Final Test, Preparing for Final Exam

Today we took our last test of West Civ 1, excluding the exam. I think I did pretty well, and I heard that other classes did not do very well. They said their class average was around 69, I think, but I could be wrong. This class was one of the best social studies classes I have had.

Medieval Test Review

476-1453 ad

Roots of the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church

Overrun the western half of the Roman Empire

Causing disruption in trade, downfall of cities, and population shifts to rural areas

Decline of learning- romance languages evolve

Germanic tribes turned in Kingdoms

Warriors and knights were loyal to their lord

Clovis rules the franks in Gaul

496 battle field conversion on Clovis

By 511 the Franks were united in one kingdom, with Clovis and the church working as partners.

In 520- benedict writes rules for the monks

His sister Scholastica wrote similar rules for nuns

Pope Gregory 1 uses church revenues to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies

The Venereal bead wrote the history of England

Theocracy- the government is involved with the church

Europe consisted of small kingdoms

Battle of tours in 732

Charles Martel's son is known as Pepin the short

Charlemagne meaning Charles the great

Charlemagne- fought muslims in spain, most powerful king in western europe, kept close watch on his huge estates, son is luis the pious who had sons that split up the kingdom in the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Medieval PowerPoint

Today in West Civ, we began and finished a new PowerPoint. We were given some test questions also.

The Muslims have at this point become a religion and controlled some of Africa, and worked their way up through Europe.

If the muslims had won this battle, then they could have just walked right through Europe and take it over. Everyone would be muslim. 

Battle of tours in 732.

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

Pepin the short dies in 768, leaving two sons

Name because he may have been under 5 foot or had a short temper

Son 1- Carloman- dies in 771

Son2- Charles, known as Charlemagne, meaning Charles the Great- 

           not the pope, but held a cross

         - combination of power, and religion 

        - his attempt to create the strongest army since Rome

        - he is reuniting western Europe

      - pope leo crowned him king on Christmas

       - wants the nobles to have less power

       - want to travel to see all of his people

        -wants to open schools for everyone

        - reminds us of Caesar

        - the leaders following his were awful

       - his grandsons can't figure out who to rule, therefore split the kingdom up at the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD. 

476. -1453- Medieval times start
• How it started?
• When Romulus augustulus was disposed as emperor in 476
• The west, crumbled
• The east became the byzantine empire

Today in west civ, we reviewed the powerpoint that we took notes on last class. We went over one more slide, and Mr. Schick told a few stories about his high school experience. Also we discussed the exams coming up in June. 

• A European Empire Evolves:
• Franks control largest European Kingdom
• The Roman province formerly 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…..

Germanic Kingdoms Unite Under Charlemagne

Today in West Civ we started another PowerPoint of Medieval times/Middle Ages/ Dark Ages

Main Idea:

• Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were united under Charlemagne's empire.

Why does it matter?

• 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

Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe

• Invasions and constant warfare spark new trends
• Distribution of trade
• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
• Money is scarce
• Downfall of cities
• Cities are no longer centers of administration
• Population 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 is almost lost (literature, science, and philosophy)
• Loss of common language
• Dialects develop in different regions
• By the 8005, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolved from Latin.
• Germanic kingdoms emerge

  - the concept of government changes

• Roman Society: loyal to public governors
• Germanic Society: loyal to family
• Germanic chief led warriors
• During peace, he provided food, weapons, treasure, a place to live (the lord's hall)
• During war time, warriors fought for the lord
• "The king? Who is 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.

