The Astrolabe was used for determine the location.
D. The reason for the fall of the Maya civilization is still unknown. There are many different theories attempting to explain the cause of the Classic Maya collapse and the abandonment of Maya cities in the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica between the 8th and 9th centuries: climate change, drought, deforestation, etc. but although the drought is the leading theory at the moment the truth is yet unknown.
Secularism was a social movement that separates religion from the ordinary life in the middle age. Secularism rejects religious ideas that once dominated the European medieval times, such as the focus on God in everything, human condemnation, and permanent praying or meditation.
Secularism initiated as a confrontation or reaction to religious ideas in the medieval times in Europe. People realized that the human being was very important and had values that should be respected by the monarchies. This made possible a better recognition of human achievements in culture and arts.
The influence that secularism had on the Renaissance over politics can be found in the works of Niccolo Machiavelli. The ideas he expressed in “The Prince” were of the utmost influence in the Renaissance and it still is a very influential book in today’s politics.
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke also were part of political ideas during the Renaissance. Hobbes, with his theory of Social Contract, and Locke with his ideas in the Two Treatises of Government.