Understands the redefinition of European society and culture from 1000 
to 1300 CE

Level 3 (Grade 7- 8)

1.   Understands political events that shaped the development of European governments (e.g., how 
European monarchies expanded their power at the expense of feudal lords, and the growth and 
limitations of representative institutions in these monarchies; how the political relationship between 
the Roman Catholic Church and secular states changed from the Early Middle Ages to the High 
Middle Ages; the conflict that led to the Battle of Hastings; the political changes William initiated 
after his victory, and the long-term cultural and social changes in England following the Norman 
conquest)

2.   Understands the importance of inheritance laws, arranged marriages, dowries, and family 
alliances for dynastic and aristocratic politics

3.   Understands the connection between agricultural technology and increased agricultural production 
and population growth in Europe between 1000 and 1300 CE

4.   Understands art, architecture, and education in medieval Christian and Spanish Muslim society 
(e.g., how major works of art, architecture, and literature reflect values and attitudes of medieval 
Christian society; poetry of Muslim Spain and Christian Europe; the origins, organization, and 
studies of Christian universities in Europe, and the influence of Muslim scholarship and universities; 
how Gothic cathedrals reflect central aspects of European society)

5.   Understands the roles and motivations of squires, saints, and soldiers in Christian Europe (e.g., 
aspects of training, rights, and responsibilities required of young men from noble families wishing 
to become squires; the role played by saints in the spread of Christianity; why Muslim and Christian 
soldiers may have joined the Crusades)

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)

1.   Understands the role of feudalism and manorialism in European society (e.g., how different feudal 
institutions assisted monarchies in centralizing power; how manorialism could be considered an 
economic system, and the rights, roles, and obligations of manorial inhabitants; the relative success 
of European monarchies at establishing security and political legitimacy for feudalism)

2.   Understands the development of English government and its legal and political system (e.g., the 
Magna Carta and its tenets of the rule of the law and constitutional liberties; the structural differences, 
powers of, and participants in the representative governmental bodies of the English Parliament and 
French Estates-General)

3.   Understands the rise of the city-state in Italy and northern Europe (e.g., how city-states differed from 
centralizing monarchies; common features and activities that allowed city-states such as Genoa, 
Venice, and Bruges to become commercial, financial, and economic leaders of Europe and maintain 
their independence)

4.   Understands the effects of urbanization in Europe and the Mediterranean region (e.g., urban growth 
in the Mediterranean region and Northern Europe, and causes for expansion of manufacturing, 
interregional trade, and a money economy in Europe; the growth in economy, population, and 
urbanization in Europe in global context)

5.   Understands the spread of philosophy to Europe (e.g., the importance of the Islamic states of Iberia 
and Sicily as well as the Byzantine Empire in transmitting scientific and philosophical knowledge to 
Western and Central Europe; how classical works such as those of Aristotle and Plato became part 
of medieval philosophy in Western Europe, and the attitude of the Church toward these non-Christian 
philosophies)

6.   Understands comparisons of church-state relations and religious authority between Orthodox 
Christianity in the East and Latin Christianity in the West

7.   Understands the social elements of feudalism (e.g., the daily life of serfs, knights, and lords as 
feudalism developed late in the 1st millennium CE; how their lives and duties were interrelated, 
and what diverse sources illustrate about this life and this time)

8.   Understands how women influenced medieval politics (e.g., the roles and duties of women in 
14th century political and home life; the opportunities available to upper class women and the 
obstacles they faced)

9.   Understands the influence of religious beliefs on various regions (e.g., the presence and motivation 
behind anti-Semitism in Western Europe during the Crusades; the correlations between commercial 
and naval domination by Latin Christian states over Muslim states in the Mediterranean and Black 
Sea basins and an increase in Christian political strength between the 11th and 13th centuries)

10. Understands the rise of guilds as economic and social institutions and their efforts to promote 
economic growth, product quality, and workers' rights

11. Understands how women's experiences in Europe were determined by social class, area, time, 
and stage of life and how these experiences are reflected in different types of literature (e.g., 
Treasure of City of Ladies by Catherine of Pisan and Art of Courtly Love)

Understands the maturation of an interregional system of communication, trade, 
and cultural exchange during a period of Chinese economic power and Islamic 
expansion

Level 3 (Grade 7- 8)

1.   Understands government and politics of the Kamakura period (e.g., similarities and differences 
between feudalism in Japan and medieval Europe; significant political events in the history of the 
Kamakura period)

2.   Understands influences on the development of Buddhist sects in Japan (e.g., how unique forms of 
Buddhism [sects] developed under the influence of social, political, and religious forces; the impact 
of the warrior culture on the lives of common people and the development of Buddhist sects)

3.   Understands elements of trade in different regions (e.g., the importance of Cairo and other major 
cities as centers of international trade and culture; how the spread of Islam was connected to trade 
in Central Asia, East Africa, West Africa, the coasts of India, and Southeast Asia; the importance to 
individual societies of goods traded between Asia, Africa, and Europe; the consequences placed 
on maritime trade by the seasonal monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean; features and functions of 
caravansaries and khans in Central Asian and Middle Eastern cities; which ships were most 
successfully used for trade in the Indian Ocean and why)

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)

1.   Understands significant religious and economic aspects of Chinese society between the 10th and 13th 
centuries (e.g., the impact of economic growth on Chinese society and how it affected the gentry class; 
how Zhu Xi's basic ideas of Neo-Confucianism affected Chinese society, government, and education)

2.   Understands different social classes and gender roles in Japanese society (e.g., the influence of 
Buddhist sects on the samurai class; the role of social class, area, time, and age in determining 
women's experiences)

3.   Understands the significance of art and philosophy in Japanese and Cambodian society (e.g., 
philosophical values and traditions presented in Noh drama, how diverse Japanese art forms from 
the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods reflect Shinto and Buddhist philosophy, Indian and Southeast 
Asian influences on the architecture of the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, what 
art and literature reveal about the lives of people in Japan in the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods)

4.   Understands how the wars with the Mongols influenced Japanese society (e.g., the defeat of the 
Mongols, the samurai revolt against the Kamakura shogunate and the negative economic impact 
of these conflicts

Intensified Hemispheric Interactions 1000-1500 CE

Level 3 (Grade 7- 8)

1.   Understands how major migratory and military movements of pastoral peoples of Asia and Africa 
affected agrarian states and societies of Eurasia and Africa

2.   Understands economic, political, and cultural differences and similarities between Europe and Asia 
(e.g., causes and consequences of productive growth, commercialization, urbanization, and 
technological or scientific innovation in Europe and China; society, economy, and political organization 
of Europe and Japan, and causes of economic growth, urbanization, and cultural innovation in the two 
regions)

3.   Understands the concept of capitalism and the emergence of capitalistic institutions and productive 
methods in Europe and other parts of Afro-Eurasia

4.   Understands differences and similarities between the Inca and Aztec empires and empires of Afro-
Eurasia (e.g., political institutions, warfare, social organizations, cultural achievements)

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)

1.   Understands demographic changes in various regions from 1000 to 1500 CE (e.g., the growth, 
decline, and recovery of the overall population of Afro-Eurasia; ways in which large demographic 
swings affected economic, social, and cultural life in various regions)

2.   Understands major global trends from 1000 to 1500 CE

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