The first reading response : explore the role of Genghis Khan by watching the BBC documentary “Rise of the Mongol Empire” found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFnxV2GYRU

Write a paragraph discussing the ways in which Genghis Khan used the resource available and restructured political/social relationships to better suit the needs of his empire.

The second reading response : looking at the plague, which swept from China to Europe. In Europe, there were several instances in which Jews and/or entire Jewish communities were blames for the plague and either sentenced to death or slaughtered as a result. There are some accounts of this found here in “The Black Death and the Jews: 1348-1349”: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.asp

The sources have a few different perspective, so it is important to think about motive. The Catholic Church officially said that the Jews were not responsible for the plague, but the individual authorities did not always uphold that perspective. As you review the source, what to they suggest about the role of the church and motives for the persecution of the Jews? What other kinds of responses did Europeans have to this outbreak and what motivated them? Consider how these responses fit in with the broader European culture and European conduct during the Crusades.