Regional And Interregional interactions

The collapse of the Carolingian empire in the late 9th century CE led to

A fracturing of Western Europe into many kingdoms and duchies

The iqta was

A land grant, often given to soldiers as a form of reimbursement

Which of the following factors resulted in weaker Byzantine and Sassanian empires? Select all that apply.

A long period of fighting with one another Attacks by neighboring nomadic groups from the Steppe region Disease

How is Muhammad perceived by Muslims?

An enlightened man who was the vehicle God used to deliver and spread the Word of God

The Abbasid Caliphate built which entirely new city as its capital?

Baghdad

Why were people willing to trade over long distances in the Post-classical period?

By transporting high-value goods to places where these goods were in demand, it was possible to make large profits

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "The 'grand design' view of Justinian's reign sees all his actions as the deliberate restoration of the ancient Roman empire, though a Roman empire raised to new heights of glory as a Christian empire confessing the orthodox faith. According to this view, reconquest restored something like the traditional geographical area of the empire; law reform encapsulated the vision of a Christian Roman empire, governed by God's vicegerent, the emperor; the capital's splendid buildings, not least the churches, celebrated the Christian court of New Rome, with the defensive buildings described by Procopius in the later books of his Buildings serving to preserve in perpetuity the newly reconquered Roman world." From Andrew Louth, "Justinian and His Legacy," in The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, edited by Jonathan Shepard, 99-129. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. This passage is consistent with which of the following ideas?

Byzantine leaders maintained and built upon the legacy of their Roman predecessors, but added a new Christian character

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "It did not take long, however, for Scandinavian merchant adventurers to become aware of a particular important fact of east European geography. While some of the rivers of European Russia flow north into the Baltic, others drain south into the Black and Caspian Seas. The whole area is so flat, moreover, that the headwaters of both north- and south-flowing rivers lie extraordinarily close together. A combination of tributaries, especially the west-east flowing River Oka, combined with carefully reconnoitered [observed, studied] portages, where ships were dragged usually on rollers from one set of connected river systems to another, allowed access to the Black and Caspian Seas via two major routes, the Dnieper [River] and the Volga [River]. The Volga route led straight to the Caspian Sea and the economically developed world of the Islamic Caliphs, by this date based on the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. There the taxes of a vast empire, stretching from the Atlantic to India, were being consumed by a court of stupendous magnificence. Here was the real center of demand for merchants with luxury goods to sell.... The Dnieper route, by contrast, was far more difficult, involving some awkward rapids around which boats had to be carried, and led out to the Black Sea...and the more natural trade axis led to Constantinople... Byzantium was a sadly reduced power from its glory days under Justinian, and the Islamic Caliphs and their court grandees represented a far richer market for the luxury goods that the Scandinavians had to offer." From Peter Heather, Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 473-474. What does Heather claim made long-distance trade profitable in antiquity? Choose 1 answer:

Certain resources could only be obtained in certain regions, making them more valuable in regions where they did not exist

Which of the following is a reason for the decline of Abbasid power?

Challenges to Abbasid religious authority Lower tax revenues due to conversion to Islam

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "In 1381, English peasants had their turn in a rebellion that spread through much of England and then to London, where King Richard II tricked and murdered its leaders. The other rebels were quickly dispersed and hunted down. Similar popular uprisings occurred - and were suppressed - in the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iberia and the Netherlands. Only one major revolt was successful. (...) Although most of these revolts were quickly put down, their message was not, it seems, entirely lost on the nobility. The English rebels had explicitly sought to end serfdom, and they had also questioned the social inequalities that were at the heart of aristocratic privilege. (...) These revolts, in other words, put the landed elite on notice, providing them with a good incentive to develop less exploitative methods of manorial management." From Judith M. Bennett and C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 331-332. What type of evidence would support this claim?

Changes in laws regarding the rights of peasants after revolts were supressed

Which of the following best describes the Byzantine state?

Christian empire with multiple administrative provinces

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "The 'grand design' view of Justinian's reign sees all his actions as the deliberate restoration of the ancient Roman empire, though a Roman empire raised to new heights of glory as a Christian empire confessing the orthodox faith. According to this view, reconquest restored something like the traditional geographical area of the empire; law reform encapsulated the vision of a Christian Roman empire, governed by God's vicegerent, the emperor; the capital's splendid buildings, not least the churches, celebrated the Christian court of New Rome, with the defensive buildings described by Procopius in the later books of his Buildings serving to preserve in perpetuity the newly reconquered Roman world." From Andrew Louth, "Justinian and His Legacy," in The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, edited by Jonathan Shepard, 99-129. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. What does Louth suggest about the relationship between state and religion in the Byzantine empire according to the 'grand design' view?

Christianity was an integral component of Byzantine governance

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "Travel and trade also flourished in this period [...] One 9th-century writer tells us of [multi-lingual] Iraqi Jews who criss-crossed Eurasia, travelling between France and China (covering Muslim lands, southern Russia, and India along the way), and the discovery of thousands of Abbasid coins in Scandinavia attests to the scope of this commercial activity. Even the spread of papermaking from China to the Near East is instructive in this context: our sources tell us that Muslims defeated a Chinese army in 751, capturing papermakers in the process from whom they learned the techniques themselves. What is interesting is that such hostile circumstances - a bloody battle in Central Asia - did little to hinder cross-cultural interaction and the spread of commodities, people, and ideas." From Adam J. Silverstein, Islamic History: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. What is Silverstein's claim about the relationship between conflict and cross-cultural interaction during the Abbasid Caliphate?

Conflict does not always limit cross-cultural exchange

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "Travel and trade also flourished in this period [...] One 9th-century writer tells us of [multi-lingual] Iraqi Jews who criss-crossed Eurasia, travelling between France and China (covering Muslim lands, southern Russia, and India along the way), and the discovery of thousands of Abbasid coins in Scandinavia attests to the scope of this commercial activity. Even the spread of papermaking from China to the Near East is instructive in this context: our sources tell us that Muslims defeated a Chinese army in 751, capturing papermakers in the process from whom they learned the techniques themselves. What is interesting is that such hostile circumstances - a bloody battle in Central Asia - did little to hinder cross-cultural interaction and the spread of commodities, people, and ideas." From Adam J. Silverstein, Islamic History: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Which of the following best describes the changes that took place in the Islamic world under the Abbasid Caliphate?

