Deck 13: Dynamic Centuries Across Afroeurasia, 1000-1250

Question 1

Which of the following was an important difference between the Tang and Song dynasties?

A) Unlike the Tang, the Song rejected Buddhism in favor of Confucianism.
B) Unlike the Tang, the Song relied on a patron-client system to rule China.
C) Unlike the Tang, the Song did not try to expand China's borders into the Inner Eurasian steppe.
D) Unlike the Tang, the Song permitted women to hold important positions of power.

Answer 1

Unlike the Tang, the Song did not try to expand China's borders into the Inner Eurasian steppe.

Question 2

The Southern Song dynasty ruled from which region?

A) Hangzhou
B) Manchuria
C) Kaifeng
D) Shanghai

Answer 2

Hangzhou

Question 3

Which of the following did NOT contribute to the increase in China's food production during the Southern Song dynasty?

A) the introduction of more resistant and rapidly growing rice
B) a period of climatic warming
C) fewer droughts
D) the introduction of the traction plow

Answer 3

the introduction of the traction plow

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the economic strategy of the Song dynasty?

A) Like previous Chinese dynasties, the Song obtained tax revenue largely from peasant-owned lands.
B) The Song promoted a system of barter rather than a money-based economy.
C) The Song were great promoters of trade and commerce, in contrast to Confucian ideals.
D) The Song sought to make China less dependent on foreign trade by raising tariffs.

Question 5

To encourage the growth of the Chinese economy, the Song

A) invested heavily in overland trade.
B) expanded China's already extensive network of waterways.
C) offered merchants significant tax breaks.
D) began to tax Buddhist estates.

Question 6

Which of the following best describes a "temple market"?

A) a gathering usually around Buddhist or other religious holidays in which merchants, peasants, and artisans might buy and sell wares
B) gatherings in which Buddhist monks sold religious and other ritual items
C) gatherings in which Buddhist monks sought to convert large numbers of people in a relatively short amount of time
D) a tactic of merchants to avoid paying taxes by selling their goods on Buddhist property

Question 7

Which of the following was an important consequence of increased output of food in the countryside under Song rule?

A) China's cities shrank as people moved to the countryside to take part in the agricultural upswing.
B) A wealthy and prosperous peasantry began to rally for its rights.
C) China traded less with foreigners, as they were able to sustain the population on their own.
D) China's cities grew, and artisans were able to focus more on their crafts.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT an invention of the Song era?

A) the magnetic compass
B) gunpowder
C) a positional system of counting
D) woodblock printing

Question 9

Which of the following best describes the status of women during the Song dynasty?

A) Women under Song rule were not considered legal free citizens and could be readily bought and sold.
B) All women were entitled to a free basic education during the Song era.
C) Women were allowed to move freely within Song China and were largely equal to men.
D) Though women gained some property rights under Song rule, they were increasingly socially isolated from and subjugated to the will of men.

Question 10

Which of the following is an important difference between the peasantry of Europe under feudalism and China's peasantry under the Song dynasty?

A) European peasants were generally freer than Chinese peasants and could profit off their labor.
B) Chinese peasants could sell or bequeath their land to children, unlike the majority of European peasants who labored on the land of wealthy aristocrats.
C) Chinese peasants were largely literate, while European peasants were not.
D) European peasants could keep their agricultural surpluses, while Chinese peasants had to forfeit theirs to wealthy landlords.

Question 11

The civil service examination system in China led to which of the following?

A) oligarchy
B) patriarchy
C) meritocracy
D) democracy

Question 12

Which of the following best describes the movement known as Neo-Confucianism?

A) Originating during the Song era, Neo-Confucianism reaffirmed the basic values of Confucian thought while incorporating some of the spiritual elements of Buddhism and Daoism.
B) Neo-Confucianism refers to a movement, prominent during the Song era, to rid China of all Buddhist temples and monks.
C) Neo-Confucianism refers to the spread of Confucianism throughout East Asia during the Song period.
D) Neo-Confucianism refers to a literary movement, popular during the Song period, in which novelists attempted to express the values of Confucianism through fictional tales.

Question 13

Beginning at the end of the first millennium C.E., Japan was ruled by

A) a powerful monarch.
B) wealthy aristocrats.
C) Buddhist priests.
D) a merchant council.

Question 14

Beginning with the Kamakura Shogunate, Japan differed from China in which important way?

