POP quiz

Today in Western Civ we had to take a pop quiz on Christianity in the Pax Romana. When we went over all the questions I got them right praise I was so scared I would fail it but aye. Then we finished the powerpoint that talks about the conversion of Constantine and how he turned to Christianity and won a battle (they had literally gone into battle under the sign of the cross because they painted the cross on their shields). We also talked about how Christianity went from an outlawed religion to a known and accepted religion, and then the decline of the Roman Empire.

Diocletian- came up with the idea of the division of the empire 

Then we moved onto the other two PowerPoints we looked at yesterday, and we talked about them but I already wrote notes on them so lets not do that twice.

When we talk about romance languages, we mean things that refer to the languages of the Roman empire (Latin, Greek, etc. Latin for other things, Greek for scholarly stuff).


Also, we talked about the theory how America is going down the same road as the Roman Empire is declining wise. *THIS MIGHT ME A TEST QUESTION UPDATE*

i brought grapes to class but i was scared to eat them

Today in Western Civ we had to take notes on a lot of stuff, here are the rest of the notes on Christianity:

Conversion of Constantine (AD 312)

• Roman emperor Constantine has a vision before a key battle 
• sees an image in the sky of a cross and words meaning "in this sign, conquer" 
• orders troops to put a cross on shields and they win 

Edict of Milan in AD 313 

• christianity becomes a religion which is recognized/approved by the emperor 
• continues to gain strength and by 380 becomes the empire's official religion

Decline of the Roman Empire 

• while Christianity strengthens, Rome weakens
• military too weak to defend huge area 
• economy: taxes too high, widening gap between rich and poor, trade disrouted 
• social: disloyalty, population decreases 
• political: division of the empire 
• the last Roman emperor was in 476 (14 year old boy named Romulus Augustulus)
  

Now the rest of the notes:

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 many of us our from 

Setting the Stage 

• middle ages = medieval period 
• AD 476-AD 1453 
• from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks 
• medieval Europe is fragmented
• 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 
• 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 with food, weapons, treasure 
• result: 
• no orderly government for large areas 
• small communities rule

Clovis and the Franks 

• Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks
• 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 

• Church and Frankish rulers=rise in Christianity 
• in 520, Benedict writes rules for monks: 
• vows of poverty (live in monasteries simply) 
• chastity (no marital relations) 
• obedience (listen to church superiors) 
• his sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns 
• they operate schools, maintain libraries, and copy books 

Pope Gregory and Papal Power Play 

• Pope Gregory 1 (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldy 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 

Running Europe 

• 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 
• 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
• 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 
• first son Carolman dies in 771 
• second son Charles or Charlemagne aka Charles the Great 

The Crusades 

background information: 

• its the Age of Faith 
• The Holy Roman Empire is the strongest kingdom in Europe 
• the Church has considerable spiritual and political power 
• over 500 massive Gothic cathedrals are built throughout Europe between 1170 and 1270 

Jerusalem 

• in the late eleventh century, Jerusalem was controlled by the Muslims 
• it was Islam's 3rd holiest city (after Mecca and Medina) 
• Holy City to the Jews and Christians 

The Holy War 

• Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim Turks 
• began 200 years of religiously sanctioned military campaigns from 1095 to 1291
• crusade means "taking of the cross" (crux) 
• Crusades (almost) entirely supported throughout the Holy Roman Empire 
• these "soldiers of the Church" took vows to take back the Holy Land 
• Pope promised those who died in the endeavor would receive immediate remission for their sins 
• How it Went 
• 1st Crusade (1095-1099) Christians take Jerusalem, Muslims take it back in 1144
• 2nd Crusade (1147-1149) Muslims keep Jerusalem, but Christians take Lisbon Portugal 
• 3rd Crusade (1187-1192) Richard the Lionheart and Saladin work a deal: Muslims couldn't control Jerusalem but Christians can worship there
• 4th Crusade (1202-1204) Crusaders get distracted and sack Constantionople creating a huge rift between the eastern (Byzantine) Church and the western Catholic Church, and then there's the Children's Crusade 
• 5th Crusade (1217-1221) Muslims beat Christians in Egypt 
• 6th Crusade (1228-1229 ) Christians take Jerusalem, let Muslims have Dome of the Rock, Muslims take it back in 1244 
• 7th Crusade (1248-1254) Muslims fight off Christians 
• 8th Crusade (1270) no resolution 
• 9th Crusade (1271-1272) any remaining Franks in the Middle East are either massacred or enslaved 