Cross-cultural contact increased as Abbasid traders moved beyond the Caliphate's borders

Before answering the question below, read the following passages: "And, perhaps most of all, the crusades brought many more Europeans than before into close contact with Muslims and Byzantines. It is no mere coincidence that Arabic was first studied in Europe in the twelfth century or, at the same time, European libraries began to fill up with books that had been long lost to Western scholars, but were now "found" in Muslim and Byzantine libraries and translated into Latin." From Judith M. Bennett and C. Warren Holister. Medieval Europe: A Short History (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 234-235. "Culturally Frankish society in the East remained basically provincial and thoroughly dependent on Europe. The Islamic influence which was so fruitful in Spain and Sicily was rigidly excluded in Outremer [Crusader states in the Holy Land]. The Franks coexisted with the Muslims but there was no symbiosis [cultural blending]. The number of those from the upper ranks of society who bothered to learn Arabic was tiny. Their everyday language (...) was French. (...) Only in superficial matters, dress, medicine, and domestic comforts was there any willingness to learn from Islam. " From Hans Eberhard Mayer, The Crusades (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 189. Which of the following is a historical claim that could be supported by using both Bennett and Hollister's argument and Mayer's argument?

Cross-cultural exchange during the crusades was more impactful in Europe itself than in Outremer

bill of exchange

Entitled the holder to a specified payment from a third party at a later date

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "Culturally Frankish society in the East remained basically provincial and thoroughly dependent on Europe. The Islamic influence which was so fruitful in Spain and Sicily was rigidly excluded in Outremer [Crusader states in the Holy Land]. The Franks coexisted with the Muslims but there was no symbiosis [cultural blending]. The number of those from the upper ranks of society who bothered to learn Arabic was tiny. Their everyday language (...) was French. (...) Only in superficial matters, dress, medicine, and domestic comforts was there any willingness to learn from Islam. " From Hans Eberhard Mayer, The Crusades (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 189. What is Mayer's argument about cross-cultural influences during the crusades?

Europeans in Outremer were resistant to cross-cultural influences

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "By comparison [to twelfth and thirteenth-century northern Italy], economic life in the Eastern world - in the Abbasid Caliphate or [Song] China - was far more advanced (...). To discover modern finance, Europe had to import it. In this, a crucial role was played by a young mathematician called Leonardo of Pisa, or Fibonacci. The son of a Pisan customs official based in what is now Bejaia in Algeria, the young Fibonacci had immersed himself in what he called the 'Indian method' of mathematics, a combination of Indian and Arab insights. His introduction of these ideas was to revolutionize the way Europeans counted. Nowadays he is best remembered for the Fibonacci sequence of numbers ... But the Fibonacci sequence as only one of many Eastern mathematical ideas introduced to Europe in his path-breaking book Liber Abaci, 'The Book of Calculation', which he published in 1202. In it, readers could find fractions explained, as well as the concept of present value...Most important of all was Fibonacci's introduction of Hindu-Arabic numerals. He not only gave Europe the decimal system, which makes all kinds of calculation far easier than with Roman numerals; he also showed how it could be applied to commercial bookkeeping, to currency conversions and, crucially, to the calculation of interest." From Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (New York: Penguin Press, 2008), 32-33. According to Ferguson, what did Fibonacci do that helped develop European finance?

Fibonacci took mathematical ideas developed in India and the Middle East and showed how they could be applied to business

The following question is based on the two passages referenced in this section. "When the Song dynasty came into power in 960, it had to accept a geopolitical system in which no state dominated all its neighbors. The Song continually had to negotiate power with the alien states on its borders. (...) This fear of alien regimes, particularly of the Liao and Xi Xia to the north, impeded the ability of the Han Chinese to recognize the regional achievements of these peoples. The "barbarians" were viewed as uncivilized intruders who disturbed the proper course of history, which meant Chinese history exclusively--the only history considered worthy of being investigated and recorded." From Dieter Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009), 20. "In Song times, under the influence of both Buddhism and Daoism, Confucian thinkers began to reorganize ancient Chinese thought and create the basis of a philosophical system known as the Learning of the Way. Far more than a single philosophical school, this movement -- often labeled neo-Confucianism in the West -- aimed primarily to establish a social and political order. It defined and reasserted a system of Chinese values . . . which served as the pivot for Song culture in both the public and private spheres. The thinkers responsible for this "renaissance" attempted to reestablish the superiority of Confucian philosophy over its Buddhist and Daoist rivals by first clearing out the errors that had infiltrated Confucian learning over the centuries. But during this practical process of rejuvenation, they incorporated aspects of Buddhist and Daoist doctrine and practice that humanized the Confucian program. Throughout the Song dynasty, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism were known as the "three doctrines," and each played a role at every level of society." From Dieter Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009), 99. Which of the following best describes how foreign ideas were usually dealt with in Song China?

Foreign ideas were often feared by many, but were also incorporated into Song policy and culture when convenient

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt: "By the sixteenth century, some European manufactured goods reached Timbuktu via the trans-Saharan trade, in particular cloth. There are today Arabic manuscripts from the 1500s copied in Timbuktu on paper that originated in the mills of northern France, Germany, or Italy—according to their watermarks. At the heart of Timbuktu's economy until the late 1500s, was the gold trade. From th[e gold trade], Timbuktu gained its fabled reputation in North Africa and Europe. The boom period began in the 1300s, when merchants from Djenné opened a route southward to the periphery of the forest zone, to what is now the Republic of Ghana. The gold, largely in the form of gold dust, was brought to Djenné overland, traded to Timbuktu by river, and there traded to Saharan and North African merchants, in exchange for rock salt but also all manner of other goods in trans-Saharan commerce." From "Timbuktu," Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. Which of the author's statements supports why the gold trade was the heart of Timbuktu's economy?

Gold was traded "in exchange for rock salt but also all manner of other goods in trans-Saharan commerce."

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Note: Jean Froissart, the author of this excerpt, lived from c. 1337-1405, so would have known of the Peasants' Revolt from firsthand accounts. He worked for various nobles and royals. "'Let us go to the king, he is young, and shew [show] him what servage we be in, and shew him how we will have it otherwise, or else we will provide us of some remedy [solution]; and if we go together, all manner of people that be now in any bondage will follow us to the intent to be made free; and when the king seeth us, we shall have some remedy, either by fairness or otherwise.' Thus John Ball said on Sundays, when the people issued out of the churches in the villages; wherefore many of the mean [common] people loved him, and such as intended to no goodness said how he said truth; and so they would murmur one with another in the fields and in the ways as they went together, affirming how John Ball said truth." From Jean Froissart, trans. Jean Bourchier, Lord Berners, The Chronicles of Froissart (New York: P.F. Collier and Son, 1910), 62-63. What was John Ball's message, according to Froissart?

