Problem

1. Discuss the impact of technology on Medieval society and culture and the impact of society and culture on the development of Medieval technology.

2. The concept of the Middle Ages or the medieval period comes from the Renaissance. The Renaissance saw a reaching back to the classical past of Greece and Rome, a rebirth of classical ideals. The Middle Ages were seen as dark and sterile, an age of ignorance and superstition when little to nothing new or of value was produced. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

3. Discuss the nature of the Medieval university and the ways in which its structure influenced the reception of Aristotelianism in the Latin West.

4. The intellectual history of the later Middle Ages has traditionally been described as decadent, autumnal, waning. Yet recently a few scholars have asserted that the period between 1250-1450 was one of innovation, change, possibility. Which view is more accurate and why? Medievalists tend to dismiss this argument out of hand. Take a fresh look at this argument and consider the extent to which the Middle Ages was an sterile age, merely passing on diluted versions of the heritage of antiquity, and the extent to which it contributed new and vital elements to the European tradition.