Deck 1: Continuities in Society and Economy

Question 1

In the early modern period, the vast majority of people lived hand-to-mouth. ________ was the most important determinant of people's welfare.

A) Social status
B) Family structure
C) General health
D) The annual harvest
E) Weather patterns

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The two variables that determined the prospects of peasant families were ________ and ________.

A) their proximity to urban centres; the crops they were able to sell
B) the size of their landholdings; the nature of their tenancy
C) the nature of their landlord; their religious affiliation
D) the size of their family; the number of dependent children
E) their general health; the value of their labour

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The vast majority of women accused of witchcraft because ________.

A) women were morally weaker than men
B) women needed supernatural means to achieve their goals
C) women's high sexual appetites made them susceptible to Satan's temptations
D) women's occupations made them more susceptible to accusations
E) All of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

________ was the largest industrial sector in early modern Europe.

A) Textiles
B) Shipbuilding
C) Mines
D) Foundries
E) Transportation

Question 5

The last major plague outbreak in Europe occurred in ________ in 1720-1.

A) Venice
B) London
C) Madrid
D) Kiev
E) Marseilles

Question 6

________ are associated with the moral economy, in which crowds attempted to enforce what they determined to be a just price.

A) Carnivals
B) Enclosure riots
C) Bread riots
D) Religious revolutions
E) Government stockpiling

Question 7

The three major patterns in the evolution of agriculture consisted of the elimination of serfdom and restrictions of medieval village-based systems, the transformation of peasants from subsistence farmers into agrarian wage labourers, and ________, the process by which landholdings and common lands were consolidated.

A) proletarianization
B) repossession
C) mercantilism
D) enclosure
E) agrarian capitalism

Question 8

________ was the most valuable noble privilege.

A) Exemption from any forms of taxation
B) The right to bear arms
C) The right to own serfs
D) Access to the king
E) The ability to loan money

Question 9

________ and ________ limited population growth in early modern Europe.

A) Regular outbreaks of the plague; unsanitary living conditions
B) Subsistence agriculture; noble privileges
C) Social inequality; uncaring governments
D) Late age of marriage; high infant mortality
E) Constant warfare; poor agricultural output

Question 10

The ultimate goal of the ambitious middle class was ________.

A) to become master in his own right
B) to enter the ranks of the nobility
C) to gain wealth and recognition
D) to gain lifetime membership to the bourgs
E) to serve on the town council

Question 11

During the early modern period, revolutionary ideals inspired the majority of popular revolts and uprisings.

Question 12

While the majority of accused witches in the witch hunts were women, the witch hunts were not a concerted or deliberate attack on women.

Question 13

The growth of agrarian capitalism was the most important development in early modern agriculture.

Question 14

Following the Black Death, peasants in central and Eastern Europe saw the end of the system of serfdom.

Question 15

Early modern Europe was an urban society, with the vast majority of people living in large cities such as London, Paris, and Antwerp.

Question 16

Europe's population recovered quickly following the severe losses during the Black Death (1348-1350).

Question 17

The flood of gold and silver from the Americas was one of the key factors that led to growing inflation during the 1600s.

Question 18

Early modern Europeans believed that youthful mischief was unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

Question 19

The three principal causes of death in early modern Europe were famine, disease, and war.

Question 20

There were outbreaks of the plague over the course of the early modern period, but none came close to the scale of the fourteenth-century pandemic.

Question 21

Social divisions were based on group identities and privileges rather than on income and wealth.

Question 22

The nobility and the urban middle classes shared many interests and a common outlook on life.

Question 23

Despite the growth of education and literacy in the early modern period, women's education was often limited to the skills they would need as wives and mothers.

Question 24

Areas with intense confrontations between Protestants and Catholics experienced more active witch hunts in areas that were solidly Catholic.

Question 25

The number and intensity of the witch hunts declined after their peak in 1600 because people no longer believed in witches.