If enough common people join together, the king will have to agree to their demands

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. The movement led by Muhammad and those who succeeded him, however it is to be identified, was a religious one, or more precisely had important religious components, and those components had considerable force. (...) The monotheism preached by Muhammad was of central importance, since it both demanded a radical break from the polytheism of pre-Islamic Arabia... and provided a channel for dialogue with Near Eastern Judaism and Christianity. More importantly, Muhammad's religious message had social and political implications, which were reflected most acutely in Umar's establishment of the diwan. [The ranking system based on tribal identity and role in the new Islamic community.] From Jonathan Berkey's The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 Which of the following best describes the relationship between Islam and politics?

Islam and politics were intertwined

What best describes the Arabian Peninsula in the late 6th century?

It consisted of many, fragmented tribes. There was no state structure and people were held in check by tribal law and inter-tribal blood feuds. Some tribes were nomadic while others were settled in cities.

Before answering the question below, read this passage carefully: "Those who were not slaves were not all free, for our period sees the development of a status of unfreedom which is not equal to slavery: it is serfdom. There were many routes to such servility: loss of an individual's land through poverty and debt, or through conquest followed by loss of land. The serf householder was attached to the land he and his family cultivated, and their tenure entailed important obligations which were the mark of servility. Serfs shared the produce of their labour with their lords, they were obliged to execute work at the lord's request, and they were limited in their right to travel. Serfs were often required to bring their corn for grinding in the lord's mill and their grapes to the lord's winepress, and to pay for a licence when they sought to marry outside the manor; a fine beast was paid to secure the passage of the serf's tenure to its heir. Their lives were hard, and often characterized by writers in our periods as being simple and rude. When bishop Rather of Verona around 930 wrote with guidance to Christians of all conditions, he advised the labourer: 'be not only fair, but hard-working, content with your lot, cheating no one, offending no one'." From Miri Rubin's The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction Why might a lord require serfs to use his mill and winepress?

It was a convenient way to collect a portion of the serf's harvest

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "By comparison [to twelfth and thirteenth-century northern Italy], economic life in the Eastern world - in the Abbasid Caliphate or [Song] China - was far more advanced (...). To discover modern finance, Europe had to import it. In this, a crucial role was played by a young mathematician called Leonardo of Pisa, or Fibonacci. The son of a Pisan customs official based in what is now Bejaia in Algeria, the young Fibonacci had immersed himself in what he called the 'Indian method' of mathematics, a combination of Indian and Arab insights. His introduction of these ideas was to revolutionize the way Europeans counted. Nowadays he is best remembered for the Fibonacci sequence of numbers ... But the Fibonacci sequence as only one of many Eastern mathematical ideas introduced to Europe in his path-breaking book Liber Abaci, 'The Book of Calculation', which he published in 1202. In it, readers could find fractions explained, as well as the concept of present value...Most important of all was Fibonacci's introduction of Hindu-Arabic numerals. He not only gave Europe the decimal system, which makes all kinds of calculation far easier than with Roman numerals; he also showed how it could be applied to commercial bookkeeping, to currency conversions and, crucially, to the calculation of interest." From Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (New York: Penguin Press, 2008), 32-33. Which of the following best summarizes Ferguson's argument in this passage?

Italian banking relied on the mathematical insights from other regions that Fibonacci brought together in Liber Abaci

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "Chinese records show tribute missions (trade) in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries and again in the tenth and eleventh. Srivijaya's "tribute" consisted of pepper, resins, rattans, ivory, plumes, birds' nests, turtles, sea cucumber, and mother-of-pearl; "gifts" from China's emperors to Srivijaya were industrial dyes, iron, ceramics, and silk. In the Chinese presentation, for seven hundred years a Sumatran state is recognized as a vassal, which acts as intermediary for many barbarian archipelago harbor states, bringing their tribute to China along with Srivijaya's own. In Chinese presentation, the honor of being a vassal is conferred by China, and it is taken away by China when the vassal proves itself unworthy. In 1380, Srivijaya was stripped of its special relationship to China and the honor of being China's vassal was transferred to the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit." from Jean Gelman Taylor, Indonesia: Peoples and Histories (Yale University Press, 2003), 24. What does this excerpt tell us generally about the relationship between two dynasties?

Large dynasties had the power to bestow an elevated status on smaller dynasties; both dynasties received goods as a result

Medieval Muslim women

Led very different lives from one another, depending on their class and the political context

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Note: the Malabar Coast referenced in this passage is the southwest coast of India. "The strategic link in the trade between India and China was the Strait of Malacca, connecting the Bay of Bengal with the South China Sea. Like the Malabar coast, the strait was a hinge [an essential point] in the monsoonal [seasonal wind] sailing system. Vessels crossing the Bay of Bengal eastbound on the summer monsoon could not normally reach China before the opposing northeast wind set in. Therefore they would winter in a port along the strait before continuing around the Malay Peninsula and across the South China Sea in April or May. Climatic reality encouraged India-based merchants to sell their goods in the strait towns, then return directly to Malabar on the winter wind. China shippers followed the same seasonal pattern of travel, only in reverse." From Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986). What does this excerpt tell us about the relationship between location and trading cities? Choose 1 answer:

Location can sometimes prove beneficial for a trading city

According to the article, the use of a common language, Old Malay, helped people in the Srivijaya Empire

Make efficient business transactions

Which of the following is the best definition of human migration?

Movement to a new area with the intent to settle

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "Conversion was a very gradual process. Although earlier Muslim and Western writers assumed that the region was forcibly, quickly, and massively converted to Islam, nowhere in the sources is there mention of the conversion of large numbers of people, or of whole villages, towns, and regions. The only known exception may be on the Byzantine frontier. The available evidence points, rather, to a slow and uneven process of social and religious transformations. Moreover, the "modern" notion of conversion does not correspond to the historical process by which individuals came to identify themselves as Muslim for a variety of political, economic, and social reasons. Conversion did not necessarily imply a profound inner spiritual change. There are a number of reasons for the slow pace of conversions. The Arab-Muslim elite assumed that they would form a dual society in which the conquerors would constitute an aristocracy and the conquered peoples a subject population: the former Muslim, the latter not. Arab elites were resistant to the conversion of masses of people partly to defend their exclusive privileges and partly to preserve the full revenue base of the regime. The early Muslim regime was also religiously tolerant of the non-Muslim populations. In the highly fluid social world of the seventh century, peoples of all ethnicities and religions blended into public life. Muslims and non-Muslims were not segregated in public spaces such as markets, baths, and festivals. In Syria, they even shared churches before the conquerors were ready to build mosques for themselves. The Muslims recognized or accepted these churches as holy places and may not have fully distinguished Islam from Christianity." From Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Which of the following developments made immediate conversion to Islam less urgent for conquered people? Choose all answers that apply:

Muslim rule brought few changes to an already diverse public life Muslims rulers were generally tolerant of other religions if they followed the rules

Dhimmi were

Non-Muslims who compromised a protected class provided they paid a special tax

The expansion of the civil service led to

People from less wealthy families gaining access to better jobs.

