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History Cheat Note

1.


Justinian’s court was much like the Eastern’s rule; the subjects were spaced
from the rulers in space, dress and obedience. The laws were in Latin, even
though the common language was Greek. 2. ? 622- Heraclius opened a
successful attack on the Persians. ? 628- At Ctesiphon a peace treat was
signed in favor of Heraclius ? 632- Muhammad’s followers conquered and
ran the Empire. ? 717-718- Leo III beat back Muslim attack on
Constantinople. 3. Iconoclastic policy under Leo III forbid showing respect to
holy images within churches and it also allowed the destruction of then images.

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This had a disastrous effect but brought the Western and Eastern churches
together. 4. The issues that indicate how the Byzantium Emperor was associated
with the church while also acting as the secular head of the state has to do
with his responsibilities in protecting and aiding in the perseverance of his
empire. This is what the people of the empire thought God wanted, so by doing
his job emperor was thought as a holy figure, which placed him as the head of
the churches with some restrictions. 5. The Byzantium Empire bureaucracy
differed from the Roman Empire in that the Roman Empire did not have a fiscal
system, a state postal service or a secret police. They also collected money
from the 10 percent tariff on trade and from the monopolies, while the Roman
Empire did not have a budget. The Byzantium bureaucracy had skilled diplomats,
which kept the enemies divided and used bribes, tributes and subsides, the Roman
Empire used a basic administration without a professional civil service. The
Eubuchs were used for important positions in the government in the Byzantium
Empire, while queens and woman of the court preformed that job in the Roman
Empire. 6. The Byzantine bureaucracy was run mostly by the emperor, who also
controlled justice, with the aid of a civil service. The government had a fiscal
system, a state postal service and a secrete army. It collected a 10 percent tax
from the trade and more money from state monopolies. The Eunuchs filled the most
important positions in the government. 7. Roman Catholic Greek Orthodox Control
of the Churches Clergy Emperor Filioque dispute Holy spirit proceeds from the
Father and from the Son Holy spirit proceeds only from the father Rules for
churches No divorce and no married priests Divorce because of adultery and
married priests Languages Latin and no vernacular languages Allowed vernacular
languages (Greek, Coptic…) Centralization Centralized control over
Christianity under the papacy Relied on secular authority for the individual
churches Conversion of Slavs Used force to gain more land and to convert people
Converted Slavs and Serbs into Christianity 8. As a result of Cyrillic and
Methodius’ work, today the Serbs and Slavs are Christians. 9. The Byzantium
society was divided into two parts, the urban and rural. In the urban parts
there were paved and illuminated streets and magnificent churches and palaces.


The rich lived along excellent surroundings in huge palaces and where divided
from the poor, who lived in sprawling slums with a criminal environment. The
rural society consisted of soldier/sailor farmers and laborers. The farmers made
decisions about uncultivated or common land, collected taxes, elected judges and
other officials needed for the government. 10. Guilds were creates to ensure the
products had good quality. These guilds helped make a state monopoly and the
products produced where sent all over the world giving the empire more money.


11. The women’s role in the Byzantium Empire where centered on the home with
limitations in contacting with men outside the family. The Byzantine women wore
veils over their heads, but not their faces. The nuns where not allowed to
perform charity work or run schools. The only women who had power were those
that were at the imperial and aristocratic level. Poor women had to aid in
family agriculture, become street vendors, enter the theater or become
prostitutes. The male relatives protected the women and children, but the women
did have protection for their goods, money and land. In the East women were
discouraged by the churches to remarry. There were three types of institutions
of higher learning: a palace school for the laymen, trained civil servants in
language, law and rhetoric; patriarchal schools instructed priests in rhetoric
and theology; and monastic schools taught young monks the mystical writings of
the past. With the decrease of public grammar schools in the sixth and seventh
centuries, the poor depended on their guild for their education. The boys were
learned Greek from a Psalter instead of from classical authors. After the sixth
century scholars used Greek instead of Latin when composing school manuals,
histories, saints’ lives, biblical commentaries and encyclopedias of ancient
science and lore. The Byzantine scholars concentrated on Plato and religious
writers instead of Aristotle. Their greatest accomplishment was the preservation
of the classical Greek literature. After the rejection of iconoclasm in the
middle of the ninth century, art and architecture flourished again. The artists
started decorating many churches in the Empire. Mosaics at that time showed the
emperor as grand and Christ was never shown as suffering because of the close
relationship between him and the emperor. The people were in a debate about the
nature of Christ and the use of icons. With the evolvement of the laity there
was a possibility that it would lead to riots. There was entertainment in the
Roman coliseums and there was chariot racing, the most popular, animal shows and
theatre. The fans divided themselves into two groups, the “Blues” and
“Greens”. 12. When the theme system collapsed the military manpower was
reduced, which led to a rural aristocracy of landlords. This weakened the
strength of the central government. The emperors had to seek help from
Constantinople for naval power, while also under pressure for ground troops. 13.


