History 205A

Final Exam Review Sheet

 

Part I. Map (10 points)

You will be required to label locations, drawn from the list below, on the provided map.

 

Aquitaine          Avignon            Burgundy                      Crusader States            

Florence           Hanseatic League (Lübeck)                   Hastings                      

Holy Roman Empire                  Norway                        Paris                

Venice              Vezelay                       

 

Part II – Identifications (20 points)

A selection of terms drawn from the daily lists will appear on the exam.  You will choose five, and provide a brief definition (1 sentence) and approximate date (century – don’t forget to include BCE/CE!)  Most importantly, you must provide a brief discussion (1 sentence) addressing why this person, place, thing or idea is significant to history.  The significance element of your ID is worth the most points (2).  Nearly everyone can improve on significance from the midterm – don’t just say the concept, person, etc still has relevance today, say what specifically that is, or even better, explain what their relevance was to the time period!

 

Part III – Short Essay (30 points)

One of the questions below, focusing on Thomas More’s Utopia, will appear on the final.  Use specific examples from the book, other pertinent readings, and lecture to support your conclusions.

 

1)      In what ways does the land described by Raphael Hythloday in Utopia’s book 2 conform to late medieval European society, culture and politics as we’ve discussed them? Consider examples such as religion, society and gender, politics, economy, warfare. In what way is it completely different? Is More’s creation more a reflection of his own society, or truly ‘‘no place’ described by a ‘dispenser of nonsense?’

 

2)      You are a professor at Oxford University in the late sixteenth century. You are trying to decide whether to teach More’s Utopia. What are its strengths and weaknesses as a text? What will it tell your students? How might you edit it (remove portions) in order to make it more acceptable to students, university, state and church?

 

 

Part IV – Comprehensive Essay (40 points)

One of the questions below will appear on the exam.  Draw on material from both halves of the class, and from textbook and lecture as well as books and internet readings.  Be sure to answer all elements of the question, and to use specific examples to support your assertions.

1)      Why did people in the ancient and medieval worlds travel? Discuss at least 5 different types of travel from literature and history. What were their motivations, and what were the results?  How did the ancient Mediterranean and Europe change as a result of travel?  What traveled besides people?

 

2)      Drawing on examples from Christianity, Judaism and Islam, write an essay considering how everyday people in the ancient and medieval west experienced and expressed their religious devotion.  What were their worship practices? Personal devotions? Beliefs? How did the institutional church seek to control and regulate beliefs and practices in the middle ages?  Why?

 

3)      Write an essay discussing the lives of women in the ancient and medieval west. What did women do?  What roles did they play in the formation of institutions such as the government, and institutional churches? How, when, and under what circumstances did they exercise power, and what were the limits of it? What can examples of ‘powerful’ women tell us about the lives of women as a whole?