A) Japan adopted Confucianism as its guiding governing principle, while China began to abandon its Confucian roots.
B) Japan was ruled by a powerful central monarch, while China was ruled by a confederation of influential aristocrats.
C) Chinese peasants could own land, while Japanese peasants were barred from owning any property.
D) China was ruled by a civil bureaucracy, while Japan was ruled by a military elite.

Question 15

Japan's samurai class was most similar to which of the following?

A) the mamluks of the Abbasid empire
B) China's civil bureaucrats
C) European vassals
D) India's Brahmins

Question 16

Lady Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji tells us what about Japanese society at the end of the first millennium C.E.?

A) Elite Japanese women engaged in a host of creative and cultural activities.
B) Most of Japanese society was literate.
C) Women were not permitted to take part in "high culture."
D) Elite women in Japan were revered for their scholarship and intellect.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a true statement regarding trade during the Song era?

A) Trade by sea was significantly cheaper than trade via overland routes such as the silk roads.
B) Sea vessels could transport far more goods than any overland vehicle.
C) Northern China became the center of Chinese trade as a result of its easy access to navigable waterways.
D) Goods manufactured in the south of China had ready access to canals and seaports.

Question 18

Which of the following is an accurate conclusion regarding the presence of Chinese porcelain in western Europe beginning in the twelfth century C.E.?

A) Western European artisans learned the art of porcelain making from Chinese merchants.
B) Trade under the Song dynasty flourished and reached far afield.
C) Chinese porcelain was relatively cheap and easy to obtain.
D) The Chinese government had exclusive trading rights with states in western Europe.

Question 19

Which of the following was an important consequence of the expansion of Turkic peoples throughout Afroeurasia?

A) Turkic peoples readily converted to the religion of the lands they invaded and conquered, and as a result, they became an increasingly diverse group.
B) The use of infantry again flourished across Afroeurasia as people witnessed the tremendous military victories infantry brought to Turkic clans.
C) As Turkic peoples spread across Afroeurasia, they lost much of their cultural distinctiveness and rapidly disappeared as an identifiable group.
D) Turkic conquests resulted in an even greater spread of Islam.

Question 20

The Seljuks can best be described as which of the following?

A) a commercial diaspora
B) pastoral nomads
C) military slaves
D) oasis farmers

Question 21

The Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Malazgirt ultimately led to the creation of which of the following modern-day states?

A) Iran
B) Afghanistan
C) Turkey
D) Syria

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT true of the many Turkic states that controlled Southwest Asia after the collapse of the Seljuk regime?

A) They all expelled Christians from their lands.
B) They all continued to use mounted slave soldiers.
C) They all used the local ulama to regulate matters of religion and public behavior.
D) Trade and economic growth flourished in all of the Turkic states.

Question 23

As of 1000 C.E., which group dominated the Mediterranean and Black Seas?

A) the Chinese
B) Muslim captains
C) the Byzantine navy
D) Italian merchants

Question 24

The Almoravids hailed from which region?

A) the Inner Eurasian steppes
B) Spain
C) Morocco
D) the Sahara

Question 25

Which of the following was a defining belief of the Almohads?

A) God is a spiritual entity that cannot be described in terms of any human quality or characteristic.
B) Muhammad's rightful heir will one day emerge from hiding to save humanity.
C) Men and women should be socially segregated.
D) All drinking should be prohibited.

Question 26

Which of the following was a consequence of Almoravid and Almohad rule?

A) Large numbers of Muslims in North Africa converted to Christianity.
B) Spanish became widely spoken throughout North Africa.
C) The cities of Spain and North Africa shrank as people fled the invading Almoravids and Almohads.
D) Cultural exchange between Spain and North Africa flourished.

Question 27

The main goal of the madrasas under the Turkic sultanates of the eleventh and twelfth centuries was to

A) transmit the teachings and values of Shi'a Islam.
B) educate elite Muslim women.
C) educate the next generation of ulama scholars.
D) train military elites.

Question 28

The Jewish thinker Maimonides is an example of which of the following?

A) a scholar turned public servant, a common feature of the Muslim states of the eleventh and twelfth centuries
B) a Jewish scholar who converted to Islam in order to advance his social and economic position
C) a philosopher who attempted to blend the teachings of Islam and Judaism
D) a scholar who rejected religion in favor of logic and reason

Question 29

Which of the following best describes the study of the humanities and sciences under Muslim rule?

