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The Western Experience, 8/e

Mortimer Chambers, University of California - Los Angeles
Barbara Hanawalt, Ohio State University
Theodore Rabb, Princeton University
Isser Woloch, Columbia University
Raymond Grew, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The Empires of the Early Middle Ages (800-1000): Creation and Erosion

Problems for Analysis

I. The Byzantine Empire


1		Why was the Byzantine Empire able to survive and expand during the Early Middle Ages?



2		Compare the Eastern and the Western Churches. How did their connections to secular authority differ?



3		Explain the decline of the Byzantine Empire.

II. Islam


4		How do you explain the extremely rapid spread of Islam in the seventh century? Was it mainly due to the nature of the religion? What role did the characteristics and environment of the Arabs play in this? Was it simply a function of conquest?



5		Compare the cosmopolitan Islamic civilization with the civilization of Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. How did they differ politically and culturally?



6		In some ways Islam significantly influenced the West, yet some historians argue that the two civilizations were fundamentally separate. Do you agree? Why?

III. The Carolingian, or Frankish, Empire


7		How were Carolingian leaders able to acquire power from their Merovingian predecessors and establish an extensive kingdom? Why was this kingdom short-lived?



8		What were the principal characteristics of the Carolingian Renaissance? Which of these were most important and why?

IV. The Vikings, Kiev, and England


9		How were the Vikings' activities in Western Europe similar to, and how were they different from, their activities in Eastern Europe? How do you explain the differences?



10		Should the Principality of Kiev be considered one of the most advanced civilizations of its time? Why?

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