History and Sources

Archaeology: study of evidence and materials of past left behind (fossils, bones, artifacts, tools, writing, records)
Fossil: Part, imprint, or trace of something once alive.
Artifact: Object created and/or used by humans.
Historian: Person who studies the past, looks at different sources to form a view of events.
Archaeologist: Historian that goes on hunts or digs to find objects.
Primary sources: most reliable sources of information – an account of an event created by someone who took part
in, witnessed, or felt the effects of the event. Includes diaries or journals from the time, pictures or paintings, videos
recorded, letters, messages, mail, email, written laws of a time
Secondary sources: information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event. Considered
less reliable than primary sources. Include newspaper and encyclopedia articles, textbooks, word from others about
what happened.

Timelines and Dates

c. or circa: historians are not sure of exact date, time, or location. Used in the form of “c. 1945 ad”
Era: a period of time
CE: “common era”, the time after Jesus’ death at 0.
AD: “after death” (translated by Latin) from Jesus of Nazareth
BC: “before Christ”, dates before the death of Jesus
BCE: “before common era”, the non-religious abbreviation of dates before the death of Jesus
Decade: period of 10 years
Century: period of 100 years; usually referring to times after Jesus’ death, following a pattern where they represent
the hundred years prior to the number indicated. (15th century: 1401-1500 and 20th century: 1901-200)
Timelines: often used to tell when events happened, constructed with a horizontal line (and locate 1 AD first),
function like number lines, with years going forward from smaller to larger (absolute value)

Longitude, Latitude, Hemispheres

Longitude lines (called meridians) run north to south from the poles. They tell the distance from the Prime Meridian,
located down Greenwich, UK. Latitude lines run east to west and they tell the distance from the equator. All longitude
lines are parallel, as well as all latitude lines are parallel. Together, they form a grid over the globe.
GPS Location:
0-90 (North or South) 0-60’ (minutes from point) 0-60” (seconds from point)
0-180 (East or West) 0-60’ (minutes from point) 0-60” (seconds from point)
1. The equator is at 0 latitude
2. The prime meridian is at 0 longitude
3. The north and south poles are at 90 latitude, and 180 degrees between North and South poles.

Rome’s Legacy
1a. Rights and duties Roman citizens had were the rights to vote, hold office, perform, pay taxes, and serve in the
army.
b. Augustus influenced the later development of Roman government because he gave power to emperors to do
things like tax people, declare war, punish lawbreakers, and lead festivals.
2a. The Stoics were a group of Roman philosophers that taught that people shouldn’t be too caught up with their
possessions.
b. In my opinion, the Romans’ greatest engineering accomplishment were their aqueducts. There was a lot of
calculations needed and a small mistake could mess up a whole region’s supply. They didn’t, and the aqueducts are
still standing, 2 millennia later.
3a. The conversion of a Roman emperor to Christianity helped make Christianity accessible in Rome.
b. Church leaders played the role of major influence in Roman society, in particular, the pope – the bishop of Rome.

“The achievements of Romans continue to affect many aspects of our lives today”
Agree: sewers, sanitation, theaters, architecture, concrete, aqueducts, government, Christianity
Disagree: Latin is a dead language, Rome fell
“Empires”
1. Roads, trade routes, and waterways linked the Roman Empire, allowing mass communication.
2. The Roman aqueduct & sanitation system, invention of concrete, Colosseum, building 80 temples, Rome,
baths, and 6-story apartment complexes were all achievements of the empire.
3. Rome needed to expand and conquer to extend trade routes and gather valuable resources.
4. After the Roman army conquered people, they got rid of its natives, built roads, and imposed Roman
influence upon it.
5. All citizens, rich and poor, can enjoy the benefits of Roman civilization.
6. At its height, the Roman Empire had 60 million people (a fifth of the world) under its control.
7. Christianity was appealing because it was a salvation accessible to everyone. It gave hope to those lacking a
voice and rights.
8. Roman emperors outlawed Christianity because Christian devotion to Christ was a threat to worship of
Roman emperors and gods.
9. Later, the law changes making Christianity legal - it was too popular to control.
10. Emperor Constantine was baptized in 337 CE, shifting the entire Roman Empire to Christianity.
“Warriors”
1. When Rome was sacked (looted) by the Vandals, it showed weakness in the empire, especially because
Rome was the capital.
2. Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire: overpopulation, cultural differences, too large to manage, and
invasions.
3. The Vikings and the Arabs were two cultures that took the place of Rome.
4. The Vikings’ main contributions were connection the world and rebuilding Europe.
5. The Vikings set up Christianity, churches, and monasteries as political systems in Europe
6. Effects of Rome’s military overspending were insufficient resources for citizens or development.
7. As the empire expanded, Rome built roads, armies, aqueducts, religious buildings, bathing stations, and
theatres everyone could enjoy.

