36 exam-style questions on Society and economy (750-1400) — topic WHT.1 of World History Topics (Paper 2, choose 2 of 12) in the IB History syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
In the medieval European manorial system, what term describes the labour service a peasant owed to the lord in exchange for the right to farm land?
Answer: Corvée
The corvée was unpaid labour owed by peasants to their lord; the tithe was a church tax, scutage a payment in lieu of military service, and wergild a compensation payment for injury or death.
Which technological development most directly increased agricultural productivity in the heavy clay soils of northern Europe from around the 8th century?
Answer: The mouldboard plough
The heavy mouldboard plough could turn the dense, wet clay soils of northern Europe, unlike the lighter scratch plough suited to Mediterranean soils, greatly expanding cultivable land.
The rapid growth of towns and long-distance trade in the medieval Islamic world was greatly aided by which financial and commercial practice?
Answer: The sakk (cheque) and credit instruments
Islamic merchants used the sakk (often cited as the origin of the word 'cheque') and other credit instruments to move value across long distances without transporting coin, facilitating trade across the Dar al-Islam.
Which trans-Saharan trade good, moving northward from West African empires such as Ghana and Mali, was central to their wealth and to the medieval economy of the Mediterranean world?
Answer: Gold
West African gold, exchanged largely for Saharan salt, underpinned the wealth of Ghana and Mali and fed the mints of North Africa and Europe via the trans-Saharan caravan routes.
In Song dynasty China (960-1279), which development most significantly boosted rice production and supported rapid urban and demographic growth?
Answer: Early-ripening Champa rice
Early-ripening, drought-resistant Champa rice from Vietnam allowed double-cropping and cultivation of new lands, driving a major agricultural revolution and population boom under the Song.
Which of the following best explains why medieval towns often sought royal charters?
Answer: To secure self-government, market rights and freedom from feudal dues
A charter granted a town legal privileges such as the right to hold markets, collect its own taxes, run courts, and free burgesses from manorial obligations, encouraging urban and commercial growth.
That was 6 of 36 Society and economy (750-1400) questions.
Practise all 36 freeStateAO1 · 1–3 marks
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DefineAO1 · 1–3 marks
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OutlineAO1 · 1–3 marks
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36 Society and economy (750-1400) questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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