Assignments for this course take the form of written summaries, research, and analysis. They are designed to help us work through the course
objectives, while keeping a focus on our spiritual growth through conceptual learning.For each assignment, please develop a document and submit it to me in either Microsoft Word or HTML format (your word processing
software should permit you to do a "save as" and choose either of those formats).
Each assignment can be completed by consulting Web-based materials listed on the course Resource page. Assignment
1 Assignment
2 Assignment
3 Assignment
4 Assignment
5 Assignment
6
Reading
Assignment 2
Medieval History
Read
the articles in the following links and other online
resources relevant to Medieval History in order to
prepare yourself for your writing assignment.
http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Medieval.html
http://www.ku.edu/kansas/medieval/108/lectures/
Writing
Assignment 2
Medieval History
Write an essay from your own
perspective on Medieval history. What have you
learned. What can man-kind learn form the past both
good and bad experiences from the past. This
assignment will as will the others be 10-15 pages
single spaced in MLA or APA style.
Writing
Assignment 2B
Answer
any 6 of the following questions
1. What is a "nation state?" What
conditions are necessary for its development? Choose
an example of a "nation state" and show how
your generalizations apply to a specific example.
2. The growth of nationalism rather than the
weakness or failures in the Catholic Church itself
explain the triumphs and also the defeats of the
Protestant Reformation. Discuss.
3. It has been stated that the feudal system
incorporated elements from the three great
contributors to medieval civilization: the Roman
Empire, the Germanic barbarians, and the Christian
Church. Examine this statement and indicate how each
made its contribution to the formation of the feudal
system and also comment on the extent to which that
system was a coherent political, social, and economic
whole.
4. Western Europe began an expansion into the
non-European world in the 11th century. This was but a
first stage of a process which would see European
civilization expand throughout the world. Discuss the
process from the 11th to the end of the 16th century.
5. Both the Carolingian Empire and Holy Roman
Empire claim to be legitimately descended from the
roman Empire. What grounds did they have for this
claim? What was the view of the Church?
6. From the early centuries of the Christian ere
there was a reforming tradition which manifested
itself at periodic intervals until the great period of
reform—Protestant and Roman Catholic—in the 16th
century. Discuss these various periods of reform
beginning with the Cluniac movement. Why did the
Protestant Reformation break the pattern of reform
within the existing framework of the Church?
7. How do you explain the rise of representative
assemblies in the Middle Ages, and why was it only in
England that Parliament became the essential part of
the government in the 16th century?
8. Scholasticism is used to characterize the
thought of the Middle Ages, humanism that of the
Renaissance. What does each term mean? What os the
view of each towards man in the world? 9. Is it true
to say that from Charlemagne to Henry III (771-1056)
the authority of the popes depended on the strength of
the emperors, yet Gregory VII to Innocent IV
(1073-1254) the popes considered the emperors the
greatest threat to their authority and worked to
destroy imperial power? How do you account for this
change?
10. The influence of classical literature never
died out in Vietnam in Western Europe, but its
importance and use varied considerably. What was its
importance and to what use was it put in the
Carolingian Renaissance, the Renaissance of the 12th
century, and the Italian Renaissance?
11 In feudalism, were there the seeds of
constitutionalism, absolutism, and anarchy? Look at
England, France, and Germany in the 11th through 16th
centuries.
12. How united was Western Christendom before the
Reformation; how important was it for producing
capitalism, nationalism, the absolute state, religious
toleration, and the right to resist legally
established authority?
Format:
Your paper should be 10-15 pages in length and your
strategy documentation should be developed in good
report form, using either MLA or APA style for all
external resources.
|