What shaped Western culture in the period 1300–1550 more: the Black Death’s emphasis on the afterlife (the hereafter) or the Renaissance’s emphasis on human achievement (the here and now)? Choose one of these and explain your perspective.

Start with a statement identifying your choice; this is your thesis. Then, support your choice with specific examples from at least three of the following categories:

significant individuals (e.g., political or religious leaders, innovators, explorers);
characteristics of worldview (e.g., philosophy, religion);
social institutions (e.g., social mores, practices, hierarchies);
patronage (discuss the patrons, their motives, influence, and resulting products or artifacts);
the economies (e.g., changes, different economic systems, impact); and
politics (e.g., forms of governance, power distributions, contests).