Vocabulary Words for Unit 11

Feudalism:
 A term coined by the torians to describe the type of government institutions, as well as the general social and political relationships that existed among the warrior-landholders in much of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Feudal Compact: 
An arrangement between a lord and his vassal involving the exchange of property for personal service.

Fief:
A grant of land and accompanying government responsibilities and power.

Homage:
A vassal's act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord.

Vassal:
Another word for "servant", who served the lord that owned him in exchange for a fief.

Knight:
A vassal who was required to protect the lord and pledge his allegiance to him, in exchange for a fief. They also must go through training with an older knight before they could become one themselves.

Serf:
People in charge of exploring and settling on unexplored or unclaimed territory.

Barons: 
Lords of large territories who usually paid homage to a King.

Peasantry:
People who farmed on large plantations known as "Manors" which were owned by a lord or lady of the nobility (or members of the clergy).

Three-Field System:



(more to come)

*Notes on Chapter 11 (Manors, Towns, and Kingdoms)*

The Feudal Compact
-Feudalism is the relationship between landowners and warriors.
-Warriors known as knights, would pledge his allegiance to a lord, who would in turn give that knight land.
- The Lord would give land to the knight (or fief, which is property)
- The knights would them become the Lords vassal, or servant, (This was known as the "feudal compact")
-The Vassal was required to defend the Lord when necessary, and attend his court once a month.

Homage and Knighthood
- A Vassal was required to pay homage to his Lord, usually requiring to pledge your allegiance by kneeling     down and taking the lord's hands while speaking an oath.
-Men were apprenticed to older knights before they could become a knight themselves.
-When a knight died, his fief would be passed down to the next generation (if he was a male of course)

-Some Clergy would be known to fight as knights themselves

Feudal States
-Barons were lords of large territories who usually paid homage to a King (Kings ruled a country).
- Often a Baron's army could outnumber that of a King, which helped protect the King even more.

Peasants and Lords
- Medieval society was divided into three "estates": the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.
-Usually the peasantry farmed on large plantations known as "manors" which were owned by a lord or lady of the nobility (or members of the clergy)
- Iron plows and water-powered grinding mills helped with agricultural production, but yield was still minuscule by today's standards.
-To maintain the health of the soil, the "three-field system" was used where two fields were planted (on in fall, one in spring) and one field was left to reconstitute its fertility- them they were rotated.
-Many villages sprung up on and around manors with small cottages for the peasants, and a large manor house for the lord and lady.

The People of the Manor
- The Lord oversaw everything that happened in the land.
-The Lady of the House took care of the manor and helped make decisions with the Lord
- Most Peasants were serfs, meaning they were bound to the lands and to their lords for "labor service" a few days each week.
- Serfs were also in charge of exploring and settling on unexplored land.

The Growth of Trade
-The Agricultural boom after 1000 allowed for the establishment of many towns across Europe.
-Most of the Trade could have been things that were raised on an average manor.

Trade and Towns
-Most Medieval towns were surrounded by fortified walls.
Residences also sprang up outsides the walls in suburbs.
-Towns were dominated by a main church and a central marketplace.
-Buildings for the craft guilds and the wealthiest families would also be in the center of the town.

The Life of Townspeople
-Though townspeople were free, unlike serfs, they still had a hierarchy: merchants at the top, then craftsmen and artisans, then unskilled laborers and apprentices.

The Guilds
-Merchants, craftsmen, and artisans formed their own groups called guilds, which regulated their trade and protected its members.
- Craftsmen were classified as masters, journeymen, and apprentices.
- Once became a master after spending years learning as an apprentice, working as a paid journeyman foe a number of years, and completing his "masterpiece"
-Guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals, social organizations and usually provided well for charities.

(credit to Gavin Lewis's WCIV student textbook)

Getting Back Our Tests Today

Today in class we got back out tests from last week. One of them was a Barbarian Quiz about the foreign invaders that brought about the end of the Roman Empire. Many people in my class had either gotten a high grade or a perfect score. In fact, our class had the highest scoring average of all of Mr. Schick's freshman classes. I however, didn't do as well as I wouldn't have liked. We also got out "Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire" tests back today. We reviewed some of the questions on the test, and Mr. Schick even hinted to us that some of the questions he mentioned on the test might be questions that he may ask on the final exam. Tomorrow we will probably read more about the collapse of the Roman Empire.