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "There are myriad historical, geographical, socioeconomic, religious-doctrinal, and legal differences within the category of women and Islam. Much of the variation in the situations of women in the Muslim world is governed by class as well as religious, ethnic, and social considerations. Women of the same social class have similar life experiences across ethnic, national, or religious lines. Wealthy women and working-class women in different societies may have more in common with one another than with women of other classes in their own communities. In addition, women who are Muslims are affected by non-Muslim practices, beliefs, and cultures." From Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. This passage is consistent with which of the following ideas?

Practices like veiling and seclusion were common in Muslim and non-Muslim societies, like the Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Persia

Although not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, what are considered the 5 pillars of Islam for Sunni Muslims? (85-90% of Muslims)

Praying 5 times a day Declaring and believing that "there is no god but GOd" and "Muhammad is God's messenger" Pilgrimage to Mecca Fasting during the holy month of ramadan Giving a percentage of one's wealth to the poor or needy

Before answering the question below, read this passage carefully: "What was this peasant who supported the three estates on his back, this bent Atlas of the medieval world who now struck terror through the seigneurial [lordly] class? Snub-nosed and rough in belted tunic and long hose, he can be seen in carved stone medallions and illuminated pages representing the twelve months, sowing from a canvas seed bag around his neck, scything hay bare-legged in summer's heat in loose blouse and straw hat, trampling grapes in a wooden vat, shearing sheep held between his knees, herding swine in the forest, tramping through the snow in hood and sheepskin mantle with a load of firewood on his back, warming himself before a fire in a low hut in February. Alongside him in the fields the peasant woman binds sheaves wearing a skirt caught up at the belt to free her legs and a cloth head-covering instead of a hat. (...) Originally he owed, in addition to agriculture, every kind of labor service needed on an estate—repair of roads, bridges, and moats, supply of firewood, care of stables and kennels, blacksmithing, laundering, spinning, weaving, and other crafts for the castle. By the 14th century much of this was done by hired hands and the castle's needs were supplied by purchase from towns and peddlers, leaving a large part of the peasantry on a rent-paying basis with a certain number of days' work owed on the lord's fields." from Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror How does the author describe a typical peasant on an estate?

Rough and hardworking

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "It did not take long, however, for Scandinavian merchant adventurers to become aware of a particular important fact of east European geography. While some of the rivers of European Russia flow north into the Baltic, others drain south into the Black and Caspian Seas. The whole area is so flat, moreover, that the headwaters of both north- and south-flowing rivers lie extraordinarily close together. A combination of tributaries, especially the west-east flowing River Oka, combined with carefully reconnoitered [observed, studied] portages, where ships were dragged usually on rollers from one set of connected river systems to another, allowed access to the Black and Caspian Seas via two major routes, the Dnieper [River] and the Volga [River]. The Volga route led straight to the Caspian Sea and the economically developed world of the Islamic Caliphs, by this date based on the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. There the taxes of a vast empire, stretching from the Atlantic to India, were being consumed by a court of stupendous magnificence. Here was the real center of demand for merchants with luxury goods to sell.... The Dnieper route, by contrast, was far more difficult, involving some awkward rapids around which boats had to be carried, and led out to the Black Sea...and the more natural trade axis led to Constantinople... Byzantium was a sadly reduced power from its glory days under Justinian, and the Islamic Caliphs and their court grandees represented a far richer market for the luxury goods that the Scandinavians had to offer." From Peter Heather, Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 473-474. How did environmental factors impact trade between Scandinavians in the Baltic region and the Abbasid Caliphate, based in Baghdad?

Scandinavian traders wanted to trade with the Abbasids, and were able to take advantage of geographic conditions that made travel easier

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "Chinese records show tribute missions (trade) in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries and again in the tenth and eleventh. Srivijaya's "tribute" consisted of pepper, resins, rattans, ivory, plumes, birds' nests, turtles, sea cucumber, and mother-of-pearl; "gifts" from China's emperors to Srivijaya were industrial dyes, iron, ceramics, and silk. In the Chinese presentation, for seven hundred years a Sumatran state is recognized as a vassal, which acts as intermediary for many barbarian archipelago harbor states, bringing their tribute to China along with Srivijaya's own. In Chinese presentation, the honor of being a vassal is conferred by China, and it is taken away by China when the vassal proves itself unworthy. In 1380, Srivijaya was stripped of its special relationship to China and the honor of being China's vassal was transferred to the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit." from Jean Gelman Taylor, Indonesia: Peoples and Histories (Yale University Press, 2003), 24. Which of the following best describes the relationship between Srivijaya and China?

Srivijaya had a good relationship with China, but it was conditional on China deciding to keep Srivijaya in good favor

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "It did not take long, however, for Scandinavian merchant adventurers to become aware of a particular important fact of east European geography. While some of the rivers of European Russia flow north into the Baltic, others drain south into the Black and Caspian Seas. The whole area is so flat, moreover, that the headwaters of both north- and south-flowing rivers lie extraordinarily close together. A combination of tributaries, especially the west-east flowing River Oka, combined with carefully reconnoitered [observed, studied] portages, where ships were dragged usually on rollers from one set of connected river systems to another, allowed access to the Black and Caspian Seas via two major routes, the Dnieper [River] and the Volga [River]. The Volga route led straight to the Caspian Sea and the economically developed world of the Islamic Caliphs, by this date based on the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. There the taxes of a vast empire, stretching from the Atlantic to India, were being consumed by a court of stupendous magnificence. Here was the real center of demand for merchants with luxury goods to sell.... The Dnieper route, by contrast, was far more difficult, involving some awkward rapids around which boats had to be carried, and led out to the Black Sea...and the more natural trade axis led to Constantinople... Byzantium was a sadly reduced power from its glory days under Justinian, and the Islamic Caliphs and their court grandees represented a far richer market for the luxury goods that the Scandinavians had to offer." From Peter Heather, Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 473-474. How did economic and political factors impact trade at this time between Scandinavians in the Baltic region and the Abbasid Caliphate, based in Baghdad? Choose 1 answer:

