In the third century B.C.E., a Daoist thinker named [BLANK-1] argued that people would be better off if they knew less, gave up tools, renounced writing, and stopped envying neighbors. He preached submissiveness and emphasized the mystical power of yielding over action and the power of silence over speaking.

[BLANK-1] was a city-state notable for its high rate of death during the Black Death, as chronicled by Giovanni Boccaccio’s account of the plague. It was also the most important site of the Italian Renaissance, home to artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Filippo Brunelleschi, and controlled by the powerful Medici family.

In 1427-1428, the Mexica ruler, [BLANK-1] waged war against the Tepanec Alliance and defeated them. This effectively established the Aztec Empire.

[BLANK-1] came about around 1200 in Europe as an effort to limit violence and instill social order among knights. This code emphasized values such as bravery, honor, generosity, graciousness, mercy, and gallantry toward women.

[BLANK-1] was a governmental model that developed in Ancient Greece. It typically occurred in periods of distress or unrest, when one man took over all power of the government in a polis. Although this one man held all the power of the government, he was not necessarily cruel or unjust, and sometimes used his power to benefit average citizens.

The complicated political relations between England and France were exacerbated when the Norman, William the Conqueror, defeated Harold Godwinson at [BLANK-1] in 1066 and claimed the English throne (essentially giving control of the English kingdom to a Frenchman). William was fortunate, as Harold Godwinson’s army had been depleted during a major battle against his brother and Norway’s King Harald Hardrada in the previous weeks.

An example of Ancient Assyria’s ferocity in war includes the campaigns of Assyrian king, [BLANK-1]. In the ninth century B.C.E., during his campaigns against Zamua, his soldiers slew the inhabitants of villages, destroyed the villages, and burned the villages and crops with fire.

Under the system of feudalism, vassals would be awarded for their service with a fiefdom – usually a landed estate known as a manor. The economic power of the warrior class rested on this manorial system, and peasants often worked the fields under a system known as manorialism. Commoners who were personally free but were bound to the land and unable to leave were known as [BLANK-1].

[BLANK-1] provided a detailed chronicle of the Franks in Europe in 1275-1276. The chronicler spoke of the fruitful Frankish lands and the courage of the Frankish soldiers, but deplored the mean character of the Franks and their filthy habit of avoiding baths.

Although Egyptian pharaohs were predominantly male, a handful of women ascended to the Egyptian throne (often having to display themselves with male features in art and iconography in order to justify their rule). Perhaps the most famous female Egyptian pharaoh was [BLANK-1]. She ruled as regent for her stepson, Thutmose III (who later tried to erase any record of her ever having ruled). During her reign she emphasized trading, sponsored artists and architects, and oversaw the building of a magnificent structure at Deir el Bahri.