*More Notes After Rome*

After Rome 500-700

The Germanic Barbarians

• They were the ones who became the 'nobles' and the aristocrats in Roman Culture.
• They decided to conquer and assimilate other barbarian peoples, and well as the former Roman land

• The Angles and Saxons invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons (They were from Denmark and northwestern Germany)
• Most of the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity in the seventh century.
• The most powerful Germanic Tribe were the Franks.
• The officials and nobles were the ones with the power because they were the "Mayors of the Palace"

• Eastern Roman Empire still continued on while the Western Empire was invaded by the Germanic Tribes. Eastern Empire was referred to as "Byzantium"
• Justinian came into power in 527 AD, and decided to reunite the Western Empire with the East.
• His plan worked for a while, but more Germanic Tribes continued to invade, while a massive plaque spread though the west. It depopulated much of the western side immensely.

• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors 
• The Byzantines wanted to preserve the art, architecture, philosophy, and writing as much as possible, even though it went against Christian beliefs. 
• Justinian built the Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, which was the greatest church on earth at the time. 
• The Hagia Sophia was first a Christian cathedral, them a mosque, then a museum in the early 19 hundreds. 

*Conquerors of the Roman Empire*

Ostrogoths

Ostrogothic Kingdom

The Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian declared war on the Ostrogoths in 535 AD. During the 20 year war, the Ostrogoths conquered large parts of Italy.






Angles and Saxons
The Angles were people from German descent who conquered what is now modern-day Britain during the fall of the Roman Empire. The name England originates from the Angles.

*End of Roman Empire / Europe Takes Shape*

Today we took a test on the Roman Empire once again. This test was a bit different from past tests he has given us. Instead of 'multiple choice' or 'true or false' questions, this test was 'fill in the blank' and short response questions. Many of my classmates who took the test yesterday said that this test was very hard, and they were right. I worked to the very last minute because it was so long. Our new unit is 'Europe takes shape', which takes place during 700-1000 AD. Below are some notes on the chapter.

EUROPE TAKES SHAPE

The Carolingians

By 700 AD, the Frankish Kingdom, once the most powerful Kingdom in Western Europe, was falling apart. The wealthy family named the Carolingians took control of the Frankish Empire, and they had been the first to start fully developing western Europe. One of the family members, Charles, became the mayoralty (similar to king) of the new Empire. (Carolingians also translates to "children of Charles" in Frankish). 

Charles was nicknamed Charles Martel ("Charles the Hammer") because of his warlike and fierce personality. He was very generous with land, and gave it to his people as gifts or for respect. Some of the land given was from defeated enemies, while some of the land was from the Church. 

Charles son Pepin decided that power in the Kingdom needed to be lawful and rightful, with an organized structure of government. Over time, Pepin became a monk and missionary of the Kingdoms Eastern Lands. This was the first time in history that a king began his reign with a religious ceremony. 

Pope Steven II also anointed Pepin and his two sons to make sure they could rule the Empire well. Pepin claimed parts of Italy during his rule, and gained far wider power. This new "Roman" Empire was under the influence of Charles the Great. 

Charlemagne was Pepin's son and Charles Martel's grandson, and he was a very influential individual by contributing greatly to the evolution of western Europe. He had a very militaristic personality, and was always fighting a war. His military efforts helped him win over half of Italy. 

Charlemagne was a firm believer in Christianity. Local officials called counts helped make the decisions, and each count was in charge of a region of the Empire, or county. Occasionally, a group of counties would work together on an issue, and the man in charge of the group would be known as a duke. For taxation, he would use his many Estates for profit. 

Charlemagne made his capitol at Aachen. Charlemagne encouraged better education in his kingdom, so he set up clergy schools in Aachen. 

Study Guide for Test

What is an Edict of Milan?
The Edict of Milan was the order from Constantine to stop persecuting the Christians and to give them equal rights in the Empire, along with everything that has been taken from them. This was issued in February 313.

What is the Pax Romana?
The Pax Romana was a period of peace in the Roman Empire. It was about 207 years long
(27 BC - 180 AD) and was established by Caesar Augustus. With the accession of Augustus, it marked the end of the Roman Republic. Pax Romana is Latin for "Roman Peace".

Who were the people who Jesus associated with?
He talked with Tax Collectors, Prostitutes, and Sinners.

