Political Systems and Key Figures in History

Definitions

• Monarchy: rule by a king or family
• Democracy: rule by the people
• Aristocracy: rule by landowning elites
• Oligarchy: rule by the few
• Plutocracy: rule by the wealthy

Important Figures and Concepts

• Justinian I: Greatest emperor of the Byzantine empire
• Theodora: Byzantine empress who played a significant role in the empire
• Mohammad: Key prophet of Islam and founder of the faith
• Allah: Islamic term for God
• Upper class: controls most important parts of society
• Middle class: people paid for skills
• Lower class: people with no valuable skills, often with worst jobs
• Bishop: church official in charge of a diocese or area
• Tribune: Roman official elected by plebeians to represent them in the Senate
• Aqueduct: bridge-like structure carrying water to Roman cities
• Mercenary: someone from a foreign country fighting for pay
• Veto: to declare a law void (power held by some officials)
• Dictator: ruler with complete control over a government
• Tribute: payment of money or goods from conquered people to conquerors
• Chivalry: code of conduct for European knights during the Crusades
• Troubadour: wandering poet who earned a living by entertaining others
• Qur'an: the Muslim holy book
• Jihad: Arabic term for "holy war"
• Hajj: Pilgrimage made by Muslims each year to Mecca
• Mecca: one of Islam's most sacred cities
• Mythology: collection of myths belonging to a religion or culture
• Atheism: lack of belief in a divine being
• Feudalism: system of government where land is exchanged for loyalty, taxes, and soldiers
• Fief: land owned under feudalism
• The Pope: head of the Roman Catholic Church and bishop of Rome
• Patriarch of Istanbul: spiritual head of the Greek Orthodox Church
• Patricians: Roman elite families
• Plebeians: Roman commoners
• Legion: key unit of the Roman army (around 5,000 men)
• Anti-Semitism: prejudice or dislike toward Jewish people
• Serfs: peasants who worked on a manor
• Usury: making money by charging very high interest rates on loans
• Monotheism: belief in one god
• Polytheism: belief in more than one god
• Rome: Capital of the Roman Empire and modern capital of Italy
• Caesar Augustus: first Roman Emperor and nephew of Julius Caesar
• Constantinople: Capital of the Byzantine Empire (now Istanbul)
• Hagia Sophia: Great Byzantine Church converted into a mosque
• Hernan Cortes: Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztecs
• Francisco Pizarro: Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas
• Christopher Columbus: Explorer who discovered the New World for Spain
• Ponce De Leon: Spaniard who explored Florida
• Ferdinand Magellan: First man to circumnavigate the world
• Jamestown: first successful English colony in the New World
• Genghis Khan: Creator of the Mongol Empire
• Silk Road: trade route connecting Europe to China
• Zhang He: Chinese admiral who explored the coast of Africa
• Charles Martel: Frankish leader who defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours
• Battle of Tours: battle in which the Christian army stopped the Muslim invasion of Europe
• Charlemagne: great Frankish leader who helped create France
• William the Conqueror: Norman leader who invaded and united England
• Henry II: English king who established English Common Law
• Caravel: Ship design created by the Portuguese that allowed them to sail the Atlantic
• Clovis: Leader who united the Franks and became their first Christian leader
• Astrolabe: tool used by sailors to locate their position using stars
• Compass: tool used by sailors to navigate by consistently pointing north
• Crusades: Christian counter-attack against the Muslims in the Holy Land
• Shogun: Japanese military dictator second only to the emperor
• Japanese Emperor: divine ruler of Japan
• Oda Nobunaga: Japanese warlord who introduced the use of rifles in battle
• Tokugawa Ieyasu: Japanese warlord who united Japan
• Samurai: Japanese warriors similar to European knights
• Bushido: Code of behavior followed by Samurai
• Martin Luther: German monk whose objections to indulgences led to the Protestant Reformation
• 95 Theses: pamphlet written by Martin Luther explaining why indulgences were wrong
• John Calvin: Religious leader who created Calvinism
• Printing press: device that allowed for the mass production of written material
• St. Thomas Aquinas: Catholic leader who was able to bring together science and faith
• Humanism: the idea that humans have individual value separate from God; more to life than religion
• William Shakespeare: Famous English author of over 30 plays
• Michelangelo: sculptor and painter of the Sistine Chapel
• Donatello: famous sculptor
• Raphael: famous painter and sculptor
• Leonardo da Vinci: inventor and painter of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
• Miguel de Cervantes: author of Don Quixote
• Francis Bacon: creator of the scientific method
• Galileo Galilei: discovered the law of falling bodies
• Johan Copernicus: creator of the heliocentric view of the universe
• Isaac Newton: discovered the laws of motion and gravity
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Japanese warlord who murdered Christians and began the Great Sword Hunt
• Atman: Hindu term for soul
• Reincarnation: In Hinduism, the movement of a soul to another body
• Karma: good luck or bad luck affecting reincarnation
• Dharma: Hindu code of ethics