Middle Ages part 2

Why did Pope Urban II start the Crusades?

• The pope wanted to take control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims already living there.

• The pope wanted to build several new churches and monasteries in Asia to convert its people to Christianity.

• The pope wanted to expand his power and become the religious leader of Christians in the Byzantine Empire.

Why were the Christians able to defeat the Muslims and establish the Crusader States during the First Crusade?

• After the Christians' forty-day siege on Jerusalem, the Muslims surrendered due to hunger and starvation.

• The arrival of knights and professional soldiers caught the Muslims by surprise.

• The crusaders unintentionally brought an infectious disease to the Holy Land.

What was a positive effect of the Crusades?  

• They stopped wars in Western Europe for the next 500 years.

• The Holy Land was liberated (freed) from Muslim rule.

• It encouraged trade with the East

Why was the fourth crusade a disgrace to the idea of the crusades?

• The crusaders destroyed Constantinople and never reached the Holy Land.

• The crusaders were disrespectful to Muslims they conquered.

• The crusaders robbed and destroyed the Holy Land.

The church promised immediate excommunication to anyone who died fighting in the Holy Land. 

• True

• False

How did the growth of medieval towns contribute to the collapse of the feudal system?

• Some merchants created a new banking system in towns that outlawed using land and service as currency, so the feudal system became illegal.

• Many serfs and peasants moved to towns for better political and economic opportunities, which decreased the labor force on manors.

• Several guilds organized together in towns to fight for better farming conditions for serfs and peasants, which hurt lords’ economic power.

Historians believe the Black Death originated from infectious fleas carried by bats.

• True

• False

During the Black Death, some Christians responded by

• having more children.

• launching religious wars.

• blaming Jews for the crisis.

What were the consequences of the Black Death on medieval Europe’s economy?

• The surviving serfs abandoned their manors and rebelled against their lords for better pay and working conditions.

• The surviving clergy members claimed the disease was an act of God and hoarded all the available medicine for themselves.

• The surviving craftspeople invented stuffed animals to ease the suffering of sick children, which unintentionally boosted the economy.

The Bubonic Plague still exists, with several thousand cases yearly.

• True

• False