Study & Essay
Study Questions
Describe the Norman Conquest of England
and explain why it went beyond the substitution of one king for
another.
By the late 10th century the French kingdom
was feudally fragmented and the German king was Europe's strongest.
Why did royal power collapse in France but survive in Germany?
Describe and explain the Italian Towns'
rise. Why did they grow and how did they become independent?
What kind of governments emerged?
Essay Topics
Discuss the course, failures, and consequences of the
Fourth Crusade.
Discuss the growth of European heresies, their beliefs,
and the orthodox reaction to them in the 12-13th centuries.
How had the power of the German king declined in the
12th century, and how did Barbarossa try to revive it? What was the
role of Italy?
Explain the function of a manor and its role in feudalism.
What were the components and consequences of the papacy's revival
after 1000?
Explain the demographic phases and military-political
components of Byzantine Asia Minor's Turkification/Islamization.
What was a Crusade--theologically, as it evolved in
the mind of the church? Popularly, as it evolved in the minds
of kings and second sons? For Byzantium and the Muslims? For the
Italian merchant city-states?
