Last Class

Today was our last class in West Civ.  We went over everything we need to know for the exam and got our test back that we just recently took.  I am going to study alot for this exam but mostly I am going to figure out what to write or the essay so I can get a good grade on them.  They are a quarter of our exam grade and there are five of them so I think that I really need to study what I am going to write for the exams and study all of my tests that we took and I will be in good shape.  I really hope that I do well on this exam because I have a low grade in his class right now and I need a good grade on his exam.  I really hope I do well on all my exams and get good grades but I also really want them to just be over so it can be summer and school can be out.

Test

Today in west civ we took a test.  I studied a lot and looked over all my notes but I still do not know if I did well or not.  I thought that it was really hard but some of them I knew, but i also thought I failed. I am really hoping that my grade wont bring my grade down by a lot because I have an 88 and I don't want it getting any lower.  I really hope that I did ok on the test.  I am also nervous for the exam and I know that i need to study a lot for that.  I will hopefully do ok on the exam and be able to maintain my good grades for the end of my freshman year.

Review for Test Tomorrow

Today in Mr. Schick's class, we went over everything that is going to be on the test tomorrow.  Here are some of the main point Mr. Schick went over:

Middle ages= medieval period

AD 476- AD 1453

The new society has roots in:

• Classical heritage of Rome
• Beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• Customs of various Germanic Tribes

5th Century Germanic Invaders

• Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire causing:

1. Disruption of trade
2. Downfall of cities
3. Population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

Decline of Learning:

• Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn’t read Greek or Latin
• Romance Languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian)
• Few besides priests were literate

Germanic Kingdoms emerge: AD 400-600

• Germanic warrior's loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them with food, weapons, treasure
• The result: no orderly government for large areas and small communities rule

Clovis rules the Franks

• 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 3000 of his warriors become Christians
• The church in Rome likes this
• By 511 the Franks are united into one Kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners

Spread of Christianity

• In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks:

1. Vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)
2. Chastity (no marital relations)
3. Obedience (listen to church superiors
4. His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns
5. The operate schools, maintain libraries, and copy books

Pope Gregory and Papal Power Play

• Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies.
• This is a theocracy- ruled by one dominant religion
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany

Who's running Europe?

• 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
• If he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire

How do you follow the Hammer

• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• Son #1 was Carolman- died in 771
• Son #2 was Charles, known as Charlemagne

Charlemagne- Charles the Great

• Six foot four
• Built the greatest empire since Rome
• Fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanic Tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited Western Europe
• Became the most powerful king in western Europe
• 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

• Charlemagne's government

• He limited the authority of the nobles
• He regularly visited ever part of his kingdom
• Kept close eye on his huge estates

• Cultural revival

• Encouraged learning
• Ordered monasteries to open schools
• Opened a palace school

• But, his heirs were weenies

• His son- Louis the Pious- was ineffective
• Louis' three sons- Lathiar, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Notes

Here are some notes that we took today on the PowerPoint Mr. Schick put on his blog:

• 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 us came from.

• Middle Ages = medieval period
• 476 – 1453 AD

This new society has roots in:

• classical heritage of Rome
• beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
• 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 or Latin
• Romance languages evolve (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
• few besides priests were literate

• Germanic Kingdoms emerge: AD 400 - 600
• Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them w/ food, weapons, treasure

Result: 

• no orderly government for large areas
• small communities rule
• "I would die for my chief, but I see no reason to 

pay taxes to a king I don't even know.  So there."

• 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 3000 of his warriors become Christians
• the Church in Rome likes this
• by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners
• Church + Frankish rulers = rise in Christianity
• In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks:
• vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries) 
• chastity (no marital relations)
• obedience (listen to church superiors)
• His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns

they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books

• Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldly power)
• Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
• This is a theocracy
• Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany

• Clovis rules the Franks in Gaul until his death in 511
• Most of the rest of Europe consists of smaller kingdoms (seven in England alone)
• Clovis' descendants include Charles Martel, known as Charles the Hammer (great name!)
• Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732 
• (If he hadn't won, western Europe could have become part of the Muslim Empire - that's huge!)

