1. TOPIC 8: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE.
INSTRUCTIONS: Your work is: you must answer these questions. First, you should read the texts in Spanish and
English. After, you must upload this file to Moddle. (CLASS NOTEBOOK)
Answer questions in this file. (Use another font or color)
WRITE YOUR NAME AND THE NAME OF YOUR PAIR HERE:
1 .- What was the Black Death? Why was the plague called the Black Death? Why did this happen? What
impact did it have?
The Black Death was a plague. Because the people get the skin black .
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/Black.html
2.- When did European population grow?
The European population grew in the 15th
and 16th
centuries, when the European economy
expanded.
3.- What were the main consequences of population growth in the 15th
and 16th
centuries?
The main consequences were that the European economy expanded and the banking system
improved.
4.- Complete this sentences:
a.- The crisis in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages was caused by…. The Black Death.
b.- Financial transactions became easier because of… The new paying and lending methods.
c.- Some of the most influential cities were… Venice, Florence, Antwerp, Lisbon, Seville and London.
5.- What did privileges keep nobles and clergy?
Nobles and clergy didn't paid taxes and held the most important positions.
6.- Who were bourgeois?
Bourgeouis were part of Medieval society formed by merchants and banking families.
7.- Some of the most important bourgeois families were… The Medici family, the Fuggers the Welsers
and the German bankers. They were…. They were persons that had personal connections with
powerful monarchs. The lent their money to the monarchs and received privileges in exchange.

2. http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa24
8.- How did farmers improve their living conditions?
They improved their living conditions because, in most countries, farmers became free and
were no longer serfs.
9.- List the ways in which European monarchs implemented their decisions.
• They created a bureaucracy, a professional and centralized administration, which depended
directly on the monarchs.
• They built up the army. Troops were paid by the monarchs.
• They increased taxes to finance their activities.
• They created a diplomatic system to maintain relation with other countries.
http://tudorhistory.org/henry8/
10.- At this time, kings settled their court. How did it change the governance of their territories?
Europeans monarchs continued to reinforce their own power by reducing the power of the
nobility, the Church, the municipalities and the Parliament. Also, the court settled in one city and
governed the state from there. The kings also established governors.
11.- How did they get to impose their authority?
They imposed their authority with bureaucracy, an army, taxes and international diplomacy.
12.- Which were the main kingdoms in this time? Who were the main kings?
The main kingdoms were France, England, Spain and Russia:
• France: Francis I.
• England: Henry VIII.
• Spain: The Catholic Monarchs.
• Russia: Ivan the Great.
13.- What problems existed in Castile in the late fifteenth century?
In the late 15th
century, the Crow of Castile was marked by continuous revolts by the nobles.
In Castile, there were civil wars when Henry IV died.

3. 14.- Who won?
Won Isabella, the sister of Henry IV, won the Civil War.
15.- Who were the Catholic Monarchs? What did they get?
They were Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragón. They got to govern their territories
together, and united the Crown of Castile and Aragón.
http://www.macuquina.com/histories/ferdinand_isabel.htm
16.- What was the Holy Brotherhood?
The Holy Brotherhood was a judicial police force, to fight against bandits and the abuses of
the nobility.
17.- What territories did they conquer?
They conquered the Kingdom of Granada, they annexed the Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom
of Naples, Melilla, Oran and the Canary Islands.
18.- What was the Tribunal of the Inquisition?
The Tribunal of the Inquisition was a court to persecute heretics (Jews and Moriscos were
persecuted).
19.- How did the Catholic Monarchs reach the religious unity?
They established the Tribunal of the Inquisition; they expelled the Jews in 1492 and they
forced to Jews and Muslim to convert to Christianity.
20.- WRITE THE MEANING OF THESE WORDS: http://dictionary.reference.com/
a.- Bourgeoisie:They are a part of the middle or merchant classes, and derived social and economic
power from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from social classes whose power
came from being born into an aristocratic family of titled land owners granted feudal privileges by
the monarch. The bourgeoisie emerged from late feudal and early modern towns.
b.- Holy Brotherhood:It was a peacekeeping association of armed individual. Ferdinand and Isabella
established a centrally organized and efficient Holy Hermandad (Santa Hermandad) with themselves

4. at its head. They adapted the existing form of the hermandad to the purpose of creating a general
police force under the direction of officials appointed by themselves, and endowed with large powers
of summary jurisdiction, even in capital cases.
c.- Morisco:A Morisco (in Spanish) meaning "Moor-like", was a converted (converso) Catholic
inhabitant of Spain of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to
those nominal converso Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam.
d.- Tribunal of the Inquisition:The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as
the Spanish Inquisition, was a tribunal established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of
Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms,
and to replace the medieval inquisition which was under papal control. The Inquisition worked in large
part to ensure the orthodoxy of recent converts, especially Jews, Muslims and others.
e.- Catholic Monarchs:The Catholic Monarchs (Spanish: los Reyes Católicos) is the collective title used
in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
f.- Black Death:A form of bubonic plague that spread over Europe in the 14th century and killed an
estimated quarter of the population.
21.- **VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY: (upload it to SlideShare) http://www.slideshare.net/
Also you could make a little work (3 or 5 slides) on Power Point about a topic like:
a.- Henry VIII (12)
b.- Catholic Monarchs (13)
c.- Tribunal of the Inquisition (14)
d.- The Black Death (15)
e.- The Medici family (16)