Thursday's Blog 5/22/14

Germanic Kingdoms

Setting The Stage !

Middle Ages = Medieval Period

476 - 1453 AD

Medieval Europe is fragmented

(from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks)

This is a 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:

disruption of trade

downfall of cities

population shifts to rural areas

Effects of Invasion

Decline of learning

Tribes had oral tradition, songs, but couldn't read Greek or Latin

Wednesday's Class 5/21/14

D. A European Empire Evolves
   1. Franks control  largest European kingdom
      a. The Roman province formerly known as Gaul
      b. Ruled by Clovis - the Merovingian Dynasty
   2. Major domo - mayor of the palace - ruled the kingdom
   3. Charles Martel - Charles the Hammer
      a. Extended the Frank's reign to the north, south, and east
      b. Defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732 - historic battle
   4. Charles the Hammer's son -
      a. Possibly named for his unusual short haircut
      b. Working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombards
      c. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God" - beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751 -987 AD
      d. Pepin the Short had two sons: Carolman and Charles
      e. Carolman died leaving...
E. Charlemagne takes center stage
   1. Charlemagne - aka CHARLES THE GREAT
     a. Six foot four
     b. Built the greatest empire since Rome
     c. Fought the Muslims in Spain
    d. Fought Germanic tribes
    e. Spread Christianity
    f. Reunited Western Europe
    g. Became the most powerful king in western Europe
    h. Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in 800 AD after he defended him from an unruly Roman mob
    i. This signaled the joining of Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire

Tuesday's Class 5/20/14

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne
Main Idea !
Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire.

Why It Matters Now !
Charlemagne spread Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from.

Setting The Stage !
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
        i. Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
       ii. Money is scarce
      b. Downfall of cities
        i. Cities are no longer centers of administration
      c. Population shifts
        i. Nobles retreat to the rural areas
       ii. Cities don't have strong leadership


A. Invasions trigger changes in western Europe (cont'd)
   2. Decline of learning
     a. Germanic invaders are illiterate, but they communicate through oral tradition
     b. Only priests and church officials could read and write
     c. Knowledge of Greek (and literature, science, philosophy) is almost lost
   3. Loss of a common language
     a. Dialects develope in different regions
     b. By the 800's, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving

B. Germanic kingdoms emerge
   1. The concept of government changes
      a. Roman society: loyal to public gov't
      b. Germanic society: loyal to family
        i. Germanic chief led warriors
       ii. During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
      iii. During wartime, warriors fought for the lord

Papacy = The Pope's office
Secular power = worldly power

Friday's Class 5/16/14

The term for Christianity was Christendom.  Taxes/tithing for the church were 10% of what you made yearly.  They are now speaking more Greek than Latin in the start of the middle ages.  Education is much less important, they didn't read much of anything.  The only people in the village who would know how to read was the priest and a small handful of people.  You learned how to do your job from a young age instead of going to school.  In the middle ages the Romans were finally after about 1,000 years second to everyone else.  Living in Europe in the middle ages was disgusting disease filled life.  They had issues such as the black plague, and small pox.

- Feudalism - A political, military and economic system based on landholding 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 DUDE (VASSALS) - "There are alot of us, we can help the rich dudes hold on to their land."

The Feudal Pyramid goes:
King
Vassals, Nobles, and Bishops
Knights
Peasants, and Serfs

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

Peasants are poor and pay high taxes
- Tax on grain
- Tax on marriage
- Church tax (tithe = 10% of their income)
-They live in crowded cottages
- Live with animals and insects (ewww...)
- Eat very simply
- But don't worry - The Church says this is your lot in life
- God determines your place in society - so chill

Thursday's Class 5/15/14

      Today in class we got our Rome big tests back.  I didn't do so well to say the least.  Mr. Schick gave us class time today to get some homework done.  I did all of my math homework and some of Spanish.

Wednesday's Blog

       The end of the Rome was a very long and horrible ending.  This was not the end for western civilization though.  The renewal of western civilization is called the Middle Ages.  This all happened because Rome eventually became to big for its time and everything slowly and painfully fell apart.  But Missionary - Monks brought Christianity and Roman traditions to people who weren't apart of the empire.

The Baptism of Clovis - An ivory plaque made about A.D. 900 depicts the founding event of the Kingdom of the Franks four centuries earlier.  The conquering chieftain Clovis is humbly naked and up to his waist in water.  The Roman aristocrat Remigius, bishop of Reims, touches Clovis's head as he speaks the words of baptism.  Clotilde, Clovis's already Christian queen, looks on; the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, brings holy oil in token of God's blessing upon the fusion of Frank, Roman, and Christian.

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 - Lombards conquer most of northern Italy

570 - 632 - Life of Muhammad

595 - Missionaries sent by the pope began to convert the pagans of England

711 - Muslim invasion of Spain

800 - Slavs occupy almost all of eastern Europe

Tuesday's Class 5/13/14

Two Emperors

Diocletian
Diocletian was an emperor who ruled during 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
Rules from 306 - 337
It's cool to BE a Christian
Conversion to Christianity via a cross in the sky
313 - His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
Built a new capital in the East
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 bankrupted by endless tax collection
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

The Western Empire Crumbles

Romes Power Decreasing
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

End of an Era

From the beginnings...
500 B.C. - The monarchy is abolished
450 B.C. - The Twelve Tables are established

...through the glory days...
44 B.C. - End of the line for Julius Caesar
27 B.C. - 180 A.D. - The Roman Peace (Pax Romana)

to the bitter end...
constant fifth century invasions by barbarians 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 Augustalus without bothering to kill him