Excommunication and Interdict were the two instruments used against those who defied the church.

(i) Crusades ended the feudal relations.
(ii) Many of the nobles who went to East to take part in the Crusades either stayed too long a period or did not return.
(iii) The serfs took advantage of their absence to break away from their bondage to the soil.
(iv) Increasing demand for products of the east led to expansion of trade.
(v) Venice, Genoa, and Pisa emerged as important commercial centres in the mediterranean region.
(vi) Constantinople ceased to be the middleman in the trade between the East and the West.
(vii) The elimination of powerful nobles had its influence in strengthening the monarchy in France and England. One notable outcome of Crusades was the loss of prestige suffered by Pope and Papacy.

(i) Between 8^th and 7^th centuries BC(BCE) the warring states in China built defensive walls to protect themselves from enemies from the north.
(ii) During Qin dynasty the separated walls were connected and consequently the wall.
(iv) This wall is considered to be one of the wonders of the world, stretched from east to west for about 5000 kilometres.
(v) Served to keep nomadic tribes out. Now it is 6700 kilometers in length.

Jerusalem, the holy city of Jews and Christians, was won by the Arabs

Islam gave a message of brotherhood. Mohammad laid stress on the equality of all those who were Muslims. This message of equality and brotherhood had great appeal not only for the Arabs but to people in other parts of the world.

The government was a feudal military Shogunate government administered by samurai or warriors.

It was built to protect themselves from enemies from the north

Historians call the period between the end of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. and the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 A.D. as the Middle Ages.

(i) Feudalism was born out of chaos and disorder in the society.
(ii) Under Feudalism the king was the head of the feudal regime.
(iii) Immediately after him were the great nobles, known as dukes, counts, earls.
(iv) The relationship was one of a vassal.
(v) The nobles in turn had vassals of their own, dividing and distributing their fief to lesser nobles called viscounts or barons.
(vi) Last in this order were the knights, whose fiefs cannot be divided.
(vii) At the bottom were the villeins or serfs.
(viii) In the feudal system which centred around vassalage, there was no idea of equality or freedom.
(ix) There were only rights and obligations.
(x) The Bishops, Abbots and Cardinals and the Church came under this socio-political structure.
(xi) The nobility and the clergy did not do any physical work only peasants and artisans were taxed.
(xii) The new class of traders formed guilds, became wealthy enough to defy even the nobles and the kings.
(xiii) This development led to the end of Feudalism.

(i) Mongols were nomads.
(ii) They came into Europe from the steppes of Asiatic Russia.
(iii) They were herdsmen.
(iv) They were experts in warfare.
(v) Their remarkable leader was Chengiz Khan.

(i) The Ming Empire, which replaced the Mongol empire, consciously discouraged industry and foreign trade in order to concentrate on agriculture.
(ii) This resulted in China lagging behind in the 16th century. Other parts of Eurasia, building on the techniques of the Chinese, began to march ahead.