History

Answer ONE question from Part I and ONE question from Part II (50 pts. each).

Each essay should be approximately 2 – 4 pages (600 – 1200 words).

Part I.  (answer ONE question).

1. Discuss feudalism as a system of government and a means to promote social order in Europe during the Middle Ages.

2. What were the reasons for the Crusades? What did they achieve?

3.  Discuss the conditions of life and work for common people during the middle ages. What was a manor?  Why did serfdom decline in the late-middle-ages (1300s – 1500s)?  

Part II.  (Answer ONE question).

1.  What factors inspired the Renaissance in Europe? What new perceptions about humanism and its role in the world emerged from this movement? Can the Renaissance be seen as a  break from the culture of the Middle Ages? Why or why not?

2.  What was the “Columbian Exchange” and how did it affect both the “old” and the “new” worlds?  Discuss both positive and negative consequences of the interchanges between Europe and the Americas.

3.  What were the main reasons why Luther broke with the Roman Catholic Church?  How did later reformers such as Zwingli and Calvin differ from Luther? How did the Catholic Church respond to the religious and political challenges to its authority?