Assignment #1
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. Why did Europe's population decline dramatically between 1300 and 1450?
  2. Regarding the Black Death:
         - What were its causes?
         - Why did it spread so quickly throughout Western Europe?
         - Where was it most virulent?
  3. How would you evaluate the status of women in the aftermath of the Black Death?  How influential was misogyny in limiting women's activities and achievements?
  4. How was the Hanseatic League a trade monopoly?
  5. How did the adversities of the 14c affect urban life and medical practices?
  6. Identify some of the technological advances that changed European society by the early 15c?
 
  Assignment #2
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. Why did the nobility experience instability in the Late Middle Ages?  In what ways did that instability lead to the Hundred Years' War?
  2. Regarding the Hundred Years' War:
         - What were its causes?
         -     Why did the war continue for so long a period in the 14c?
         - What advantages did each side possess?
         - What were the results of the war in the 14c for England and France?
  3. How did the role of representative institutions differ in France and England during and after the Hundred Years' War?  Why?
  4. What role did Joan of Arc play in the Hundred Years' War?  How was her fate an example of a medieval response to a political problem?
  5. On the basis of the passage in your textbook, did misogyny play a role in the trial and execution of Joan of Arc?
  6. What were the long-term ramifications of the Hundred Years' War for England and for France?
  7. Why did the English nobility fight the War of the Roses?  What was its outcome?
    8.
  8. Identify the major "power centers" in 14c Italy [be sure to list their strengths and weaknesses, different types of government structures, and the types of societies and trade/business enterprises characterized each state.]
  9. In what ways were the states of Italy able to gain relative stability during the 15c?
 
  Assignment #3
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. How would you evaluate the papacy's strengths in the 13c and 14c?
  2. What were the issues at stake in the controversies between Pope Boniface VIII and the king of France?
  3. Explain the symbolic significance of the "material sword" and the "spiritual sword" as expressed in Unam Sanctam.  How are they related?
  4. What were some of the major ideas of Roger Bacon and William of Ockham?
  5. Why were Bacon and Ockham considered to be the founders of Western scientific thinking?
  6. Why was Dante's Divine Comedy considered to be a synthesis of the medieval world view?
 
  Assignment #4
 

Sources:
  • textbook:   pg. 357 - 363. 
 

Questions:
  1. What brought about the "Avignon Papacy?"
  2. Identify some of the sources of church corruption in the 14c.
  3. What led to the Great Schism?  Why did it prove so difficult to resolve?
  4. Why did the Conciliar Movement develop in the early 15c?
  5. What issues did the Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basel address?
  6. In what ways did the laity of the late Middle Ages express their desire for a more spiritual rather than ritualistic religious experience?  Give specific examples.
  7. Identify the major doctrinal reforms proposed by John Wycliffe and the Lollards and by Jan Hus and the Hussites.
  8. Why was the Catholic Church loosing its hold over peoples' loyalty and respect by the end of the 15c?
    9.
  9. Comment on the following statement:  The church as an institution was threatened from both those who believed too much and from those who believed too little.
 
  Assignment #5
 

Sources:
  • textbook:  pg. 313 to mid-pg. 317.  
  • PowerPoint: "Medieval Art & Architecture"
 

Questions:
  1. What were the stereotypical images of women in late medieval Europe?
  2. How did patriarchy influence the status of medieval women?
  3. What were the major issues in the history of women during the Middle Ages? 
  4. What are the problems encountered by the historian in understanding the status of women in the late medieval period?
  5. What were some of the factors that led to rural and urban revolts in the 14c?
  6. How did the Black Death contribute to the socio-economic causes that motivated peasants to revolt in the 14c and 15c?
  7. How did urban revolts differ from rural ones?
  8. How were the growing tensions between the nobility and the emerging monarchies a key to explaining some of the reasons for the decline of feudalism in Europe by the end of the 14c?
  9. What were some of the characteristics of Late Medieval art and architecture?
 

 

Assignment #6
 

Sources:
 

Task:

    Read the document packet above and be prepared to participate actively in the inner-outer
    circle Socratic Seminar as per the methodology described in the sheet above.
 

                
 
 
 

                
 

Outlines / Lecture Notes:
  1. "1300-1815" (Mr. Mercado)
  2. "The Roots of Western Civilization" (Prof. Paul Halsall, Fordham University)
  3. chart --> "A Comparison of the Middle Ages & the Renaissance in Italy"
  4. chart --> "Comparing the Middle Ages, the Renaissance & the Modern World"
  5. lecture outline --> "The Late Middle Ages" (Prof. David McGee, Central Virginia Community College)
    6.

Review Sheets:
  1. Giant EHAP Review Sheet by a student from the class of '04, Horace Greeley HS
  2. chart --> "Social History Study Guide" (Mr. Mercado)

 


   
 

Ten Commandments of Good Historical Writing

College Board A. P. European History Course Description