Legacy: anything handed down from the past, as from ancestor or predecessor.
Infrastructure: the base of civilization; buildings (roads & bridges), engineering, architecture inside a culture’s
regions
Art
• Romans were inspired by Greek Art.
• Romans tried to make themselves very realistic/lifelike
• Made murals, mosaics, frescoes, blown glass, metalworks
Mural: painting on a wall
Mosaic: picture made up of small pieces of tile or glass
Fresco: picture painted on moist plaster of a wall or ceiling (made with colored plaster)
• Many artists over the centuries study Roman Art to learn how to make their own art more realistic
• Roman art style of fresco influenced Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel, 1000 years later.
Architecture and Engineering
Engineering: skillful construction of engines, bridges, mines, roads, buildings etc.
Football/baseball stadiums, roads, domes, and columns are engineering legacies of Rome
Vault: arched structure used to hold up a ceiling/roof
Cathedral: large and important church
Domes: room shaped like a hemisphere/half circle
Aqueducts: pipe of channel built to carry water between distant places
• Romans borrowed/improved Greek ideas
• Romans also built huge domes and stadiums
• Romans built durable roads, aqueducts, and strong bridges that have lasted for centuries
Language and Writing
• Latin: 23 letters
• Roman numerals as numbers:
• {I = 1} {V = 5} {X = 10} {L = 50} {C = 100} {D = 500} {M = 1000}
• Use of Latin prefixes and roots in our words today
For example:
Prefix “pre” means “before”, Root “militare” means to serve as a soldier
Philosophy, Law, and Citizenship
Philosophy: study of knowledge or math
• Stoics (philosophers) believed in having good character, such as self-control and courage
• Romans believed that everyone had rights under the law.
• Roman citizenship was a privilege and a responsibility.
• America believes in rights today – “Bill of Rights”, enforced by the court
• Many people are proud of citizenship and the responsibility that entails.
Rome
• Founded by Romulus in 753 BCE
• Started out as a small city, but Rome welcomed foreigners (unlike other countries), making it a haven where people
could live freely and share ideas from different cultures.
• First big project: sewer system, still in work today
• 312 BC: built a 126 mile long road
• 44 BC: Rome controlled most of western Europe/North Africa
• Concrete (stronger, waterproof) was a “secret weapon” for Romans to build faster than others
• Rome, the capital city, had 11 lines of aqueduct that carried running water to there. It had the ability to sustain
millions of people – washing, bathing, drinking
• Emperor Claudius was a big influence on the growth of Rome; his family was murdered, but he survived and
became emperor. Claudius conquered different places and built more aqueducts.
• Roman engineers had to calculate exactness in the aqueduct, relying on descent/gravity. If anything was wrong,
engineers saved building materials and made strong arches.
• In 6 AD, wealthy families could have running water from aqueducts.
• Fires of 64: Most devastating fires of Roman History – destroyed 10 out of 14 regions
• After the fire, Emperor Nero claimed destroyed land and built himself a palace
• Colosseum had many secret trapdoors/elevators/machines to give entertainment to citizens who were awed at the
engineering powers
• Roman empire: Portugal to Persia, England to Egypt
• Emperor Taejon expanded Rome to its height

