Deck 11: The Rise of Commerce in Afro-Eurasia 900-1300

Question 1

The third-century collapse of the unified Roman Empire

A) disrupted economic life in the cities and countryside
B) disrupted economic life in the countryside, but had little direct impact in the cities
C) disrupted economic life in the cities, but had little direct impact in the countryside
D) had little direct impact in the cities or countryside

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire,

A) great lords and peasant smallholders alike concentrated on growing food for their own consumption
B) great lords focused on producing agriculture for sale, while peasant smallholders concentrated on growing food for their own consumption
C) great lords focused on growing food for their own consumption, while peasant smallholders concentrated on producing agriculture for sale
D) great lords and peasant smallholders alike concentrated on producing agriculture for sale

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to the advice Kekaumenos, an eleventh-century Byzantine official, gave to his sons on household management, the greatest danger was

A) debt
B) profligacy
C) an unwillingness to take risks
D) taxes

Answer 3

A

Question 4

As lordship in Europe came to be defined in terms of control over specific territories and populations, landowners

A) began to mistreat the serfs who worked the land
B) became concerned about the moral rectitude of their tenants and began requiring church attendance
C) began distributing free horses to their tenants
D) began to invest in enterprises that would increase production long term

Question 5

Arab landed estates known as iqta were

A) meant to support the caliphate directly
B) used for the upkeep of slave forces
C) dedicated to the cultivation of new crops-including rice, cotton, sugar cane, sorghum, and citrus fruits-from the lands surrounding the Indian Ocean
D) olive orchards

Question 6

The new crops and farming practices arriving from Asia spread rapidly in

A) Britain
B) Northern Europe
C) the Mediterranean
D) the Islamic world

Question 7

Beginning in the eighth century, Asian agriculture shifted to irrigated _____ as the main staple food because of its high efficiency and yields.

A) millet
B) barley
C) wheat
D) rice

Question 8

The practice of extensive wet rice cultivation in the Yangzi River Valley was made possible by

A) careful tracking of the annual monsoon season
B) the Yangzi River dam
C) dikes, canals, and irrigation channels
D) the development of a new strain of rice

Question 9

The Khmer kings of Angkor extended their overlordship by

A) recruiting local landowning elites as allies
B) created a centralized bureaucratic state
C) distributing food and material goods, to curry favor among the people
D) cracking down harshly on any signs of dissent

Question 10

Rural incomes in Japan were finally raised in the early 14^th century with the help of technical improvements, including

A) irrigated rice
B) double-cropping
C) the wheeled moldboard plow
D) the introduction of the soybean

Question 11

Arab seafarers conquered the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean by rigging their ships with lateen sails, which

A) required less wind
B) allowed them to sail against the wind
C) required less fabric and were easier to sew
D) allowed them to turn more precisely

Question 12

The late thirteenth century Venetians galleys were notable for

A) their flimsy hulls, which limited their range and use
B) requiring a crew only one-fifth the size of other galleys
C) being powered by oars
D) being specifically designed as cargo vessels

Question 13

Silk manufacture in this period

A) was exclusive to China
B) had spread to Iran
C) had reached Syria and Byzantium through Iran
D) was common across Europe

Question 14

As textile manufacture shifted from a household activity to an urban one, women

A) were relegated to the low-skilled and laborious task of spinning yarn
B) were tasked with the precise work of weaving and dyeing
C) were cut out of the textile industry entirely
D) became the main breadwinners in many families

Question 15

By the fifteenth century, the majority of women who earned wages were

A) teachers
B) domestic servants
C) nurses
D) employed in the textile industry

Question 16

The segregation of women in Muslim societies conferred high status on women

A) teachers
B) doctors and midwives
C) nursemaids
D) poets

Question 17

The great majority of European peasants paid their lords in

A) silver pennies
B) gold nomisma coins
C) old Roman coins
D) goods and services

Question 18

The development of credit and paper money were encouraged by

A) a shortage of skilled artisans to engrave the stamps used to create coins
B) inconsistencies in the weight of official coinage
C) refinements in paper technology
D) shortages in gold and silver and the inconvenience of shipping heavy coins

Question 19

In Europe, _________ were granted extensive authority to regulate crafts and commerce, restrict entry to a trade, and dictate a wide array of regulations.

A) unions
B) guilds
C) mayors
D) commenda

Question 20

First founded in Italian cities in the thirteenth century, _____________ allowed investors to pool their capital for trading ventures.

A) commenda
B) joint stock companies
C) karimi
D) cartels

Question 21

To efficiently cope with war and other emergencies, Venice turned to

A) direct control of the republic's overseas trade
B) printing paper money
C) compulsory loans from the public
D) a shipbuilding monopoly

Question 22

An especially important source of income for the Mamluk state was the

A) karimi-controlled spice trade
B) linen textile trade
C) cotton textile trade
D) banking industry

Question 23

After the tenth century, China's leading export was

A) porcelain
B) gunpowder
C) iron
D) silk

Question 24

The first identifiable state in southern Africa was

A) Great Zimbabwe
B) Mapungubwe
C) Jenne-jeno
D) Ghana

Question 25

Evidence for East Africa's extensive trade across the Indian Ocean includes

A) papyrus finds at Great Zimbabwe
B) depictions of Zimbabwean leaders in silk garments
C) Chinese coins and porcelain shards that archaeologists have found at Great Zimbabwe
D) Indian bronzes unearthed at Great Zimbabwe

Question 26

The catalyst for the rapid escalation of trans-Saharan trade was

A) the changing climate in the Sahara
B) demand for silver across Europe
C) the domestication of the camel
D) the conversion of the Berbers to Islam

Question 27

According to Muslim accounts dating from around 800, a great king, ________, monopolized the gold trade and was consequently wealthier than any other ruler.

A) Mapungubwe
B) Ghana
C) Jenne-jeno
D) Mali

Question 28

In Hawaii the land belonged to

A) powerful kings
B) local chiefs
C) kinship groups
D) the society communally

Question 29

Hawaiian women

A) had exalted status
B) carried the same social status as their husbands
C) were exempt from the culture's complicated system of taboos
D) were forbidden to eat many foods

Question 30

Hawaiian kings were believed to

A) be first among equals
B) be descendants of the gods
C) rule only with the consent of the ruled
D) be chosen by the gods at birth