• The Franks under Clovis
• Another battlefield conversion (just like Constantine)
• 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
• The Church is getting really powerful
• Church is the support and money while the King is the military strength
• Germanic peoples adopt Christianity
• 511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
• 600 AD- Church + Frankish rulers convert many people
• Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
• Monasteries and convents
• 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rules for the monks and monasteries
• Poverty, chastity, obedience, and study
• His sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
• 731 AD- the Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
• Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books
• Pope Gregory I expands papal power
• Papacy- pope's office
• Secular power- wordy power
• So.. Under Gregory the Great…
• The church can use church money to:
• Raise armies
• Repair roads
• Help the poor
• Gregory the Great began to act as major of Rome, and as head of an Earthly kingdom (Christendom)

Feudalism

Today in class we went over the last test, and started a PowerPoint on Feudalism, which is the middle ages and dark ages.
Here are the notes

Only teach kids what their job is on the manor

Spend their whole lives within a few miles

Education has nothing to do with their lifestyle

Manor is the land owned

King isn't a part of the people's life, there for not important

Most people are Catholic in Europe

Feudalism:

• A political, military, and economic system based on land-holding and protective alliance
• In other words: they system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help
• Government is not a main part.
• Knights are hired and loyal to the lord hiring you
• Vassals: the people that help the rich people hold their land.

The Feudal Pyramid-

King

The most powerful Vassals

(Nobles and Bishops)

Knights- mounted warriors who received Fiefs for defending their lord's land

Peasants (mostly Serfs)

(Landless, powerless, moneyless, rights-less)

(Just working the land for "the man" (their lord)]

-majority of people are poor

Mind your manor:

• 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 is a self-sufficient community
• Bad News: It is hard if your are a peasant

Peasants:

• Poor and pay high taxes
• Tax on grain
• Tax on marriage
• Church tax (tithe- 10 percent tax on their income)
• Live in crowded cottages

Final Test on the Roman Empire

Today in West Civ, we completely finished up Rome with our final test. I did pretty well, 96. I got the same one wrong that i got wrong on the last test too, with is awful. Next we are learning about the Mid-evil times/ feudalism, which I have not ever learned about, so it will be interesting.

Page 151:
    - two centuries after the fall of Rome
    - medieval centuries set the pattern for how this renewal would later take place in Western and Eastern Europe.
    - missionary-monks brought Christianity and Roman traditions to peoples beyond the empire's old frontiers.

Extra Credit: Chronology
   - Fifth Century: angles and saxons invade britain.
   - 486- Clovis leads Frankish confederacy against Roman 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 begin to convert the pagans of England.
   -711- Muslim invasions of Spain.
   -800- Slavs occupy almost all of Eastern Europe.

Finishing up the Roman Empire with one last Test

Today I missed class because i had a dentist appointment, but we have a test tomorrow, and our homework is to study. The final PowerPoint was posted, so I am going to study the PowerPoint and the last two test we have taken. Each new test, will have the covered material we were tested on last time, as a review, and then the new material. That way by the time of the exam, it will be easier to study.

End of the Roman Empire

Today in class we started another PowerPoint. We have a test on Wednesday, adding to our knowledge a bit more about the end of the Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire. Next week we will start feudalism/ Mid Evil Times. Here are our notes from class. 

Two Emperors:

• Diocletian:
• Rules from 284-303
• It is cool to persecute Christians
• Rome needs a big army (400,000)
• Hired barbarians would turn on Rome when the going got tough.
• Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
• Divided Roman Empire into two parts each with their own army, emperor, etc., the Byzantine-richer, more secure trade routes
• Constantine:
• Rules from 306-337
• It is cool to be a Christian
• Conversion to Christianity(a cross in the sky)
313. His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of wisdom
• Built a new capital in the East.
• Byzantium, soon to be known as Constantinople

Edict of Milan:

• Proclamation of religious tolerance to Christians in the Roman Empire.
• The property stolen from you before, was returned.
• Fixing of some of the problems.
• Built churches and could worship in public, could stop hiding
• You can worship whatever you want.

