Merits of the medieval monasteries:

• Medieval monasteries were the only centers of learning during the medieval period.
• The monks who resided in the monasteries initially led to a very pious life and also served the people.

Demerits of the medieval monasteries:

• Soon the monasteries began to acquire land and amass wealth. Within no time, they became a seat of exploitation rather than of service.
• The monks led a pious life in the beginning but with passage of time, they led a scandalous life.

Two features of early feudal society:

• Early feudal society in France was based on the relationship of lord and peasants. The peasants had to offer labor in the service of their lords.
• The lord enjoyed special status. His order was supreme. Nobody could deny his order.

The causes are: 
1. The crusades forced the Christians to travel in foreign lands where they came to know of many new objects of comfort and luxury. The demand for new objects gave a great impetus to trade and industry and let to the rise of towns.
2. The emergence of feudalism was accompanied by the decline of trade and towns but with the gradual decline of feudalism, particularly from the 11th century onward, once again to rise trade and towns.
3. The Rise of the Middle Class towards the end of the Middle Ages also led to the emergence of towns. The economic prosperity of this class helped in the developed of towns.
4. The contact between the East and West encouraged trade and commerce which ultimately led to the establishment of various arts and crafts at different centres. These centres slowly became towns.

Taille and tithes were taxes paid in France at the time when the French Revolution.

Taille was a direct tax paid to the government

Boundaries of Roman Empire

• The ancient Roman empire which was spread across the three continents namely – Europe, Asia and Africa.
• To the North, the boundaries of the empire were formed by two great rivers – the Rhine and the Danube.
• To the South, by the huge expanse of desert called the Sahara.
• To the East river Euphrates and to the West Atlantic Ocean.

• The Roman Empire can broadly be divided into two phases, ‘early’ and‘late’, divided by the third century as a sort of historical watershed between them.
• In other words, the whole period from the beginning of Roman Empire to the main part of the third century can be called the ‘early empire’, and the period from the third century to the end called the ‘late empire’ or ‘late antiquity’.

 Egypt is a place where 'the rich are few and have much, the poor are many and have little. ' Forty percent of the population lives in abject poverty, subsisting on less than $2 a day. A person's social class is difficult to determine. It depends on many factors, including occupation, sources of income, marketable abilities, access to consumer good and services, and membership in status groups and political parties. A person's social class has a significant impact on their physical health, their ability to receive adequate medical care and nutrition, and their life expectancy. ... Additionally, people with low SES tend to experience a much higher rate of health issues than those of high SES.

All things are water." Romans took great pride in their extensive water distribution and sewage networks. They built aqueducts that carried clean water hundreds of miles to population centers where it was distributed to the homes and businesses of those who could afford it. When the Romans came they modernised Britain forever. They taught them about hygiene, about clean drinking water, a calendar, laws and legal system. They also introduced new infrastructure such as straight roads, central heating, aqueducts as well as concrete.

(i) Each city of Mesopotamia had its separate protector God. The people built sacred temples or ziggurats or ‘Hill of Heavens’ on the artificial high hill in memory of their patron God in the centre of the city..
(ii) Every big temple had a huge tower like multi-storeyed building. Out of these ziggurats, the prominent ones were the temple of the Moon God Mannar at Ur the temple of the Sun God shams at Lagash and the Temple of God Enlil at Nippur.

Public baths were a striking feature of Roman urban life (when one Iranian ruler tried to introduce then into Iran, he encountered the wrath of the clergy there! Water was a sacred element and to use it for public bathing may have seemed a desecration to them), and urban populations also enjoyed a much higher level of entertainment.
For example, one calendar tells us that spectacular (shows) filled no less than 176 days of the year.

The administration of Rome was guided by a constitution. As per the provision of this constitution, the military administration and the highest executive administration was vested with two Consuls. ... That is why they appointed two consuls. Both of them were cautious about their power. In Roman society, the aristocrats were known as patricians. The highest positions in the government were held by two consuls, or leaders, who ruled the Roman Republic. A senate composed of patricians elected these consuls. At this time, lower-class citizens, or plebeians, had virtually no say in the government.

The Republic represented the government of the nobility, exercised through the body called the Senate. The Republic lasted from 509 BCE to 27 BCE, when it was overthrown by Octavian, the adopted son and heir of Julius Caesar

The Roman style of history was based on the way that the Annals of the Pontifex Maximus, or the Annales Maximi, were recorded. The Annales Maximi include a wide array of information, including religious documents, names of consuls, deaths of priests, and various disasters throughout history. Historical sources are the sum total of all evidence left behind by past human society which help in reconstructing history. For studying the details of past cultures, historians depend a lot upon historical sources to tease information out of them.

Division of Roman Empire: 

• The Roman Empire can broadly be divided into two phases, ‘early’ and‘late’, divided by the third century as a sort of historical watershed between them.
• In other words, the whole period from the beginning of Roman Empire to the main part of the third century can be called the ‘early empire’, and the period from the third century to the end called the ‘late empire’ or ‘late antiquity’.

The three orders are three social categories: Christian priests, landowning nobles and peasants.The term ‘feudalism’ has been used by historians to describe the economic, legal, political and social relationships that existed in Europe in the medieval era.
 

First Order

Priests (The Clergy)

– The Catholic Church

– Europe guided by bishops and clerics.

– Pope lived in Rome

– Women could not be become priests

– Monks – The church and Society

Second Order

Nobles

– Vassals of the king

– They enjoyed a privileged status

– Absolute control over property

– Could raise troops

– Even coin his own money

Third Order

– Peasants

– Free peasants and serfs

– Serfs cultivated plots of land, but these belonged to the lord.