Absolute Monarchy:  a political system in which a country is ruled by a Monarch (King /Queen/Tzar) who has total control over society.

Archipelago:  is a chain of islands that are grouped together, examples: Hawaii, Carribean, Japan.

AD:  date designation meaning "Anno Domini"  are used to label dates in the Julian or Gregorian calendars.  This calendar is based on the year of the birth of Jesus.  There is no zero to the year 1AD immediately follows the year 1 BC.

 

BCE:   BC (before Christ), or before common era,  (please note that B.C.E before common era and C.E common era, are exactly the same as B.C. and A.D. but have nothing to do with Christianity.)

Bubonic Plague:

CE:  date designation meaning common era, is an alternative naming of the traditional calendar AD "Anno Domini"

Centralized government:  when government is run in a central location,  rules and laws are made that apply to the whole country or state.  During the end of the middle ages centralized rule slowly replaced decentralized government of feudal Japan and Europe.  Ex.  Tokugawa and Machiavelli supported strong central government.

Chinampas:   floating gardens contructed by the Aztecs to increase farming area.

Closed Country Policy:  a policy designed to keep foreigners out of Japan, developed in response to European aggression in East Asia and the Southern Pacific.

Columbian Exchange:  the exchange of goods and other things such as disease from the Old World (Europe) to the New World (the Americas) and back.

Commercial Revolution:

Daimyo:  the leader of a village in feudal Japan, a warlord.

Encomienda System:  was a system on Spanish colonies that gave Spanish settlers control of the land and Natives that lived there.  While not officially slavery, settlers were allowed to work natives to death.

European Expansion:

Feudalism:  a period of time in Japan that lasted approximately 300 years, during this time period the government that had previously existed lost its ability to make laws and control the population of Japan.  This led to warlords controlling individual villages by military rule.  With feudalism also comes widespread lack of education, and many mini wars between rival warlords.

Guild:  a Medieval association of people working at the same occupation, they controlled members wages, prices of goods and set standards for quality of items.  (Examples: wine guild, cheese guild, carpenters etc.)

Humanism:   a focus on human matters and subjects rather than religious, including a study of ancient Greek and Roman studies.

Inquisition:  a  court set up by the Catholic Church to seek out and punish heretics.  These courts would often use torture to get heretics to confess.

Individualism:   a focus on the potential of the individual a new concept during the Renaissance that was in sharp contrast with peasant life during the Middle Ages.  Also art that focuses on an individual.

Isolation:  a period where a country discontinues trade and communication with foreign nations,  while some limited trade would exist the exchange of technology and ideas is usually limited.

Kami:   sacred spirits that are worshiped in Shintoism.

Linear Perspective:  the use of mathematics to create a perfect proportion of objects in a painting,  this technique makes a flat surface look 3 dimensional.

Merchant:  a person who sells goods or services, a member of the middle class in most societies.

Middle Passage:  the long sea voyage between Africa and the Caribbean during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which usually took 3-4 months to complete and was very deadly.

Naturalism:  focus on natural environments, or showing people in a natural setting.

Nomads:  a group of people in this case the Mongols who moved from place to place in search of food and/or resources.

Pax-Mongolia:  a long period of peace during Mongol rule of their Empire, creating a period of stability and growth of trade across Asia.

Population density:  is commonly known as the amount of people that live in a square mile.

Realism:  art that focuses on realistic human features, detailed accurate work.

Reconquista:  the reconquering of Spain by Christians after centuries of Islamic rule.

Renaissance:  a Rebirth of culture and ideas after the decline of Europe during the Middle Ages.  A rebirth of Roman and Greek ideas leading to overall improvement of society. (1350-1620s)

Samurai:  warrior class during Japan's feudal period.

Secularism:  focus on non-religious things.  ex. sketches of human muscle tissue, portrait of Mona Lisa.

Shogun:  a hereditary military leader in feudal Japan.  Each Shogun gained military power leading to weakness of the Emperor, who was the traditional leader of Japan.  This lasted until the end of feudalism in 1867.

Shogunate:  the government of the Shogun.

Torri Gate:   a gate at the entrace of a Shinto shrine,  the gate is a symbol of a separation of the everyday world and the spirit world.

Triangular Trade:

Tsunami:  a long destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake, landslide, or underwater disturbance.