Assignment #1
 
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. Why was Byzantium called "the New Rome?"
  2. How did the Byzantine Empire carry on many of the traditions of ancient Rome?
  3. What were the Emperor Justinian's military goals?  How successful was he in achieving them?
  4. Identify the Greek characteristics of the Byzantine Empire.
  5. Why do you think Justinian decided in the late 520s that it was the right time to reform Roman law?
  6. What legal reforms did Justinian actually make?
  7. What were the geographic advantages of Constantinople's location?
  8. Why did Justinian build Hagia Sophia?
  9. After reading the document, answer these questions:
         * Contrast the picture of Justinian found in each excerpt from Procopius.
         * How do you explain these two different views?
         * What does Procopius most dislike about Empress Theodora?
         * What were some possible reasons why Buildings was published while
           Procopius was alive, and The Secret History was not?
  10. What were the major accomplishments of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian?
 

Terms:

 
 
  Assignment #2
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What pressures were placed on the Byzantine Empire for the next few centuries following Justinian's death?
  2. How did the Byzantine government deal with these pressures?
  3. What is an icon?  How was the Byzantine Emperor's authority tested as a result of a disagreement over the use of icons?
  4. What were the reasons for the disagreements between the Orthodox Christian Church and the Roman Catholic Church in the mid-11c?
  5. How do you think the schism in the Church might affect political relations between the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe in the future?
  6. How did the Byzantines influence the culture of early Russia?
    7.
 

Terms:

 
 
  Assignment #3
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 

  1. Label the map of "The Topography of Russia" as indicated below:
    bodies of water [blue ink]:
         Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Caspian Sea, Dnieper River,
         Volga River
    mountains [brown ink]:
         Caucasus, Urals, Carpathians, Tatras
    plains [green ink]:
         Great Northern European Plain, Steppes
    cities [red ink]:
         Novgorod, Kiev, Moscow, Odessa, Constantinople, Rome, Athens
    peninsulas [purple ink]:
         Balkan, Anatolian, Scandinavian, Italian

  2. Why might a territory with plains and rivers be difficult to defend against invaders?

  3. Why did the Vikings dominate the Slavic peoples for many centuries?

  4. Why did Prince Vladimir feel it was important that all of his subjects become Christians.

  5. How was the new government established in Kiev similar to that of the Byzantine Empire?

  6. What were some of the accomplishments of Yaroslav the Wise?

  7. What were the reasons for the decline of the Kievan state?

  8. How did the Mongols rule Russia?

  9. Why did Alexander Nevsky cooperate with the Mongols?  Was it a practical policy or
    was it cowardly?  Explain your position.

  10. How did Mongol policies help to pull Russia together as a territory?

  11. Why was Moscow called "The Third Rome?"
 

Terms:

 
 
  Assignment #4
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What role did the Church play in helping Clovis conquer other Germanic peoples?
  2. What was important about Charles Martel's victory at the Battle of Tours?
  3. How did Pepin the Short strengthen the Frankish kingdom?
  4. Read the document and answer these questions:
         * According to Einhard, what kind of person was Charlemagne?
         * What things mentioned in this document make Charlemagne appear to be an
           intellectual person?
         * Why do you think Einhard tells us so much about Charlemagne's education?
         * What type of father was Charlemagne?
         * List some of the ways that Charlemagne was directly involved with the Catholic
           Church.
         * How would you account for the fact that Einhard's description of Pope Leo's
           injuries is not historically accurate?
         * What other information about the life, customs, and values of the upper class in the
           Frankish court is revealed in the excerpts from Einhard's work?
  5. What was the importance of Charlemagne's coronation as emperor?
  6. How did Charlemagne govern his unified kingdom?
 

Terms:
 
  Assignment #5
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. Who were the Vikings?  Why were they more dangerous and fearsome than previous Germanic people?
  2. In addition to being warriors, what else did the Vikings do?  What were their accomplishments?
  3. What other invaders attacked Europe in the 9c and 10c?  Where did they come from?  What areas did they attack?
  4. How would you characterize the relationship between a lord and his vassal?
  5. Why did feudalism emerge in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire?
  6. How did feudalism provide for the security of the people of medieval Europe?
  7. Why was the feudal system often so complicated?
  8. Answer the questions found at the beginning of each document in the packet.
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #6
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What is a medieval manor?  How did the manor system [manorialism] work?
  2. How was manorialism different from feudalism?
  3. What relationship did the serf have to the land -- economically?    legally?
  4. What power did the nobility have over their serfs/peasants?
  5. Why was manor life so difficult for the serfs/peasants?  What hardships did peasants like Piers Plowman endure?
  6. Why were peasants and serfs so willing to put up with these hardships?
  7. How did medieval farmers deal with the problem of soil exhaustion?
  8. According to historian, Lyon, how have other historians erred in their description of manorial life?
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #7
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 

         We will do an "H-O-H" ["Hands-On-History"] Socratic seminar in class and will discuss/debate the
        following question: 
            Did feudalism bring about stability in Medieval Europe or was it a political and social disaster?
 

