1-4 Document Worksheet

1-4 Document Worksheet

Name: ______Date:______

1-4 Document Worksheet

Document 1
European societies were arranged in ahierarchy, that is by order of rank orposition. Rulers and nobles were at thetop. They owned the most land and werethe most powerful. Peasants were at thebottom. They made up most of the peoplein European society.
In Europe, kinship did not play as animportant role as it did in NativeAmerican and African societies. Life in
Europe centered around the nuclearfamily. This kind of household was madeup of a mother and father and their children.
Document 2:
The Roman Catholic Church wasimportant in Europe. It played a centralrole in people’s daily lives.
The Church encouraged Christians totake Spain from the Muslims, who werefollowers of Islam. The Church alsowanted Muslims to leave the Holy Land.From 1096 to 1270, Europeans took partin the Crusades. These were series ofwars to retake the Holy Land. TheCrusades failed to achieve this goal.The Crusades still had a big impact,
though. Trade increased. Europeanswanted the goods they saw in Asia. TheCrusades helped to make European rulersstronger and to make nobles and theChurch weaker.
In the early 1500s, reformers called forchanges in the Church. This movementwas called the Reformation.
Document 3:
In the 1300s, Europe suffered severalserious setbacks. Thousands died fromstarvation after a crop failure. An
epidemic of plagues beginning in the1340s killed 25 million people, a quarterof Europe’s population. Long wars killedthousands more.
In the 1400s, modern Europe began totake shape. The Crusades had openedtrade routes. Population increased, andtowns and cities grew larger and morepowerful. The Crusades had weakened thenobility and made monarchs morepowerful. By the late 1400s, four majornations were taking shape in westernEurope: Portugal, Spain, France, andEngland.
The Renaissance led to a more secularspirit, an interest in worldly pleasures, anda new confidence in human achievement.People began to regard themselves asindividuals.
Document 4
Europeans looked for new routes to theEast. The introduction of the compass andastrolabe allowed ship captains to navigatebetter. New ships such as the caravelallowed sailors to sail against the wind.Prince Henry of Portugal, often called“Henry the Navigator,” developed andemployed these new innovations. He senthis captains to explore the coast of Africa.Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tipof Africa in 1488. Ten years later, Vasco
da Gama reached India.

Document 1 Question(s):

  1. Who had the most power in European society?
  1. What is a nuclear family?

Document 2 Question(s):

  1. What were the Crusades?
  1. What was the Reformation?

Document 3:

  1. What effects did the Crusades have?

Document 4:

  1. What new sailing technologies allowed Europeans to explore more?

Writing Assignment:

Directions: Using the space below and/or a separate sheet of paper, answer the following question in the form of a short essay (of at least one paragraph) using the question answers, documents, claims and evidence from above:

  • Inquiry Question: What is the main idea, issue or theme that ties these documents together? What evidence can you offer to support this idea, issue or theme?
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