The ending of the Byzantine Empire as a great power began with the weakness in
their troops; the Byzantine Empire had little defense against the Seljuks. The
Seljuks shattered the Byzantine troops and took emperor Ramaus in 1071. The
weakening of the defense brought down Asia Minor to the Seljuks. The loss of
Asia Minor forced the Byzantine Empire to appeal to the west for help, showing
that the empire had lost its great power in the East. 14. Schism- a formal
breach of union within a Christian church. 15. The cause of the schism was due
to competition in the southern churches, different languages, and other
rivalries, disputes and snobbery. 16. Muhammad began establishing the Islamic
faith by preaching his religion in Mecca. After he was rejected he went to
Yathrib, where he gained much support and became the political leader and
governor. With this he had a military base which he used in war to spread his
beliefs to Mecca in 624. 17. Contributions Christianity Concepts of Last
Judgment, personal salvation, heaven and hell, charity to the poor and weak and
a Universal religion Judaism Prophecy Arab paganism Veneration of Kaaba and the
requirement of pilgrimage to the sacred city Zoroastrianism Figures of Satin and
evil demons. 18. I don’t go to a church, temple or mosque and I do not know
rabbi or a minister or anything else. 19. The beliefs of the religion Islam are
that the prophet is Allah and that the collection of prophecies is known as the
Koran. The Koran was written in Arabic and Allah could only be addressed in
Arabic. Islam was seen as the final revelation, completing the message of God.


The Arabs were given the mission of carrying the final message. 20. The
expansion of Islam was strengthened since the Arabs will familiar with camels,
which enabled them to move much more easily in the desert than the Byzantines
and the Persians, who had horses. With this they were able to retreat easily
whenever needed. The Byzantines and the Persians were tired from their wars,
which made them easier to conquer. There were parts in both Byzantine and Persia
that were Semitic and their religion were closely related to those of the Arabs,
making it easier for them to join. The warriors were inspired by the Prophet’s
promise of vast rewards to those who died and booty to those who won. Since the
Arabs did not have enough skilled people they placed the newly conquered people
in the government. After Muhammad’s death his successors conquered Byzantine,
Syria, Persia and Egypt by the 640s. 21. The Umayyads were the first line of
hereditary rulers of the Arab Empire. 22. Sunnas- traditions that were writings
that purported to describe how the first companions of Muhammad or how Muhammad
himself dealt with various problems. Sunnites- people who believed the Sunnas.