The Abbasids were more prosperous than the Byzantine, so they had greater demand for the goods the Scandinavians could trade

Unit test Problem Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "The [Inca] goal was to knit the scores of different groups in western South America—some as rich as the [Inca] themselves, some poor and disorganized, all speaking different languages—into a single bureaucratic framework under the direct rule of the emperor. The unity was not merely political: the [Inca]wanted to meld together the area's religion, economics, and arts. Their methods were audacious, brutal, and efficient: they removed entire populations from their homelands; shuttled them around the biggest road system on the planet, (...); and forced them to work with other groups, using only (...) the [Inca] language, on massive, faraway state farms and construction projects." From: Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (New York: Vintage Books, 2005), 71. Which of the following is evidence to support Mann's claim from the previous question?

The Inca relocated peoples from their homes, forced them to work on state projects, and use the Inca language

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "The [Inca] goal was to knit the scores of different groups in western South America—some as rich as the [Inca] themselves, some poor and disorganized, all speaking different languages—into a single bureaucratic framework under the direct rule of the emperor. The unity was not merely political: the [Inca]wanted to meld together the area's religion, economics, and arts. Their methods were audacious, brutal, and efficient: they removed entire populations from their homelands; shuttled them around the biggest road system on the planet, (...); and forced them to work with other groups, using only (...) the [Inca] language, on massive, faraway state farms and construction projects." From: Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (New York: Vintage Books, 2005), 71. What does Mann claim that the Inca were trying to achieve?

The Inca wanted to solidify political control by imposing cultural and economic unity

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Whatever the reason, it is clear that the empires of Byzantium and Persia failed to keep in check the steppe peoples within and beyond their borders in the late sixth and early seventh centuries. The Turks, Avars, and Arabs are all able to make significant encroachments over the course of this period. The same can be said for China where the Wei dynasty collapsed in 534 and decades of infighting ensued, which was reduced somewhat by the Sui dynasty (589-618) but only properly brought under control with the establishment of the Tang dynasty by Emperor Gaozu (618-26). The Persian Empire suffered the most, since its capital, Seleucia-Ctesiphon, was dangerously close to the steppe lands, and the deserts and mountains within its realm favored regional autonomy and limited centralization. Ignominious [shameful] defeat at the hands of Emperor Heraclius and an ensuing civil war fatally weakened the regime's ability to respond when the Arabs overran their lands. The capitals of the Byzantine and Chinese empires, on the other hand, were far from the steppe and extremely well defended, and the empires themselves, organized around large bodies of water (the Mediterranean Sea and the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, respectively), were reasonably well integrated. This meant that though they also suffered many defeats at the hands of steppe raiders, they were able to weather the storm. The Avars and Turks clearly had ambitions to penetrate further into the lands of Byzantium and Persia, but they were coming from the difficult northern and eastern sides of the two empires, where they faced substantial man-made and natural obstacles, whereas the Arabs were directly adjacent to the soft southern underbellies of these empires, and so it was they who ultimately triumphed in this seventh-century great game. From Robert Hoyland's In God's Path: The Arab Conquest Based on this excerpt, what statement best explains the rapidity of Islamic expansion in the 7th century?

The Persian Empire was significantly weakened by years of war with the Byzantines, followed by a civil war and Turkish Invasion. This opened it to further conquest by the armies of the caliphs.

Read the following passage and answer the question: The Bantu did not overrun all the Khoisan, who did survive in the southern African areas unsuitable for Bantu agriculture. The southernmost Bantu people, the Xhosa, stopped at the Fish River on South Africa's south coast, 500 miles east of Cape [of Good Hope]. It's not that the Cape of Good Hope itself is too dry for agriculture: it is, after all, the breadbasket of modern South Africa. Instead, the Cape has a Mediterranean climate of winter rains, in which the Bantu summer-rain crops do not grow. From Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999), 196-197. What is Diamond's argument for why Bantu speakers did not settle beyond the Fish River? Choose 1 answer:

The climate south of the Fish River was not suitable for crops grown by Bantu speakers

Inconoclasm was

The destruction or prohibition of religious icons and other images or monuments for religious or political motives

Read the following passage and answer the question: Again and again, when a single wave of colonists spread out over diverse environments, their descendants developed in separate ways, depending on those environmental differences. For instance, we have seen that South Chinese developed indigenous food production and technology, received writing and still more technology and political structures from North China, and went on to colonize tropical Southeast Asia (...). Within Southeast Asia, among the descendants or relatives of those food-producing South Chinese colonists (...) in the mountain rain forests of northeastern Thailand and Laos reverted to living as hunter-gatherers, while the[ir] close relatives the Vietnamese remained food producers in the rich Red Delta and established a vast metal-based empire. (...) Austronesian emigrant farmers (...) in the rain forests of Borneo were forced to turn back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, while their relatives living on Java's rich volcanic soils remained food producers, founded a kingdom under the influence of India, adopted writing, and built the great Buddhist monument at Borobudur. The Austronesians who went on to colonize Polynesia became isolated from East Asian metallurgy and writing and hence remained without writing or metal. From Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999), 196-197. What is Diamond's argument about the role of environment in shaping human societies as they migrate to new areas?

The environment plays a large role in how a society will develop in a given area

Before answering the question, re-read this excerpt by historian Yakut, describing Baghdad in the tenth century: "The city of Baghdad formed two vast semi-circles on the right and left banks of the Tigris, twelve miles in diameter. The numerous suburbs, covered with parks, gardens, villas, and beautiful promenades, and plentifully supplied with rich bazaars, and finely built mosques and baths, stretched for a considerable distance on both sides of the river. In the days of its prosperity the population of Baghdad and its suburbs amounted to over two [million]! The palace of the Caliph stood in the midst of a vast park several hours in circumference, which beside a menagerie and aviary comprised an enclosure for wild animals reserved for the chase. The palace grounds were laid out with gardens and adorned with exquisite taste with plants, flowers, and trees, reservoirs and fountains, surrounded by sculpted figures. On this side of the river stood the palaces of the great nobles. Immense streets, none less than forty cubits wide, traversed the city from one end to the other, dividing it into blocks or quarters, each under the control of an overseer or supervisor, who looked after the cleanliness, sanitation and the comfort of the inhabitants." From Michael Hamilton Morgan, Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2007), 60-61 What might a historian conclude about the environment of Baghdad in relation to its community of scholars?

