Taking the Test

Hello,

So today we took the final test of the year in West Civ. I thought that it was a bit hard and I didn't know some of the things. I thought that I didn't do that well on it but I actually got an A! I was really excited now I have an 89 so I hope that this week's blogs and class participation bring me up to a 90! Exam is Wednesday I believe so I hope I do well!

Things to Know for Test

Hello,

Today in class we went over the notes for the Test we will be taking tomorrow. Here are some things we NEED to know for the Test (Possible Test Questions):

Middle Ages = Medieval Period

The New Society has roots in:
- Classical Heritage of Rome
- Beliefs of the Roman Catholic
- Customs of Various Germanic Tribes

Overrun the Western Half of the Roman Empire
Causing:
- Disruption of Trade
- Downfall of Cities
- Population Shifts to Rural Areas

Decline of Learning
-Tribes had Oral Tradition, Songs, but Couldn't Read Greek of Latin
- Romance Language Evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
- Few Besides Priests Were Literate

Germanic Warriors' Loyalty is to the Lord of the Manor he Provides the w/ Food, Weapons, Treasure
Result:
- Nor Orderly Government for Large Areas
- Small Communities Rule

Clovis Rules the Germanic People of Gaul, known as the Franks (Which is Where "France" Comes From)
In 496 He Has a Battlefield Conversion - He and 3,000 of his warriors become Christians
By 511 the Franks are United into One Kingdom, with Clovis and the Church Working as Partners

Church + Frankish = Rise in Christianity

Benedict Wrote for Monks
His Sister Scholastica Writes Rules for Nuns
Bede Wrote a History of England

Church Revenues are Used to Help the Poor, Build Roads, and Raise Amies
This is a theocracy  - When Government is in State of Worshipping ONE God

Clovis Rules the Franks in Gaul until his Death in 511

Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer)

Hammer Defeats a Muslim Raiding Party from Spain at the BATTLE OF TOURS in 732

Charles the Hammer's Son Known as Pepin the Short who Died 762, leaving 2 Sons

1 Son Died and Other was Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great (6 Foot 4 of Ruling Power!)
- Built Greatest Empire Since Rome
- Fought the Muslims in Spain
- BECAME MOST POWERFUL KING IN EUROPE (KNOW!)
- Charlemagne Kept Close Watch of his Huge Estates
- His Son, Louis the Pious was ineffective, His Sons, Lothair, Charles the Bald, Louis the German- Split up the Kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun- 843 AD

Notes.

Hello,

Today in class we took notes, such naturally this class was boring, which isn't a surprise. I wish that we would do more than just take notes like play games on the subject or make power points like we used to in the beginning of the year, instead we have to take notes, no lie, EVERY CLASS. So boring. 

Here are the notes that I took in today's class:

-Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
-Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of uscame from
-Middle Ages - medieval period
-500-1500 AD
-Medieval Europe is fragmented
A-Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe
     1-Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
           a-Disruption of trade 
                  1-Europe cities are no longer economic centers
                  2-Money is scarce
           b-Downfall of cities
                  1-Cities are no longer centers of administration
           c-Population shifts
                  1-Nobles retreat to the rural areas
                  2-Cities don't have strong leadership
     2-Decline of learning
                  1- Germanic invaders are illiterate but they communicate through oral tradition
                  2-Only priests and church officials could read and write
                  3-Knowledge of Greek (literature, science, philosophy) is lost
     3-Loss of a common language
                  1-Dialects develop in different languages
                  2-By the 1800s French, Spanish, other Roman based languages are evolving from Latin
B- Germanic kingdoms emerge
     1- The concept of government changes
            a-Roman society: loyal to public government
            b-Germanic society: loyal to family
                  1-Germanic chief led warriors
                  2-During peace he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
                  3-During wartime warriors fought for the lord
            c-"The King? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
            d-Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis
     2-The Franks under Clovis
            a-Another battlefield conversion
            b-Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
            c-The Church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
            d-Clovis and the Church begin to work together
-Clovis' military expertise + the Church's support and money = A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE BETWEEN TWO POWERFUL FORCES
C-Germanic peoples adopt Christianity
      1-511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
      2-600 AD- Church + Franks rulers convert many 
      3-Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
      4-Monasteries and convents
            a-520 AD-Benedict wrote the rules for monks and monasteries
                    1-Poverty, chastity, obedience, study
            b-His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
            c-731 AD-The Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
            d-Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books (Bibles, Greek texts)
      5-Pope Gregory expands papal power
            a-Papacy = popes power
            b-Secular power = worldly power
            c-So...under Gregory the Great...
PaPal Power(Power of the Pope) is Political Power Presented from the Pope's Palace
            d-The church can use church money to:
                     raise armies
                     repair roads
                     help the poor
            e-Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome and as head of an earthly kingdom(Christendom)

If We Take Notes One More Time...

