​Developments in Europe (c. 1200 - c. 1450)

​Developments in Europe (c. 1200 - c. 1450)

By Isiah Jones

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to analyze how political decentralization, agricultural practices, and religious beliefs caused change in European society by annotating text and synthesizing evidence in a graphic organizer.

Open Ended

Imagine your entire town lost power, the internet was down permanently, and the national government disappeared. No one is in charge.

Q2: Who would likely end up in charge, and why?

Open Ended

Imagine your entire town lost power, the internet was down permanently, and the national government disappeared. No one is in charge.

Q1: What are the TOP THREE things your community would need to do to survive and create order?

• Causes: EC (Economic Cause), PC (Political Cause), CC (Cultural Cause), ENC (Environmental Cause)

• Effects: EE (Economic Effect), PE (Political Effect), CE (Cultural Effect), ENE (Environmental Effect)

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How to Read Like a Historian: Categorizing Cause and Effect

• Causes: EC (Economic Cause), PC (Political Cause), CC (Cultural Cause), ENC (Environmental Cause)

• Effects: EE (Economic Effect), PE (Political Effect), CE (Cultural Effect), ENE (Environmental Effect)

Let's Annotate Together

Instructions: We'll read the first few paragraphs of the "Feudalism" section together. I need your help to annotate.

Open Ended

Text Chunk 1: "European civilization in the Middle Ages was characterized by a decentralized political organization based on a system of exchanges of land for loyalty known as feudalism."

What is the main cause described here? How should we annotate 'decentralized political organization'?

Open Ended

Text Chunk 2: "The manorial system provided economic self-sufficiency and defense. The manor produced everything that people living on it required, limiting the need for trade..."

What are the effects of the manorial system? Look for two.

Open Ended

Text Chunk 3: "As both climate and technology slowly improved... The three-field system... promoted population growth."

What is the ultimate effect we see?

Independent Practice:

Annotate & Organize

• Students finish reading the text, using the annotation codes (EC, PC, CC, ENC, EE, PE, CE, ENE).

• Students complete the blank Graphic Organizer using their annotations as evidence.

Open Ended

The text describes both the Crusades and the Three-Field System as agents of change. Compare the primary way in which each of these developments began to weaken the feudal system.

Open Ended

To what extent did environmental and economic factors serve as the most significant drivers of change in European society from c. 1200 to c. 1450?"

Open Ended

The text describes both the Crusades and the Three-Field System as agents of change. Compare the primary way in which each of these developments began to weaken the feudal system.

Open Ended

Analyze the cause-and-effect relationship between political decentralization and cultural development during this period. Provide one specific example of how a lack of central power influenced culture, and one example of how cultural developments eventually influenced politics.