Ancient: Belonging to a period of history that is thousands of years in the past.
BC: Before Christ. Used in the Christian calendar to show a particular number of years before the year when Christ is believed to have been born.
Bureaucracy: A system of government in which there are a large number of state officials who are not elected.
Civilization: A society, its culture and its way of life during a particular period of time or in a particular part of the world.
Colonize: To take control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force, and send people from your own country to live there.
Conquest: The act of taking control of a country, city, etc. by force.
Corruption: Dishonest or illegal behaviour, especially of people in authority.
Dynasty: A series of leaders of a country that all belong to the same family. For example, the Ming Dynasty (who ruled China from 1368 to 1644). [1]
Emperor: The ruler of an empire.
Empire: A group of countries that are all controlled by one leading body (a leader or a government). For example, the Songhai Empire or the Mughal Empire.
Expansion: An act of increasing or making something increase in size, amount or importance.
Explorer: A person who travels to unknown places in order to find out more about them.
Feudalism: A social system that was used during the Middle Ages in Europe where people had to work and fight for a nobleman where in return, they were given land and protection.
Independence: Freedom from political control by other countries.
Indigenous: Belonging to a particular place rather than coming to it from somewhere else.
Kingdom: A country ruled by a king or queen; an area controlled by a particular person or where a particular thing or idea is important.
Merchants: A person who buys and sells goods in large quantities, especially one who imports and exports goods.
Middle Ages: A phrase that describes Europe from the period of the fall of Rome (c. 5th century) to the rise of the Renaissance period (c. 15th century). [2] This period is also known as the Medieval Period.
Militia: A group of people who are not professional soldiers but who have had military training and can act as an army.
Monastery: A building in which monks (religious male community) live together.
Monopoly: The complete control of trade in particular goods or the supply of a particular service; a type of goods or a service that is controlled in this way.
Nobleman: A man that is a member from a family that has a high social rank.
Prosperity: The state of being successful, especially in making money.
Settler: A person who goes to live in a new country or region.
Slavery: Slavery refers to the state of being a slave or the practice of having slaves.
Smelt: To heat and melt ore (rock that contains metal) in order to obtain the metal it contains.
Superpower: Is a country in the world that has significant military, economic or political power, as well as a country that has great influence over other countries. One could also use the term World Power.
The Renaissance Period: This period refers to a period where European countries experienced a cultural, political, economic and artistic “rebirth” after the Middle Ages. [3]
Trade: The exchanging (buying and selling) of good and/or services between people and/or countries.
This content was originally produced for the SAHO classroom by
Ilse Brookes, Amber Fox-Martin & Simone van der Colff
[1] History (2018), “Ming Dynasty,” History.com, (Accessed on 25 May 2020), available at https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/ming-dynasty
[2] History (2010), “Middle Ages.” History.com, (Accessed on 25 May 2020), available at https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/middle-ages
[3] History (2018), “Renaissance,” History.com, (Accessed on 25 May 2020), available at https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/renaissance