The high quality of life for residents in Baghdad fostered an environment where learning was possible

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "And, perhaps most of all, the crusades brought many more Europeans than before into close contact with Muslims and Byzantines. It is no mere coincidence that Arabic was first studied in Europe in the twelfth century or, at the same time, European libraries began to fill up with books that had been long lost to Western scholars, but were now "found" in Muslim and Byzantine libraries and translated into Latin." From Judith M. Bennett and C. Warren Holister. Medieval Europe: A Short History (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 234-235. What is Bennett and Hollister's argument about the impact of the crusades on Europe?

The increased contact between Europeans, Byzantines, and Muslims led to knowledge being (re)introduced into Europe

Before answering the question, re-read this excerpt by historian Yakut, describing Baghdad in the tenth century: "The city of Baghdad formed two vast semi-circles on the right and left banks of the Tigris, twelve miles in diameter. The numerous suburbs, covered with parks, gardens, villas, and beautiful promenades, and plentifully supplied with rich bazaars, and finely built mosques and baths, stretched for a considerable distance on both sides of the river. In the days of its prosperity the population of Baghdad and its suburbs amounted to over two [million]! The palace of the Caliph stood in the midst of a vast park several hours in circumference, which beside a menagerie and aviary comprised an enclosure for wild animals reserved for the chase. The palace grounds were laid out with gardens and adorned with exquisite taste with plants, flowers, and trees, reservoirs and fountains, surrounded by sculpted figures. On this side of the river stood the palaces of the great nobles. Immense streets, none less than forty cubits wide, traversed the city from one end to the other, dividing it into blocks or quarters, each under the control of an overseer or supervisor, who looked after the cleanliness, sanitation and the comfort of the inhabitants." From Michael Hamilton Morgan, Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2007), 60-61 What might have been the effect of placing the palace of the Caliph "in the midst of a vast park several hours in circumference"? Choose 1 answer:

The palace stood out as a grand building seperated from the living quarters of others, making it clear who the ruler was

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow. Pay attention to how the historical context of trade and military interaction affected how plague spread. The Tartars [Mongols of the Golden Horde] set on [attacked] a Genoese trading station in the city of Tana and chased the merchants to their redoubt [fort] at Caffa... a town on the Crimean coast which the Genoese had built and fortified as a base from which to trade with the [East]...Their plans were disastrously disturbed by the plague which was soon taking heavy toll of the besiegers...[F]ew places are so vulnerable to disease as a besieged city and it was not long before the plague was as active within the city as without... [The Genoese] took to their galleys and fled from the Black Sea towards the Mediterranean. With them travelled the plague. One of the main trade routes by which the spices and silks from the East reached the European market was by way of Baghdad and then along the Tigris [River] and through Armenia to the entrepot [trading] stations of the Italian merchants in the Crimea. Nothing is more likely than that the plague should travel with the great caravans and spread itself among the [Mongols] of the Crimea. From: Philip Ziegler, The Black Death (New York: Harper Perennial, 2009, 1969), 15-16. Which of the following claims connecting can be supported by evidence from this passage?

The plague was able to spread across Asia and Europe largely due to the interconnectedness of trade routes.

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. The movement led by Muhammad and those who succeeded him, however it is to be identified, was a religious one, or more precisely had important religious components, and those components had considerable force. (...) The monotheism preached by Muhammad was of central importance, since it both demanded a radical break from the polytheism of pre-Islamic Arabia... and provided a channel for dialogue with Near Eastern Judaism and Christianity. More importantly, Muhammad's religious message had social and political implications, which were reflected most acutely in Umar's establishment of the diwan. [The ranking system based on tribal identity and role in the new Islamic community.] From Jonathan Berkey's The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 Which of the following best describes the development of new faith traditions?

They develop in concert with the faiths around them, rejecting elements of some, and picking up cultural influences of others as new converts join

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "The age of Constantine the Great can reasonably be seen as the watershed between the old Roman Empire and the new Byzantine Empire. Such a division is, to some degree, artificial, dependent on historians' need to break the past up into comprehensible chunks: many elements of ancient civilization survived for centuries into the Byzantine period, and many historians regard Byzantium as, in fact, a survival of the ancient world. Indeed - as we have seen - the Byzantines themselves recognized their connection to the Roman Empire and, for the whole of the Byzantine Empire (and even after its fall!) they continued to refer to themselves as "Romans." Nonetheless, it is clear that the early fourth century witnessed many new phenomena that were henceforth to characterize the Byzantine Empire, and what emerged from those changes was a society significantly different from what had come before. The most significant of these changes were the emergence of Christianity as the favored (and then the official) religion of the state and the creation of Constantinople as the new urban center of the empire on the shores of the Bosphoros, mid-way between all the empire's frontiers. The period was also marked by many other changes, some connected with these two overarching phenomena, others independent of them, and many with deep roots in the crises of the third century. These changes did not take place in a single moment and many of them took years, or even centuries, to work themselves out, one of the reasons that led historians to view the Byzantine period, or at least its early years, as one of transformation, as a bridge between the ancient and the medieval worlds, or even between the ancient and the modern worlds." From Timothy E. Gregory, A History of Byzantium. Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. What best summarizes the argument of this passage?

Though the Byzantine Empire shared some features in common with the Roman Empire, it differed most significantly in its religious character and urban center

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Note: Jean Froissart, the author of this excerpt, lived from c. 1337-1405, so would have known of the Peasants' Revolt from firsthand accounts. He worked for various nobles and royals. "'Let us go to the king, he is young, and shew [show] him what servage we be in, and shew him how we will have it otherwise, or else we will provide us of some remedy [solution]; and if we go together, all manner of people that be now in any bondage will follow us to the intent to be made free; and when the king seeth us, we shall have some remedy, either by fairness or otherwise.' Thus John Ball said on Sundays, when the people issued out of the churches in the villages; wherefore many of the mean [common] people loved him, and such as intended to no goodness said how he said truth; and so they would murmur one with another in the fields and in the ways as they went together, affirming how John Ball said truth." From Jean Froissart, trans. Jean Bourchier, Lord Berners, The Chronicles of Froissart (New York: P.F. Collier and Son, 1910), 62-63. How did Ball's message spread?

