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Answer the following questions based on what was presented in the video lesson. No outside knowledge is required — every answer can be found in the video.
Answer each question using what you learned in the video lesson. Questions increase in difficulty — start with recall, then move to application and analysis. Write complete sentences where indicated.
This lesson traces the compounding forces that transformed medieval Europe from a fragmented, fear-driven continent into a society on the brink of global exploration. From the rigid hierarchy of feudalism and the iron grip of the Catholic Church, to the Black Death, the Crusades, and the Silk Road bottleneck, Section 1.2 shows how crisis and desire intersected to make Columbus's 1492 voyage possible. Follow along as each piece of the puzzle — political, religious, economic, and technological — clicks into place. In this video: • How feudalism worked as a survival compromise, with lords, knights, and serfs (60% of the population) locked in a transactional system of land and protection • The brutal reality of agrarian life: life expectancy under 45, one-third of children dead before age five, and entire families crowded into smoky one-room hovels • The Catholic Church's monopoly on information and salvation — collecting a 10% tithe and threatening excommunication to control even kings • How the Black Death wiped out one-third of Europe's population in the 1340s, then paradoxically broke feudalism by creating a labor shortage that gave serfs bargaining power • The Crusades' dual legacy: entrenched Muslim-Christian hatred and Jewish persecution on one side, and an explosive European appetite for Eastern silk, porcelain, and spices on the other • Why the overland Silk Road became a costly bottleneck of taxes, bandits, and middlemen — and how Portugal's caravel with its triangular lateen sail offered a way around it • Columbus's actual motivation — a gross underestimation of Earth's circumference and an obsession with Marco Polo's Travels — leading to his 1492 landing on the island of Guanahani #OpenStax #USHistory #AgeOfExploration #MiddleAges #Columbus OpenStax Content adapted from "OpenStax U.S. History", by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Content based on Web Version: Apr 23, 2026. Read the textbook online https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history Music first girl talking to me. by ikkun (ex. Barradeen) | https://soundcloud.com/ikkunwastaken Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US
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