Hello,

Today, guess what! We took notes, I know so shocking. So here they are:

Feudalism - a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances

Rich Dude (Lord) - "I own land; I need people to help me work it and defend it"
Tough Dudes (Vassals) - "There are a lot of us, we can help the rich dudes hold on to their land"

Feudal Pyramid:
-King
-The Most Powerful Vassals (Nobles and Bishops)
-Knights: Mounted Warriors who Received Fiefs for Defending Their Lord's Land
-Peasants (Mostly Serfs): Landless, Powerless, Moneyless, Right-less, Just Working the Land for "the Man" (Their Lord)

Manor: the Lord's Estate
-The lord's manor house
-A church
-Some workshops
-15-30 families
-All on a few square miles

Good News: It's self-sufficient community
Bad News: It's harsh if you're a peasant

Peasant are poor AND pay high taxes
-Tax on grain
-Tax on marriage
-Church Tax (tithe=10% of their income)
They live in crowded colleges
Live with animals and insects

Test Day

Hello,

Today in class we took the test. I got a 90 on it which was pretty good, but here are the notes we had to take for tonights blog with the extra credit Chrono

• The first two early medieval centuries set the patterns for how this renewal would later take place in western and eastern Europe. 
• The Germanic kingdoms had taken over the western half of the Roman Empire.
• Roman institutions gradually stopped working.
• Cities ceased to be centers of trade and social life.
• Warfare became more important than education and culture. 
• Missionary-monks brought Christianity and Roman traditions to peoples beyond the empires's old frontiers.
• Both the missionaries and the Frankish rulers created precedents for spectacular later renewal in western Europe.
• The Roman Empire's surviving eastern half contributed to westerns Europe's chaos by efforts at reconquest.

Chronology:

Fifth century:

• Angles and Saxons invade Britain.
• 486
• Clovis leads Frankish confederacy against Romans and rival Germanic invaders in Gaul
• 527-565
• Reign of Emperor Justinian in the Eastern empire
• 542
• Plague hits Egypt, then spreads throughout the Mediterranean area and much of western Europe.
• 568
• Lombard's conquer most of northern Italy
• 570-632
• Life of Muhammad
• 595
• Missionaries sent by the pope begin to convert the pagans of England
• 711
• Muslim invasion of Spain
• 800
• Slavs occupy almost all of eastern Europe

Free Mod!

Hello,

Today in class Mr. Schick let us have a free mod! We couldn't leave the room, but we could work on anything that we wanted so I took the time to work on English and Spanish homework. Anyway we will be taking the test tomorrow so I hope I do well!

Taking More Notes in Class.. Shocker.

Hello,

I don't think we have had a day for 2 weeks where we haven't had to take notes. Here are the notes for today:

Diocletian:
- Ruled from 284 - 303
- It's cool to persecute Christians
- Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
- Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)

Constantine:
- Ruled from 306 - 337
- It's cool to BE a Christian
- Conversion into Christianity via a cross in the sky
- 313: his Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
- Built a new capital in the East
     - Byzantine, soon to be known as Constantinople

The significance of the Edict of Milan is that it gave Christians the freedom to not be persecuted by people. It was a proclamation that gave religious toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire.

Life in the Fourth Century:
- Country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collections
- New farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
- Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
- Paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work
- Landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
- Foreshadowing feudalism
- Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
- Western Empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
- Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
- Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
- Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
- Other barbarian tribes:
     - Ostrogoths in Italy
     - Franks in Gaul
     - Angles and Saxons in Britain

End of an Era:
500 BC - the monarchy is abolished
450 BC - the Twelve Tables are established

... Through the glory days...
44 BC - end of the line for Julius Caesar
27 BC - 180 AD - the Roman Peace (Pax Romana)

...To the bitter end...

- Constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
- The last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
- Barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him