Effects of the Crusades then and now 

Then 

• Byzantine Empire is weakened
• Pope's power declines 
• Power of feudal nobles weakens 
• Religious intolerance grows 
• Italian cities expand trade 
• Muslims increasingly distrust Christians 
• Trade grows between Europe and the Middle East 
• European technology improves as Crusaders learn from Muslims  

Now 

• far reaching political, economic, and social impacts lasting into the present day 
• "nothing more than a long act of intolerance in the name of God" Sir Steven Runciman 
• "it would be a sin for muslims not to try to possess the weapons that would prevent the infidels from inflicting harm on Muslims" Osama bin Laden
• "an eye for an eye for an eye for an eye ends in making everybody blind" Gandhi

Christianity and JEsus

Today in Western Civ we began talking about Jesus Jesus and more Jesus:

Christianity in the Pax Romana 
a new religion in the empire

Roots of Christianity

• Jesus and our knowledge about him comes from the gospels 
• gospel means "good news" 

Jesus 

• was a jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from other Messiahs 
• taught God's personal relationship to each human being 
• message of love 

More Roots 

• his followers believed he was the "Messiah" who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the kingdom of God 
• Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God, human and divine 
• he was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, although his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven teachings were apostles 

Start Spreading the News 

• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus 
• Paul talked of "predestination" which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned 
• Paul was well traveled and helped found churches in many places, and he kept in touch with the new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus, Phillipi, etc) 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth"

• BOTH JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WERE MONOTHEISTIC 
• THEY REFused to worship Roman gods (sorry I didn't realize caps was on oh) 
• early in the Pax Romana it was evil to travel around, you weren't in danger of getting robbed or beaten (Paul wasn't the only one) 
• poor Romans were a receptive audience

The "problem" With Monotheism 

• contradicted Roman Law, so both Jews and Christians were sometimes persecuted by Roman authorities 
• could be exiled, imprisoned, executed, crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals 
• this would happen as things began to go wrong for the Roman Empire and scapegoats were needed 
• scapegoat- Aaron confessed Israelites' sins over a goat then sent the goat to carry the sins away symbolically 

The Appeal of Christianity 

• Christianity grew because: 
• embraced all people 
• men
• women 
• slaves
• poor 
• gave home to the powerless 
• appealed to those who were disgusted by imperial Rome's decadence
• offered a personal relationship with God 
• promised eternal life after death 

Notes on Charlemagne and Feudalism

Charlemagne Unites Germanic Kingdoms 
gradual decline of roman empire ushered in the Middle Ages- the medieval period, from years 500-1500
new society emerged & had roots in:

• classical heritage of Rome 
• beliefs of Roman Catholic Church 
• customs of various Germanic tribes 

Invasions of Western Europe

• in the fifth century, Germanic invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire, this caused many changes
• disruption of trade: merchants faced invasions from both land and sea, businesses collapsed, money was scarce 
• downfall of cities: cities were abandoned as centers of administration 
• population shifts: nobles retreated to rural areas, cities had no strong leadership, city dwellers fled to the countryside, western Europe became mostly rural
• decline of learning 
• Germanic invaders couldn't read or write, few people were literate, knowledge of Greek was almost lost
• the invaders had a rich oral tradition of song and legends but no written language 
• loss of common language 
• german speaking people mixed with rome, latin changed and was no longer understood 
• different dialects developed
• by the 800s French, Spanish, and other Roman based languages evolved from Latin 

