Question
To what extent did the manorial system experience change up to the mid-14th century?
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to consider the whether the manorial system experienced change in the given timeframe. Candidates may argue that it did or did not; however most responses are likely to find some aspects of continuity and change and reach a reasoned conclusion. Nevertheless, there is no prescribed response.
Indicative content
Factors that limited change:
• Landholders had little incentive to change if the system served their needs.
• Change might threaten the landholders’ social status and influence.
• Peasants did not have the wealth or influence to affect change.
• Rural areas tended to be conservative, which supported continuity.
• Important organizations such as the Church would not have supported change.
• Some cataclysmic event such as the Black Death was necessary to inspire a need for change.
Factors that encouraged change:
• Change had begun long before the mid-14th century with the development of urban centres and industry such as the wool trade.
• Serfs were leaving the estates to go to towns to seek employment and in some cases were encouraged by their lords to do so.
• The enclosure movement had begun, which led to the end of traditional feudal agriculture and the beginnings of commercial agriculture—this changed feudal obligations to cash rents. The feudal lords were selling their land to merchants and other commercial interests in order to pay debts or support themselves. These new owners were not interested in the traditional manorial system but preferred a more modern relationship with peasants.
• New intellectual movements, such as the 12th-century renaissance and growing trade, introduced new ideas and a dynamic, progressive spirit that was beginning to change the traditional social and economic structure represented by manorialism.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.
Question
“Women played a limited role in the economy of the Islamic world.” Discuss.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to consider the merits or otherwise of the given statement. Candidates should use factual detail to support their argument. This should lead to a reasoned conclusion.
Indicative content
Material in support of the statement:
• Women’s role in the economy was minimal in nature because they had limited property and inheritance rights and they lacked the ability to engage in activities outside the home without the permission of their husbands or male relatives.
• As the Islamic empire expanded, established patriarchal norms in those societies curbed women’s economic and social roles.
• Limited access to education and social isolation would have made it difficult for women to play a role as merchants, business owners or tradespeople operating in public.
Material that may challenge the statement:
• Many Muslim women, especially in tribal and rural societies, played a key role by assisting in farming and care of livestock.
• The tradition of women in the economy begins with Muhammad’s first wife who was a businesswomen engaged in trade. This would suggest that there was no prohibition against women in the economy.
• In addition women may have played a role behind the scenes in the operation of family enterprises.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.
Question
Examine the impact on medieval Europe of the development of systems of currency and exchange.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to consider the impact on medieval Europe of the named factors. Other material could be used to provide context; however the majority of the response should be focused on the named factors.
Indicative content
• Trade and commerce were facilitated as letters of credit and bills of exchange could be more easily and securely transported and exchanged than quantities of specie.
• Loans could be arranged to support commercial enterprise and funds could move easily from one region to another to support commerce. Governments could also arrange loans and financing for projects that they could not afford at the time.
• Better and more reliable systems of currency made trade easier and reduced fraud and theft.
• Accounting became easier and financial records could be kept more easily and accurately if currency was stable.
• Taxation systems became more efficient and useful to governments as money was substituted for goods.
• Although accounts were increasingly reckoned in cash terms, many transactions continued to be carried out in kind or by offering a service.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so
Question
Evaluate the social and economic importance of pilgrimage in the Islamic world.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates must demonstrate a clear understanding of the requirements of the question and appraise both the social and economic significance of pilgrimage in the set context. Candidates may decide to adopt a comparative approach and assert that one factor was more significant than the other; however there is no prescribed method of response.
Indicative content
• Tens of thousands of individuals made the pilgrimage each year; supplying the needs of pilgrims for transportation, food, and ceremonial dress was an extensive economic enterprise.
• Merchants travelled with the pilgrimages and profited by supplying their needs and by taking goods to the holy cities.
• Pilgrimage was a crucial religious obligation for all Muslims and an important social activity in the Islamic world.
• A great sense of community was created for Muslims as thousands joined together at the same time for the pilgrimage.
• The pilgrimage also encouraged the communication and exchange of ideas and information from all over the Islamic world.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to
do so.
Question
Examine the reasons for the development of one type of urban settlement in medieval Europe.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates must demonstrate a clear understanding of the requirements of the question and appraise the factors that led to the formation of urban settlements in Europe during the set period. Candidates should avoid listing the various factors and should, instead, provide a clear assessment of the reasons for this development.
Indicative content
• Urban settlements developed in some areas as adjuncts to administrative or religious centres that attracted population and created need for goods and services.
• Improvement of transportation also helped to develop urban settlements as markets were established and trade between regions occurred. The growth of trade contributed, as industry and other commercial establishments were created to produce goods for exchange throughout
Europe.
• People in search of employment migrated to these areas – their numbers were increased as overpopulation in the countryside created a landless class seeking employment.
• The collapse of feudalism also encouraged urban growth.
• Candidates may argue that urban centres always existed in medieval Europe as they had not disappeared from Roman times.
• In some areas, such as the Netherlands and Italy, urban areas continued to exist. It might be argued that these centres saw a considerable increase in size as a result of the above factors.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.
Question
Evaluate the role of the ulama in Islamic society.
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates should appraise the role of the ulama in Islamic society; however there is no set method prescribed for this. Some candidates may elect to assess the factors that affected Islamic society and then judge the significance of the ulama, or they may elect to analyse the role of the ulama before discussing if their impact on Islamic society was their most significant legacy.
Indicative content
• The ulama were a class of scholars qualified to practise and teach the Islamic law of a particular legal school.
• Their roles ranged from leader in a local mosque to important legal experts and judges, and included judges such as the qadi and the mufti.
• They held a large amount of moral authority as they were regarded as experts on all questions referring to the Holy law.
• Rulers often sought their support to increase their popularity or influence.
• Some were involved in the state bureaucracy but they were regarded with less respect than those who refused office.
• Tension between the ulama and the state created problems and conflict in Islamic society.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.
Question
Evaluate the impact on medieval European culture of either Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) or Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340–1400).
▶️Answer/Explanation
Ans:
Candidates are required to make an appraisal of how significant either Dante or Chaucer was to the development of medieval European culture.
Indicative content
Dante Alighieri
• Dante’s decision to write in the vernacular instead of Latin had a significant impact on the development of the written word in Europe. It helped the development of greater levels of literacy as the work was accessible to a wider population.
• He standardized the Italian language to some degree, which increased its prestige as an academic language and a language of literature that could be read by many.
• He inspired successive generations of writers such as Boccacio—in both themes and in the use of the vernacular.
Geoffrey Chaucer
• Chaucer had a significant, albeit perhaps overrated, influence on the development and standardization of Middle English.
• He was also a translator who introduced French and Italian literature to England.
• His use of the vernacular encouraged wider literacy and increased the accessibility of the printed word.
• He introduced styles of comedy, satire and social comment that proved models for later writers.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.