History of Civilization 102, Spring 2024

Sections 14, 12
Revision Guide for the Midterm
Yağmur Fakıoğlu

You will be permitted to bring with you 2 pages (both sides of a single A4 sheet) of handwritten
notes.

You can use the back of your question sheets in addition to the provided A4 papers to write your
answers on. Both classrooms will be provided with extra paper, do not hesitate to ask for more
from the proctor if you need it.

The exam will cover the first two topics of the course. The use of historical context and primary
sources, even when not explicitly listed as a requirement in a question, will be helpful in
improving your grade if relevant or well-argued. Remember to write your answers in the format
of a paragraph (for short questions) or an essay (for essay questions), and not as a series of
notes.

Topic 1:
-What was the Renaissance?
-What were some of the factors that led to the Renaissance?
-Why was Italy the place where the Renaissance began?
-Why was the Renaissance different from the Middle Ages?
-What was the impact the plagues had on Renaissance economy?
-What was the relationship between urbanization and the impact of the plagues?
-What was it that allowed Italy to grow wealthy via trade?
-What was the family structure like in the Renaissance?
-How did the stages of the lives of men and women differ in the Renaissance?
-What was the role of faith in the development of Renaissance society?
-How did Renaissance artists influence one another?
-What were some of the innovations made by Renaissance artists?
-What was the Renaissance artists’ role in society?
-What set the Renaissance humanists apart from earlier scholars?
-How could the humanists influence practical affairs (hint:Valla)?
-How was scientific study conducted during the Renaissance?
-What was Galen’s Humorism?
-What were the five most powerful city-states of Renaissance Italy?
-What brought about the end of Italian hegemony?
-What was Petrarch’s goal in writing his Letter to Posterity?
-How does Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man exemplify the spirit of the
Renaissance?
-How did Machiavelli’s experiences affect his political writings?
-Why did the age of exploration begin?
-Why were the Portuguese the first to make breakthroughs in exploration and colonization?
-What delayed Spain’s efforts at exploration?
-What made Spain seek a western route to India instead of using the established trade routes?
-What motivated the conquistadors in their conquest of the Americas?
-What were the factors that contributed to the consolidation of states?
-What allowed the consolidation of Russia under the Tsars?
-What prevented the permanent consolidation of Poland-Lithuania?
-How did Henry VII Tudor solidify his hold over England after the Wars of the Roses?
-What put a stop to the Burgundian expansion in France?
-What were the benefits and drawbacks of the religious persecution perpetrated by the Spanish
Inquisition for Ferdinand and Isabella?
-What made Charles V the most powerful man in Europe?
-How does Hernán Cortés portray himself in his letter to Charles V? Why?
-How did the Print Revolution contribute to the Reformation?
-What were the internal troubles of the Catholic Church that the Christian humanists, and later
the reformers, sought to remedy?
-What were the factors that led to the rapid spread of Luther’s ideas?
-What were the three central tenets of Lutheranism?
-Why did the Pope have to oppose these ideas?
-Why did Charles V have to support the Catholic Church?
-Why did England have two Reformations?
-How did the Catholic Church conduct internal reforms in response to the reformation?
-How does Luther’s idea of the importance of performing good deeds differ from the established
Catholic doctrine?
-How does Calvin criticize Catholic doctrine?
-Why is Calvin’s critique of Catholicism in his open letter to Charles V harsher than Luther’s in
his open letter to the Pope?
Topic 2:
-Why did the Dutch Revolt happen, and who was it against?
-What was the inciting incident for the 30 years war?
-Who were involved in the 30 years war and why did it expand so rapidly?
-Why did the 30 years war cause so many deaths?
-Who won and who lost?
-What were the major factors in the consolidation of the state during and after the wars of
religion?
-What was the Seventeenth Century Crisis?
-What were the crises that occurred in Spain and France during this time?
-Why were the Dutch having a Golden Age while everyone else was struggling politically and
economically?
-What caused the English Civil War?
-What were the political results of the English Civil War?
-How did Frederick William turn Brandenburg-Prussia into a powerful state?
-How did Peter the Great research for his reforms, and how did his reforms pay off for Russia?
-How did Louis XIV of France get the powerful aristocracy of France under control?
-What were the consequences of Louis’ persecution of the Huguenots?
-How did Thomas Hobbes describe human life in “the state of nature?”
-Why did Hobbes think that an absolute monarchy was the ideal way to impose order on society?
-Why did Robert Filmer think kings needed to be above the law, and why did he oppose
republics and oligarchies?
-How were Hobbes and Filmer affected by the English Civil War?
-How was rural life different from town life in early modern Europe?
-How did the early modern European family operate as a unit of economic and social
organization?
-How did the population boom of Europe first bring prosperity, and then an economic crisis?
-Why was the Price Revolution such an impactful event despite being a very low degree of
inflation by modern standards?
-How did the trade routes to Asia influence the development of European economy?
-What made triangular trade more profitable than bilateral trade?
-What was the role of the slave trade in triangular trade?
-What were the innovations introduced by the Bank of Amsterdam and the Bank of England?
-How did the increased availability of Asian goods influence the diets of Europeans?
-What was new about the English and Dutch East India Companies?
-What were the connections between the popular belief in magic and the scientific revolution in
early modern Europe?
-What led to the witch craze in early modern Europe?
-What did the witch trial texts written by Johannes Nider, Heinrich Kramer and Matthew
Hopkins have in common?
-How did the methods used by Kramer and Hopkins differ from one another?
-How did their methods of criminal examination differ from the procedures that legal reformers
of the Enlightenment would advocate?
-What made “the new science” different from Renaissance-era scientific study?
-What were the problems with Aristotle’s cosmology that new astronomers were attempting to
explain?
-Why was Galileo the one so infamously persecuted by the Inquisition despite merely expanding
on Copernicus and Kepler’s work?
-What was Paracelsus’ contribution to medical science?
-How did Robert Boyle help found the science of chemistry?
-Why did it take such a long time for the understanding of the human body to develop after
human anatomy was successfully examined as early as the 16th century?
-What were Newton’s contributions to the various fields of science?
-Why is Descartes viewed as an Enlightenment thinker despite writing half a century before the
rest of the Enlightenment?
-How did Voltaire exemplify the spirit of the Enlightenment?
-How did David Hume influence Montesquieu and Kant?
-What was Montesquieu’s greatest work and what were his ideas that are still influential today?
-What was the significance of John Locke’s idea of tabula rasa and the pleasure/pain principle?
-What were the impact of Cesare Beccaria’s works on legal reform?
-Why were Enlightened reforms better implemented in the east despite emerging in western
Europe?
-What was the influence of the Enlightenment on religious tolerance?
-How did Kant describe Enlightenment?
-Why did Kant admire Frederick the Great so much?