Shiites- people who apposed the Sunnites. 23. The Islamic community became
disunited in 655 with the birth of Ali, Muhammad’s son in law. The Shiites
believed that he should rule the Islamic community and thought of the Umayyads
as usurpers. The Shiites started antagonisms, protests, and revolts. Then, one
of Muhammad’s uncle revolted against the Umayyads and killed all of the except
for one, Abdurrahman. Abdurrahman fled to Spain and set up a dependent
caliphate. Others were formed at Morocco in 788, Tunisia in 800, eastern Persia
in 820 and Egypt in 868. 24. The unifying factor across all of the Islamic lands
was Arabic, the language of the Koran. This unified literature, learning, and
commerce. 25. Islam embraced numerous economic systems. The Bedouins in the
Arabian peninsula, the Berbers in North Africa and the Turkish people of Eurasia
continued to have pastoral economy. The majority of people living in Egypt,
Persia, Sicily and Spain lived by settling agriculture. The inhabitants of
cities relied on commerce. Islam improved communications with a universal
language and with a pilgrimage in Mecca. The agriculture expanded with new
plants form Asia and with some advanced ways of agriculture. The steel, leather,
cotton, linen and silk were traded to India and Indonesia for spices. The Arabs
improved the technology that they borrowed form China and India. They also got
the formula for the Greek fire and improved other weapons and fortress
buildings. They introduced the windmill, the spinning wheel, papermaking,
blocking printing, and specialized textile weaving. The caliph was the supreme
religious and civil head of the Muslim world. He was primarily the military
chief and a judge. The chief administrator was primarily the judge and his task
was to see that the faithful lived according to the lad of the Koran. The Koran
helped preserve the family by encouraging the people to marry and for men to
support their wives. The position of women depended on their social class and
the period of society in which they lived in. 26. The Greek embraced the Islamic
culture with their achievements that the Arabs wanted to preserve. Scholars
translated many great Geek authors and were especially interested in astronomy,
astrology, mathematics, medicine and optics. 27. There are abundant resources
that exist for the study of women’s lives during the medieval history. Few
writings by women survive today since not a lot of women in the West were
literate. Nuns left religious literature, plays, and histories. Some of
women’s poems written in Arabic survive and also Greek histories written by
women. Another source is the recording of the priests about the women. These
sources are biased since men wrote them and because they were used for a number
of motives. To interpret the overall information about the history of medieval
women, a historian needs to know a great deal about the context which they were
written. They might have been written to help accomplish a goal, like to
strengthen families. Another source is the laws, which might not be useful since
historians might not know if they were actually applied, but there are court
cases that can be useful. 28. The halls and chambers of the Alhambra Palace
surround a series of open courts, which include the Court of Lions containing
arcades resting on 124 white marble columns. The interior of the building is
decorated with examples of the so-called honeycomb and stalactite vaulting. Its
walls and ceilings are decorated with geometric ornamentation of great detail
and complexity, executed with skilled marble, alabaster, glazed tile, and carved
plaster. At the center of the Court of Lions is a garden, which is divided into
four parts, with a fountain marked with references to the warriors of the holy
war. Rooms and halls lead to the courts, either directly or through arcades.


Muhammad V redesigned the Alhambra in the last half of the 14th century. A
striking feature of the Court of Lions is the limitless delicacy of its forms.


The architectural structures are arranged in a manner that creates sudden,
ever-changing impressions. The design of the court seems perfectly symmetrical,
but it is modified by axes of composition that do not agree to the features of
the plan. 29. The early circumstances that brought on the decline of medieval
Islamic civilization was the growing weakness in the military of various Islamic
states during invasions. The Christian armies were attacking on the West, the
Byzantine offensive was in Jerusalem and Turkish nomads were attacking the East.


The Islamic states were giving their warriors grants for land instead of money,
which weakened the central authority. 30. ? 732- Charles Martel defeated
the Arabs in a battle at Tours ? 744- Charlemagne conquers Kingdom of the
Lombards ? 788- Charlemagne conquers Bavaria ? 800- Pope Leo III
crowned Charlemagne as the emperor of Rome. ? 804- Charlemagne conquers
Saxony ? 811- Charlemagne conquers Brittany ? 811- Charlemagne
conquers Spanish March 31. Charles the Great was a large man that liked physical
exercise such as hunting, riding, bathing and swimming. He was passionate for
woman and food and had an intellectual curiosity and alertness. He was probably
illiterate, but he spoke and understood Latin, he understood Greek and enjoyed
the company of intellectual men. 32. The Pope confirmed the Frankish
monarchy/papacy alliance by crowning Charlemagne the emperor of the Romans on
the Christmas night. 33. A rebellion would not have been staged against the cult
of the emperor because the people were made to think that the emperor was a
figure of holiness and brilliance and could not be rebelled against. In this way
the emperor and the cult were protected from any rebellion. 34. The court
chaplain oversaw the court chancery since its job was to advise the emperor and
the entire court in matters of conscience, which include the official documents
that were written in the chancery. 35. Emperor Head of the government Chaplain
Head of the palace, advised the emperor and the entire court in matters of
conscience Chancery Where the official documents were written Chief lay official
Supervised the administration, judged cases the emperor did not handle, and
acted as regent during the emperor’s absences Chamberlain Looked after the
royal bedroom, and treasury Seneschal Kept the palace food and servants
Constable Cared for the horses County The fundamental administrative unit Count
Administrator, judge, and military leader of the county Vicarius Heard minor
cases. 36. Charlemagne managed control over such a large empire by maintaining
an effective supervision and control over the local officials. He traveled to
check how the land was being administered and heard appeals from the decisions
of the counts. He appointed traveling inspectors to inspect specific counties.


