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Beginning around 100, accelerating around 340, and slowing down by ca. 500, a large and diverse group of European tribesmen called [BLANK-1] migrated across Europe, generally moving West and North. This group included large factions known as Germans (including the Franks, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians, Anglo-Saxons, etc). and the Celts (whom the Romans called Gauls). These groups were under population pressures, first from Roman expansion and later from the invasion of the Huns; they were also searching for valuable land, goods, and food supplies due to the slight global cooling experienced in late antiquity. They received their name because they did not speak Greek or Latin, and the Greeks and Romans perceived them to be speaking nonsense syllables (akin to blah-blah or yada yada). These groups would set up patriarchal and hereditary kingdoms in some lands (France, England, Germany, North Africa, etc.) and would blend their culture with that of the Romans. For instance, many of these groups would convert to Christianity in large numbers. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the cities established by Rome declined and these groups were unable to maintain much of the technology and knowledge that had been common in Roman times (for instance, they did not know how to make glass or roof tiles) and they failed to maintain Roman roads and aqueducts. Most of the kingdoms these groups established were short lived; the obvious exception to this rule was the Frankish Kingdom, which reached its height with the rule of Charlemagne.

Rome’s third-century crisis ended when [BLANK-1] rose through the ranks of the military to take Rome’s throne in 284 C.E., ending the period of chaos. This Roman ruler adopted the court ceremonies and trappings of the Persian Empire. He also split the empire in half in 293, dividing the Roman Empire into the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. He ruled the Eastern Roman Empire himself and gave a colleague the title augustus and the power to rule the western part.

During the Italian Renaissance, the subjects of artwork differed dramatically from those that had been commissioned by the Catholic Church during the Medieval Period. The Catholic Church had focused exclusively on religious subjects, usually of a repetitive theme such as the Crucifixion or Mother Mary holding the Baby Jesus (Madonna and Child). During the Renaissance, however, private patrons outside church control commissioned artists to paint, sculpt, or draw other topics. Portraits of wives, mistresses, or family members, as well as still life subjects such as fruit, larders, flowers, or depictions of the banal became known as [BLANK-1]. The Catholic Church found these artistic depictions obscene and objectionable because they did not relate to historical or religious subjects.

Invasions from great seafaring, warlike “Northmen” called [BLANK-1] around 800-941 led to serious crises in continental Europe, as states struggled to defend local villages and monasteries from attack. These Northmen originated in Scandinavia and extended their power there; by the ninth century, they regularly raided European monasteries and villages with deck-less boats that held around 50 men. They would rape, pillage, and plunder, and leave the communities devastated. The inability of state governments to effectively repel these attacks revealed their relative weakness and led to the rise of feudalism as a solution to provide better local protection for Europeans. The raids of these Northmen were remarkably widespread in the ninth and tenth centuries, originating in Scandinavia but ranging as widely as France, the British Isles, Spain, Russia, Anatolia, Iceland, Greenland, and North Africa. One group challenged Anglo-Saxon rule in Britain and eventually merged and intermarried with the Anglo-Saxon royal family.

Key Term Bank​Anasazi Cultures​Andalusia​Arabian Camels​Bactrian Camels​The Battle of Hattin​Book of the Gods and Rites​The Delhi Sultanate​Esoteric Buddhism​Fulcher of Chartres​Guidance: Alms, Marriage, and Testimony​The Gupta Empire​Honen Buddhism​Joseph de Acosta​Khanates​Llamas​Magyars​Mahmud of Ghazni​Mongols​Peasants​The Pyramid of the Sun​Scholasticism​Serfs​Shinran Buddhism​The Tale of Genji​The Tale of Heike​The Tea Trade​Turks​Vikings​Xiongnu​Yi Song-gye

Part 1 (30%): Instructions: using the word bank provided above, answer each of the following twenty fill-in-the-blank questions with the term that fits best. Once an option from the word bank has been used, it will not appear again. Several terms from the word bank will not be used. Make sure you attempt an answer for each question, even if you must guess. A logical guess using deductive reasoning is better than a blank answer.

Around 197, a Christian convert named [BLANK-1] presented a defense of Christianity against Roman persecution. This person particularly objected to the unjust practice of Romans banning Christians from saying anything in their own defense.

Part 3 Essay Question (40%): Your essay should have an introduction with a clear and specific thesis, a body with evidence, and a conclusion that reinforces your central argument. Select the option you feel the most comfortable with and answer it to the best of your ability. You may find it helpful to write out a brief outline of the essay before you begin writing.Choose ONE (1):Put the development of American civilizations in a global context. Compare and contrast the formation of American civilizations with the formation of civilizations in Africa, Europe, or Asia. What major differences can be found between these societies? List the major similarities that exist in the development of American civilization and civilizations that developed elsewhere in the world. Why are historians particularly interested in these similarities and what can they potentially tell us about all human societies?Identify and describe the Samurai of Medieval Japan. Who were these people and what was their importance to society? What services did Samurai provide and to whom did they provide those services? How were Samurais rewarded for their service? What code did the Samurai live by and what values comprised that code? What were the consequences for a Samurai that failed to live up to their code of honor?Trace the basic outline of Hell in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. Describe Dante’s concept of contrapasso as it relates to his map of Hell in Inferno. Point to several circles of hell, their occupants, and their punishments; how do those punishments reflect contrapasso? In what ways is Dante’s Inferno a useful source for historians who want to explore the values of Medieval Europe? What medieval values seem to be prized based on your analysis of the book? What sins are among the worse in medieval society? Why?

A Granada-born Spanish Muslim named Al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi was captured by Spanish Christian pirates, delivered to Pope Leo X, and baptized. When he converted to Christianity in the sixteenth century, he was re-Christened [BLANK-1] and worked for the pope to write a travelogue called History and Description of Africa. There, he described the wealthy and cosmopolitan African cities of Cabra, Gago, and Tombuto (Timbuktu).

Florence was the center of the Italian Renaissance and became notable for its unique Renaissance-era architecture. Florence’s celebrated building of this style is [BLANK-1] designed by the Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446).