The following questions have appeared as part of mid-term exams.

Larger Essay-style Questions:

• What is the impact of the individual upon history? Please exemplify your point with two historically significant examples.
• Please provide one specific example from any work by William Shakespeare that shows the author to be intimately connected to the tenor of his times.
• Discuss the so-called ‘Black Legend’ and its historical impact.
• How did Machiavelli’s work reflect the political and social realities of Renaissance Italy?
• Describe and explain the social impact of the Protestant Reformation
• Explain how the Hapsburgs managed to become the most powerful family in Europe during the 16^th century

Historical argument:

• Why are Girolamo Savonarola and Jan Huss considered to be foundational figures of the Protestant Reformation?
• Describe and explain 4 major changes that occurred in Europe between 1598-1648.
• What are the defining characteristics of Renaissance and Baroque art and how are they reflective of the historical developments of their respective period?
• Explain how the United Provinces succeeded in winning its independence.
• How and why did the authority of the papacy decline in the 14^th and 15^th centuries?
• What were the political, social, economic, and religious effects of the Thirty Years’ War?

Art:

• For each of the works below provide 1) the artist, 2) the approximate date of production, 3) the original location of the piece, and 4) the enduring historical significance of the work.
• For each of the works below provide 1) the artist, 2) the approximate date of production, 3) the original location of the piece, and 4) what it reveals about the historical context in which it was produced.
• Choose any 15th or 16th century work of plastic art (painting, sculpture, building) that we’ve talked about and: 1) give its name and location, 2) provide the name of the artist that produced it and the date of production, and 3) explain how it is a function of historical context, i.e. what it says about the age that produced it.

In a thoughtful and thorough response, compare and contrast one of the following (be sure to include relevant facts to support your points):

• The Medici family in the 15th century and the Medici family in the 16th century
• England at the death of the first Tudor and England at the death of the last Tudor
• Exploration and colonization patterns of the Spanish and of the Portuguese
• The concept of virtue in The Prince and in Utopia
• Bohemia in 1430 and Bohemia in 1630
• Italy at the time of the Peace of Lodi and at the time of Cateau-Cambresis
• Urban culture of 15th century Florence and the urban culture of late 16th century Aberdeen

Matching:

• Match the artist with the work of art he or she produced
• Match the author with the work he or she penned
• Match the minister with the monarch that he or she served
• Match the family with the region over which it ruled
• Match the historian with the school or theory with which he or she is most closely associated