Question 1: how did trade affect the spread of religion during the middle ages?

question 2: how does the art of the middle ages reflect the events and ideas of the middle ages?

question 3: is "the dark ages" an appropriate term to describe the middle ages? why or why not?

using details from at least two documents from the lesson, as well as information from the other lessons for support, write one to two paragraphs answering each above question.

1. During the Middle Ages, the trade was very developed, and Europe, Asia, and Africa were very connected because of that. The trade resulted in sharing of technologies, goods, ideas, but also religion. As people from these three continents were constantly in touch, they were spreading out their religion as well and trying to get as many followers as possible. This led to spreading of the Christianity and Islam the most, and they managed to get to new territories gradually by propagating their religions in regions where it was not yet accepted or known.

2. The art of the Middle Ages is a perfect illustration of the society of this period. The art was created by people that had strong ties with the church or were part of it themselves. This resulted in art that was depicting mostly religious themes, and put the religion above everything else, and that was actually an excellent example of how the society worked in this period while under the rule of the Catholic Church.

3. The Middle Ages have another term used for them, ''the Dark Ages''. While the religious people may argue otherwise, the term is actually very suitable for this period. The reason why it suits it well is that the rule of the church led to stagnation, and even regress of the European societies during this period. The knowledge and science were seen as sins. The people that were trying to invent something, prove something wrong, and have something to say in scientific manner that was not approved by the church, were ending up persecuted, imprisoned, hanged, burned alive, or tortured (often to death).