Through Ball's preaching and conversations between common people

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow. Pay attention to how the historical context of trade and military interaction affected how plague spread. The Tartars [Mongols of the Golden Horde] set on [attacked] a Genoese trading station in the city of Tana and chased the merchants to their redoubt [fort] at Caffa... a town on the Crimean coast which the Genoese had built and fortified as a base from which to trade with the [East]...Their plans were disastrously disturbed by the plague which was soon taking heavy toll of the besiegers...[F]ew places are so vulnerable to disease as a besieged city and it was not long before the plague was as active within the city as without... [The Genoese] took to their galleys and fled from the Black Sea towards the Mediterranean. With them travelled the plague. One of the main trade routes by which the spices and silks from the East reached the European market was by way of Baghdad and then along the Tigris [River] and through Armenia to the entrepot [trading] stations of the Italian merchants in the Crimea. Nothing is more likely than that the plague should travel with the great caravans and spread itself among the [Mongols] of the Crimea. From: Philip Ziegler, The Black Death (New York: Harper Perennial, 2009, 1969), 15-16. Once in Crimea, how did the plague get to Europe?

Through Genoese traders who carried the plague on their ships.

Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow. Pay attention to how the historical context of trade and military interaction affected how plague spread. The Tartars [Mongols of the Golden Horde] set on [attacked] a Genoese trading station in the city of Tana and chased the merchants to their redoubt [fort] at Caffa... a town on the Crimean coast which the Genoese had built and fortified as a base from which to trade with the [East]...Their plans were disastrously disturbed by the plague which was soon taking heavy toll of the besiegers...[F]ew places are so vulnerable to disease as a besieged city and it was not long before the plague was as active within the city as without... [The Genoese] took to their galleys and fled from the Black Sea towards the Mediterranean. With them travelled the plague. One of the main trade routes by which the spices and silks from the East reached the European market was by way of Baghdad and then along the Tigris [River] and through Armenia to the entrepot [trading] stations of the Italian merchants in the Crimea. Nothing is more likely than that the plague should travel with the great caravans and spread itself among the [Mongols] of the Crimea. From: Philip Ziegler, The Black Death (New York: Harper Perennial, 2009, 1969), 15-16. How did the plague most likely travel from the Far East to the Mongols in the Crimea, according to Ziegler?

Through caravan routes that crossed central Asia.

How did environmental factors impact trade routes>

Trade relationships were determined by economic factors; environmental factors determined the the specific routes used

What made migration in the Pacific possible?

Transportation technology that allowed for long-distance ocean travel

Read the following passage and answer the question: Again and again, when a single wave of colonists spread out over diverse environments, their descendants developed in separate ways, depending on those environmental differences. For instance, we have seen that South Chinese developed indigenous food production and technology, received writing and still more technology and political structures from North China, and went on to colonize tropical Southeast Asia (...). Within Southeast Asia, among the descendants or relatives of those food-producing South Chinese colonists (...) in the mountain rain forests of northeastern Thailand and Laos reverted to living as hunter-gatherers, while the[ir] close relatives the Vietnamese remained food producers in the rich Red Delta and established a vast metal-based empire. (...) Austronesian emigrant farmers (...) in the rain forests of Borneo were forced to turn back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, while their relatives living on Java's rich volcanic soils remained food producers, founded a kingdom under the influence of India, adopted writing, and built the great Buddhist monument at Borobudur. The Austronesians who went on to colonize Polynesia became isolated from East Asian metallurgy and writing and hence remained without writing or metal. From Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999), 196-197. Which of the following could accurately describe the relationship between migration and technology?

Where people can migrate is determined by available technology

Which of the following factors most strongly influenced Bantu migration patterns?

Whether the climate was suited to their agricultural practices

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "There are myriad historical, geographical, socioeconomic, religious-doctrinal, and legal differences within the category of women and Islam. Much of the variation in the situations of women in the Muslim world is governed by class as well as religious, ethnic, and social considerations. Women of the same social class have similar life experiences across ethnic, national, or religious lines. Wealthy women and working-class women in different societies may have more in common with one another than with women of other classes in their own communities. In addition, women who are Muslims are affected by non-Muslim practices, beliefs, and cultures." From Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Which of the following best summarizes the argument of this passage?

Women in the Muslim world had very different experiences, depending on things like class and social status.

Before answering the question below, read the following passage: "There are myriad historical, geographical, socioeconomic, religious-doctrinal, and legal differences within the category of women and Islam. Much of the variation in the situations of women in the Muslim world is governed by class as well as religious, ethnic, and social considerations. Women of the same social class have similar life experiences across ethnic, national, or religious lines. Wealthy women and working-class women in different societies may have more in common with one another than with women of other classes in their own communities. In addition, women who are Muslims are affected by non-Muslim practices, beliefs, and cultures." From Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. What does Lapidus claim about the effect of class on the lives of women in the Muslim world?

Women of similar social classes often had similar experiences to one another.

Formariage or merchet is the practice of

a peasant paying a fee to a lord before receiving permission to marry outside the lord's land.

The Triple Alliance was

a political agreement between three Mexica city-states

A strain of quick-growing rice imported from southeast Asia led to

a population growth in China

Peasant is a term describing

a small-scale farmer

Historians have learned a lot about the Srivijaya Empire through

accounts of trade that merchants from China and India logged

A city-state is

an independent political unit consisting of a city and its surrounding territory

Roman legal reforms in the third century CE led to coloni status

becoming hereditary, passed from parent to child

Cities helped to make the trading process easier by

bringing many potential buyers and sellers together in a single place

A tributary empire exercises power by

collecting payments from weaker states

Usury was

earning a profit from changing interest on loans

The crusades altered trade patterns in the Mediterranean Sea by

establishing Christian outposts in previously Muslim and Byzantine regions

One way Srivijaya rulers expanded their power was by

establishing themselves as religious leaders

The crusades changed Europe by

expanding its economic networks, thus increasing its access to knowledge and technology

Relationships between Christians and Muslims during the crusades were

frequently changing as dictated by local circumstances

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "In Song times, under the influence of both Buddhism and Daoism, Confucian thinkers began to reorganize ancient Chinese thought and create the basis of a philosophical system known as the Learning of the Way. Far more than a single philosophical school, this movement -- often labeled neo-Confucianism in the West -- aimed primarily to establish a social and political order. It defined and reasserted a system of Chinese values . . . which served as the pivot for Song culture in both the public and private spheres. The thinkers responsible for this "renaissance" attempted to re-establish the superiority of Confucian philosophy over its Buddhist and Daoist rivals by first clearing out the errors that had infiltrated Confucian learning over the centuries. But during this practical process of rejuvenation, they incorporated aspects of Buddhist and Daoist doctrine and practice that humanized the Confucian program. Throughout the Song dynasty, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism were known as the "three doctrines," and each played a role at every level of society." From Dieter Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009), 99. Which of the following claims about the relationship between philosophical, cultural, and political systems does Kuhn's argument support?

