B.C.

M ARYA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

SHASTRI NAGAR, LUDHIANA
HISTORY CH-1 QUESTION/ANSWERS

1. The medieval period in India stretches approximately from the 8th century to the 18th century.
Compared to this, the medieval period in Europe stretches approximately from 600 CE to 1500 CE.
2. The teachings of Jesus were simple and were summarised in the Jewish Bible. He taught that our love
for God should be unconditional and good should triumph over evil. He also considered love for
neighbours to be very important.
3. The fall of the Roman Empire created a void o in the political and social life of Europe. Thus, many
people looked towards Christianity. The church developed with an elaborate infrastructure.Priests
lived among the people, and preached and performed religious rites.
4. The monks and nuns lived a simple yet orderly life in the monastery. They had to follow a very rigid
code of conduct. Their day was divided into three parts-one part for prayer, one for sleep and the
third for intellectual and manual labour. The monasteries contained almost everything one needed-a
large garden, ponds, library, church and hospital.
5. Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament written by four of Jesus’ disciples The
teachings of Jesus are recorded in the four canonical Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John).
6. The priests formed the lowest rung of the Monastic order. They performed religious med services,
baptism and conducted marriages. The bishops were a rank higher than the priests. They supervised
the Church in its everyday functioning.
7. Ancient empire declined due to the following reasons:
(a) Christianity was less tolerant of other t cultures and religions. For example, t Emperor Theodosius
ended the Olympic t Games because they honoured the Greek God, Zeus.
(b) Roman soldiers were loyal to their military leaders and not to the emperor.
(c) A failing economy caused a lot of problems for a vast empire.
(d) Heavy and unjust taxes upon the middle class led to unrest.
(e) Romans became lazy and comfortable with time.
(f) Romans hired barbarian mercenaries to guard the borders of the empire. However, this plan
backfired when barbarians invaded
8. The Crusades were a series of religious wars between the Christians, started primarily to secure
control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups.
(a) Christians started the use of gunpowder, something that they had learnt from the Muslims.
(b) Knowledge in the areas of science, medicine and architecture was transferred from the Islamic and
Greek world to the West during the Crusades. This paved the path for Renaissance in Europe.
(c) New scientific discoveries and inventions also made their way into the western world. Inventions of
the Arabs such as algebra, optics and engineering came to the West. They began to be taught as new
courses in European universities.
(d) Many new towns and cities were established. The traders and manufacturers demanded better
conditions of law and order. They paid taxes to the king and helped him to raise a large army. This
led to an increase in the authority of the king and a decline in the power of the feudal lords.