First Test Study Sheet

10.1 – The Byzantine Empire 1) The name Byzantine is a misnomer because they considered themselves Romans in all aspects. 2) Constantinople was impacted by its environment because it was at a good port and was surrounded by water on three sides. The city also had trade routes linking Europe and Asia. This made it a center of trade. 3) Justinian’s three goals were to unify and restore the empire, glorify and rebuild Constantinople, and reform the law. This goal was important because Justinian’s Code was a body of civil laws while also covering international laws. 4) Justinian controlled the Church and elected the patriarch or highest church official in the empire. He also denied the pope’s claim to authority over his Christians. 5) Theodora supported her husband and offered him advice while also helping him maintain a strong will during a time of revolt. 6) The Great Schism is the separation within the Christian Church. There was trouble in use of icons which the emperor banned and who the pope then excommunicated. There was tension. In 1054 the pope and patriarch excommunicated one another. 8 – Early and high middle Ages 7) The Germanic people were different than the Romans because they had no written laws or cities. They lived in small communities with laws based on customs. They elected warrior kings. 8) Germanic invasions ushered in the Dark Ages because with Rome being constantly invaded, these attacks led to the empire being crushed. 9) Clovis becoming Christian led to him winning the support of the Roman Catholic Church and becoming the emperor by pope’s authority. This led to the Crusades in order to spread Christianity. 10) Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the pope. This led to unity and stability. There was a strong government, revival of learning, revival of record keeping, and people began to use capital letters. 11) In Feudalism land is divided among lords who divide it among lesser lords. 12) Feudalism developed after Charlemagne’s death there were wars and stuff and feudalism offered some protection which the king could not provide alone. 13) Peasants lived grueling lives in the middle ages as many peasants were serfs who lived very basic lives, got little shelter, little of their crop, worked almost all the time, and had very small varieties in their diet.

14) The church held the power to excommunicate a ruler or an entire block of land the church also began to provide social services. 15) The Church censored ideas it felt were opposed to its teaching by holding the power of excommunication over people’s heads. It also restricted activities of some people like women and in the case of the Jews it got people to downright dislike them. 16) With more wealth in the church high officials began to involve themselves more in their worldly status than their religious status. Priests also became more concerned with family, increased interest in secular status. 17) The Jews were blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus and they were persecuted, prevented from owning land, and participating on most occupations. 18) We see cities coming in during the high middle ages because of economic growth and a surplus of food. 19) New technologies like the horse reins and iron plows. There was also the windmill which could grind grains using the power of the wind. 20) Trade revived because the growing population demanded more goods which had to come from another source. There were also some new trade routes. There were also trade fairs and new towns that developed because of them leading to them being more needed. 21) There became the new business practices of partnerships and there was also the development of insurance. 22) Economic change led to people living in cities, the creation of guilds, and the development of a commercial economy which changed life for serfs. 23) Chivalry is a code that knights took up and it led to courtly love and some honor and code in battle. 9.1 – Growth of England and France 24) A nation- state is a cultural and social identity in the same area. 25) Nation-states didn’t exist in the Early Middle Ages because of a strong monarch, a standing army, taxes, a rebuilt bureaucracy, and a royal system of justice. 26) Monarchs gained power by creating laws, making their own taxes, and developing their own systems of justice. 27) Common law was law in common for all people, a point of unity. 28) The signing of the Magna Carta was a turning point in government because it made clear that nobles had some rights and that the monarch must obey the law. 29) England was moving towards a democracy because the Parliament was made up of the common folk and so they had a voice in society.

30) While in England the monarch only had so much power, in France there was a government with absolutism. 31) England and France fought because after the death of a French monarch the English monarch claimed the throne, which the French would not hand over. 32) Technology was big in the war because early on the longbows helped out the English a lot while at the end the French used to cannon to win. 33) Joan of Arc was important for France because she rallied French troops, died a martyr, and inspired the French soldiers. 34) In France the monarch expanded his power while there was a growing sense of national pride. In England parliament gained power, commoners w/out training became the new army, and vassals became undermined. 35) Since now all fighting was basically far range knights were un-important.