Mr. Nesheim · 2026–27

History 11

The complex and often misunderstood landscape of the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance, setting the stage for the modern world.

Meets Monday, Tuesday, and Friday

Timeline

The World We Study: 1100–1616

One interactive timeline of the year: events, people, and the books Literature reads alongside us. Opens in a new tab.

Open the timeline

Homework

Due Monday, August 31

Read and annotate the Clari reading (binder pp. 4–8): Five Ws plus your own questions, and bring one written discussion question. Read the St. Francis and St. Dominic sources (binder pp. 10–18); reading only, no annotations required there.

Tuesday, September 1

Map quiz on modern Europe at the start of class: twenty countries plus four bonus, ten to fifteen minutes. Ten minutes with the practice map tonight beats an hour at midnight. The printable map is in the Maps section below.

Friday, September 4 · half day

History meets at 10:00, not 7:20. Medieval Universities. Nothing new is due; study your notes.

Primary source reader

History 11 Primary Sources

The documents we read and annotate all year. 155 pages, about 7 MB.

Read Download

The Crusades

Crusades reference, 1095–1291

The dates, the geography, and the names, from Clermont to the fall of Acre. A skeleton to keep the order straight while you read the sources, plus the questions we will argue in class.

Open the reference

Clari & the 4th Crusade

Where the pilgrims went

The map that goes with the Clari reading, binder pp. 4–8. Eight steps: the lordships the army came from, why it stopped at Venice, and the road from a debt to the sack of a Christian city. The dashed line is the Egypt they were paid to reach and never saw.

Open the map

Tests

Unit tests this year: October 19, December 14, March 16, and May 18. I will confirm each date in class as it approaches.

Map Trainer

Drill for the map quizzes

Modern Europe, Spain, France, Italy, and Europe in 1500. It asks where a place is, you click, and the map fills in as you go. It remembers what you missed and asks those again. Opens in a new tab.

Open the trainer

Before & After

Christendom in 1200 and in 1600

The same continent four hundred years apart. Drag the handle across the map and watch one Church become many. Two editions: the maps we use in class, and the printed atlas plates they were checked against. Opens in a new tab.

Open the comparison

Maps

We will have map quizzes through the year. Print a blank map, fill it in from memory, then check yourself against the labeled one.

Modern Europe
Printable map (GeoGuessr)
Europe in 1500
Labeled
Spain
Blank
England
Labeled Blank
France
Labeled Blank
Italy
Labeled Blank
Modern Asia
Labeled Blank

Sources and links

Links will be added here as we use them in class.