Short Essay #1 : A Comparison of Three Cities
One thousand years ago, the world was a very different place. The centers of learning, arts, and wealth were in the East rather than in the West. Cities like Baghdad and
Constantinople flourished, while cities like London and Paris were just forming.
Historians today talk about a “Golden Age” in the East while they talk about a “Dark
Age” in the West.
To illustrate, the relative power and civilization in the world around 1000 ce, I would like you to write an essay that compares Baghdad, Constantinople, and London around 1000 ce. In the essay:
• develop a thesis
• describe the three cities (arts and culture, religion, science and technology, education, and overall population)
• compare and contrast the three (what similarities and differences do you notice)
• include a bibliography of websites and other sources that you use
I will provide you with some resources in class. You can also use your textbook and other books from the library. To get you started, there are some web links listed below. The paper should be typed and 2-3 pages in length. Due: _______
URLs for London http://britannia.com/history/londonhistory/norlon.html http://www.britainexpress.com/London/medieval-london.htm http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba44/ba44regs.html http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/0-9/1000ad/home.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/978ethelred-londonlaws.htm lhttp://library.advanced.org/12834/text/marketplace.html
URLs for Baghdad http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1000baghdad.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/wiet.htmlhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/isl amic_dinner.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/wiet.htmlhttp://islam.about.com/cs/history/a/aa0407
03a.htm http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_401_450/golden_age_of_islam.htm

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/full/20/10/1581 http://www.nestorian.org/arab_golden_age_and_education_.html
URLs for Constantinople http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/romchin1.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/images.html#ex3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinoplehttp://www2.arch.uiuc.edu/research/rgouster/i ndex.htm http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/turkey/istanbul/istanbul.html