The Fall of Rome

Unemployment: the state of having no job
Corruption: government officials that misuse public funds
Frontier: farthest edge of a territory
Border: political boundary of a place
Weakening Frontiers
• The huge size of the Roman Empire made communication and defense difficult.
• Rome was too big for just one ruler to manage, so two emperors co-ruled.
• Germanic tribes (Visgoths, Vandals, Osgoths) invaded Rome
• At first, Rome paid the Goths to stay away, but payment stopped in 408. In response, the Goths sacked Rome in
410, the first attack in 800 years, showing to the world that Rome was weakening.
Natural Disasters and Disease
• Earthquake and tsunami destroys cities and wreaks havoc
• Taking advantage of the weakened infrastructure, diseases from foreign lands which people had no resistance to
wipe out millions
• Food shortages were common
Political Instability
• There was no way to peacefully transfer power from one emperor to another (when one died, people fought to be
his successor)
• Many emperors were assassinated
• Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into two (Western and Eastern) because he was convinced that it was too
big for one person to handle
• Constantine (first Christian emperor) reunited the empire, but moved capital to the eastern half (Constantinople)
• The reunited empire split again shortly after his death.
Economic and Social Problems
• Cheaper slave labor led to citizen unemployment, yet citizens still had to pay high taxes
• Disagreement between classes
• Officials were corrupt and misused funds
• Empire became poorer due to constant investment in military
• Increase in crime made trade difficult
• Police officers weren’t out so people were robbed
Military problems
• Recruits were unmotivated and lazy
• People would rather run away than join the army, and those that joined refused to wear armor and died P
• Posts were left unattended
• Military outsourced, costing money.
Reluctant to Rebuild
• Constant invasions destroyed places
• People were hopeless about saving their own city.
Dividing the Empire Pros/Cons
Pros: empire was easier to rule, defend, communicate, and choices better reflected the needs of the people
Cons: lopsided resources, no more sharing, Western Roman Empire fell, people fled, whole empire is strong, one
side tried to take over other

Byzantine Empire: a great empire that straddled Europe and Asia, lasting from 500-1453 CE.
Constantinople: city on eastern edge of Europe that emperor Constantine made capital of the Byzantine Empire;
ideal because it was crossroads between Europe and Asia
Eastern Orthodox Church: a Christian religion that rose in the Byzantine Empire
Leo III: a Byzantine emperor who forbade the worship of religious icons (people wrongly worshipped the icons as if
they were divine) cause tensions between East and West with the Pope. The Pope excommunicated Leo III. Later,
tensions increased further in 800 when the Pope named Charlemagne as the new Holy Roman Emperor.
Pope Leo IX: he excommunicated Celarius, head of the Byzantine, and separated the Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox Churches into two.