Question 26

Most people in western Europe married young, with the average age of marriage being between 19 and 21.

Question 27

The final stage in a skilled worker's training was the production of a masterpiece, which demonstrated his proficiency in his trade.

Question 28

Early modern Europe did not rely heavily on slave labour because a large portion of the population opposed slavery.

Question 29

The belief that women were less rational than men, along with their susceptibility to lust and the influence of bodily humours, provided justification for the legal inequality between men and women.

Question 30

The transition to agrarian capitalism was slower in areas where the traditional village system managed to endure.

Question 31

The system that structured economics during the early modern period was known as mercantilism. What were the principles of mercantilism and how did governments attempt to follow them?

Question 32

Early modern society was structured according to "orders" or "estates" rather than socio-economic class. What is an estate and how does it differ from social class?

Question 33

How did the Dutch Republic come to dominate European trade in the seventeenth century?

Question 34

What were some of the challenges that individuals and governments faced during the growth of trade and commerce in the early modern period?

Question 35

How did early modern people view children and childhood?

Question 36

There were same-sex relationships in early modern Europe, although our knowledge of them is limited. How did early modern Europeans understand and treat same-sex relationships?

Question 37

How did individuals from the urban middle classes move up in the social hierarchy?

Question 38

In order to distinguish themselves, the nobility were required to "live nobly." How did one "live nobly"?

Question 39

How did the position of peasants in western Europe change over the course of the early modern period?

Question 40

How were Jews marginalized?

Question 41

What role did guilds play in early modern society?

Question 42

What was the system of poor relief and how did it provide for the marginalized paupers in early modern society?

Question 43

The early modern period witnessed the large-scale persecution of witches, but the belief in witches was not new. What factors combined together to enable the witch hunts to happen?

Question 44

What were women's economic roles in early modern society?

Question 45

How did rural society develop in central and eastern Europe?

Question 46

Why was England the first country to experience the transition to agrarian capitalism?

Question 47

Using the example of textiles, explain how industry developed in early modern Europe.

Question 48

How did people use revolts and popular uprisings to express their grievances?

Question 49

How did early modern social system enshrine legal and social inequality?

Question 50

One of the key differences between urban workers was between skilled workers and unskilled labourers. How did an individual become a skilled worker in the early modern period?

Question 51

In a period with a largely rural population whose lives were connected to the land, changes in agriculture carried wide ramifications. Agrarian capitalism was the most significant development in early modern agriculture. What was agrarian capitalism and how did its development affect early modern society?

Question 52

The witch hunts may have been unique to the early modern period, but the belief in witches and witchcraft was not. Why might this have been the case? What made the treatment of witches and witchcraft in the early modern period unique?

Question 53

Where did women fit in the broader social order and society of early modern Europe?

Question 54

Discussing the impact of the armies on the countryside in the German countryside in 1634, Martin Mallinger said: "They [the soldiers] sallied out every day, several companies strong, to seek out and plunder all the nearby valleys in the Black Forest. They not only drove off all the livestock-cows, oxen, calves, geese, horses-many hundred head, but they took all the grains and oats as well, many hundred quarters, not just as food for themselves and their horses but also large quantities to sell in the city." Discuss Mallinger's quotation and how it reflects the concerns of peasants and their day-to-day survival.

Question 55

What role(s) did famine, disease, and war play in the lives of ordinary people during the early modern period?

Question 56

The early modern social system was not static and there was a great deal of social mobility. However, over the course of the period we also see increased social stratification. How did this happen? And what were the consequences of this stratification?

Question 57

How did the social tensions between those who wanted status and power and those who already enjoyed status and power play out in early modern social relations?

Question 58

The changes in society happened over the course of generations and centuries, but they did occur. How did society transform over the course of the early modern period? Was this a period of continuity or change?

Question 59

There are a number of popular misconceptions about early modern family life. How would you describe early modern family life?

Question 60

How did the economy develop during the early modern period?