Germanic Kingdoms Emerge

• they replaced Roman provinces 
• the Church provided order and security 
• concept of government changes 
• family ties and personal loyalty instead of citizenship in a public state held germanic society together 
• germanic people lived in small communities governed by unwritten rules and traditions
• every germanic chief led a band of warriors who pledged their loyalty to him, he fed them and they fought to death at his side because it was considered a disgrace to outlive him 
• they felt no obligation to obey a king they didn't know 
• Clovis rules the Franks 
• in Gaul a germanic people called the Franks held power 
• leader was Clovis 
• he brought Christianity to the region because he believed God helped him in battle and his wife urged him to 
• the Roman Church welcomed his conversion and supported the military campaigns 
• by 511 Clovis had united the Franks into one kingdom 

Germans Adopt Christianity 

• politics, coastal attacks of muslims in southern Europe and missionaries helped spread the religion (missionaries often risked their lives) 
• the church built monasteries 
• religious communities including monks and nuns 
• around 520 a monk named Benedict began writing a book describing the rules for monasteries and his sister Scholastica adapted the same rules for the nuns 
• these became Europe's best-educated communities
• the religious manuscripts that were made here preserved some of Rome's intellectual heritage 
• Papal Power Expands Under Gregory I 
• also called Gregory the Great 
• head of the church in Rome 
• the papacy (pope's office) became a secular, a worldly power involved in politics 
• papacy was also the center of Roman government 
• the region from Italy to England and from Spain to Germany fell under his responsibility 

An Empire Evolves 

• after the Roman empire dissolved, small kingdoms spread everywhere, some no larger than Connecticut 
• the Franks controlled the kingdom formerly known as Gaul 
• when Clovis died in 511 he had extended Frankish rule over most of what's now France 
• Charles Martel emerges 
• by 700 an official known as the mayor of the palace (major domo) had become the most powerful out of the Frankish kingdom 
• the mayor in 719, Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) 
• held more power than the king 
• he extended the Franks reign 
• he defeated Muslim raiders in the Battle of Tours, made him a Christian hero 
• passed power to Pepin the Short after he died 
• he wanted to be king
• this began the Carolingian Dynasty, a family that ruled the Franks from 751-987 

Charlemagne Becomes Emperor 

• Pepin died in 768 
• kingdom was left to his sons Carloman and Charles or Charlemagne or Charles the Great 
• Carloman died and Charlemagne ruled, he achieved: 
• extended Frankish rule, he built an empire greater than any known since ancient Rome 
• conquered new lands and spread Christianity 
• reunited western Europe 
• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor 
• all the powers joined together 
• he lead a revival
• he made sure royal agents and landholders governed justly 
• he opened a palace school 
• ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests 
• his heirs 
• a year before he died in 814 he crowned his only surviving son Louis the Pious as emperor 
• Louis was devoutly religious but ineffective as a ruler 
• he left his three sons Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German to fight for control of the empire 
• they signed the treaty of Verdun dividing the empire into 3 kingdoms which led to feudalism 

Feudalism in Europe 

the broken up territory by the three brothers began feudalism 

Invaders Attack Western Europe 

• from about 800 to 1000 invasions destroyed the Carolingian Empire, vikings came 
• Vikings Invade from the North 
• set sail from Scandinavia 
• raided with ships and swords and struck quickly, then left again before the locals could defend themselves 
• the largest ship held 300 warriors and 72 oars and weighed 20 tons 
• they were warriors, traders, farmers, and explorers 
• journeyed from Russia to the North Atlantic 
• as they accepted Christianity they stopped raiding monasteries 
• warm climate made Scandinavia farming easier 
• Magyars and Muslims attack from East and South 
• viking invasions declines and the Magyars began attacking western Europe in the late 800s 
• took captives to sell as slaves 
• Muslims struck from the south and the plan was to conquer and plunder Europe 
• they were excellent sea farers so they were able to attack settlements on Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, struck as far as Switzerland 
• these invasions caused widespread suffering, kings couldn't defend the land 

