Question

What effect did monasteries have on the expansion of agricultural production in early modern Europe?
a. They slowed expansion of agricultural production because they insisted on living a life of extreme poverty and asceticism
b. They slowed expansion of agricultural production because they focused only on prayer and service to God
c. They contributed to the expansion of agricultural production because they organized much of the labor needed to clear forests, drain swamps, and prepare lands for cultivation
d. They contributed to the expansion of agricultural production by building commercial farms and employing freed serfs as agricultural laborers

Answer 1

One effect that monasteries had on the expansion of agricultural production in early modern Europe was that "C. They contributed to the expansion of agricultural production because they organized much of the labor needed to clear forests, drain swamps, and prepare lands for cultivation," since people tended to work in far more cohesive groups.