Understanding World Societies:
Printed Page 453

Chapter Chronology

> CHAPTER 15 STUDY GUIDE

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

Now, take a step back and try to explain the big picture. Remember to use specific examples from the chapter in your answers.

THE RENAISSANCE

  • How did Renaissance ideas about individuals and their potential differ from those that prevailed in the Middle Ages?
  • How did political and economic considerations shape the emergence, development, and spread of the Renaissance?
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THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

  • How did Protestantism differ from earlier calls for theological and institutional reform of the Catholic Church? What explains Protestantism’s remarkable success?
  • What groups found Protestantism most appealing? Why?
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THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION AND RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

  • Should the Catholic Reformation be considered a success? Why or why not?
  • What connections can you make between the various forms of religious violence (riots, wars, witchcraft trials) that plagued sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe? What common factors and conditions contributed to each of these types of religious violence?
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LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

  • How did medieval developments prepare the way for the Renaissance and the Reformation? What were the most important areas of continuity between medieval and early modern Europe?
  • Many scholars and thinkers have seen the Renaissance and Reformation as marking the beginning of the “modern” Western world. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?
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