The struggle of the peasants:

• Life in the fourth century
• Country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tax collections
• New farming system: peasants for elite landlords on large farms.
• Peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by landlord.
• 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

• Rome's power is decreasing, nomadic barbarians gain power.
• Western empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
• Visigoths capture and loot Rome in 410

End of an Era:

• From the beginning…

500 BC- The monarchy is abolished

• 450 BC- the Twelve Tables are established

• …Through the Glory Days..
• 44 BC- end of the line of Julius Caesar
• 27 BC- 18- AD- The Roman Peace (Pax Romana)
• To the bitter end…
• Constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the Western Empire shattered and crumbled
• The last emperor was a teenage boy installed by his father
• Barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him 

Decline of the Roman Empire

Today in class we started a new chapter and PowerPoint and discussed the answers to the previous test. Our homework was to read and outline page 123 in our textbooks, and post it to our blogs. 

Rise of Christianity:

• Christianity evolves from cult status to established, official structure
• They conflicted with Roman beliefs of all these other gods.
• It is the law to worship the Roman gods.
• Christianity appealed to the poor, and since there were many poor, their numbers grew.
• As it grew, even some Roman leaders embraced Christianity.
• In AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• He issues the Edict of Milan
• Not only no persecution, but actually making it the official religion of Rome.
• The Roman Empire and Christianity are now linked in power and influence.
• Sometimes emperors, named the next Pope

AD 180: Rome has a problems: Pg 123

• The empire helped bring changes to peoples living outside as well as inside its borders.
• The Germanic barbarians became so much a threat that the emperors could hold them off only by building up the army.
• In the long run, they failed to hold the empire together, but lasting results for the future development of the West.
• As long as Rome had prospered, the emperors had taken little notice of Christianity's growth and spread.
• They sometimes harshly persecuted it and sometimes deliberately tolerated it.
• The burden of government and the army became too heavy to bear, the barbarian attacks grew too fierce to be resisted, and the empire began to collapse.   

Day of Test

Today we took a test in West Civ. About a little more than half the test, was material covered on the last test, so it went pretty well. I got a 98, but i feel like i could have done better, for some reason. Especially cause a lot of other people got hundreds. But I am kind of happy with a 98.

Day Before Test

Today in West Civ, we reviewed a PowerPoint covering the material we learned before Easter break. We took notes of the questions to study for tomorrow's test.

• Where did the first Indo Europeans settle around 750 BC?
• In the shores of the river Tiber, in the low-lying Seven Hills of central Italy. In the middle of Italy, middle of the Mediterranean Sea, which was (thought to be) the center of the world.
• What three groups of people dominated the culture of early Rome?
• Latins, Etruscans, and the Greeks
• Who was Tarquin the Proud, and what was so significant about him?
• Last king of Rome, he ruled as a tyrant form 534- 510 BC. He was run out of Rome following a scandal and the Roman Republic was established following his departure.
• How did they move from a monarchy to a republic?
• Ruled by Etruscan kings who were advised by rich patricians, the Senate
• After Tarquin, the government became res publica or republic
• Describe the difference between a patrician and a plebeian?
• Patricians- upper class members of the Senate
• Plebeians- common people, workers, smalltime farmers.
• Define:
• Senate- 300 aristocrats, appointed for life, usually pass on to family members
• Consuls- the two "presidents with 1 years terms
• Tribunes- leaders of the plebeian's assemblies, first rather powerless, gaining ground over the years.
• What is so important about the Twelve Tables?
• Posted in the forum
• First time laws were written down in Rome.
• Set up protection for the plebeians
• The Roman Republic serves as a model for what modern document, and what modern government?
• The constitution of the US and its separation of power
• Senate/ Assemblies- US Senate/House of Reps
• Consuls/ Dictator- president of the US
• Senate could act like judges- like our Supreme Court
• Describe why only the rich could serve in the Senate.
• Members were not paid, but workers their way up from low-ranking magistrates to higher ones. They needed to spend a lot to look good, popular, and powerful, making them electable. Plebes couldn't afford to do that
• . The kings that ruled between 600 and 500 BC ordered the building of the Forum, Rome's political center. 