A) The ulama banned Muslims from pursuing these fields, and as a result, very few Muslims produced any great works on topics other than religion.
B) Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike traveled long distances to attend madrasas so they might study the humanities and sciences.
C) Even though madrasas did not offer study in the humanities and sciences, many scholars pursued these topics privately and produced great works in these fields.
D) Because madrasas did not encourage the study of the humanities and sciences, Jews and Christians far outpaced Muslims in these fields.

Question 30

The term Sufism refers to which of the following?

A) the mystical tradition of Christianity
B) a distinctive religion that merged Islam and Buddhism
C) a philosophical movement within Islam to logically prove the existence of God
D) the mystical branch of Islam

Question 31

Which of the following is a main belief of Sufism?

A) No human is ever truly capable of knowing God.
B) Humans can be aided on their divine path by saintly individuals.
C) All people must traverse their divine path on their own.
D) Women are incapable of achieving oneness with god.

Question 32

Which of the following best describes the impact of Sufism on women?

A) Sufism allowed women to express themselves in an otherwise patriarchal Muslim world.
B) Sufism prohibited women from engaging in mystical study.
C) Most Sufis were women, a factor that greatly increased their prestige throughout the Muslim world.
D) Sufism argued that women could achieve mystical oneness with God, but only with the help of men.

Question 33

All of the following contributed to crop increases in Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries EXCEPT

A) greater political stability.
B) advances in agricultural technology.
C) a period of climatic warming.
D) greater freedom for Europe's peasants.

Question 34

Which of the following best describes three-field crop rotation?

A) a system in which European peasants were allotted only three fields on which to farm
B) a system in which European peasants simultaneously planted their crops on three fields to increase food output
C) a system in which European peasants rotated across three fields to increase crop varieties and allow soil to recover
D) a system in which European churches set aside three fields on which peasants could farm freely and thereby supplement their incomes

Question 35

The annual markets held in the Champagne region of France in the twelfth century tell us what about European society during this period?

A) Europeans were producing larger quantities of manufactured goods and engaging more heavily in trans-hemispheric trade.
B) European markets were small gatherings in which peasants came to sell locally made goods.
C) Aristocrats regularly attempted to interfere with market transactions and discouraged markets from being set up in their provinces.
D) European markets were largely controlled by church authorities.

Question 36

The Holy Roman Empire exemplified which of the following?

A) an attempt by Rome's bishops to reestablish Rome as the main capitol of Christian Europe
B) an attempt by Christian authorities to place Europe under the rule of a single monarch
C) an attempt by Byzantine authorities to seize control of Christian Europe
D) an attempt to revive Roman culture and paganism throughout Christian Europe

Question 37

From the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, the Christian church

A) grew increasingly weaker and held little influence in secular matters.
B) reasserted its control over the appointment of church officials and strengthened its position with regard to secular rulers.
C) permitted members of the clergy to marry in order to increase the appeal of joining the priesthood.
D) encouraged a strict separation between matters of church and matters of state.

Question 38

Which of the following best describes the body known as the Estates-General?

A) a democratic institution in which all French men and women could air their grievances before local and regional authorities
B) a political body similar to the Roman Senate
C) a body consisting of French clergymen that had ultimate authority in matters of religion and state
D) a political body in which France's most influential voices gathered to express their opinions before the French king

Question 39

France, under the rule of Philip II, can best be described as

A) a highly decentralized state in which the monarch held little more power than the French nobility.
B) a monarchy plagued by constant debt and shortages of revenue.
C) an increasingly centralized state run by educated bureaucrats.
D) a monarchy subject to the will and authority of the pope.

Question 40

The Magna Carta is important because it

A) established a democratic order in England.
B) limited the power of the English monarch, especially his or her ability to raise taxes.
C) granted the English monarch absolute authority over matters of state and church.
D) granted English women full rights and citizenship.

Question 41

Which of the following constituted a unique feature of the English Parliament as compared to other political institutions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries?

A) Any adult male, regardless of rank or wealth, could sit in Parliament.
B) Women were permitted to serve in Parliament.
C) The king ruled alongside Parliament and accepted the limitation on his authority.
D) Parliament could raise taxes, create laws, and challenge the king.

Question 42

Which of the following best describes the way in which Christianity spread throughout Europe, beginning in the eleventh century?

A) Knights seized land through military conquests and converted conquered populations with the help of clergy.
B) Individual Christian missionaries wandered throughout Europe with the sole purpose of spreading Christianity.
C) Christian merchants spread Christianity as they traveled to sell their goods.
D) Bands of Christian women made it their primary duty to spread their religion through acts of charity and education.

