The Silk Road
This network of trade routes connected Asia with Europe and helped exchange goods like silk and spices. Name it.
The Silk Road
These are small, independent political units made up of a city and its surrounding countryside. What are they called?
City-state
In feudal societies, this person granted land (a fief) to knights in exchange for military service. Who is this person?
The lord (or monarch/lord who grants the fief)
A republic is a government where leaders are chosen by this group rather than inherited by birth. Who chooses the leaders?
The people or citizens (or representatives chosen by them)
This word describes the trade route famous for silk and other goods between East and West.
Silk Road
Besides goods, this important cultural exchange also spread along the Silk Road. Give one example.
Examples: religions (Buddhism, Islam, Christianity), ideas, technologies, art
Name one Italian city-state famous for trade and banking during the growth of trade era.
Examples: Florence, Venice, Genoa
Name one way life changed for peasants or serfs when towns grew and trade increased after the Black Plague.
Example: Many peasants left the land to find better pay in towns; labor shortages increased wages and bargaining power for workers.
Renaissance-era Italian republics, like parts of Venice or Florence at times, often mixed merchant power with political power. Name one institution or practice that shows merchants influenced government
Examples: merchant councils, elected councils, or assemblies where merchants held seats or influence
This term refers to an area served by a city, including the surrounding countryside.
Hinterland
Which two major world regions did the Silk Road connect? (Name continents or broad regions.)
Asia and Europe
List two qualities or conditions that helped Italian city-states—such as Florence—emerge and grow (choose any two).
Examples: strategic location for trade (ports), wealthy merchant class, weak central monarchies allowing local control, access to banking/credit
After the Black Plague, many places in Northern Europe experienced labor shortages. Explain one political or economic result of those shortages.
Example: Kings and local rulers faced challenges but also opportunities to tax new urban wealth; some central authorities strengthened by gaining support from towns.
Explain the difference between a monarchy and a republic in one or two sentences.
A monarchy is rule by a king or queen (often hereditary); a republic has leaders chosen by citizens or representatives rather than inheriting power.
This term means charging interest on loans; it was controversial in medieval Europe.
Usury
Traders often traveled in these large groups for safety across long routes; this kind of organized group helped protect merchants from bandits. What is this group called?
A caravan
Describe one positive and one negative result of the rise of city-states (one sentence each).
Positive: Growth of art, culture, trade, and wealth. Negative: Frequent rivalries and warfare among city-states, political instability, inequality.
Urbanization helped weaken feudal structures. Define urbanization in one clear sentence.
Urbanization: the process of people moving from the countryside into towns and cities.
What banking or business practice that began in places like Florence helped international trade by allowing merchants to avoid carrying large amounts of coin? (Use the vocabulary from the study guide.)
Bill of Exchange
This document or system allowed merchants to transfer credit and avoid moving heavy coin across long distances.
Bill of Exchange
Explain one long-term economic effect of the Silk Road on European cities.
Example answer: It helped some European cities become wealthy trading hubs and increased demand for imported goods, encouraging market growth.
Why did arts and literature flourish in the city-states?
Arts and literature flourished because wealthy merchants and rulers (patrons) funded artists and writers. A patron is a person or group who pays artists, writers, or scholars to create work.
Explain how the decline of feudalism helped governments or monarchs become stronger
Example explanation: As trade and towns grew, nobles' control over the economy weakened and kings could collect taxes and build centralized armies, increasing royal power and reducing the influence of feudal lords.
Describe one way republics or merchant-led governments affected social life in city-states (two to three sentences).
Example: Merchant-led governments promoted commerce, created laws favorable to trade, and supported cultural activities; this changed social life by elevating merchants' status and supporting urban growth.
Define "guild" and explain one role guilds played in medieval towns
Guild — A guild was an association of artisans or merchants who controlled standards, training (apprenticeships), prices, and quality of goods; guilds provided support for members and regulated trades in towns.