Textbook notes review/ powerpoint

THE MIDDLE AGES

Today in class we went over our notes that we took the other night. We talked about what we said and how we are supposed to put the notes in our own words. But, unfortunately, none of us did that. We talked about a few new vocabulary words also. We learned that Christendom- is a combination of Christianity and kingdom we also learned that taxes/ tithe is giving 10% of what you earned from work and giving it to the church. We also learned that the eastern roman empire is known as the Byzantine Empire. In the roman empire, we learned that they were speaking Greek instead of Latin. 

- Socrates

- Plato 

- play writes

• you need to know how to speak and read Greek in order to do what these people did in their time period. 
• if we (people from this age) were alive back in the middle ages:
• we would not be going to school 
• we would learn to become a butcher (for boys) a house wife or being able to to take care of a family (women)
• we would learn from our parents 
• in order to learn and progress in the middle ages:
• we would need to know how to read or write 
• romans were not in the center of trade or in social life
• life back then in the Middle Ages was a lot more civilized than we thought it was 
• had a lot cleaner civilization 

POWERPOINT

• feudalism: a political, military, and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances 
• in other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you
• 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"

THE FEUDAL PYRAMID 

                                            - king

          - the most powerful VASSALS (nobles and bishops)

       -knights- mounted warriors who received FIEFS for defending                                        their lord's lad 

                           - PEASANTS (mostly SERFS)

            landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-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 a self-sufficient community
• bad news: it's harsh if you're a peasant

HOW HARSH WAS IT?

• peasants are poor AND pay high taxes
• tax on grain
• tax on marriage
• church tax (tithe= 10% of their income)
• the live in crowded cottages
• live with animals and insects 
• eat VERY simply
• but don't worry- the church says this is your lot in life
• God determines your place in society- so chill

Test Returned

We got our tests back in class today and I am so happy I got an A! I got my first ding for this semester and I was so happy. It didn't seem like a lot of people got dings this time. Only a few of us did. I got a 94, Hailey got a 98 and Carly got a 100! We all reviewed together right before the test and we all seemed to know the information pretty well. I am so happy that I got a great grade on this test because I studied very hard. I made a quizlet with all the information from the past three tests so I was sure to get an A!! My next goal is to get a 100 and get a double ding! The year is winding down but Mr. Schick said that we will still have a few more tests before exams. I have to be sure to study very hard for all of my exams. Science and west civ are the classes that I am most worried about. I need to be sure to study a lot and to not cram it all in in the last couple days. If I do that I think that I will be okay! I did okay on my first semester exams so I want to be able to do even better this time!

text book notes: After Rome

AFTER ROME
 "The upheaval of the early middle ages ended not in a collapse of civilization but in its renewal. and the first two early medieval centuries set the patterns for how this renewal would later take place in western and eastern Europe."

• the two centuries after the fall of Rome were a time of turmoil in Europe that would continue for five hundred years- a half millennium that counts as the "early" part of the middle ages. 
• in the Germanic kingdoms that had taken over the western half of the roman empire
• roman institutions gradually stopped working
•  cities ceased to be centers if trade and social life
•  warfare became more important than education and culture in the lives of the upper classes 
• the roman empire's surviving eastern half contributed to western Europe's chaos by efforts at reconquest, and then itself came under attack by newly powerful neighbors 

medieval- refers to the distinctive civilization of the middle ages which developed in Europe after the disintegration of the roman empire and before the emergence of the modern west 

noble- a member of the warrior-landowner group that formed the elite of medieval Europe 

5th 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 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 

Rome fades away

ROME FADES AWAY

TWO EMPERORS

Diocletian 

• he rules from 284-303
• he thinks it's cool to kill CHRISTIANS
• looked at Christianity as a real problem because they won't worship the Roman gods
• Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong)
• rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
• solution: take Roman empire and DIVIDE it in half
• east Roman empire- had all the money/ the better side
• west Roman empire- had all the trouble
• two completely different empires 

Constantine

• rules from 306-337
• he thinks its okay and cool to BE a Christian
• conversion to Christianity 

----via across in the sky (conquer by this!)----

• 313- his Edict of Milan proclaims
• edict: law/proclamation 

----freedom of worship----

• built a new capital in the East
• Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEASANTS

life in the fourth century:

• country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tax collection
• new farming systems: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
• peasants can avoid paying taxed, 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 (such a deal!)
• landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power that the faraway empire
• foreshadowing feudalism 
• feudalism: whose the owner of the land/ system where one manner is owned by the rich and have servants to work for them and knights to guard them
• doesn't matter who is the leader or empire 

THE WESTERN EMPIRE CRUMBLES

• romes 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- Italy
• Franks- Gaul
• Angles and Saxons- Britain 

END OF AN ERA

from the beginnings...

