The Mongol Empire
This fierce leader united the nomadic tribes in 1206 and took the title meaning 'universal ruler.
Who is Genghis Khan?
Completed by a million peasant workers during the Sui Dynasty, this massive waterway connected northern and southern China.
What is the Grand Canal?
This is the traditional Japanese religion based on the respect for forces of nature and the worship of ancestors.
What is Shinto?
This massive Hindu temple complex was built in the 1100s by the Khmer Empire and required moats of water to keep its foundation stable.
What is Angkor Wat?
In the feudal system, a wealthy lord gave a piece of land to a vassal. That piece of granted land was called this.
What is a fief?
The Crusades were a series of holy wars where Christian knights attempted to capture this specific holy city.
What is Jerusalem?
At the time, this new agricultural method allowed farmers to grow crops on part of their land instead of the whole.
What is the three-field, rotational, or fallow system?
In 1066, this Duke of Normandy invaded England, won the Battle of Hastings, and declared the entire country his personal property.
Who is William the Conqueror?
This young Venetian trader traveled the Silk Roads, served Kublai Khan for 17 years, and later wrote a famous book about his travels.
Who is Marco Polo?
Originally developed in the 9th Century Tang Dynasty for fireworks, this explosive invention eventually changed warfare forever.
What is gunpowder?
This strategic capital city was located on the Bosporus Strait, acting as a gateway of trade between Europe and Asia.
What is Constantinople?
In 1054 CE, Christianity formally split into separate brances in this East-West schism
What is Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
The Mongols ruled Russia for over 200 years under this regional division name. (Hint: _____ of the _____ _____ )
What is the Khanate of the Golden Horde?
During the mid-1200s, this era of 'Mongol Peace' allowed for safe travel and trade across Eurasia.
What is the Pax Mongolica?
Ruling during the Tang Dynasty, she was the only female emperor to ever officially hold real power in China.
Who is Empress Wu Zhao?
Meaning 'one who serves,' these loyal warriors protected Japanese lords.
Who are the samurai?
The Khmer Empire improved agriculture by creating complex systems for this, using canals to steer water to their rice fields.
What is irrigation?
Making up the lowest social class, these peasants were legally bound to the land they worked on and could not leave.
Who are serfs?
Church reformers successfully banned this practice of selling religious items
What is simony?
This was an organization of individuals in the same business (like bakers or blacksmiths) who worked together to improve wages and working conditions.
What is a guild?
Because he raised taxes to an all-time high, King John was forced by his nobles to sign this famous document in 1215, guaranteeing basic political rights.
What is the Magna Carta?
This English King fought the brilliant Muslim leader Saladin in the Third Crusade, eventually agreeing to a truce in 1192.
Who is Richard the Lion-Hearted?
When the Song Dynasty lost control of the Silk Roads, they relied heavily on ocean trade using this new navigational tool.
What is the (magnetic) compass?
He was the famous Byzantine Emperor who consolidated 1,000 years of Roman laws (into his eponymous Code).
Who is Justinian I
In 730 CE, Emperor Leo III banned these sacred paintings from worship, starting a major political and religious controversy.
What are icons? (Iconoclasm)
This local prince was nicknamed 'Moneybag' because he collected taxes for the Mongols and persuaded the Church patriarch to move to Moscow. (Hint: I _ _ _ ).
Who is Prince Ivan I?
He was the grandson of Genghis Khan who conquered China, and started the Yuan Dynasty.
Who is Kublai Khan?
To get a government job in China, men had to pass these difficult tests to prove their education and talent.
What are the civil service exams?
Samurai lived according to this demanding, strict code of behavior that translates to 'the way of the warrior.
What is Bushido?
In 108 BCE, this powerful Chinese dynasty conquered Korea and introduced them to centralized government and Confucianism.
What is the Han Dynasty?
A knight was expected to fight bravely for this master
Who is his feudal lord/noble/baron?
In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella completed this long military effort to drive the Muslims out of Spain. (Hint: Re _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )
What is the Reconquista?
As trade grew, merchant-class town dwellers demanded privileges and freedom from tolls. They were known by this name. (Hint: The answer is a homonym to a type of sandwich seen in fast food restaurants.)
What are burghers?
In France, Philip IV created this assembly to garner support against the pope, which uniquely included commoners as the 'Third Estate'. (Hint: Estates - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )
What is the Estates-General?
He was the powerful emperor of the Tang Dynasty who reconquered lost lands and expanded the civil service exams.