The Middle Ages

After the fall of Rome
• No central authority to keep order
• Dangerous place, with violence, outlaws, bandits, and crimes
• People were distressed and looked for new ways to keep order and comfort in lives
• Warlords moved in and formed small kingdoms who fought one another
• Lasted 500-1500 AD
• Christianity was uncommon in Northern Europe in the beginning of the period
• Monks and missionaries spread Christianity
Middle Ages/Medieval Times/Dark Ages: 1000 years in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Charlemagne: a warrior and ruler who united Europe’s small Christian tribes, promoted education and culture, and
was made Holy Roman Emperor by the Catholic Church.
Monk: a man withdrawn from the world for religious service. They owned only vital possessions, were isolated from
life, had to eat/pray/work/meditate/dress a certain way, aided the weak, ran schools, copied books, and worked as
scribes.
Monastery: community of monks, where monks lived and worked
Missionary: person sent on a religious mission to promote religion in a foreign country.
Feudalism: economic/political system of promises that governed the relationship between lords and vassals
Lord: ruler or powerful landowner (gave land, judged conflicts, declared war, commanded knights, collected taxes,
managed land)
Vassal: knight who promised to support a lord in exchange for land
Knight: warriors who fought on horseback for their lords (served lords, fought for lord/monarch/church, swore loyalty,
paid by serf work)
Fief: land (including manor and serfs) granted to a vassal for loyalty and service
Manor: large estate owned by lord or knight
Peasant: free person who worked the land (farmed small land given by lord/kight, paid taxes, served lords)
Serf: peasant not free to leave land they worked on; considered to be property but could not be traded
Monarch: ruler such as king or queen
Divine right of kings: belief that God gives monarchs the right to rule
Noble: person of high rank by birth or title
Duke: highest type of European noble ranking just below a prince (woman-duchess; land owned-duchy)
Count: second highest rank, below Duke and higher than Lord (women-countess; land owned-country)
Moat: deep, wide ditch often filled with water
Hierarchy: system of organizing people into ranks with higher rankings having more power/privileges
Friar: member of certain religious order devoted to teaching, preaching, and performing works of charity; lived and
worked among the general public; gave up all belongings as they took their vows. Compared to monks without
monasteries.
Saint Francis of Assisi: Italian friar who preached about giving up world possessions in the 1200s; gained large
amount of followers
Pilgrimage: journey made to sacred place as act of religious devotion, penance, or seek for a cure; popular
destinations included Jerusalem, Rome, or Canterbury
Relic: object considered holy because it belonged/touched by a holy person

Roman Catholic Church: Christian church headed by the Pope in Rome; center of Medieval life in western Europe
Pope: God’s living representative who taught Christianity’s workings, worked to power, no marriage, worked/made
decisions for the church.
Clergy: body of people (priests) who perform the sacred functions of the church
Excommunicate: formally deprive a person membership in the church
In the Roman Catholic Church, believers looked to the Pope as God’s representative on Earth. They…
• Guided people on how to live and pray
• Helped decide what the church taught
• Decided when someone was acting against the church (would be excommunicated)
• Had so many followers that they began to live in luxury
• Chose new bishops, priests, and church officials
• Could have great political influence
European kingdoms started to grow in power (especially England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire)
• Kings ruled by divine right
• Kingdoms passed from father to son (England & France) while HRE was elected by nobility (but had to be born
noble)
• Monarchs gave out fiefs in return for loyalty
Cathedrals and Illuminated Manuscripts
• Main theme: religion, Christ, and God
• Paintings and stained glass often told stories of Christ’s life (most people could not read)
• Cathedrals built to look like they were rising to heaven
• Cathedrals took 50-200 years to be built
• Gothic was main architectural style for Cathedrals
• Flying buttresses spread weight of roof and walls evenly
• Cathedrals had stained glass windows to let in holy light
• Illuminated manuscripts: books monks copied with colors added so they seemed to glow
• Monks copied and wrote illuminated manuscripts in the Middle Ages
• Gargoyles: stone spouts projecting from rain gutters on the roof, warnings of devils and evil spirits leaving church

The Crusades
Crusades: a long serious of wars between Christians and Muslims, fighting over control of Palestine (Holy Land)
Holy Land: region of Palestine where Jesus lived, preached, and died. Significant to Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism. All three faiths lived in this area and they all competed for control of the land.
Islam: a religion based on the messages Muhammed received from God; followers called Muslims
Pope Urban II: called on Christians all over Europe (including Christians in Byzantine Empire) to rate Holy Land from
Muslim Turks; claimed all fighters would receive immediate remission of sins
King Richard: called “Lion Heart” for courage, a skilled soldier and general from England who led the Third Crusade
Saladin: leader of Muslims; successfully kept Jerusalem against Christians in the Third Crusade; main opponent of
King Richard and had mutual respect for wisdom and bravery; claimed keeping Jerusalem would make God proud
Christians and the Crusades: many crusaders died in battle or disease; monarchs grew more powerful as nobles
and knights left for the Middle East; contact with Eastern cultures increased desire for goods.
Muslims and the Crusade: lost lives, property, technology; gained new military techniques, money on trade, and
became more united against Christians
Jews and the Crusades: life worsened, often persecuted; forced to live in ghettos and segregated (antisemitism-
prejudice against Jews)
The Black Death
Black Death: a deadly plague that swept through Europe between 1347 and 1351, which killed 100 million people
(40% of the population) and contributed to the decline of feudalism because labor became in high demand. Traders
spread the disease.

