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Question 1

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Describe the influence of Christianity in Europe between 1200-1450

Answer 1

Christianity united Romans until the Western half of the Roman Empire fell, while Eastern half became the Byzantine Empire and maintained Christian values as well as the empire’s political and social organization.
Consolidated and justified [highly centralized] power for the Byzantine Empire, who’s faith is recognized as eastern orthodox Christianity.

Question 2

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Explain the cultural and political state of West Europe between 1200-1450

Answer 2

Roman Catholicism. Church hierarchy of popes and bishopes provided cultural unification if not political unification, which kings used to inspire populations to war against rival Muslims –> the crusades, which formally connected Europe to trade routes from the known world for the first time.
Decentralized, w/ feudalism and manorialism

By 1200, some larger powers began to grow bureaucracies and their militaries, creating a power shift from the nobility to monarchs = more conflicts between monarchs in efforts to gain the most power

Question 3

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Byzantine Empire

Answer 3

Lost territory to Muslim rivals, but remained influential in southwest Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean until the Ottoman Empire ransacked Constantinople and effectively ended the Byzantine Empire in 1453, renaming Constantinople “Istanbul”. Constantinople was crucial in that it was at the pinnacle of various trade connections, providing economic opportunities, and held a position of military advantage from the Black Sea.

Question 4

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Kievan Rus

Answer 4

Adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity and became its primary output in Europe after the Byzantine’s fall. They borrowed architectural styles, church involvement in state, and the alphabet from Byzantine Empire.

Question 5

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Minority religions in Europe, 1200-1450

Answer 5

Islam: Muslims had invaded Iberian Peninsula in 8th century and ruled a portion of that territory by 1200

Judaism: Jews were scattered and participated in trade, but were viewed with suspicion and marginalized as a result

Question 6

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Explain what feudalism is

Answer 6

Larger powers allied w/ smaller powers and exchanged land to ensure loyalties

Question 7

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Explain what manorialism is

Answer 7

Peasants [serfs] worked on land they were bound to in return for protection from the lords of the land