MATSEC SEC History key terms

The shift from hunting and gathering to farming, animal herding, and settled village life, first appearing in the Near East around 10,000 BCE and later reaching the Mediterranean islands.

A sacred structure built from very large rough or dressed stones, such as the limestone temples of Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, and Ġgantija, erected in Malta between about 3600 and 2500 BCE.

The study of layers of soil and debris deposited one above another, used by archaeologists to establish the relative age of finds, since lower layers are normally older.

Evidence produced at the time of the events studied, such as a letter, inscription, coin, diary, or contemporary photograph, offering direct though often biased testimony.

An account written after the events it describes, such as a textbook, biography, or documentary, which interprets primary evidence and reflects the author's own selection and judgement.

The study of how history has been written, including the changing methods, sources, and assumptions of historians, and how interpretations of the past are revised over time.

A slant or partiality in a source caused by the author's interests, beliefs, or audience, which can distort what is reported and must be weighed when judging reliability.

Deliberately one-sided information spread to shape opinion and support a cause, regime, or war effort, often using emotional language, symbols, and selective or false claims.

The official suppression or control of information, books, newspapers, or speech, used by authorities to prevent criticism and limit what the public can read or discuss.

The arrangement of events in the order in which they happened, together with the dates assigned to them, forming the basic framework for explaining cause and consequence.

Dating labels meaning Before Common Era and Common Era, used instead of BC and AD; years BCE count backwards, so 500 BCE is earlier than 200 BCE, and there is no year zero.

The historical skill of identifying why an event happened, distinguishing long-term underlying causes from short-term triggers, and tracing the effects that followed it.

The historical skill of recognising what altered over a period and what stayed the same, avoiding the assumption that change is always rapid, complete, or felt equally by everyone.

A seafaring trading people of the eastern Mediterranean, based at cities such as Tyre and Sidon, who founded colonies including Carthage and spread the alphabet across the Mediterranean.

A writing system in which individual signs represent single speech sounds, allowing a small set of letters to record any word, unlike scripts using hundreds of pictograms or syllables.

A settlement founded and controlled by a distant parent city or state, often for trade or land, whose inhabitants keep political and cultural links with their homeland.

The independent Greek city-state, comprising an urban centre and its surrounding farmland, with its own laws, army, coinage, and civic cult, as in Athens and Sparta.

A system in which citizens themselves vote on laws and policy in an assembly rather than electing representatives, as practised in classical Athens for adult male citizens.

The legal status of belonging to a state and holding its rights and duties; in ancient Greece it excluded women, slaves, and foreigners, while modern citizenship is usually broader.

Rule by a small group, such as wealthy families or a military elite, who hold power without being accountable to the wider population, as in Sparta's council of elders.

Rule by one person who seizes power unconstitutionally, often with popular support against an aristocracy; in Greek usage the word did not necessarily imply cruelty.

A state in which power is held by elected officials and governing bodies rather than a hereditary monarch, as in Rome after the kings were expelled around 509 BCE.

A council of senior political figures advising on law and finance; in Rome it was the chief body of the Republic, while modern senates are usually one chamber of a legislature.

The two main social orders of the Roman Republic: patricians were the hereditary noble families holding priestly and political office, while plebeians were the common citizens.

The gradual adoption of Roman language, law, town planning, and customs by conquered peoples, often led by local elites rather than imposed uniformly by the imperial government.

A carefully engineered route built with layers of stone and gravel, often straight, that carried troops, officials, and trade across the empire and linked towns and frontier forts.

A channel, often carried on arched stonework, that brought a steady supply of fresh water from distant springs to a town for drinking, baths, and fountains.

A medieval system of landholding in which a lord granted land to a vassal in return for military service and loyalty, with peasants working the land and owing dues to its holder.

The piece of land granted by a lord to a vassal under feudalism, which supported the vassal economically and was tied to obligations of service and homage.

A person who held land from a lord in return for loyalty, counsel, and military service, and who might himself grant parts of that land to lesser vassals.

The economic organisation of the medieval countryside, centred on a lord's manor and its farmland, where peasants owed labour and a share of produce in return for use of land.

The condition of peasants legally bound to the land they farmed, who could not leave without permission and owed labour and dues, unlike free tenants or hired workers.

A medieval association of craftsmen or merchants in a town that regulated training, quality, prices, and entry to the trade, protecting members from outside competition.

The plague epidemic that swept Europe from 1347, killing a large share of the population and causing labour shortages, higher wages, and challenges to existing social order.

The cultural movement from roughly the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries that revived interest in classical learning, emphasised human potential, and produced new art, science, and scholarship.

A Renaissance intellectual movement that studied classical Greek and Latin texts to develop eloquence and moral judgement, placing human experience and achievement at the centre of learning.

The support, usually financial, given by a wealthy individual or institution to an artist, writer, or scholar, often in return for prestige, propaganda, or loyal service.

The sixteenth-century movement that challenged papal authority and produced Protestant churches, triggered by criticism of church abuses and enabled by printing and political rivalry.

A grant by the Catholic Church reducing punishment for sin; the sale of indulgences to fund building projects provoked Martin Luther's protest in 1517 and helped spark the Reformation.

The Catholic Church's response to Protestantism, including reform of clergy training, new religious orders, and the Council of Trent, which clarified doctrine and tightened discipline.

A machine using movable metal type to produce many identical copies of a text quickly; introduced in Europe around 1450, it transformed the spread of ideas and literacy.

The study and interpretation of inscriptions carved or painted on stone, metal, or other durable material, a key source for ancient history where few written records survive.

The policy of extending a state's power by acquiring territory or dominating other peoples economically and politically, often justified by claims of cultural superiority.

A sense of identity and loyalty centred on a nation, often demanding self-rule or unity, and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a powerful force for both liberation and conflict.

The process by which colonies gained political independence from imperial powers, accelerating after the Second World War and often accompanied by nationalist movements and difficult transitions.

A form of rule in which the state seeks control over nearly every aspect of public and private life, using a single party, ideology, secret police, and mass mobilisation.

A formal written agreement between states, binding under international law, which may end a war, settle borders, or establish cooperation, as with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

The conduct of relations between states through negotiation, envoys, and compromise, aimed at advancing interests and avoiding or ending conflict without resort to force.

The prolonged rivalry after 1945 between the United States and its allies and the Soviet bloc, fought through arms races, alliances, propaganda, and proxy wars rather than direct combat.

The growth of factory-based production using machinery and new energy sources, which shifted populations to towns and reshaped work, class structure, and living conditions.

The increase in the share of a population living in towns and cities, usually driven by industrial employment and rural migration, bringing rapid housing and sanitation problems.