  Assignment #8
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What was chivalry?  Does it exist today?
  2. What would theoretically happen to a knight who persisted in acting in a non-chivalrous manner?
  3. Answer the questions that accompany each document in the packet.
  4. What was the role of women during the feudal period?
  5. What caused the change in the status of women during the Middle Ages?
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #9
 

Sources:
  • textbook:  pg. 87 to top of pg. 89.
  • document packet:  "The Medieval Church."
  • music clips:  samples of Gregorian Chant.
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. How did the Church attempt to enhance the quality of life in medieval Europe?
  2. Why do you think medieval peasants would support the Church?
  3. How did the Church bring about an increase in political stability in Europe?
  4. How were a feudal manor and a monastic community similar?
  5. What were some of the problems and abuses that arose within the medieval Church?
  6. Did the Church provide for greater or less order in medieval society?
  7. Could a bishop or abbot be a feudal lord as well?
  8. Read the documents in the packet and answer the questions that accompany them.
  9. Why do you think that the European Middle Ages is known as the "Age of Faith?"
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #10
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. List some of the facts that favored the rise of the Capetian dynasty in medieval France.
  2. Briefly describe how each of the following French kings increased royal power -- Philip II, Louis IX, and Philip IV.
  3. How did William the Conqueror lay the basis for strong central government in England?
  4. Why did Henry II's royal courts strengthen the king's power over his lords?
  5. Why did King John's defeats in France prove to be gains for England in the long run?
  6. What was the purpose of the Magna Carta?
  7. List the basic rights that the Magna Carta guaranteed.  How did it affect the king's power?
  8. What is meant by the phrase "the right of due process of law?"
  9. How did King Edward I change the makeup of the British Parliament?
  10. Explain how the British Parliament and the French Estate-General were similar and how they were different.
  11. Use facts to support the following statement:  While England was limiting the power of its kings during the Middle Ages, the French kings were increasing their royal power.
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #11
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 

  1. What were some of the reforms that took place in the Catholic Church during the High Middle Ages?

  2. What were some of the religious principles stated by St. Francis of Assisi in the rules for his new religious order, the Franciscans?  How was he a religious reformer?

  3. How did Pope Gregory VII expand the power of the Church?

  4. What was the controversy surrounding the practice of "lay investiture?"

  5. Why did the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, refuse to accept the decrees of the pope?

  6. What happened at the "showdown at Canossa?"

  7. What was settled at the Concordat of Worms?

  8. Why does the relationship between Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV illustrate the growing struggle between secular and religious leaders that was growing during the High Middle Ages?

  9. What other issues further increased the tensions between medieval popes and medieval kings?
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #12
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. Why did the growth of trade and towns increase by the 11c?
  2. Who owned most of the land in medieval Europe?  Therefore, how could a town be established when land was not readily available for this purpose?
  3. What rights did these new towns have?
  4. What were some of the privileges of the new bourgeoisie class in these towns?
  5. What were the effects of the reemergence of the use of money on late medieval society?
  6. What is a guild?  How did they operate in medieval Europe?
  7. Why did people move to and travel to new towns and cities?
  8. How did townspeople become independent of the feudal system?  What does the saying "town air makes you free" mean?
  9. How did the Hanseatic League attempt to economically unify at least a part of medieval Europe?
  10. Read document #1 and answer these questions:
         * What is the king's argument for exiling French Jews?
         * Did Jewish money-lenders threaten the well-being of Christians?
        * Why was religious toleration so difficult in 12c France?
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #13
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What does the term "crusade" mean?
  2. Why did Pope Urban II call for the First Crusade?  How did he convince the Frankish nobles to fight?
    3.
  3. Who was Saladin?  Why do you think that Saddam Hussein often called himself "The New Saladin?"
  4. How was the motive for the Fourth Crusade different from the ones that preceded it?
  5. Why did the crusaders fail to achieve their objectives?
  6. Why did interest in crusading decrease after 1200?
  7. Why are the Crusades considered to be a turning point in European history?
  8. What was the Reconquista?  the Inquisition?
  9. Why did the position of Spanish Muslims and Jews change in the late 15c?
 

Terms:

 
 

  Assignment #14
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What does it mean when one write "in the vernacular?"  What advantage did such writing have for a society that was still mostly illiterate?
  2. Why was there such an interest in epic poetry in the High Middle Ages?   in poems of romantic love?
  3. What were the greatest works of medieval literature?  How do they reflect medieval ideas?
  4. What caused the intellectual explosion of the 12c?
  5. How did the institution of the university begin?
  6. Identify the seven liberal arts.  How long did it take to receive a bachelor's degree at a medieval university?   a masters degree?
  7. What was scholasticism?  What was the mission of Scholastic philosophers?
  8. Read the document packet and answer the questions that accompany the documents.
  9. Describe the major differences between Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture.
 

Terms:
 

  Assignment #15
 

Sources:
 

Questions/
Activities:
 
  1. What were some of the continuing controversies between the late medieval kings and the popes?
  2. Why did the popes move to Avignon in France from Rome in the 14c?
  3. Why is the period 1309 - 1376 called the "Babylonian Captivity?"
  4. What is a heretic?  List some of the "heresies" of John Wycliffe and John Huss.
  5. What were the causes of the Black Death?  Why did it spread so quickly and kill so many Europeans?
  6. What were the political, economic, and social results of the Bubonic Plague?
  7. What were the causes of the Hundred Years' War?  What role did Joan of Arc play in this conflict?
  8. Identify some of the new weapons technologies used in the Hundred Years' War.
  9. How did the Hundred Years' War weaken the feudal system?
  10. Why do you think that the 14c is sometimes called "calamitous" for medieval Europe?
 

Terms:

 
 

 

                        

 

 
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