Blog

Also known as the Ancestral Pueblos, [BLANK-1] were ancient Native American groups that were located in the four-corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah and built sites like Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. They were noted for their adobe cliff dwellings and their vast trade network through which coastal shells, timber, and other goods circulated. They tended to be organized into matrilineal groups.

[BLANK-1] described the cultural importance of the tianguiz, or marketplace, in Mexica society. Marketplaces were held in extremely high esteem, housed shrines with food offerings, and had feast days dedicated to their honor. Marketplaces specialized in certain goods, with the marketplaces in Azcapotzalco and Itzocan dedicated to selling slaves (usually prisoners of war who would be used as human sacrifices). The slaves set aside for human sacrifice would be ritually bathed, dressed in fine clothes, treated divinely, given the best food to eat, and then sacrificed to the gods.

Around 320, after more than a century of political fragmentation following the collapse of the Mauryan Empire, much of northern India was unified into a state of Indian self-rule called [BLANK-1]. It was founded by Chandragupta I (who took his imperial name from a previous Mauryan ruler). It was a Hindu state, but was religiously tolerant of other faiths and saw major advances in the sciences and arts. Arabic numerals (the numerical system that we use today) and place-value notation were invented in this Indian state. The government was decentralized with a quarter harvest tax and a monopoly on salts and metals. An invasion by the Huns in 450 was repelled, but it fatally weakened the state which collapsed around 480.

Victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, a major triumph for Henry V during the Hundred Years’ War, was largely achieved because [BLANK-1] were able to effectively counter the French cavalry in muddy conditions on the battlefield.

[BLANK-1] chronicles the Japanese civil war waged between the Minamoto and Taira clans, but is written from the perspective of the losing Taira clan. It was not written by one author, but rather countless authors, poets, and bards who added their own embellishments or additions as the story was retold. It was ultimately compiled around the middle of the thirteenth century. The story includes the battle at Dan No Ura as well as details about the suicide of the Japanese child-emperor and the Lady Nii.

Written in the early decades of the 1000s by a Lady of the Court of Heian Japan, Murasaki Shikibu, [BLANK-1] is Japan’s most celebrated literary achievement. It provided valuable insight into court life in the Heian Period, and particularly highlighted women’s perspectives and their place at court. In the story, Murasaki provided an elite woman’s perspective on marriage, advising wives not to cause a commotion over a slight disagreement with her husband, but to drop subtle hints of her displeasure if the husband’s actions have offended her.

Part 2 Short Answer ID Terms (30%): A short answer ID should briefly address the basic journalistic questions: who or what, when, where, and why. Be sure to discuss the historical significance – this is the most important part of your ID term. Each answer should be written in a paragraph of at least 4-5 sentences. Do not leave any portion of the five options you choose blank – it is best to write something, even if you must guess somewhat. Partial credit is better than nothing.Answer FIVE (5) of the following terms:The Aztec Warrior AristocracyThe Children’s CrusadeChinggis KhanCourtly LoveKhipuMongol WarfareOlmec Religious BeliefsSaladinThe Song DynastyZhu Xi

A former nun named Katharina von Bora converted to Lutheranism and became the first member of a new religious position: [BLANK-1]. She and others like her were expected to exemplify respectability.

[BLANK-1] was one of the most celebrated artists and thinkers of the Italian Renaissance. He was known as a Renaissance Man because he excelled in multiple artistic forms: painting, drawing, and engineering. He worked in Florence (the center of Renaissance genius) and effectively established a unique style in his artwork. He proposed a number of engineering models (including a flying machine similar to the helicopter – an invention that wouldn’t exist for another 600 years) and expressed a fascination with anatomy and anatomical perspective (his sketches of human organs suggest that either he or an assistant resorted to grave robbing in order to effectively understand the human body and his sketch, “Vitruvian Man” is celebrated for creating “perfect proportions” for the human body in artwork). He is known for his celebrated paintings, “The Mona Lisa,” “The Last Supper,” “Madonna of the Rocks,” and “Lady with an Ermine.”

Joan of Arc was a vassal to the Dauphin, the uncrowned king of France known as [BLANK-1], during the Hundred Years’ War. The Dauphin gave Joan command of armies that led to the liberation of Orléans and Reims. These victories allowed the Dauphin to be crowned King of France and paved the way for French victory in the lengthy war. This king, however, sacrificed Joan of Arc like a pawn. When she was captured by Burgundians, they offered to ransom her to the king. Despite all she had done for the king, he did not want to pay the money for her ransom – a decision that led to her death. As king, this man revived the monarchy and France after the dreadful 116-year long Hundred Years’ War. He reorganized the royal council, strengthened royal finances, and created the first permanent royal army anywhere in Europe.