Historical essay questions: You will be required to answer  essay questions:

1. According to the course lectures and readings, what was the ‘Great Divergence’ and how would you best explain how and why it happened? In what ways were China and Europe both similar to and distinct from one another in the 1500s?  What were the factors that made the difference?  Was there any one factor more important than the others?

2. What was the Italian Renaissance?  How did it develop out of the interactions between the the problems and characteristics of late medieval civilization and the legacies of the classical civilizations and values of Greece and Rome?  Why were the northern Italian city-states such fertile ground for such a development?  What was the role of Catholicism in this process?

3. Compare and contrast the ways in which the Mongols invaded and controlled Chinese society with the ways they invaded and controlled the Persian empire (Kwarezmed) and the early Russian principalities.  How would you account for the differences?

Historical defentions, providing about 3-5 sentences for each one, describing the event, person or process, and its historical context and significance.

The Magna Carta

Machiavelli