5/28/14 west civ class

Today we took our middle ages test and I honestly say it was the hardest test of the semester. Out of all the tests I think it was the most challenging. But it seemed that way because all of the other ones were very easy. Even though it was the most challenging I still think I got an A on it because I still knew 90% of the information that was asked on it.

5/27/14 west civ class

Today in class we just reviewed for our middle ages test next class. Mr. Schick reviewed a power point and told us what was most likely going to be on the test tomorrow

 

Notes on Middle Ages that will mostly likely be on the test tomorrow

• Middle ages lasted from 476 A.D to 1453 A.D (about 500-1500 A.D)
• The society of the middle ages had the beliefs and classic culture of Rome and customs of various Germanic tribes
• Western half of the Roman Empire was invaded by Germanic invaders causing disruption of trade, downfall of cities and population shifts
• because of the decline of learning romance language began to evolve(French, Italian, Spanish....) many people besides priests were literate
• Germanic warriors were loyal to not the king but to the lord of the manor that provides them with weapons and food and shelter
• Clovis who was the king of Gaul had a battle conversion and had 3000 of his warriors become Christians ( just like Constantine)
• In 520 a guy named Benedict wrote rules for monks: vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns 
• Monks and nuns operated schools, maintained libraries, and copied books
• The church begins to act as a government and use their money to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
• Theocracy- A kingdom where a main religion rules and the church is like a government
• Pope Gregory's spiritual kingdom was known as Christendom
• Clovis had two sons Charles Martel and Charles the Hammer 
• Charles the Hammer defeated a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours this spreads Christianity throughout Europe
• Pepin the Short becomes king next, he is the son of Charles Martel
• Pepin the short died and had two sons, Carolman who wasn't important and Charles AKA Charlemagne who was a great ruler
• Charlemagne became the most powerful king in western Europe and was a peoples man like Julius Caesar, he limited the power of the rich
• He fought Muslims and spread Christianity
• Charlemagne had a terrible heir named Louis the Pious who took over
• Louis had three sons who decided they couldn't handle the empire so they split it into 3 with the Treaty of Verdun thus ending Charlemagne's powerful empire  

5/23/14 west civ notes

Today in class we kept reviewing over notes on the Middle Ages, even though we went over a new PowerPoint I wasn't able to add a lot of notes because I already had notes on a lot of the facts in the PowerPoint.  

Added Notes on the Middle Ages

• Pope Gregory's kingdom was known as Christendom
• Outside of Clovis's empire are small kingdoms (seven are in England)
• Charles the Hammer was most known for defeating a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours, if this hadn't of happened the Muslims would have most likely taken over Europe
•  Charlemagne built the best empire since Rome's empire
• Charlemagne supported the common people and tried his best to keep the power away from the rich, like Julius Caesar 

5/20/14 west civ notes

More on Middle Ages

• Clovis unites franks into one kingdom and church and Frankish rulers convert to Christianity
• The church and Franks get people to convert to Christianity
• Benedict wrote rules for monks and monasteries to follow: vows to poverty, chastity, obedience, and study
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books( Bibles, Greek texts)
• Venerable Bede wrote an amazing history of England
• Franks controlled the largest empire at the time in Gaul, it was ruled by Clovis the time period Clovis ruled was called Merovingian Dynasty
• Charles the Hammer (Charles Martel) extended the Franks reign to the north, south, and east which led to the spread of Christianity into those areas (like the new world) instead of the Muslim religion  
• Pepin the Short was Charles the Hammer's son and the pope named him "king by the grace of God" which started the Carolingian Dynasty
• Pepin had two sons, Carolman and Charles  
• Carolman died so Charles or Charlemagne took over(he was also called Charles the Great)
• He built the greatest empire since Rome
• He fought Muslims in Spain, fought Germanic tribes, and reunited the western empire
• Doing this he spread Christianity like crazy
• He became the most powerful king in western Europe
• Pope Leo then crowned him emperor signaling the joining of Germanic power, the church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire  
• Charlemagne's government: He limited the authority of nobles and he regularly visited every part of his kingdom, he also encouraged learning and had monasteries open schools for everyone, he was a man of the people like Julius Caesar
• Unfortunately after Charlemagne died Louis the Pious was ineffective and Pious's sons split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun 

5/19/14 west civ notes

Middle Ages Notes

• Germanic Kingdoms unite under Charlemagne
• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe
• Middle Ages equals the medieval  period, lasted from 500-1500 A.D. (medieval Europe is fragmented)
• Invasions changed the way things were in western Europe
• Disruption of trade- Europe's cities no longer were the center of trade and money was scarce
• Downfall of cities- Cities no longer were the center of administration
• Population shifts- Nobles retreat to rural areas and cities don't have strong leadership
• Decline of learning- many invaders were illiterate but they communicated through oral tradition, only priests and church officials could read and write, knowledge of Greek literature; science; and philosophy was almost lost
• Loss of common language- dialects develop in different regions, by the 800's French, Spanish and other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin
• Germanic Kingdoms emerge- Roman society was loyal to the local public government
• Nobody cared about the king and nobody really paid attention to him
• Franks who were settling in Gaul had a leader named Clovis
• Clovis had a battle conversion like Constantine, he had a bishop baptize him and his 3,000 warriors after winning a key battle, the church approved of Clovis and began to support him
• A powerful alliance came into existence between Clovis and the church
• A pope named Gregory expanded the power of the pope which allows the church to use church money to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor
• Gregory the Great begins to act like a mayor of Rome and as the head of an earthly kingdom
• the Church is more like a government at this time 

5/16/14 west civ notes

Middle Ages

• Feudalism- a political, military and economic system based on land holding and protective alliances (the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you)
• Made up of the rich guy who owns the land and needs people to protect and work on it. And the tough guys who do all the work and help the rich guy protect his land
• Feudalism Pyramid: Vassals/Nobles/Bishops (top powerful guys), Knights ( warriors who protect the land: in the middle), Peasants/Serfs (poor, powerless people who just worked on the land for the rich guy, a lot of these guys were present during this time, on the bottom of the pyramid)
• Manor: the lords estate     consisted of the amazing lord's manor house, a church, and some workshops (the manor was kind of small)
• Knights and protectors were given Fiefs which were pieces of the lords land and a house where they could sleep
• Peasants were taxed on grain, marriage, and the church. They paid very high taxes
• They lived in  crowded cottages with live animals and insects living in them as well
• 

5/14/14 west civ notes

I got a 100% percent on my huge Rome test and now we are starting the dark ages

 

The Middle Ages: AKA The Dark Ages

• The west part of Rome was struggling during this time
• During this time welfare was more important then education and culture in the upper class
• Cities in Rome ceased at being main trading centers
• Roman institutions gradually stopped working
• Missionary Monks brought Christianity and Roman traditions to peoples beyond the empires old frontiers
• In the largest Germanic Kingdom kings ruled in partnership with warrior land owners and church leaders
• On the east side Constantinople(the capital of eastern Rome) only ruled patch's of land in Europe and the state had become more Greek than Roman
• The east side was also struggling and tried to contribute to the suffering west side of Rome