Question 43

All of the following were motives for the spread of Christianity throughout Europe EXCEPT

A) the desire of young Christian men to control land denied to them by primogeniture.
B) a preference among large numbers of Europeans for the teachings of Christianity over pagan beliefs.
C) the desire of peasants to seek out new lands in the hope of escaping serfdom.
D) the desire of aristocrats to increase their economic holdings.

Question 44

Which of the following is an outcome of the relationship between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in the spread of Christianity throughout Europe?

A) Countries such as Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria follow the Catholic Church, while Hungary and Croatia follow the Orthodox Church.
B) In regions geographically far from both Constantinople and Rome, Catholic and Orthodox missionaries created a type of mixture between the two traditions so as not to compete directly with one another.
C) The Catholic Church was content to allow the Orthodox Church to convert populations in Eastern Europe, so that Rome could focus its efforts in the west.
D) Countries such as Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria follow the Orthodox Church, while others, such as Hungary and Croatia, follow the Catholic Church.

Question 45

Christian incursions into Muslim Spain from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries led to which of the following?

A) a great defeat of Christian knights by Muslim forces and a resurgence of Muslim rule in the region
B) the expulsion of all Muslims and Jews from the region
C) a degree of cooperation and mixing of cultures among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the region
D) the conversion of many Christian knights to Islam

Question 46

Which of the following was NOT a motive behind the crusades?

A) a desire by Christians to recapture Jerusalem from Muslim hands
B) a desire to reunite the Orthodox and Catholic Churches through a joint military campaign
C) a desire to rid Europe of landless and unruly knights
D) the pope's desire to spread Catholicism and reduce the influence of the Orthodox Church

Question 47

Which of the following is a significant consequence of the crusades?

A) much of Southwest Asia was converted to Christianity
B) Christians gained control of Jerusalem and held the city until the twentieth century
C) Islam gained an even greater foothold in Europe
D) ideas and knowledge from Southwest Asia flowed more quickly into western Europe

Question 48

One important difference between Italian and Muslim trading ventures in the eastern Mediterranean was that

A) Italians did not make use of commercial diasporas, as was common among Muslim merchants.
B) Italian merchants only traded with other Christian merchants, unlike their Muslim counterparts who traded with all populations.
C) Italian merchants were often backed by military forces funded either by the state or by private bodies.
D) Italian merchants were highly regulated by state authorities, while Muslim merchants could trade freely.

Question 49

As a result of the growth of Christianity throughout Europe, Jews

A) were increasingly discriminated against and made to live apart from the mainstream of society.
B) were increasingly venerated as the followers of the first monotheistic religion.
C) gained increasing control over Europe's Afroeurasian trade routes.
D) readily converted to Christianity.

Question 50

The growth of Christian monasteries throughout Europe led to which of the following?

A) a decrease in the interaction of Christian clergy with the rest of the population
B) the growth of female Christian orders
C) the emergence of a distinct European Christian culture
D) a decrease in Rome's authority, as monasteries were founded farther from the capital of western Christendom

Question 51

Discuss the rise of the Song dynasty in China. How did the Song differ from previous Chinese rulers? What were some of the key economic and political features of the Song era, and how did they affect China internally as well as China's position and influence in the greater region?

Question 52

What were some of the important cultural trends of Song China? Which ideologies prevailed during the Song era, and how did these transform Chinese society? How did Song China affect the cultures of neighboring societies?

Question 53

Examine Japanese society at the end of the first millennium C.E. What were some of the notable economic, cultural, and political trends that characterized Japan during this era? Discuss the relationship between Japan and China during this period

Question 54

Explore the growth of Muslim states in the western Mediterranean beginning in the eleventh century. What characteristics united the Muslim sultanates of this period, and how did they differ from one another? What are some of the important consequences of Muslim rule in this region?

Question 55

Describe some of the key cultural attributes of the Muslim sultanates that came to power in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. What types of scholarly endeavors were encouraged in these societies, and who engaged in scholarship? Discuss relations among Muslims, Jews, and Christians in the region and how these interactions affected culture.

Question 56

Examine Europe's resurgence around 1000 C.E. What factors contributed to Europe's rising prosperity? Characterize the political and economic structures that prevailed during this time period.

Question 57

Describe the spread of Christianity throughout Europe beginning in the eleventh century. What were the primary motives behind Christianity's spread during this era, and who was responsible for carrying it out? What were some of the critical cultural, economic, political, and military consequences of Christianity's continued spread throughout Europe?