Write a careful account of how the world appeared different to seventeenth century Europeans.
It is probably the most important century in the making of the modern world:- Scientific discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Isaac Newton brought about new changes in the world. The Italian scientist Galileo invented telescope. Newton gave the theory of gravitation. He systematized scientific valuations about the universe. Copernicus, tried to prove that the earth rotates round the sun. Marco Polo’s invention of the compass made voyage easier. The explorations of the sailors like Vasco da Gama, Columbus etc. led to discoveries of new lands. Their explorations revolutionized trade. The invention of the printing press made books available to the people in various towns and cities. Rome, Florence and Venice became the centers of art and learning. Many artists, scholars and writers were patronized by the rich people in the cities and towns. Town became the center of art and learning activities. Thomas Moore’s “Utopia” ridiculed the malpractices of the contemporary society. On above
basis, it can be said that the world appeared different to 17th century Europeans.
Compare the Venetian idea of good government with those in contemporary France.
Compare details of Italian architecture of this period with Islamic architecture.
Why were Italian towns the first to experience the ideas of humanism?
What were the features of humanist thought?
Which elements of Greek and Roman culture were revived in the 14th and 15th centuries ?
Look at the diagram showing the positive feedback mechanism on page 13. Can you list the inputs that went into tool making? What were the processes that were strengthened by tool making?
Why do we say that it was not natural fertility and high levels of food production that were the causes of early urbanisation?
What were the features of the lives of the Bedouins in the early seventh century?
Why was trade so significant to the Mongols?
Describe two features of early feudal society in France.
Compare the civilization of the Aztecs with that of the Mesopotamians.
How did Britain’s involvement in wars from 1793 to 1815 affect British industries?
Comment on any points of difference between the native peoples of South and North America.
What were the major developments before the Meiji restoration that made it possible for Japan to modernise rapidly?
Humans and mammals such as monkeys and apes have certain similarities in behaviour and anatomy. This indicates that humans possibly evolved from apes. List these resemblances in two columns under the headings of (a) behaviour and (b) anatomy. Are there any differences that you think are noteworthy?
Other than the use of English, what other features of English economic and social life do you notice in 19th century USA?
How do later Mongol reflections on the yasa bring out the uneasy relationship they had with the memory of Genghis Khan.
Why did knights become a distinct group and when did they decline?
Compare the civilization of the Aztecs with that of the Mesopotamians.
What do ancient stories tell us about the civilisation of Mesopotamia?
Why do we say that it was not natural fertility and high levels of food production that were the causes of early urbanisation?
How does the following account enlarge upon the character of the Pax Mongolica created by the Mongols by the middle of the thirteenth century? The Franciscan monk, William of Rubruck, was sent by Louis IX of France on an embassy to the great Khan Mongke’s court. He reached Karakorum, the capital of Mongke, in 1254 and came upon a woman from Lorraine (in France) called Paquette, who had been brought from Hungary and was in the service of one of the prince’s wives who was a Nestorian Christian. At the court he came across a Parisian goldsmith named Guillaume Boucher, ‘whose brother dwelt on the Grand Pont in Paris’. This man was first employed by the Queen Sorghaqtani and then by Mongke’s younger brother. Rubruck found that at the great court festivals the Nestorian priests were admitted first, with their regalia, to bless the Grand Khan’s cup, and were followed by the Muslim clergy and Buddhist and Taoist monks.
Compare the conditions of life for a French serf and a Roman slave.
How did long-term changes in population levels affect economy and society in Europe
‘If history relies upon written records produced by city-based literati, nomadic societies will always receive a hostile representation.’ Would you agree with this statement? Does it explain the reason why Persian chronicles produced such inflated figures of casualties resulting from Mongol campaigns?