Study Materials – by Paul Brians

Lecture 36: High Middle Ages, Part I

Note: This study guide is presented here as a historical document only. Paul Brians is retired and his courses are no longer offered by WSU.

(Duiker 327-335; Brians 250-254)

Questions about Duiker: *What were the main obligations of serfs toward their lords? What was the staple of the peasant diet? What was their most common drink? *How were medieval cities governed? What were the functions of the craft guilds? *Give an example of the power of the Pope over secular rulers. *What was the function of the Holy Office? *What were the main characteristics of Romanesque churches?

Questions about The Inferno: *According to Virgil, what sort of sin is being punished in this passage? In what symbolic way are they punished?

Lecture topics:

  • The Catholic Church asserts its power
  • Importance of afterlife
  • Wealth & reaction (St. Francis)
  • Jeanne d’Arc: her significance
  • Rise of cities
  • Role of mercantilism
  • Italian communes
  • Dante: The Divine Comedy
  • The Black Death: immediate &
  • long-range impacts

Supplementary materials:

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