Florence and the Renaissance

Marco Polo: a traveller, went to China and lived for 20 years; his book about life there led to more trade with Asia.
Cosimo de’Medici: a wealthy member of the Medici banking family who patronized artists and supported education.

The Renaissance
Renaissance: a great flowering of culture towards the end of the Middle Ages that began in Italy and spread
throughout Europe (caused by interests in classical art, learning, Humanism, interest in new ideas, Black Death,
decline of feudalism, and the Crusades).
Humanism: a philosophy that emphasizes the worth and potential of all individuals.
Classical Art (500 BC-500 CE): from Greece and Rome, purpose was to show importance of people, leaders, gods
and goddesses with sculptures, poetry, murals, and mosaics. The style was lifelike figures showing daily life with no
flaws.
Medieval Art (500 CE-1500 CE): purpose was to teach religion to illiterate people with stained glass, sculptures,
illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and tapestries. Characteristics were that they were mostly religious (most
important figures were largest), 2-dimensional painting with one-tone backgrounds, and stiffly posed with serious
expressions.
Renaissance Art (1300 CE-1600 CE): purpose was to show importance of people, nature, and religion with
drawings, paintings, murals, and sculptures. Characteristics were that it showed great interest in nature, had
movement, were lifelike, were 3-dimensional, light, and emotional.
Johannes Gutenburg: a German man who invented the printing press in the 1400s using moveable type, allowing
mass production of books and increases in literacy rates.

The Reformation
Reformation: a reform movement of Western Christianity by people who did not approve of the corrupt Catholic
Church, leading to three separate Christian Churches.
Indulgence: forgiveness bought from the church by a sinner, caused churches to be very big and corrupt.
Purgatory: between death and heaven, punishment for committed sins. Sinners could buy indulgences to escape
purgatory.
Martin Luther: a priest who criticized the Catholic church, and believed that the Bible was for people to follow.
Protestants: people who followed Martin Luther’s teachings, splitting from Catholicism and spreading Protestant
ideas.
John Calvin: religious and political leader who taught that people where predestinated and nothing could change
their route. Started new religious group: Calvinism.
Henry VIII: Disagreed with the Pope and split his kingdom (England) from the church. Started his own Anglicanism
church and allowed different views to take hold of England.
Heresy: beliefs that contradict the official teachings of a religion or church (heretic: person with heresy)
Classical Art

Aristocracy

The Han had chosen aristocrats (aristocracy) to help them govern, but they weren’t knowledgeable or talented. A civil
service examination was created to improve the bureaucracy but only the wealthy could afford it.

The Song opened a civil service exam to all people – meritocracy. Exams focused on neo-Confucianism (a blend of
Confucianism and Taoism).
Foreign Rule

In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongol Kublai Khan took over as emperor.

The Mongols didn’t believe in Confucian ideals for ruling, so they got rid of the exam and put mostly relatives in
important positions. When there weren’t enough Mongols (who were illiterate) to fill the jobs, they favored non-
Chinese friends like the Turks, Persians, or Tibetans.

Crash Course – Confucianism

Uptight, moral behavior to bring order – knowing your place, ethics, acting accordingly. Everyone has a role to play in
a good relationship. Good Confucians make good emperors. Divine Intervention and the Mandate of Heaven. Model
ancestors were role models and good examples. Look to the past for good people in history to act like them. Live
with concern for others and property, behavior, and ritual. Loses popularity in period of disunion and regains
popularity in Sui and tang dynasties,

Confucianism in Mulan

Children do chores, serve parents.

Pray to ancestors for luck

Bring family honor by acting right

Women cannot speak for themselves.