7/7 AP World History DBQ Essay Example #1

The Prompt

The Essay

During the post-classical era, varying degrees of political stability in Europe led up to a decentralized Western Europe and a centralized Eastern Europe, namely the Byzantine Empire, although both were divided into different Christian churches. Meanwhile, in the Americas, different civilizations had arisen, each with unique customs and beliefs. Although many different empires and civilizations arose throughout the world, regions throughout Western Europe used the feudal system, while in the Americas, civilizations like the Maya, were independent city-states. However, both of these societies were decentralized and used a religious belief system — whether the Roman Catholic Church or divine rituals— to legitimize and maintain political authority and stability. Ultimately, although different conditions caused different government structures, the ruler needed authority to maintain stability within their rule. Within the region of Western Europe, the Holy Roman Empire was weakening and fragmenting. Although it started off using the feudal system, the lords soon consolidated more power for themselves. This is evident because in “The Golden Bull,” a decree by Emperor Chalres IV (Document 4), the emperor passed a law setting strict rules about coining money, requiring unanimous decisions by electors, banning unjust wars and feuds, and elevated the royalty visually. One can infer that the emperor passed this law to mitigate the already weakening effects on the empire and to re-establish authority to prevent the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, although this attempt was futile as it showed the emperor acknowledging the power his supposed vassals have. However, the people of this empire still had the same faith, Christianity, and were still united under the Roman Catholic Church. Their religion gave them all the same set of rules and morals to live by, the same beliefs to follow, henceforth uniting them against those of other faiths. Similarly, rulers of the Turkic Muslim Sultanates used Islam and the Shari’a law to maintain stability because the faith gave Muslims the same set of rules and customs to live by. However, the power of the Church invited a power struggle between secular and ecclesiastical authorities over who had the power to appoint bishops, namely in a conflict called the Lay Investiture Controversy. This conflict was solved with the church ultimately gaining autonomy through the agreement called the Concordat of Worms 1122. Meanwhile in the Americas, the decentralized Maya city-states were constantly at war with another to conquer more tribute lands where they may capture prisoners of war. These prisoners of war were used as religious sacrifices for those who believed in Sun God. Not only was this a religious ritual, but it also served as a symbol of power for the state’s ruler, showing how political authorities often used religion to legitimize power. Shown in the Madrid Codex (Document 7) — a Maya almanac — are religious rituals, agriculture, and astronomical observations. These served as a guide for the next ruler for how to maintain the civilization by their beliefs. However, if the population is diverse and of different faiths, this must be accounted for too to maintain peace. In an excerpt from The Travels by Marco Polo (Document 3), Polo writes about the Yuan emperor displaying respect and reverence of all religions — Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or otherwise. Clearly, he does so because as a Mongol conqueror of the previous Song Dynasty, he must respect all of his subjects to maintain unity among the diver population of China and prevent rebellion of his Mongol rule. Likewise, Mayan rulers used the religious ritual of bloodletting where they cut their skin to present their own blood to the Sun God to legitimize their power. To conclude, different environmental, political, and social conditions affect state organization. However, a similarity seen throughout all societies during this era and after it too is that religious belief systems are used to maintain stability throughout the ruled. Both the Holy Roman Empire and the Maya civilizations were decentralized and used belief systems to maintain a stable rule. The subjects of the Holy Roman Empire were all united under the Roman Catholic Church whereas the subjects of the Maya city-states all believed in the Sun god and performed the religious sacrifices, which was also a show of power for the ruler. However, the Maya city-states were independent of one another and were fighting to conquer tribute provinces. To contrast, the Holy Roman Empire used the feudal system, where the lords were vassals to the king and agreed to provide military service to the king when necessary, although this hold the king had over the lords was weakened during this time period, rapidly leading to the empire’s fall. Different regions have different conditions to contend with but still require a ruler to maintain authority. However, sometimes a ruler’s past might influence their rule, as is the case with Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor and founder of the Chinese Ming Dynasty. As is seen from an edict by him (Document 6), the Yuanzhang despised the corrupt and foolish previous dynasty and is set on removing or harshly disciplining those that are corrupt and foolish. This suggests that he did this to maintain political stability and authority within his empire, similar to how other societies used belief systems.

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