I. Cities, Trade, and Commerce

1			What advantages did independent towns have over those ruled by aristocratic landlords?
2			It can be argued that industry and commerce acquired many modern characteristics by the thirteenth century. Considering methods of manufacturing, the guilds, business institutions, and views toward economic life, do you agree? Why?
3			What were the attractions of living in a Medieval city? What were the disadvantages? Why, on balance, did cities draw people in?

II. Monarchies and the Development of Representative Institutions

4			Considering institutions such as Parliament, the Parlement of Paris, and the Cortes, should the thirteenth century be regarded politically as a period of representative assemblies? Why?
5			What special features of the Medieval English government were responsible for the enduring role of Parliament?

III. Government in the East

6			Why did Moscow become the center of the Russian state? What role did the relations between the Mongols and the prince of Moscow play in this?
7			On what basis should Ivan III be considered the founder of the modern Russian state? What policies did he pursue to this end?

IV. The Papacy and the Church

8			Why did the Papacy, which had seemed so powerful in the previous centuries, have such problems by the end of the thirteenth century?
9			Considering the issues that engaged pious lay people, why was there an upsurge of lay piety in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries?

V. Learning and Literature

10			What issues and methods of Scholasticism contributed to the beginnings of modern science?
11			In what ways does Dante's Comedy summarize the culture of this age? Compare the Comedy of Dante with the Summa Theologica of Aquinas.