often by age.
Dowry - It was the amount of money, land or goods that the daughter of a noble took to her marriage. Her father provided it and he also arranged the marriage. Without it, it was almost impossible for a girl to marry.
Castles - They consist of major fortified sets of buildings constructed of stone with in-depth barrier defenses. The nobles of the middle ages built them as combination defensive military sanctuaries and places to live in.
Keep - It was the great stone tower that provided safe shelter during a siege.
Burning Oil - It is a liquid often poured on the enemy by a castle’s defenders.
Moat - It is one of a castle’s defensive barriers. It is the traditional water filled ditch around a castle’s outermost walls.
Drawbridge - It is the movable plank that controlled the entrance to a castle.
Castle Living Conditions - They are examples of life in a medieval castle. Rooms were cold, dark, musty and smoky. Meals were at tables made of boards placed on sawhorses. The straw on the floor became filthy with the foul smelling garbage that fell in it. Beds had canopies on top with heavy curtains for privacy and protection from drafts. Dogs, falcons and even farm animals slept in the same room as the family. Jesters, clowns and wandering musicians entertained the nobles.
Smoke - It is one of the living conditions in castles before the 14th century. It is the asphyxiation fumes in castle rooms before the invention of exit channels for these combustion produced fumes.
Outercurtain - It is the outermost wall of a castle.
Master James - He is both a modern literary character and a real person who lived during the Middle Ages. He built castles. He was the master engineer who headed up the building project for the fictional Aberwyvern Castle on the video.

“The Heroes” Article

Pope Sylvester II – Gerbert of Aurillac combined classical and theological learning with practical and scientific skills. He invented the pendulum clock, learned to tell time from the stars at night, mastered the science of the astrolabe, and believed the earth was a sphere. He was also a master of politics and became Pope in 999 until he died in 1003. Despite being rumored by his enemies as a sorcerer and dabbler in the black arts, he was actually a “universal man” of the Renaissance type but several centuries early.
King Olaf Trygvesson – He was the King of Norway who renounced the Norse gods and spread Christianity by gentle words and bribery, but when those methods failed he used brutal methods. He tried to unite Norway against Sweden & Denmark and ruled for 5 years before being ambushed in 1000.
“London Bridge is Falling Down” – Around the year 1000 London Bridge was a huge wooden structure built on pilings driven into the Thames River. It was so wide that two wagons could pass over it. At this time the Danes controlled London so Olav II and his Vikings attacked by rowing their longships to the bridge, attaching grappling hooks then pulling mightily on their oars causing the bridge to topple into the river. This was the origin of the English folksong.

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Sacraments - They were the seven sacred acts the Church of Middle Ages. They were 1) baptism- ritual use of water taking the person into the Christian community; 2) confirmation- the child became an adult member of the Church; 3) penance- the person confessed sins to a priest, atoned for sins and was forgiven; 4) the Holy Eucharist- communion or reenactment of the Last Supper; 5) extreme unction- a priest anoints a dying person and person and prays for salvation; 6) matrimony- the marriage ceremony of a man and woman; and 7) holy orders- men officially given a position of priesthood in the Church.
Heresy - It is the holding of religious opinions contrary to established Church doctrines, and the worst of all crimes in the Middle Ages, as it was considered a crime against God. The Church actively looked for and punished this crime. Those who refused to give up their beliefs were burned at the stake.
Excommunication - It was removal of a member from the Church. This former member could no longer receive the sacraments, and therefore could never be saved. It was used as a weapon against heretics.
College of Cardinals - It was one of the Church reforms of the 11th century to prevent kings and nobles from having any control over the pope. It was created in 1059 to elect the successor to the pope as a choice of the Church and is still used today.
Pope Innocent III - He may have been the most powerful pope in history. He became supreme overlord of Europe during his reign from 1198-1216. He claimed that his authority was above all other rulers and that the word of the Church was final. He forced King John of England to become his vassal and also the rulers of Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Hungary and Aragon.
Saint Francis of Assisi - He was the founder of the Franciscan religious order, which stressed poverty and gentleness to all creatures.
Saint Dominic - He was the founder of the Dominican religious order in the Catholic Church. He stressed vows of poverty and missionary work among the common people.
Byzantine Empire - It was the continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire after the fall of western part. In the1090s the capital Constantinople was threatened by Muslim Seljuk Turks and in danger of falling. It’s emperor asked the pope for help in fighting the Muslims.
Crusaders - They were marked with the cross. Pope Urban II first called them, in 1095, to their goal of fighting the Muslims and regaining the Holy Land for Christianity.
“Peasant Crusade” - It was the crusade of mobs of lower class people inspired by preachers urging them to help rescue the Holy Land. They killed lots of Jews because they were not Christian. When they reached Constantinople, in 1096, the mob burned and looted the city. They were attacked by the Turks, massacred and sold into slavery. Few ever reached Jerusalem.
First Crusade - They were the first organized army led by Frankish princes and nobles to muster at Constantinople and attempt to fight their way to Jerusalem. They besieged Jerusalem for a lengthy time before managing to storm the city’s wall and sack it. They were successful in their seizure of the Holy Land.
Other Crusades - They were the 2nd Crusade which in 1147 failed to stop the Muslims from retaking Jerusalem; the 3rd Crusade in 1189 which also failed in the attempt to retake Jerusalem, but won the right for Christians to visit Jerusalem; the 4th Crusade which instead of fighting Muslims captured and sacked Constantinople in 1204 and ruled it for 57 years. This left Constantinople weakened thereafter.
Importance of the Crusades - They were the effects the Crusades had on Europe. They were enduring hatred by Muslims against Christians and persecution of nonconformists in Europe. They were also new products and learning which came into Europe. Demand among nobles for perfumes, spices, sugar, silk, and other items stimulated trade. This in turn caused growth of cities, banking and a money economy.
Saladin – Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub became know as “The Victorieous” because he defeated the Crusader knights and retook Jerusalem. This sparked the Third Crusade. Richard III and Saladin after much fighting agreed to preserve the remaining coastal Crusader states and for pilgrims to be allowed to visit Jerusalem. He died in 1193 ruling an empire stretching from Syria to Egypt and Sudan.
Richard Lion-Heart – King of England from 1189-1199 who was away from England for much of his reign. He was one of the most important Crusade leaders and succeeded in retaking the city of Acre from the Muslims, during the Third Crusade. He made a treaty with Saladin to protect Christian pilgrims and was captured and imprisoned while attempting to return to England. Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI exacted from Richard a huge ransom and made England a fief. Richard was killed a few years later during a minor battle in France.

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