A New Social Order: Feudalism 

• in 911 two former enemies faced each other in a peace ceremony 
• Rollo was head of a Viking army and had been plundering the rich Seine River valley for years 
• Charles the Simple was the king of France but held little power and granted Rollo a huge piece of French territory that became known as Normandy and Rollo swore a pledge of loyalty to the king
• Feudalism Structures Society 
• leaders like Charles and Rollo made similar agreements in many parts of Europe 
• feudal system was based on rights and obligations & depended on the control of land
• in exchange for military protection, etc a lord (landowner) granted land (known as a fief)
• the person receiving a fief was a vassal 
• Feudal pyramid 
• at the peak was the king, then powerful vassals, then knights (mounted horsemen who pledged to defend their lord's lands in exchange for fiefs), then peasants 
• Social Classes 
• status determined a persons's prestige and power 
• three groups 
• those who fought 
• those who prayed 
• those who worked 
• most peasants were serfs, people who could not lawfully leave the place they were born but not slaves 

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism 

• the manor was the lord's estate 
• the manor system was the basic economic arrangement rested on a set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs 
• a self contained world 
• peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their own manor 
• typically consisted of the lord's manor house, church, and workshops 
• 15-30 people generally lived here with streams and farms 
• serfs and peasants made everything they needed themselves 
• the harshness of manor life 
• the privilege of living on the lord's land peasants paid a tax on all grain ground in the lord's mill, marriage, and they owed the village priest a tithe (church tax) 
• tithe represented 1/10 of their income 
• serfs lived in crowded cottages with only one or two rooms and had a simple diet 
• for most serfs men and women, life was work and more work 
• day resolved around family and farming 
• children were put to work right away and often didn't reach adulthood because of illness and malnutrition 
• average life expectancy was about 35 years and most never traveled more than 25 miles from home
• believed God determined their place in society 

trst review

I misspelled test in the title but I'm gonna just go with it. Anyways, today in Western Civ we went over the test and I got an 85 which is better than failing in my opinion. And I got 9 questions wrong but I thought I did worse so aye. After we went over the 60 questions, Mr. Schick told us about how his daughter was also into journalism and stuff since we placed 1st out of almost 2,000 schools, (that was in the beginning actually but). And then he showed us a video his daughter and friend starred in that was made by his daughter's boyfriend, and it was really good and well made and stuff. And now I'm in english writing my blog and its cool okay bye.

we Um took a test today

Today in Western Civ we took our test on Rome and it actually wasn't awful and im having a better day today with no emotional breakdowns. Anyways then we had to take some notes and here they are:

The Rise of Christianity

Life and Teachings of Jesus

• Roman power spread to Judea a town of the Jews in 63 BC
• Rome took control of it and made it a province of the empire 
• roughly 2 decades after this, the Jews believed the Messiah was on his way 
• Jesus of Nazareth 
• historians believe around 6 to 4 BC the king of the Jews, Jesus, was born in Bethlahem in Judea 
• he was baptized by John the Baptist 
• began his public ministry at age 30 
• A Growing Movement 
• historical records mention very little about Jesus 
• main source of information is from the Gospels, some thought to be written by his apostles 
• Jesus' fame grew as he preached from town to town
• his minstry reached out to the poor 
• Jesus' Death 
• his growing popularity concerned Roman and Jewish leaders 
• crowds greeted him as he entered Jerusalem about AD 29 
• the chief priests of the Jews denied he was the Messiah 
• Pontius Pilate let the Romans crucify him 
• three days after his burial he rose 
• Christos is a Greek word meaning "messiah" or "savior" 

