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Essay Instructions: How were the laws and punishments for women in medieval Europe impacted by religious principles. It must include the differences between the punishments which were handed out by ecclesiastical courts versus those handed out by secular courts. I will upload three sources which must be used, however, more may be used and noted in the bibliography. My three sources are available on google scholar book preview.

Essay Instructions: This paper must talk about women's domesticity as a wife/mother in the late middle ages of medieval Europe. Five sources have been attached which must be used and can all be found on google scholar book previews. The following three questions must be answered. MLA format in-text citations throughout.

1. What role were women expected to play within the home as wives/mothers?
2. What were some of the daily functions/activities that women engaged in as related to domesticity?
3. To what extent were women limited in their role as domestic wives/mothers when examining their desire to break into the labor force?

Essay Instructions:
Here are the readings for Unit 5, which covers Medieval Life, Feudalism, The Plague / The Inquisition

A. Background
The central government in the medieval era was weak. The king held power by the good will of his barons. This was feudalism, a Manorial System of self-contained feudal estates. There were three classes of people who lived in a medieval village: nobles (lord of the manor); vassals / serfs / peasants (owed a portion of their produce, craft and services to the lord); and knights (usually landless 2nd sons whose purpose was protection, keeping order and collecting taxes)
Literacy was very low except for scribes and clergy. Travel was dangerous and there was little or no commerce between small manorial villages.
The single, most powerful structure in medieval Europe was the Roman Catholic Church. Every person of every class was affected by it. Except for a small number of Jews, everyone in Europe was a Christian and subject to the laws of the Church. The Church collected taxes and accepted gifts which made the Church very wealthy and very powerful. So powerful, that it could often influence Kings to do its bidding.
A major challenge to life at that time was the Inquisition of the Catholic Church which was created to counteract heresy, a perceived threat to its existence.
Another was the Bubonic Plague which was first recognized in the Far East in 1333. It was brought to Europe on trading ships and eventually wiped out 30% to 50% of the population.

B. Assignments :

These sites cover The Middle Ages, Feudalism, Black Death, Science in the Middle Ages, and the Inquisition
Some thoughts to keep in mind:

Life in a medieval village.
The feudal society and the role it played.
The effect of the Plague on life in the middle ages
The role of the Church.
The effect of the Inquisition.
Science in the Middle Ages

C. Issues to think about

The relationship between Aristotle?s teachings and the Church.
Why it was heresy to believe that the Sun was the center of our universe?
The effects of the Black Death on the economy and lifestyle of Europe.
Comparisons between the Inquisition and the Salem Witch trials. Nazi Germany, The KKK.
Here are the website addresses:

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfplague.html
http://www.medieval-life.net/life_main.htm
http://mb-soft.com/believe/txh/inquisit.htm
http://www.Science in the Middle Ages ? Infoplease_com.mht

Essay Instructions: Title of Essay (3)
Compare and contrast Roscommon Castle in Ireland to Harlech Castle in Wales.
The sources for this essay are available through the blackboard site of www.nuig.ie
go to online services
and student online services
and blackboard learning system
Username: 08230250
password log in: sods1song
Under My Courses section 0809-AR332 'The Development of the Castle in Medieval Europe'
Find 1. Course information (revised bibliography)
2. Documents to course on left which has lectures in powerpoint and text data.
It is important that above procedure is followed exactly.


Thr Essay must be typed A4, double spacing.
Attention to precise wording. It should be critical and analytical. Do not introduce material which is extraneous and irrelevant to the topic. The principal structural feature of an essay is likely to be the main argument, it will be necessary to describe or state facts and opinions., However description must contribute to debate and description. In the essay I am expected to be able to present ideas and arguments succinctly. Beware of using colloquial style in essay. Beware of long quotations. Always indicate sources and full references appears in bibliography at end of essay