Getting ready for Test Wednesday

The Word Spread about the risen Jesus

• Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and message.
• He travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britian.
• He writes letters to many of those he spoke to these epistles are a part of the New Testament.
• If not for the efforts of Paul, it is likely that Jesus remains an obscure preacher, instead of the central figure of the world's largest religion.

Caligula- Good start…

• In addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great-nephew. Putting him next in line for emperor.
• He started off well, granting bonuses to those in the military, declaring treason trials a thing of the past, and made government spending a matter of public record.
• In all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful"(according to the historian Philo)…then…
• He began to fight with the senate
• He claimed to be a god, and had statues displayed in many places- including the Jewish temple in Jerusalem
• Other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make horse consul and a priest (at least that's what his critics said)
• Assassinated by his own aides, AD 41 (age 28)

Next in Line- Claudius-

• Ostracized by his family because of his disabilities (limp, slight deafness, possible speech impediment- thought to be cerebral palsy or polio), he was the last adult male in his family when Caligula was killed.
• He rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts; he renovated the Circus Maximus
• Had an awful marriage to Messalina, who was quite often unfaithful to him, even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius through a coup- so Claudius had them killed.

Meanwhile- religious troubles-

• Christianity and Judaism- monotheistic
• Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god.
• AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for one wall)
• The western Wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines.
• Half a million Jews died in the rebellion.

Persecution of Christians-

• Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor.
• Christians would have to meet in secret, if you were found out, you were killed or put into the Colosseum
• Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
• Often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions, etc.)
• Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly, by AD 2000, around 10 percent of the people in the roman empire were Christians. 

Roman Empire Textbook Notes

Assassination of another Caesar: page 101

• There still was a stubborn core of senators who were disturbed by his successors.
• In 44 BC, Caesar scored a vote from the Senate making him dictator for life.
• He showed no sign of giving up his high position.
• Caesar had become a Greek-style tyrant.
• On the Ides of March, Caesar appeared in the Senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers.
• This sparked a Civil War.
• Octavian Caesar and Mark Antony joined forces against Caesar's assassins; forming another triumvirate together with a lesser warlord, Marcus Lepidus; eliminated opponents in a new reign of terror in Rome; and defeated Cassius and Brutus in a battle in Greece.
• They declared to restore the Republic, but they also had the Senate proclaim Julius Caesar a "Divine Being"
• Caesar became the founding hero, whose memory would inspire all supreme ruler of Rome.
• Octavian based in Rome, Lepidus in North Africa, and Antony in Alexandria.
• Their cooperation turned into rivalry, when the balance of power began swinging toward Octavian. Antony's passionate love affair with Cleopatra made him unpopular in Rome.
• Octavian pushed Lepidus out of power and successfully began expanding Rome's frontiers northward toward Danube.
• In 31 BC, the rulers of the two halves of Rome's empire went into a war. Octavian's forces defeated those of Antony in a decisive naval battle near Actium off the western coast of Greece.
• Within a year, both Cleopatra and Antony committed suicide. Octavian was now the supreme warlord-third to rule Rome, and the one who finally managed to turn military dictatorship into legitimate and permanent monarchy.

Page 103- The Roman Peace:

• Augustus's new system kept many features of the Roman republic, allowed subject peoples a good deal of self-rule, and brought Rome's destabilizing expansion to a halt.
• Roman achievements in these fields eventually equaled or surpassed those of the Greeks and became just as much an inspiration and model for future Western development.
• Latin was the new native language of Egypt and conquered barbarian lands.
• The era of the Roman Peace was one of the massive social, religious, and cultural changes that would form a new pattern of Western Civilization.

