Cultural Consequences
Driving Question: What were the positive and negative consequences of increased connectivity?
Networks of exchange across Afro-Eurasia moved science, technology, and culture to new places. Religions spread, as did advancements in fields such as astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. The circulation of all these innovations contributed to the development of a global body of knowledge.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about how trade produced technological and scientific innovations.
- Assess the religious conflicts and transformations that took place in this period.
- Develop the historical thinking skill of causation and understand how causes and consequences vary depending on how an event is framed.
Reflect on what you’ve learned about the causes and consequences of increased connectivity in this period.
Causation is one of the historical thinking skills that we scaffold throughout the course. For a quick refresher about teaching causation, take a look at this one-pager.
Alphonse the Camel had a difficult life, but what caused his demise? Let’s explore this poor camel’s end and get to the bottom of this mystery!
This article is an opportunity to go past the “rebirth of Europe” story and ask who actually experienced the Renaissance and where did it come from. The article digs into how the Renaissance was shaped by trade, banking, and exchange with the Islamic world, not a “rediscovery” of Greece and Rome. It also notes that many peasants saw little immediate change, while wealthy urban elites benefited most. Check out some classroom tools that OER Project teachers have used to challenge the traditional Renaissance narratives.
In the fourteenth century, a cultural renaissance was rocking Europe as a result of centuries of cross-continental exchange.
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Guiding Questions
Martin Luther’s 95 Theses didn’t stop at the church door, and this video helps students trace how this single challenge to authority erupted into a continent-wide struggle over religion, state power, literacy, and social reform. Be sure your students note how many women were involved in these struggles.
For an example of the sorts of religious tensions that plagued Europe during the period after the Protestant Reformation, be sure to check out the video on the Great Fire of London in the extension materials at the end of this lesson.
What we believe or think can be affected by anything from new ideas to new technology. What might influence or change what you believe over time?
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
This is the first comparison activity in the course, so it’s a good time to review OER Project’s approach to historical comparison. Check out OER Project supports like the Comparison Tool and related Feedback Form, and find some quick tips and tricks for teaching this skill—all in a quick one-pager.
Was the thirteenth century that different from life today? In some ways, yes—in others, no. Let’s find out just how similar or different they are.
Religious conflicts engulfed Europe in the sixteenth century. Zoom in on the English Reformation and Henry VIII’s motivations for breaking with the Catholic pope.
In 1666, a fire tore through London. A young Frenchman who confessed to starting it was executed. But he almost certainly didn’t do it. So, what really happened, and why was everyone so ready to believe a lie?
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Guiding Questions
Trade, war, and pilgrimages often lead to cultural diffusion, and societies are forever changed by them. Find out how.
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Guiding Questions