What does Gospel mean?
Good News

What was the average length of an Empire's term?
two and a half years, either due to assassination or dying in battle.

Who is Diocletian?
In 284 AD, Diocletian came into power. He increased his army to 400,000 men (1/3 bigger than Augustus) and recruited the newly conquered barbarians into the army. His new government had 20,000 officials. (10 times more than Augustus) and collected lots of tax money.


Constantine moved the capitol of Rome to Byzantine and named it Constantinople after himself.
Predestination

In 300 AD, 60 million lived in the Roman Empire.

(more to come)

Learning More About Rome during the Rise of Christianity.

Today we talked a bit more about Christianity in the Roman Empire. We discussed what happened after Diocletian's rule and when Constantine came into power. The comparison of how they each treated Christians is very little, and each of their ways of dealing with people who believed in the religion were very different. Diocletian tortured the Christians in brutal ways, often slowing burning them or crucifying hem in public. Constantine, however, took a different approach toward Christianity. It it believed that right before major battle, Constantine tried to pray to the Christian God instead of the Roman gods. The reason for this was to see if the Christian God even existed, and the second reason was that the Oracle kept giving them false information. According to legend, the sign of the cross appeared in the sky, with gold lettering underneath it saying "by this you will conquer". Constantine took this as a sign from the Christian God, and ordered all of this men to paint their shields with the cross on the front. They ended up winning the battle immensely. Constantine then ordered that all Christians stopped being executed.

(sorry this was so late. I had to leave early on Friday and didn't get back home until late Sunday.)

The Roman Empire Struggles...

As the Roman Empire grew, so did the problems with it. 10's of thousands of acres can be a good thing, but also a bad thing at the same time. With that much land came great responsibility, and the Roman Empire had an enormous amount of trouble controlling the borders. The average term of an Emperor at the time was two and a half years, either due to wars or an assassination.
By 284 A.D, a man named Diocletian started to rule the Empire, and he helped bring Rome back to a neutral state. He increased his army to 400,000 men (1/3 bigger than Augustus's time) and he also recruited the newly-conquered barbarians into the army. He also divided the Empire into smaller provinces and his new government had 20,000 officials. (10X more than Augustus). He also collected lots of tax money to help the Empire.
In 300 A.D, there are 60 million people in the Roman Empire, but a few million were Christians. Christianity was very popular among the poor, and there were many of those in the Empire. Diocletian left alone Christianity at first, but he then had a structured method of persecuting every Christian in the Empire.
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In 303 A.D, Diocletian, along with Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius ordered that anyone who believed in Christianity be sacrificed to the gods.  Over time, this was broken down into four edicts. The first edict, Diocletian declared that all Christian temples and churches be destroyed, scriptures be burned, and Christians be deprived from their rights and potentially be tortured or executed. Any Christians who refused to be sacrificed to the gods, would be burned alive. Over time, these punishments became progressively   worse. The second, third, and fourth edicts were announced after a series of rebellions around modern day Turkey and Syria. The second stated that all bishops and priests be arrested and imprisoned. In fact, so many priests and bishops were imprisoned that the Empire was not able to contain all of them.
The third edict involved releasing the overcrowded bishops and priests, so long as they made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Anyone who refused would be executed.
In 304, the fourth edict ordered that all men, woman, and children who were Christians gather in a public place and do a collective sacrifice. Anyone to refuse would be executed.


Constantine built up the Roman Empire army and in order to pay for his army he introduced a new gold currency. He shared power with other Emperors which were his sons and began building a new Capitol.                                                                                    

*Spreading the News*

        Today Mr. Schick gave us our Rome tests back. I had got a pretty decent grade, along with everyone in the class. We reviewed the answers to the test by going over the questions. After that, we then talked a little about the chapter we were supposed to read. It talks about the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire, and how Rome was affected by it. Here is some of the notes that I took in class today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It all begins with Jesus.

• His life comes from the "Gospels" of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• "Gospel" means "good news".
• Jesus had set himself apart from other "Messiahs". 
• Jesus taught that you should strive for perfectness, because God was perfect in every way.
• Jesus associated himself with people that were considered in the lower class of Roman society, like prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners.

• Jesus was thought of as the Savior sent by God.
• They believed that Jesus was both human and divine.
• Rome thought of Jesus as a threat to the Empire, so they crucified him on the cross. They believed that he rose from the dead three days later and ascended into Heaven.