it can have a profound impact on an empire's cultural and political unity

Hangzhou's location made it a trading city because

it linked China to international trade routes

Wage laws were passed after the plague to

keep laborer's wages at pre-plague levels

The plague hit Europe hardest during the

mid-fourteenth century

A strait is a

narrow choke point that connects two bigger bodies of water

The Song civil service examinations and teachings were based largely on

neo-Confucian thought

Justinian I contributed to the development of the Byzantine state in which of the following ways?

organizing the legal code

Historians call this the Golden Age of Islam because, during this time,

scholars preserved the knowledge from ancient texts and fostered new innovations

The Jacquerie in France

showed that the elites saw the lower classes as a singular group

Which caliphate was not dynastic?

the Rashidun caliphate

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Note: The Song Chinese considered themselves ethnically Han. This comes from the cultural and linguistic foundation established by the Han Dynasty. Most Chinese today still consider themselves ethnically Han. "When the Song dynasty came into power in 960, it had to accept a geopolitical system in which no state dominated all its neighbors. The Song continually had to negotiate power with the alien states on its borders. (...) This fear of alien regimes, particularly of the Liao and Xi Xia to the north, impeded the ability of the Han Chinese to recognize the regional achievements of these peoples. The "barbarians" were viewed as uncivilized intruders who disturbed the proper course of history, which meant Chinese history exclusively--the only history considered worthy of being investigated and recorded." From Dieter Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009), 20. The Song Chinese people's description of outside groups as "barbarians" and their unwillingness to recognize any history outside of Chinese history indicates that

the Song Chinese had a strong sense of cultural unity or identity

Before answering the question below, read this passage carefully: "Those who were not slaves were not all free, for our period sees the development of a status of unfreedom which is not equal to slavery: it is serfdom. There were many routes to such servility: loss of an individual's land through poverty and debt, or through conquest followed by loss of land. The serf householder was attached to the land he and his family cultivated, and their tenure entailed important obligations which were the mark of servility. Serfs shared the produce of their labour with their lords, they were obliged to execute work at the lord's request, and they were limited in their right to travel. Serfs were often required to bring their corn for grinding in the lord's mill and their grapes to the lord's winepress, and to pay for a licence when they sought to marry outside the manor; a fine beast was paid to secure the passage of the serf's tenure to its heir. Their lives were hard, and often characterized by writers in our periods as being simple and rude. When bishop Rather of Verona around 930 wrote with guidance to Christians of all conditions, he advised the labourer: 'be not only fair, but hard-working, content with your lot, cheating no one, offending no one'." From Miri Rubin's The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction Which choice best describes the interaction between serf and lord in this passage?

the lord did as much as he possibly could to keep the serf on his land

The reason historians tend to focus studies of the Black Death on Europe is that

there aren't as many sources documenting it elsewhere

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. Note: the Malabar Coast referenced in this passage is the southwest coast of India. "The strategic link in the trade between India and China was the Strait of Malacca, connecting the Bay of Bengal with the South China Sea. Like the Malabar coast, the strait was a hinge [an essential point] in the monsoonal [seasonal wind] sailing system. Vessels crossing the Bay of Bengal eastbound on the summer monsoon could not normally reach China before the opposing northeast wind set in. Therefore they would winter in a port along the strait before continuing around the Malay Peninsula and across the South China Sea in April or May. Climatic reality encouraged India-based merchants to sell their goods in the strait towns, then return directly to Malabar on the winter wind. China shippers followed the same seasonal pattern of travel, only in reverse." From Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986). What advantage did the monsoons, or seasonal wind systems, give the towns along the Strait of Malacca?

they helped boost the economy since Chinese and Indian traders would sell goods there while waiting to travel

Fibonacci's Liber Abaci

took useful mathematical concepts developed in india and the Middle East and explicitly applied them to commercial transactions

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt. "[O]ne could argue that there had never been a southern seas "empire" of Srivijaya's scale and organization before. Its dependencies were strung along the coastal and [river] ports of the archipelago, supplying the requisite trade items. By substituting local products of "comparable value" for Middle Eastern goods that were headed for the China market ... such as Sumatran camphor for Arabian frankincense, Srivijaya distinguished itself as more than a mere middleman or one of the transit-stations along the maritime silk road. Together with the tolls charged on transiting ships, this commercial windfall could pay for a navy that was sufficiently powerful to prevent challenges to Srivijaya's monopoly. In return, the dependencies received a share of the wealth, piracy diminished (thanks to many of the pirates, or sea nomads, being recruited by the Srivijayan navy) and international traders found safe harbours, storage facilities for their goods, an emporium of products from surrounding jungle and seas, and recreation while awaiting a change in the seasonal monsoonal winds for their return journey." from Rosita Dellios and R. James Ferguson ("Thinking Through Srivijaya: Polycentric Networks in Traditional Southeast Asia"), 6-7. The exchanges that are called "tribute" and "gifts" between Srivijaya and China are most nearly another form of Choose 1 answer:

trade

The primary goal of the translation movement was to

translate Greek texts into Arabic

As a result of the plague, Europe

underwent an economic transformation

The process of a city increasing in population and more people moving into cities is called

urbanization

Before answering the question, read the following excerpt: "The period of the Abbasid caliphate is often called the Islamic Golden Age. The development of papermaking had spread, and by 900 there were many hundreds of shops in Baghdad where scribes, scriveners, bookbinders, and booksellers started producing books in such a manner that it was not long before public libraries were established. The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco, was established in 859, and this was followed by Al-Azhar University, Cairo, in 975. The former was the first to grant degrees, and the latter was the first to offer a variety of degrees, including degrees for postgraduates. In the case of Avicenna (ca. 980-1037), the best physician and philosopher of his time, it was his book Canon of Medicine that proved to be important in the diagnosing of many diseases and medical conditions such as cancer. Prior to the increase in book production, his ideas would not have flourished in the manner in which they did." From "Abbasids," Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, & Africa: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications, 2012. The author argues that

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