Christianity Spreads Through the Empire 

• Jesus' followers spread his ideas 
• the new religion of Christianity spread slowly but steadily through the Roman Empire 
• the apostle Paul majorly influenced Christianity's development and spent his life spreading and interpreting his teachings 
• the Pax Romana allowed Christianity to spread
• Paul declared Gentile or Jew to follow Jesus, this diversity allowed the religion to spread 
• Jewish Rebellion 
• in AD 66 a group of Jews rebelled against Rome 
• in AD 70 the Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple 
• about half a million Jews were killed in this rebellion 
• in AD 132 the Jews tried to escape Rome again, with another half million killed throughout 3 years of fighting 
• Jewish political state ceased to exist for more than 1,800 years 
• most Jews were driven into exile, called the Diaspora 
• Christians also refused to worship Roman gods and were persecuted 
• crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals in circus arenas 
• persecuted christians were known as martyrs, people who die for their faith 

A World Religion 

• Christianity became a powerful force 
• by late 3rd century AD, millions of Christians were in the Roman Empire and more 
• it grew because 
• embraced everyone 
• gave hope to the powerless
• appealed to those repelled by Rome 
• offered a personal relationship with a loving God 
• promised eternal life after death 
• in AD 312 Roman emperor Constantine was fighting three rivals for leadership of Rome
• prayed for help before the battle and swore he saw an image of a cross and ordered it to be put on his soldiers' shields 
• victorious in battle, gave credit to God
• in 380 emperor Theodosius made it the official religion 
• Early Christian Church 
• religion had some structure: bishop, priests, all that traced their authority back to Jesus' disciple Peter 
• eventually every major city had its own bishop 
• later bishops claimed to be heirs of Peter and that he was the first Pope, and that the bishop of Rome was the leader of the church, and that as Rome was the capital it seemed logical for it to be the center of the church 
• as Christianity grew, disagreements about beliefs developed 
• church leaders tried to set a single official standard of belief compiled in the NT 
• in AD 325 Constantine had the Nicene Creed written defining the basic beliefs of the church 
• the "Fathers of the Church" were influential in defining the teachings 
• one of the most important was Augustine bishop of Hippo 
• his book "The City of God" was written after Rome was plundered in the fifth century 
• as Christianity grew, Rome began to crumble

strawberry tart things

Today in Western Civ Holly taught the class and asked questions while Mr. Schick wrote the test and stuff and I decided to write down some questions and facts I thought were important (also PS please scroll to the bottom of this post) and here they are:

1. Who originally lead Rome?
kings, it was a monarchy

2. Who was the final king of Rome?
Tarquin the Proud

3. What ideas did the Romans borrow from the Greeks?
religion, army (phalanx)

4. What did Rome change to after Tarquin?
republic

5. What percentage of the population were plebeians?
98%

6. How were the patricians dominating the plebeians?
debt slavery, plebeians had no legal rights, could not hold office, or serve in the army

(rome didn't have actual laws at this time)

(laws were posted 450 BC, tribal leaders were elected)

SPQR- Senate

a legion has 5,000 soldiers that eventually got paid

7. Who fought in the Punic Wars?
Rome and Carthage

8. Sic semper tyrannis translates to what?
"Thus always to tyrants!" (said by the conspirators and John Wilkes Booth fun fact)

9. After Rome was a republic, what did it turn to?
an empire

10. What was the time of peace Rome had and who started it?
Pax Romana (means Roman peace) and it was started by Octavian, lasted for 207 years

first war fought over- Sicily
second war- Hannibal and the alps
third war- rome wanted to finally fight carthage and win one more time (a lot shorter than the others)

Pompey vs Caesar

Caesar's reforms (know them) (also know crossing the Rubecan and how/why that was such a risk)

• also know how he was plotted against by the senate which included his own friend Brutus 
• THIS WAS THE END OF THE REPUBLIC BTW

Lepidus, Antony, Octavian
then
Antony vs. Octavian and Lepidus bYE
then
Antony and Cleopatra vs. Octavian
then
Octavian

Octavian= Caesar Augustus

• know his reforms and accomplishments too 
• know how he died (died of natural causes) 

Know the Emperors and some things they did its gonna be matching:  

• Tiberius 
• Caligula 
• Claudius 
• Nero

RUBECAN RUBECAN RUBECAN RUBECAN