  The Rule of the Emperors- page 104

• After Octavian's triumph at Actium, the Senate conferred on him as a new title, Augustus.
• Augustus intended to stay in power, reconstruct the failed government of the Roman city-state, and keep its empire together.
• In 27 BC, it was the end of the Republic and the beginning of the rule of the Roman emperors.
• He again, proclaimed the goal of restoring the republic, but was actually set on making himself the supreme ruler.
• From time to time, he turned served turns in leading magistracies such as consuls, censor, and supreme pontiff, through the only one that he continuously held, and used as the legal basis of his power, was that of tribune of the people.
• Augustus was confirmed as commander in chief of the armed forces.
• On his way to supreme power, he had proscribed and put to death many of his opponents in the Senate and replaced them with his friends and allies. He could afford consult the senate frequently and give it genuine government power.
• Peoples assemblies, lost the power to elect representatives and make laws. They had lost confidence in the traditional system and trusted Augustus to rule in their interests as they had trusted Caesar before him.
• Augustus still summoned the assemblies from time to time, but later emperors did not bother to.
• Augustus was careful not to bring back the mixed government that had once been the source of its stability and vitality.
• After Augustus won supreme power, Greek cities in Anatolia, began building shrines and sacrificing to Rome and Augustus- worshiping Rome itself as a divine, and Augustus as a god-sent human being who embodied Rome's beneficent rule.
• `It soon became custom for emperors to be worshipped as divine beings.
• Augustus was called Father of the Fatherland.
• He was the first of seven emperors to have his wife honored.
• The rule of one man was easier to accept if they could think of him as worthy of divine worship as well as human honor, and as a traditional paterfamilias married to a traditional matron. Augustus's claim to divinity and his fatherly moralizing strengthened his own rule, as well as the whole new system of monarchy that he founded.
• He began a series of large scale reforms. He brought the system of government appointments under his personal control.
• Augustus showed respect for local institutions and encouraged provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibilities.
• Corrupt and oppressive government was still common enough, but seemingly not so systematic and outrageous as under the Republic. 
• By the end of his rule, all his soldiers were volunteers, serving for fixed terms of 25 years in permanent units.
• In this way, Augustus and his successors broke with the Roman tradition of citizen-soldiers to create the world's first professional standing army.
• He kept part of his army- the legion sized praetorian Guard- in Rome to back up his power at the empire's core and the other forces to the frontiers of the empire to continue Rome' s tradition of seemingly endless conquest.
• Augustus turned against any further expansion, a change that had momentous long-term consequences for Rome's empire.
• Augustus was convinced that if Rome's new peace and stability were to last, the changes he had made in its new government system must continue. He must settle in advance on someone to replace him.
• Augustus finally settled on Tiberius, Livia's son from her first marriage. He adopted Tiberius as his own son so as to give, him necessary hereditary standing, he got the Senate to grant Tiberius the same power as the commander in chief that he held himself.
• Augustus died in 14 AD.
• Nero was overthrown after a tyrannical reign, but by that time, Rome had become used to a one-man rule that no one seems to have thought of restoring the republic.
• After civil war among rival army commanders in 69 AD, the winner was Vespasian who founded another dynasty, the Flavians.
• Near the end of the first century, the Flavian dynasty came to an end following the assassination of another tyrannical emperor, Vespasian's son, Domitian.
• The Senate appointed as princeps one of its own members, the aged leading Nerva. Since Nerva had no sons, to avoid another civil war, he adopted a leading general, Trajan, who took over peacefully upon Nerva's death in 98 AD.
• Rulers for much of the second century happened to have no sons by blood who survived them, as they too, adopted sons whom they also designated as their successors.
• This custom of "adoption and designation" produced a long series of outstanding emperors.
• At the end of the second century, the line of emperors by adoption and designation came to an end when Commodus, Marcus Aurelius's son by blood, outlived him, ruled irresponsibly, and was eventually murdered. Civil war brought a new dynasty to power- this one founded by a capable and ruthless general of North African origin, Septimius Severus.
• Augustus's governing structure endured until the troubled times of the late third century. The system always righted itself.