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