Download Unit 1

The Middle Ages
Mid-term Study guide Units 1-4
Vocabulary you should know:
Unit 1: Battle of Teutoborg Forest – Marcus Aurelius – Barbarians – Hadrian’s
Wall – Praetorian Guards – Commodus – Gladiator – Visigoths – Ostrogoths –
Franks – Germanization – Diocletian and his Reforms – Christianity – The Great
Persecution Constantine – Battle of Milvian Bridge – Council of Nicaea –
Constantinople – The Huns – Battle of Adrianople – Theodosius – Vandals – The
Sack of Rome – Attila the Hun – Honoria – Aetius – Battle of Chalons – Gaiseric –
Romulus Augustulus – Odoacer – Theodoric the Ostrogoth – Medieval
Unit 2: Frankish Kingdom – Clovis – Merovingian – Visigothic Kingdom – Alaric II
Vandal Kingdom – Gaiseric – Anglo-Saxon Kingdom – Ambrosius Aurelianus
Monasteries – Byzantine Empire – Orthodox Christian – Monophysites –
Blue vs. Green Factions – Justinian I - Theodora – Belisarius – The Nika Revolt –
Hagia Sophia – Reconquest of the Roman Empire – The Justinian Plague
Muhammad – Mecca – Quran – The Hijrah – Islam – Sunni vs. Shiites –
Sieges of Constantinople – Greek Fire – Charles Martel – The Battle of Tours
Carolingian Empire – Feudalism – Vassals – Fiefs – Knights – Serfs – Manor –
Castles – Chivalry – Charlemagne – Holy Roman Emperor – Carolingian
Renaissance – Vikings – Longships – Odin – Thor – Valhalla – Raid at Lindisfarne
Unit 3: Byzantine Themata System – “Warrior Emperors” –
Basil the “Bulgar Slayer” – “Malady of the Purple”- Otto I – Holy Roman Empire –
Papal States – Ottonian System – Normans – The Investiture Controversy –
Pope Gregory VII – Excommunication – William “The Conqueror” –
Harold Godwinson – Battle of Hastings – King John – The Magna Carta –
Constitutional Monarchy – Seljuk Turks – Battle of Manzikert – Pope Urban II –
The First Crusade – Peasant Army – The “True” Army – Crusader States –
The Second Crusade – The Reconquista – The Third Crusade – Salah al-Din –
Baldwin IV – Leprosy – Knights Templar – Guy de Lusignan – The Battle of Hattin –
Balian of Ibelin – Fall of Jerusalem – Frederick Barbarossa – Richard “The
Lionheart” – The Fourth Crusade – The Venetians – Doge Enrico Dandolo –
Fall and Sack of Constantinople – Results of the Crusades
Unit 4: The “Little Ice Age”– The Great Famine – The Black Death – Flagellants –
Peasant Revolts – The Jacquerie – Results of the Crisis of the 14th Century (4) –
Scottish War of Independence – Robert the Bruce – William Wallace – Edward I –
Battle of Stirling Bridge – Battle of Bannockburn – The Hundred Years’ War –
Edward “the Black Prince” – Chevauchees – Battle of Agincourt - English Longbow
– Joan of Arc – Causes and Results of the Hundred Years’ War – The War of the
Roses – House of York – House of Lancaster – Queen Margaret – Edward IV –
Battle of Tewkesbury – Tower of London – Henry Tudor – The Mongols – Genghis
Khan – The Golden Horde – Kublai Khan – Marco Polo – The Silk Road –
Shamanism – Tamerlane – Social Hierarchy of Feudal Japan – Xenophobia –
Samurai – Daimyo – Shogun – Ronin - Minamoto Yoritomo – Kamikaze –
Foreign Influence (Portuguese & Jesuits) – Sengoku Period – Oda Nobnaga –
Toyotomi Hideyoshi – Shinobi – Ottoman Turks – Sultan –
Siege of Constantinople (1453) – Mehmed II – Constantine XI - Istanbul – Ivan
“The Terrible” – Czar – The Reconquista – El Cid – The Spanish Inquisition –
Heretic – Ferdinand and Isabella – Christopher Columbus
Essay questions: Pick 2 for the exam
1) Compare and contrast the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine. How did
each emperor reform and transform the Roman Empire in an attempt to
save it?
2) Describe the effect that the Huns had on the eventual collapse of the
Roman Empire. How did their invasions motivate the Germanic tribes to
attack Rome? Who was Attila and what was his influence on the Huns and
the Roman Empire?
3) What was Emperor Justinian’s primary goal for the Byzantine Empire? Who
was Belisarius and why was he important? What was the result of their
military campaigns in the 500’s?
4) What was the social hierarchy in a feudal society? What purpose did each
class serve? What is a Knight? Describe the process a boy would have to
undergo to become one. Who was Charlemagne? How did his reign
strengthen and expand the Frankish Kingdom?
5) Compare and contrast the first four Crusades. In your opinion, what were
the most important results of the Crusades? Did anyone really win these
religious wars?
6) Why were the English forces so successful early on in the Hundred Year’s
War even though they were heavily outnumbered by the French? Who was
Joan of Arc? Why was she important to the French war effort? What
happened to her after her victory at Orleans?
7) How did the meeting between the Venetian merchant Marco Polo and the
Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan link Asia to Europe? What was the
significance of this meeting to world history?
8) Compare and contrast feudalism in Japan and Europe during the middle
ages. What made Japan’s society unique from other cultures of the time
period? Who were the Samurai? What was their role in Japanese society?