Document Based Question“DBQ”

1. It’s a question that is answered by analyzing several documents.2. USE ALL of the documents.3. COMMENT on the “POV” (point of view), type of document, date,

etc. 4. GROUP documents several ways:

1. By date2. By type: chart, map, official letter, personal letter, receipt, etc3. IS IT A PRIMARY SOURCE??4. Is it “pro” or “con”?5. Person’s status: occupation, gender, nationality, etc6. RELEVANCE to question! Does it help you answer the question?

Document 1

1. Chart: A time line2. 400 to 13003. Various groups in Europe (England,

Normandy, Germany)4. Secondary Source5. Background information

Document 2

1. Stained glass window (?) of unknown origin or date. Maybe pre-1300s, maybe England?

2. Primary source (?)3. Left: King (crown?) is seated on a throne ? On

right, 3 men are kneeling before him – pledging their loyalty (“fealty”)?

2B

1. Both parties receive benefits.2. Both parties have obligations to each other. 3. Today’s contracts are mutual – if one party doesn’t like the

arrangement, he can argue for a change, compromise or walk away.

4. Feudal contracts could be made by force.5. There were/are consequences for not honoring the contract.

Document 3

1. A map of England around 1090 (see “key” or “legend”)2. Focuses on castles after the Norman invasion of England3. Shows the King’s castles & the Barons’ castles4. The “Domesday Book” was an extensive inventory

ordered by King William I so he knew exactly what was in his new English kingdom. His men counted people, acres, animals, tools and other resources. It was so thorough, people said it was like he was preparing for ‘doomsday’.

3A

1.King controls interior & south coast2.Barons are on the outskirts, in Wales

and Scotland3.King can “check” Barons’ movements

and deter opposition

3B

Timber, grain (rye, wheat, oats, barley), wool, leather, tools, weapons, vessels (ships, boats), animals (oxen, horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, pigs), people (skilled & unskilled laborers).

He could collect about anything because he knew what everyone had. His men had inventoried everything after the invasion and that is known as “The Domesday Book”.

Document 4 Notes

1. This is a primary source document (excerpt).2. Serfs could not leave the land without their lord’s

permission. Serf are the lowest group in the feudal system.

3. The serf, socager, cottager and bond-tenant had to have their lord’s permission to do anything.

4. This document deals with England about 1326 at the monastic manor at Darnhall (Dernale).

5. www.lisahistory.net/hist105/pw/docs/docs4.htm

4A

1. Must meet the manor’s needs first.2. The lord must be able to tend to his lord’s (or

the king’s) needs.3. Serfs, etc could build their own wealth and

undermine lord’s authority over them.4. Lord would take a ‘cut’ of any profits.

4B

Very little was allowed to be passed on to their children. The most valuable items went to the lord. Horses, gold & silver, cloth, oxen all went back to the lord in most cases. Workers “higher up” could bequeath their home and land to their children, but serfs rarely had anything to leave.

Document 5

Not a primary source although it is considered very accurate. Set in France, near Paris, in about AD 800, “in the time of Charlemagne” Everyday life on a manor owned by monks.

5A

Obligations include following the steward’s orders. Male serfs tend vineyards while the women are in charge of spinning cloth. Freemen are in charge of plowing. Women would have varied tasks.

5B

The workers would understand how to grow crops, tend animals, create cloth and tools; there are smiths who work with leather, silver and iron, wood and create furniture, wagons, jewelry, weapons, etc.

Document 6: Magna Carta (1215)

The Magna Carta (Great Charter) was a document drawn up by nobles in England to restrict the power of the King, detail their rights and responsibilities and set out what obligations were owed to the king and to commoners, serfs and others in England.The document was probably written by William Marshall, who had been a trusted advisor to King Henry II, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son King Richard I (The ‘Lion-Heart’). William drew up the document to protect John, who had abused the trust of those he governed, squandered the treasury and lost lands in France.

6 B

1. Restricts government to specific tasks;2. Protects private property;3. Protects trial by jury and due process of

law;4. Protects speedy and public trial5. Reinforces English common law established

by Alfred the Great in 870 and Henry II in 1175.

7A Map of Crusades 1096-1204

The second crusade (1147-1149) is represented by a dash line. It left from Paris and went through Metz, Regensburg, and Vienna on to Constantinople before arriving in the Holy Land via Antioch and Tripoli.

7B

Ideas, spices, foods such as sugar cane and limes, lemons, inventions (compass, paper), horses (hot-blooded Arabian stock to refine the heavier breeds of Europe) and disease (plague).Developed more refined skills due to new techniques and technologies, more opportunities for advancement, more need for merchants & suppliers, transportation, and did not need to rely on manor for supplies or protection.

Document 8•Written about 1185 by William FitzStephen, who had

been a clerk and friend of (St) Thomas a Becket. Becket had once been the friend and advisor to King Henry II, but Henry’s knights murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral as Becket prayed at the altar. • This is a primary source and you can find it on the

internet. •www.buildinghistory.org/primary/fitzstephen/shtml

8A

1. Commerce & trade goods from all over the known world, including China (silks)

2. Merchants sell many types of wares3. Hiring of laborers4. London reachable via the Thames River from the

North Sea and English channel.5. London/England have wealth enough to have such

a diverse market.

8B

1. The Manor economy could only employ so many people. Some would have to seek employment elsewhere.

2. The Manor economy had to sell to others outside the manor in order to build wealth and be able to meet obligations.

3. Educated men could practice law, medicine & banking.

8B continued

4. Many freemen and free holders (non-serfs) sought their fortunes in the city where they could find employment or set up their own shop if their skill was in demand.

5. Many serfs ‘ran away’ from the manor to find employment in the cities.

6. Many manor residents traveled with their lords to fairs, and to the city and gained knowledge of goods, services, and other aspects of city life.