• Charles Martel's son is Pepin the Short
• He works with the Church and is named "king by the grace of God) by the Pope  (Popes can do that?)
• Pepin the Short dies in 768, leaving two sons
• Son #1 - Carloman - dies in 771
• Son #2 is Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great
• Six feet four inches of rocking ruling warrior greatness! 

More Notes

Today is west civ we talked about the exam a little bit and then took notes.  We are going to have a test on this on Wednesday of next week.

• 511 AD: Clovis united Franks into one kingdom
• 600 AD: Church and Frankish rulers convert many
• Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• Monasteries and convents:

• 520 AD: Benedict wrote the rulers for monks and monasteries
• Poverty, chastity, obedience, and study
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
• 731 AD: the Vulnerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books

• A European Empire Evolves:
• Franks control largest European kingdom

• The Roman province formally known as Gaul
• Ruled by Clovis- the Merovingian Dynasty

• Major Domo- mayor of the palace- ruled the kingdom
• Charles Martel- Charles the Hammer

• Extended the frank's reign to the north, south, and east
• Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732- historic battle

• Charles the Hammers' son- Pepin the Short

• Possible named for his unusual short haircut
• Working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombards
• Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God:- beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751-987 AD
• Pepin had two sons: Carolman and Charles
• Carolman died leaving Charlemagne in charge

• Charlemagne- Charles the Great

• Six foot four
• Built the greatest empire since Rome
• Fought the Muslims in Spain
• Fought Germanic Tribes
• Spread Christianity
• Reunited Western Europe
• Became the most powerful king in western Europe
• 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

• Charlemagne's government

• He limited the authority of the nobles
• He regularly visited ever part of his kingdom
• Kept close eye on his huge estates

• Cultural revival

• Encouraged learning
• Ordered monasteries to open schools
• Opened a palace school

• But, his heirs were weenies

• His son- Louis the Pious- was ineffective
• Louis' three sons- Lathiar, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German- split up the kingdom at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Notes

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne

• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
• Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout Europe, which is where many 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 in cities:

• Cities are no longer centers of administration

• Populations shifts:

• Nobles retreat to the rural areas
• Cities don’t have strong leadership

• 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 (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost

• Loss of common language:

• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 600s, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin

• Germanic Kingdoms emerge
• The concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyal to family

• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to love (the lord's hall)
• During wartime, warriors fought for the lord

• "The king? Who's that? You want to collect taxes from me? Who the heck are you?"
• Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis
• Franks under Clovis:

• Another battlefield conversion (Just like Constantine)
• Clovis and 300 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop
• The church in Rome approves of this "alliance"
• Clovis and the church begin to work together

A simple math equation:

Clovis' military expertise+ the church's support and money= a strategic alliance between two powerful forces

• Germanic peoples adopt Christianity
• Pope Gregory I expands papal power

• Papacy- pope's office
• Secular power- world power
• Papal power (power of the pope) is political power, presented for the pope's palace
• The church can use church money to: raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor
• Ran like a government
• Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom)

Going Over Test and Taking More Notes

Today in west civ, we went over the test that we took on Wednesday.  I am very happy because I got a 96 on it!  I need to move my grade up 2 more points form an 88 in order to get first honors this quarter.  I hope I can but if I don't I will be really mad because this is exactly what happened to me last quarter.  If I get an 88 as my final grade and it keeps me from first honors I'm gonna be pretty mad, but I think I will be able to move it up by the end of the year. After we went over the test, we took some notes:

• Feudalism: a political, military and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliances. 
• The feudal pyramid:

1. King
2. The most powerful vassals, nobles, and bishops
3. Knights- mounted warriors who received fiefs for defending their lord's land
4. Peasants (mostly serfs)- landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-less, just working the land for "the man" (their lord)

• Manor: the lords estate (House)

• The lord's manor house
• A church
• Some workshops
• 15-30 families
• All on a few square miles

• Good news: its self-sufficient community
• Bad news: its harsh if you're a peasant
• Peasants are poor and pay high taxes
• They have tax on grain, marriage, and church
• They live in crowded cottages
• Live with small animals and insects
• Eat very simply