Start Spreading the News

• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after he was knocked off his horse and blinded by God.
• He then traveled all throughout the Roman Empire, and preached about Jesus and the miracle that had happened to him.
• Paul had established many churches throughout the land. Many of the early Christians would ask him questions about the churches practices and the Christian Faith. Paul responded to them by writing letters that contained information on how to run the church and what to believe in. 

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One last thing we did in class was take a last-minute pop quiz on what we had just learned. I think that I had gotten all of the answers right. I am interested to see what we will learn tomorrow.

Christianity in the Era of the Roman Peace

Christianity gained lots of popularity during the age of the Roman Empire, and over time it grew to be the most popular religion today. The most important figure that led to the creation of this new religion was Jesus. The Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John told stories about Jesus's life and what he had preached to the people. The Gospels mainly focused on Jesus's birth, his life as a preacher, and his death and the aftermath. Many people believe that Jesus was sent by God himself. Jesus improved on the religion, by saying that you should go above and beyond from what God expects you to do. Jesus associated with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners to prove his point. Jesus was a very unorthodox preacher, and he made many changes to the church that eventually evolved into its own religion.

throughout his life, Jesus performed many miracles, including  transforming water into wine, miraculously healing people of sickness and blindness, walking on water, and most importantly rising from the dead. Jesus had followers named apostles, who followed Jesus when he preached and were his messengers. Jesus sent these men to preach to the rest of the world, even when Jesus was gone. These apostles were the ones who started up the Christian religion.

Paul was one of the apostles during Jesus's time. He helped spread the word all across the Roman Empire, and he had become a major figure in the Catholic faith.

New Writing Assignment for Western Civ

Today in class, Mr. Schick announced a new writing assignment that would be due on Monday. He wants us to write a 500 word assignment on the Pax Romana, which is covered in the textbook and partly on Wikipedia. I'm sure that we will have to write more than 500 words on this, because there is so much to talk about.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (3)

Today we watched the last portion of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. We were very close to the end of the first episode, so we watched the ending of it and then took some more notes on what happened afterwards. Tiberius in the video was nearing the end of his reign as Tribune. Tiberius felt like there was so much more to do as Tribune, and that he didn't have enough time to do the things he wanted to do. So, he decided to (possibly illegally) have a reelection so he can run for a second term. The crowd that day was very loud, so he could not communicate with his bodyguard by speaking. Instead, Tiberius said that he would pat his head if he was in trouble or was under attack. Coincidentally, the Senate was in a meeting right outside from where Tiberius was. Someone had informed the Senate that Tiberius was patting his head to signal that he wanted a crown on his head. They misinterpreted the message by thinking Tiberius wanted to be king. So they stormed out of the meeting hall and beat Tiberius to death, as well as 300 of his followers. There was no funeral for Tiberius, and they threw him into the river Tiber when he died.

Tiberius's brother Gaius also ran for Tribune. When he held too much power, he was killed and beheaded. The Senate had said that whoever retrieved his head would be rewarded its weight in gold. Someone had brought the head to the Senate, but they tried to get more gold by making the head heavier. The retriever of the head had taken out the brain and put lead inside. It is believed that the retriever of the head was possibly killed as well.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2)

Today in class, we watched the movie Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Today, we watched as Tiberius was surrounded by enemy troops. In order to prevent 20,000 people of Romes army from dying, he decided to make peace with the barbarians. When he returned to Rome, the people of Rome were very pleased with him for saving their family members, but the Senate, however, was not. They claimed that making peace with these barbarians would be an uncivilized thing to do, and that it would ruin the reputation of Rome. Tiberius claimed that he had made an oath to the gods about it, and that calling off the treaty would dishonor Rome and the gods. Breaking a promise to the barbarian people would dishonor Rome, but the Senate insisted that Tiberius made the wrong decision.
Later on Tiberius found out that his childhood friend Octavius  was taking large amounts of land away from the common people to himself. Tiberius and Octavius were each running for Tribune and each of them had different opinions on the distribution of land. Tiberius wanted to give the land to the people who had too much, while Octavius wanted to keep the land for himself. Octavius vetoed the law to give the land to the people, preventing the law from taking effect. In response, Tiberius vetoed the opening of the public treasury, the courts, the market, etc., thus bringing Rome to a standstill.