Write a short analytical essay (minimum 2 pages) based on one of the following choices:
1. In what ways did the Black Death revolutionize the social and economic structure of Europe? How were the peasant revolutions related to these changes?
2. How did the patterns of belief – both religious and philosophical – change in the later Middle Ages? How did the changing nature of the Church help to account for the variety of beliefs that became more common after 1350?
3. The people of the Renaissance are often referred to as the first modern individuals. What intellectual contributions did the Renaissance make to liberate individuals from the constraints of the medieval world? Discuss the role of humanism in this process.
4. What factors spurred European overseas exploration? Include in your analysis the social, political, and technological factors that were necessary to make discovery, exploration, and colonization possible.