Vocabulary
Allah is...
the Arabic word for God
Jihad means...
a muslim holy war
Which emperor became Christian and legalized Christianity?
Constantine
Why is the Hagia Sophia famous, even today?
Because it became the model for Church buildings throughout Europe
What were the two major external threats to Europe in Medieval Times?
Islamic conquests and Viking attacks
Manor are...
the farmlands owned by a feudal lord
Canon means...
standard; the list of books the Church recognizes as truly inspired
Which emperor made Christianity the official religion of the empire?
Emperor Theodosius I
Where was the House of Wisdom, what is it, and what are some sorts of accomplishments for it?
The House of Wisdom was in Baghdad, Iraq and it was a major abbasid public academy and intellectual center to a large private library belonging to the Abbasid Caliphs during the Islamic Golden Age. It had a major influence on the other libraries in the Islamic world.
Why is "Medieval Times" a better name for the period 476-1000 AD than "Dark Ages"?
Because "Dark Ages", when you think about it, means no light and they called it "Dark Ages" to paint the Church in a bad picture. Also, "Medieval Times" means "middle" and this is the Middle Ages.
Convert means...
to change or turn from one belief or Religion to another (noun form, conversion)
The Koran is...
the Islamic sacred book which they believed is the Word of God
What is the saying we say in class that helps remember the fall of Rome?
"It's 476, Rome can't be fixed!"
How are the Byzantine Greek (East) and Latin (West) churches different? How are they similar?
The Byzantine East and West churches were similar because they shared the same faith, sacraments, and the same kind of government (by bishops). The differences between East and West churches include: their patterns of prayer or liturgies differed and their type of language differed. The language of the East (Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt) was Greek, while the West (Italy, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and North Africa) spoke Latin.
Can you name TWO holy saints, sent by God to reform the Church in the early 1200's?
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi
A serf is...
someone who is bound to work land held by a lord and who owes work to the lord
Incarnation is...
the uniting of divine and human natures in Jesus Christ
What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Why are they important?
The Dead Sea Scrolls were scrolls that have been tucked away into clay jars and buried in caves. They contain nearly every book in the Old Testament and they were found by a shepherd boy by accident. They are important because the copies of the Hebrew Scriptures found at Qumran are very much like the same scriptures found in the Bible as we have it today.
What was the code of Justinian about? What were some of Justinian's successes and failures?
The Code of Justinian was about restoring the Roman Empire in the West and uniting his empire by reforming Roman law. Justinian’s failures include: lacking courage and unsuccessful attempts to reconquer the Roman empire, Justinian’s successes include: Hagia Sophia and the Code of Justinian.
What was the Black Death (Bubonic Plague)? What long impact did it have on European society?
The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) was when rats escaped from a ship carrying the Black Death and ran into the ports of Italy giving them the disease. The majority of the people who caught this disease would die in days or even hours! Some people thought this would be the end of the world. Some priests ran away, they survived, and other priests who came to the ill, died. The long term impact it had on Europe in general was that when they went to explore America, they caught the Smallpox, but the Native Americans never had it so they all died. That’s just saying the Smallpox is similar to the Black Death because all the people who went to explore America were Europeans.
Feudalism is...
the form of government in the Middle Ages in which a vassal gave military service to a lord for exchange for land and protection
Islam is...
an Arabic word meaning “submission,” “complete obedience,” “total surrender”; the name of Muhammad’s religion
What happened in the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian?
Galerius convinced Emperor Diocletian to start a new persecution of the Christians. Diocletian ordered Christian churches to be destroyed and copies of the scriptures to be burnt. In 304, the emperor ordered Christians to sacrifice or die. Some Christians sacrificed to their gods, others bravely refused and so were cruelly tortured and put to death. Whole Christian communities were destroyed.
Tell the story of the Arabian nights. List two stories from this collection.
King Shariar discovered his wife betrayed him. He ordered her to be killed. He then wanted all women to suffer and each day he would marry a new woman and have her murdered the next morning. This happened over and over as families mourned the loss of their daughters to this revengeful king. The daughter of the grand vizier then volunteered to be the next bride, much to her father’s dismay. However, she had a plan to save her own life and the lives of all the other women. On the wedding night she began telling King Shariar a story but she didn’t finish it and said she would have top finish another time. This went on for 1,001 nights and by then the king grew to love her and regretted his evil deeds. Her tales are known as The Thousand and one Nights. Possible stories from this collection: Shahryar and Scheherazade (the "frame story"), Aladdin's wonderful lamp, The three apples, The tale of the hunchback, The vizier and the sage duban, Ali baba and the forty thieves, The fisherman and the jinni, The seven voyages of Sinbad the sailor, and The Rope Maker
Who was Charlemagne? Be able to describe him as a man as well as a leader.
Charlemagne was a Frank (Germanic Tribe). He had blonde hair, he was strong, and charismatic. Charlemagne was a faithful Christian who was generous to the poor. Charlemagne was a defender of the Church who oversaw the Carolingian Renaissance and gave rebirth of learning and culture in the West. Charlemagne reigned for 14 years and was divided among his three grandsons - who lost it.