The last thing was to require that the important men of his realm to attend a
general assembly every year. 37. Charlemagne standardized weights, measures and
money throughout the empire. 38. The need for literacy jumpstarted the
Carolingian Renaissance because in the sixth and seventh centuries different
styles of writings developed and there were other changes that needed to become
unified. Literate people in one part of Europe had a great difficulty reading a
text written in another part of Europe. There was also a widespread decline of
education, which prevented some priests from performing their jobs completely.


These were weakening the unity of the Church and the state. 39. The benefits
derived form the Carolingian Renaissance were the unity of the Church,
well-educated priests and unity of the empire. 40. The benefit derived from the
Carolingian Minuscule was the development of a new handwriting that included
lower case letters. This made books easier to read and more letters could be put
on a page, which made books less expensive. 41. The benefits derived from the
invention of Medieval Latin were that the language enabled travelers,
administrator and scholars to make themselves understood in all parts of Europe,
which helped unit European unit. 42. The unique element of the illuminated
manuscript that I saw on the web page was the use of lower case letters, which
was developed during the Carolingian Minuscule. 43. The texts were standardized
when Charlemagne told Alcuin of York to prepare a new edition of Jerome’s
Vulgate translation of the Bible. This edition became the common biblical text
for the entire Western church. Charlemagne bought a copy of the Benedictine rule
and had it copied and distributed to the monks. The schools were standardized
when Charlemagne ordered all bishops and monasteries to establish schools to
educate boys. Alcuin helped devise the standards for the school curriculum into
verbal arts or mathematical arts. This was standard in the twelfth century. 44.


When Louis the Pious assumed the throne to the Carolingian Empire it was
weakened by his indecisiveness, which led to a rebellion by his sons. When he
died the Empire was divided by his sons. 45. The conclusion to be drawn from the
map on page 231 is that the Vikings expanded in the East very quickly by using
their ships. They conquered many cities in a short period of time conquering
Paris, Constantinople and other major cities. 46. The paragraph about women on
page 231 is gratuitous because the authors wrote different stories about women.


Even in the paragraph there are two different viewpoints. It first says that
women were probably treated roughly and then in the next sentence it says that
they were esteemed and played the role of advisor in politics. These are
completely opposite leads that do not conclude to anything. 47. Viking- one of a
seafaring Scandinavian people who plundered the coasts of northern and western
Europe from the eighth through the tenth century. 48. Viking ships were a major
factor in the immigration of the Vikings because they were able to travel up
rivers and on high seas. The ships were large enough to carry horses and
provisions as well as men. The Vikings were skilled seamen that used their ships
to an advantage when in war. 49. A chain mail is a flexible armor made of joined
metal links or scales. 50. During the Middle Ages, Christianity did not rise
that much in Scandinavia. Some Vikings converted to be able to trade in Western
Europe and there were conversions in Sweden and Denmark but most of these
conversions were incomplete. Christianity did not have strong enough effect to
hold the Vikings from attacking and looting in England and France. 51. A saga is
a prose narrative usually written in Iceland between 1120 and 1400, dealing with
the families that first settled Iceland and their descendants, with the
histories of the kings of Norway, and with the myths and legends of early
Germanic gods and heroes. 52. The Vikings ended up in the principality of Kiev
because they were invited by the Slavs to aid them in their internal affairs.


The Vikings became a part of the first East Slavic state. 53. The Kiev kept
close ties to Western Europe because they needed the trade route. They did this
by arranging a marriage between the Euroslav and the Byzantine, England, France,
Germany, Norway, Poland and Hungry. 54. The head of the Kievan government was
the prince, who selected nobles, to help govern with him. The prince consulted
the towns for advice, but he was not the keeper of justice. Most cases were
settled in courts, which had no organized system. 55. The principality of Kiev
declined because after Yaroslav’s death the territory was divided between his
male heirs, which resulted in frequent fights and civil wars. These struggles
left people unable to resist the menace of the steppe nomads and later on Kiev
was cut off from the Black Sea, which devastated the commerce and culture.

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