Reviewing for Middle Ages

Today in class we did our review for our middle ages test tomorrow, i think i will do pretty good on this test because i really made sure i paid attention this unit because i really need to bring my grade up so i am going to write down every fact he said should be on the test

Middle Ages = Medevil
AD 476 - AD 1453

This new society has roots in:
- Classical heritage of Rome
- beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
- customs of various Germanic tribes

Germanic Invaders
Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire causing:
- disruption of trade
- downfall of cities
- population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion
Decline of learning
- tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldnt read Greek or Latin
- Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
- few besides priests were literate

Germanic warriors loyalty is to the lord of the manor, he provides them w/ food, weapons, treasure

Clovis rules the Franks (which is where "France" comes from
in 496 he has a battlefield conversion - he and 3000 of his warriors became christians

Church plus Frankish Rulers equals rise in Christianity
in 520, benedict writes rules for monks:
- vows of poverty
- chastity
- obedience
his sister scholastica writes similar rulers for nuns
they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books

Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
This is Theocracy
Gregorys spiritual kingdom extends from italy to england, from spain to germany

Clovis descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer
Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732

Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
Pepin the Short dies in 768, leaving two sons
one of them being Charlemagne

Charlemagne fought the Muslims in Spain
fought germanic tribes

Reviewing Charlemagne

Today in class we got to see the google presentation of the Charlemagne power point, it had a little bit more detail so it was good so we can do better on the test. There was also quite a bit of old stuff from the word powerpoint so there was quite a bit of review as well. Mr. Schick said our test is next wednesday so i really need to try my best on this test to bring my grade up.

Notes on The Dark Ages

• Feudalism - a political, military and economic system based on land handling 
• Manor: The lord's estate
• It is a self-sufficient community
• It is harsh if you are a peasent
• Peasents are poor and pay high taxes
• They live in crowded cottages
• Live with animals and insects
• Eat VERY simply
• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
• Charlemagne spread christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where most of us came from
• Middle Ages - medieval period
• 500 - 1500 AD
• medieval Europe is fragmented
• Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
• Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
• Disruption of trade
• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
• Money is scarce
• Downfall of cities
• Cities are no longer economic centers
• Population Shifts
• Nobles retreat to the rural areas
• Cities don't have strong leadership
• Invasions trigger changes in western Europe
• Decline of Learning
• Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
• Only priests and church officials could read and write
• Knowledge of Greek is almost lost
• Loss of a common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 800s, French, Spanish, other roman-based languages are evoloving from latin
• Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
• The concept of government changes
• Roman Society: loyalty to public gov't
• Germanic Society: Loyal to Family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During preace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live
• During Wartime, warriors fought for the lord
• Germanic Kingdoms Emerge
• The Franks Under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversion
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
• The church in Rome approves of this alliance
• Clovis and the church begin to work together
• Germanic peoples adopt christianity
• Pope Gregory 1 expands papal power
• 511 AD - Clovis unites Franks into one Kingdom
• Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• 731 AD - The Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books
• Charlemagne aka Charles the Great
• Built the greatest empire since Rome
• Fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanic tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited West Europe
• Became most powerful king
• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly Roman mob
• This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire
• He limited the authority of the nobles
• He regularly visited every part of his kingdom
• Kept close with huge estates
• Encouraged learning
• Opened a palace school
• His son Louis the Pious was ineffective
• Louis' three sons Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German split the kingdom up in the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Taking Notes on The MIddle Ages

Today in class we went over our last rome test, which honestly most of the ones i got wrong were the ones that i really had trouble with. Then after that we started to take notes one The Middle Ages which Mr.Schick says is probably the most boring unit we have done. We really arent too far into it to know how boring it is but i guess we will just have to wait and see.

Reviewing questions for test

Today in class we reviewed for our test which is tomorrow and i am actually feeling really good about this test on rome. It is on all of Rome and what has to do with it and i really think i will do well. Ive said that a lot of times where ended up failing but i truly have a feeling about this one.

Notes on the Decline of the Roman Empire

• Christianity was growing to the point where even some Roman leaders started to embrace Christianity
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• He had every person paint a cross somewhere on there gear and before the battle they prayed to the christian God and ended up winning
• After that Constantine gave all the credit to God for them winning
• AD 180: Rome has problems 
• economic (trade became risky, taxes were high, food supply wad dropping)
• Military (frontiers were hard to control, Roman generals fought for control, soldiers loyalty declined)
• Diocletian divided the empire into two
• Greek- Speaking east and the Latin- Speaking west
• Diocletian (Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus) (245–311) was Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and marks the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as augustus, co-emperor, in 286.
• AD 324 - Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• moves the capitol from Rome to Byzantium (renamed constantinople), where asia met europe
• after his death, empire is divided again
• this time, barbarian invaders overrun the frontiers
• thats it for the Roman Empire (AD 476)
• Diocletian ruled from 284 - 303, hated christians, wanted a big army and government
• Constantine ruled from 306 - 337, liked christians, was a christian, built a new capitol in the east
• The Edict of Milan refers to the February 313 agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Western Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in Milan and among other things, agreed to change policies towards Christians.The document known as the Edict of Milan (Edictum Mediolanense) is found in Lactantius' De Mortibus Persecutorum and in Eusebius of Caesarea's History of the Church with marked divergences between the two. Whether or not there was a formal 'Edict of Milan'  is debatableThe version found in Lactantius is not in the form of an edict. It is a letter from Licinius to the governors of the provinces in the Eastern Empire he had just conquered by defeating Maximin later in the same year and issued in Nicomedia.
• Struggle of the Peasents
• Country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection
• new farming system
• peasents 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
• Romes power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
• western empire is too poor
• huns migrate to eastern europe
• visigoths take over spain, and actually capture and loot rome
• vandals control carthage and western mediterranean
• other barbarians tribes, ostrogoths, franks, and the angles and saxons
• Roman Timeline
• 500 BC - monarchy is abolished
• 450 BC - the 12 tables are established
• 44 BC - end of the line for Julius Caesar
• 27 BC - 180 AD - the pax romana
• 475 AD - the last emperor was installed, who was a teenage boy whos name was Romulus Agustulus
• BOOM! End of an empire

Test Day!!!!!

Today in class we took a test and i actually thought i was going to do pretty good. Then he showed me my grade. It sucked, i study and i pay attention its just when a test comes around i just cant do good.