AC9HH8K02 Year 8 Humanities and Social Sciences

Content descriptor the roles and relationships of different groups in Medieval, Renaissance or pre-modern Europe

Elaborations

Medieval Europe

• • Elaboration describing the structure of feudal society, including the role and responsibilities of the king, nobles, church, knights, peasants, and women and men
• • Elaboration explaining the continuities and changes in society in one of the following areas: crime and punishment; military and defence systems; towns, cities and commerce; farming and the impact on the environment such as tree clearance
• • Elaboration explaining how medieval society changed and affected the environment; for example, harnessing water and wind power for milling, urban settlements and agriculture, management practices and legal structures of medieval forests such as the English royal forests
• • Elaboration describing key changes of life in the late Medieval period such as the spread of literacy and the development of new ways to disseminate ideas through schools and universities, scientific academies, debating societies, literary salons, coffee houses, and the reach of printed books, journals and pamphlets
• • Elaboration explaining reactions to the Black Death, such as the emergence of flagellants (those who would whip themselves to be free of sin) and the persecution of Jewish people

The Renaissance

• • Elaboration identifying the similarities and differences of daily life between the popolo minuto and popolo grasso
• • Elaboration describing the way of life of people in Renaissance Italy; for example, the role of men in tending the fields or merchant shops, the role of women in the society and the influence of government in particular city-states such as Naples (a monarchy) and Florence (a republic)
• • Elaboration identifying the spread of Renaissance culture to England; for example, the rise of literature through Shakespeare

The emergence of the modern world

• • Elaboration describing the contribution of key theories such as Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica to the changes brought about by the Scientific Revolution
• • Elaboration examining the changes in economic activity created by the discoveries of new commodities, making the costs of basic foodstuffs lower and the quality higher, and the advancements of technologies such as in tools, armaments and shipbuilding