Who is Tang Taizong?
Japan's earliest religion revolves around the belief in divine spirits that dwell in nature. These spirits are called what?(Hint: K _ _ i )
What are Kami?
She was Justinian's powerful empress who helped pass laws, met with foreign leaders, and convinced him to stay during the rebellions. (Hint: Empress T _ _ _ _ _ _ a)
Who is Empress Theodora?
These two famous Byzantine missionaries invented a phonetic alphabet to translate the Bible into Slavic languages.(Hint: Saint C _ _ _ l & Saint M _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s)
Who are Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius?
This military hero and prince of Novgorod advised his fellow Russian rulers to peacefully cooperate with and pay tribute to the Mongols. (Hint: Alexander N _ _ _ _ _ ).
Who is Alexander Nevsky?
The Japanese stopped two massive Mongol naval invasions with the help of typhoons they called this, meaning 'divine wind.
What is Kamikaze?
Because of the exam system, this new class of 'scholar-officials' replaced wealthy landowners as the powerful upper class in China.
What is the gentry/aristocrats?
In 1192, the emperor gave the Minamoto leader this title, giving him the power of a military dictator.
Who is the Shogun?
This Vietnamese kingdom successfully broke away from Chinese control during the decline of the Tang Dynasty in 939 CE.
What is Dai Viet?
A young boy training to be a knight reached this rank at age 14, acting as a servant to a full-fledged knight.
What is a squire?
In 1212, this event consisted of small crusaders. Many tragically died or were sold into slavery. (Hint: The ______'s Crusade)
The Children's Crusade
European scholars translated the works of Greek philosophers from this language into Latin. (Hint _ _ _ _ _ c).
What is Arabic?
Over centuries, the unified rulings of England's royal judges formed the basis for this legal system (not written down).
What is common law?
Known as the 'ideal king,' this pious French monarch created a royal appeals court and was made a Catholic saint after his death.(Hint:L _ _ _ _ S IX)
Who is Louis IX?
Because of little rainfall and extreme weather, the eastern part of this massive Eurasian grassland was the original home of the nomadic Mongols.
What is the Steppe (flatlands or plains)?
During a major sports riot in the Hippodrome in 532 CE, general Belisarius put down this rebellion by slaughtering 30,000 citizens.
What are the (Nika) Riots?
According to legend, the Slavs invited this Viking chief to be their king in 862 CE, founding the city of Novgorod. (Hint: R _ _ _ k)
Who is Rurik?
In 1480, this Russian ruler - the third in his line - openly challenged Mongol rule, refused to pay tribute, and took the title of 'Czar.
Who is Ivan III?
After Genghis Khan died, his massive empire was divided into four of these regions, including the Golden Horde in Russia.
What are Khanates?
The Song Dynasty imported a new, fast-ripening type of this crop from Vietnam, which allowed farmers to harvest twice a year and caused a population boom.
What is rice?
Japan is made up of about 4,000 islands, making it this type of geographic feature.
What is an archipelago?
This island kingdom grew incredibly wealthy by controlling and taxing trade that passed through the Strait of Malacca.
What is Srivijaya?
Feudalism grew mainly because Medieval Europe lacked this type of powerful, overarching leadership, forcing people to rely on local lords for protection instead. (hint: _______ government)
What is a strong centralized government?
This was the investigation and punishment of people whose beliefs went against official Christian teachings (heresy).
What is the Inquisition?
Thomas Aquinas were known by this academic name.
What are scholars/scholastics/schoolmen?
This famous Anglo-Saxon king managed to turn back fierce Viking invaders and united England under one rule. (Hint: A _ _ _ _ d the Great).
Who is Alfred the Great?
In the mid-1200s, he wrote Summa Theologicae, arguing that the most basic religious truths could be proved by logical argument.
Who is Thomas Aquinas?
In the 11th century, the Song Dynasty invented this printing technology, making it easier to arrange blocks of characters to print documents.
What is movable type?
Constantinople's empire finally collapsed in 1453 CE when it was conquered by this powerful outside group.
Who are the Ottoman Turks
This Grand Prince of Kiev converted his entire principality to Orthodox Christianity in 988 CE after investigating several global religions. (Hint: V _ _ _ _ _ _ r)
Who is Vladimir?
The Russians mark their official liberation from Mongol rule after their armies met at this bloodless event at the Ugra River.
What is a standoff/withdrawal (opposite of armistice), or What is the Great Stand?