Question 1

The Spanish Habsburgs sought to overcome their lack of power over the _________ and the weakness of their Spanish tax base by squeezing as much as they could from their Italian, Flemish and New World possessions.

Accepted Answer

The Spanish Habsburgs faced significant challenges in exerting control over the aristocracy, which was a powerful and influential class in their dominions. This lack of power over the aristocracy, combined with a weak Spanish tax base, led them to extract resources from their possessions in Italy, the Flemish regions, and the New World to maintain their empire and finance their endeavors.

Question 2

The reduced military presence by both Habsburgs and Ottomans to safeguard their spice trade routes across East Africa, India and Southeast Asia paved the way for the ________ to ultimately overtake both Portugal and the Ottoman Turks as leaders in this trade.

Accepted Answer

The Dutch, through the Dutch East India Company, became dominant in the spice trade by establishing a strong presence in Southeast Asia, overtaking both the Portuguese and the Ottomans.

Question 3

_________ was forced to forge a threatening alliance with the Ottoman Turks in an attempt to fend off Habsburg territorial encroachment.

Accepted Answer

France, under Francis I, sought an alliance with the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century to counterbalance the power of the Habsburgs, who ruled over both the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. This was a significant and somewhat controversial move, as it involved a Christian kingdom aligning with a Muslim empire.

Question 4

In an effort to deal a definitive blow to the Ottoman naval threat, the Holy Christian League was formed consisting of _________.

Accepted Answer

The Holy Christian League, formed to combat the Ottoman naval threat, consisted of Spain, the Pope, Venice, and Genoa. This alliance was instrumental in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which was a significant victory for the Christian forces against the Ottomans.

Question 5

The Spanish fiscal-military state reached its mature phase of centralization under the rule of:

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Spanish fiscal-military state reached its mature...

Question 6

In 1498, _________ reached India by way of Africa, becoming the first European to sail directly from Europe to India.

Accepted Answer

Vasco Da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, thus opening a new trade route.

Question 7

Governmental auction of the taxes in kind of a particular district to the highest bidder was known as _________.

Accepted Answer

Tax-farming is the correct answer because it refers to the practice where the government auctions off the right to collect taxes in a particular area to an individual or a group, who then has the responsibility to collect those taxes. The term "tax-farming" accurately describes this process, where the "farmer" (the bidder who wins the auction) pays the government a fixed sum for the right to collect taxes and aims to collect more than this sum in order to make a profit.

Question 8

Their conquest of the Balkans made the Ottomans the owners of the largest precious metal production centers prior to the Spanish Habsburg acquisition of the _________ mines in the mid-1500s.

Accepted Answer

The Spanish Habsburgs acquired significant precious metal mines in the mid-1500s, particularly in Mexico and the Andes region of South America, which became the largest sources of silver and gold, surpassing the production centers owned by the Ottomans in the Balkans.

Question 9

An early indicator of the significance of the money economy in the Ottoman Empire was the military institution of the _________, troops of conscripted Christian boys who received salaries from the central treasury.

Accepted Answer

The Janissaries were an elite corps in the Ottoman Empire formed from conscripted Christian boys who were converted to Islam and trained as soldiers. They received regular salaries directly from the central treasury, highlighting the importance of a money economy in the empire.

Question 10

Which of the following was not a theater of confrontation in the Muslim-Christian struggle for dominance?

Accepted Answer

The North Sea was not a theater of confrontation in the Muslim-Christian struggle for dominance. The main areas of conflict were around the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and the Indian Ocean, where naval and military campaigns were more directly related to the interactions between Muslim and Christian powers. The North Sea, located far to the north of these regions, was not a significant area of conflict between these two groups during the periods of their historical confrontations.

Question 11

The apogee of the Ottoman Empire was reached under Sultan Süleyman I, also known as:

Accepted Answer

Sultan Süleyman I is known as "the Magnificent" in Western contexts, reflecting his reign's grandeur and the peak of the Ottoman Empire's military, political, and cultural power.

Question 12

The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans was possible through the use of _________ bombardment.

Accepted Answer

The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 was significantly aided by the Ottomans' use of cannon bombardment, which was a key factor in breaching the city's formidable walls.

Question 13

During the Reconquista, Iberian Christians sought to rid the peninsula of:

Accepted Answer

The Reconquista was a period of time in which Iberian Christians fought to retake the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule.

Question 14

_________ were autonomously-operating Christians or Muslims who pirated ships, confiscated their cargoes and held their crew and travelers for ransom.

Accepted Answer

Corsairs were pirates or privateers, particularly those operating in the Mediterranean, who were either Christian or Muslim. They engaged in piracy, including attacking ships, seizing cargoes, and ransoming captives.

Question 15

After the sack of Rome in 1527, Leo Africanus (otherwise known as Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan):

Accepted Answer

After the sack of Rome in 1527, Leo Africanus disappeared from historical records, and it is presumed that he returned to North Africa. His fate after this event remains largely speculative, but there is no evidence to support his execution, involvement in compiling a trilingual dictionary, or serving as a translator for a Christian Crusader army.

Question 16

The purpose of the Spanish Inquisition, as appointed by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1481, was to:

Accepted Answer

The Spanish Inquisition, established by Ferdinand and Isabella, aimed to identify and punish individuals whose beliefs deviated from the doctrines of the Catholic Church, ensuring religious homogeneity within their realms.

Question 17

The expulsion of the Jews from "Sefarad", as Spain was called in Hebrew, was designed:

Accepted Answer

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, under the rule of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, was primarily aimed at consolidating Christian unity within their kingdoms. This was part of the broader Spanish Inquisition, which sought to ensure the orthodoxy of those who had converted from Judaism and Islam to Christianity.

Question 18

Ignorant of Hinduism when he arrived in India, Vasco da Gama mistook the Indian religion for:

Accepted Answer

Vasco da Gama, unfamiliar with Hinduism, initially thought he had found the Christian kingdom of the legendary Prester John when he encountered Hindu temples and practices in India.

Question 19

When he gathered his clan and declared himself an independent ruler in 1299, the Turkish warlord Osman was nominally subject to the:

Accepted Answer

Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, was nominally subject to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum at the time he declared independence in 1299. The Seljuks were a major power in Anatolia following their victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

Question 20

The incursion of ______ into Ottoman territory bought time for the Byzantine emperors in the early fifteenth century.

Accepted Answer

Timur the Great, also known as Tamerlane, invaded Ottoman territory in the early fifteenth century, which temporarily halted the Ottoman advance into Europe and indirectly aided the Byzantine Empire by diverting the Ottomans' attention and military resources.

Quiz 16: Western European Overseas Expansion and the Ottoman-Habsburg Struggle, 1450-1650