• 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

Decline of the Roman Empire

Rise of Christianity:

• Jesus spends three years preaching, is then killed by Roman leaders
• Jesus' followers think he's the messiah and the savior who has risen from the dead
• Saul (the persecutor) becomes Paul (the evangelist), spreading Jesus' message
• that there is one true God, not roman gods
• Christianity evolves from a cult status to an established official structure
• priest, bishops, pope (Bishop of Rome) 
• Christians and Jews are monotheistic (meaning they believe in one God)
• this conflicted with roman beliefs
• persecution against both groups was common 
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and since there were many poor people, their numbers grew
• as the numbers grew, even some Roman leaders embraced Christianity 
• AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• he issues the Edict of Milan
• a law passed that was the approval of Christianity
• made Christianity the official religion of Rome 
• not only persecution, but actual approval of Christianity, eventually making it the official religion of Rome
• the Roman Empire and Christianity are now linked in power and influence 

Decline of the Roman Empire:

AD 180: Rome has problems 

• economic (trade became risky; taxers were too high; food supply was dropping)
• military (frontiers were hard to patrol; roman generals fought for control; soldiers' loyalty declined and mercenaries appeared)
• AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire
• moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium (renamed Constantinople), where Asia met Europe (now Turkey)
• after his death, empire is divided again
• this time "barbarian invader" (Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Franks) overrun the empire's frontiers
• that's it for the roman empire (AD 476) 

Diocletian divided the empire into two

• Greek-speaking East (had more resources(
• Latin-speaking West (rome, tradition) 

The changing world of Rome: Emperors, Christians, and Invaders

•  the greatest single change that began among the peoples of the empire during the era of the Roman Peace was the spread of a new form of monotheistic religion, Christianity
• the new religion began as a group within Judaism at a time of division and uncertainty among the Jews arising out of their encounter with the international civilization of Greece and Rome 
• the empire helped bring changes to peoples living outside as well as inside its borders
• The Germanic barbarians of northern Europe became wealthier, more highly organized, and military stronger as a result of living as Rome's neighbors during the era of the Roman Peace 
• roman peace: Pax Romana 
• barbarians grew stronger 
• from about 200 AD, they became such a formidable threat that the emperors could them off only by building up the army, replacing self-rule by centralized government, and openly ruling as absolute monarchs- changes that, in the long run, failed to hold the empire together
• but, these changes had lasting results for the future development of the West
• the empire was still strong enough to bring about the last and greatest of the changes in civilization and took place under its rule
• As long as Rome had prospered, the emperors had taken little notice of Christianity's growth and spread; in the empire's time of troubles, they sometimes harshly persecuted it and sometimes deliberately tolerated it 
• the rulers took Christianity into partnership as the official and majority religion

Roman Test

We took our test today on Rome and Caesar. I think I did really well! I made a quizlet a few nights before the test and added a few things to it last night. I added the test questions from the previous test we took before break. I knew more than half of the answers and I feel really strongly that I got a good grade. I hope Mr. Schick will grade ours in class because I'm anxious to know if I got an A. It would be the first A I got on a test this semester! Mr. Schick looked over my notes and quizlet I took in advisory and he said they looked great and that he thought I was good to go! We had a few minutes before the test to study so I studied with Carly and Hailey. Carly quizzed me and Hailey then we just looked over the quizlet one final time. I need to bring up my grade even more so I did the best I could to study for the test. Getting an A would be awesome but even if I didn't get an A I would still be so happy if I got a high B. I hope to find out my grade either in class or in the next day or two to see how I did. I studied a lot so I really hope it pays off.