NCERT Solutions for Class 11 History Chapter 7 Changing Cultural Traditions

Ans : The elements of Greek and Roman Culture that revived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were : Art and architecture, laws, religions, science and technology, philosophy, literature, etc. 

Ans : Italian architecture : The ruins were carefully excavated by archaeologists. This inspired a new style in architecture, which was actually a revival of the imperial Roman style now called 'classical'. Artists and sculptors were also to decorate the buildings with paintings, sculptures and reliefs.
Islamic architecture : Religious buildings were the symbols of Islamic architecture. Mosques, tombs and shrines showed few basic designs like arches, domes, minarets and open courtyards. 

Ans : Italian towns first experienced the ideas of humanism because the earliest universities in Europe had been set up in Italian towns from eleventh century. Law was an important subject.
The educational programme implied that there was much to be learnt which religious teaching alone could not give. This was the culture which historians in the nineteenth century were to label 'humanism'. 

Ans : Democratic government existed in Venice. People who crossed the age of 25 were admitted to the institution of Venetian commonwealth. On the contrary, monarchy existed in France and people were deprived of their rights. 

Ans : The features of humanist thought were :
→ The term 'humanist' was used for masters who taught grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history and moral philosophy.
→ These subjects were not drawn from or connected with religion, and emphasised skills developed by Individuals through discussion and debate.
→ One of the basic features of humanist culture was a slackening of the control of religion over human life.
→ Humanism also implied that individuals were capable of shaping their own lives through means other than the mere pursuit of power and money.
→ This ideal was closely tied with the belief that human nature was many-sided, which went against the three separate orders that feudal society believed in.