Test Today

Well today was the last test that we took ending the school year. It wasn't the best test in the world. I passed though so it's okay. I wanted to go into exams with a 90 percent, but I guess that didn't happen. Well I'll work harder next year to get the grade that I want in social studies. I am proud of myself though because 1) My grade is still good 2) I did better than some others 3) I finished my last test in west civ. Well I'll see you Monday for our last class all together.

Test Tomorrow

Well tomorrow we are taking our last test in west civilization. After this blog and the one tomorrow, I will only have one more left to do. It's weird to think that my freshman year is almost over. Anyways tomorrow we have a test on the middle ages and other stuff. Today we just reviewed the power point and you would ding whenever there was something that might be on the test tomorrow. I hope that I do well on this last test because I want to also have a good grade going into exams because you never know. I would rather be safe than sorry. One funny thing that happened today was that Devon hit his head on the back of Hana's laptop and I couldn't stop laughing (if you didn't notice). Well I'll see tomorrow!

Notes

Well today we took notes, once again. I am kind of done with notes, but I need to learn so I kind of have to. Well today we took notes off of a power point. It's on your blog so I decided to read and listen. I didn't write down the notes because I like to study off of the power point rather than my confusing notes. That was all we did in class today. One important thing in the notes that we had to take down was: Hammer defeats a Muslim raiding party of Spain at the Battle of Tours in 732. (if he didn't win western Europe would have been taken over by the Muslims. That is all I have for today!

Notes

C. Germanic people adopt Christianity
1.) 511 AD- Clovis unites Franks into one kingdom
2.) 600 AD- Church +Frankish rulers convert many
3.) Fear of Muslims in southern Europe spur many to become Christians
4.) monasteries and convents
a. 520 AD- Benedict wrote the rulers for monks and monasteries
- poverty, chastity, obedience, study
b. his sister Scholastica did the same for nuns in convents
c. 731 AD- the Venerable Bede wrote a killer history of England
d. Monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books

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 Franks reign to the north, south and east
b. defeated a Muslim army from Spain at the battle of tours in 732 historic battles

4.) Charles the Hammer's son- Pepin the short
a. possibly named for his unusual short haircut
b. working for and with the Pope, Pepin fought the Lombard
c. Pope Stephen II named Pepin "king by the grace of God"- beginning the Carolingian Dynasty 751- 987 AD

E. Charlemagne takes center stage
1.) Charlemagne- 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

2.) Charlemagne's government
a. he limited the authority of the nobles
b. he regularly visited each part of his kingdom
c. kept close watch on his huge estates
3.) Cultural revival
a. encouraged learning
b. ordered monasteries to open schools
c. opened a palace school
4.) But, his heirs were weenies
a. his son- Louis the Pious was ineffective
b. Louis' three sons- Lothair, Charles the bald, and Louis the German - split up the kingdom at the treaty of Verdun in 843 AD

Notes

• Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire was reunited under Charlemagne's empire
• Charlemagne spreed Christian civilization throughout northern Europe, which is where many of us came from 

• Middle ages= medieval period
• 500- 1500 AD
• medieval Europe is fragmented 

A. Invasions trigger changes in Western Europe

• invasions and constant warfare spark new trends

a. Disruption of trade

• Europe's cities are no longer economic centers
• money is scarce

b. Downfall of cities

• cities are no longer economic centers

c. population shifts

• nobles retreat to the rural areas
• cities don't have strong leadership 

2. 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

3. Loss of common language

• dialects develop in different regions
• by the 8005, French, Spanish, other Roman-based languages are evolving from Latin 

B. Germanic kingdoms emerge

•  the concept of government changes
• Roman society: loyal to public gov't

b. Germanic society: loyal to the family 

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

c. Franks live in the Roman province of Gaul- their leader is Clovis 

2. The franks under Clovis

• another battlefield conversion 
• Clovis and 3000 of his warriors are baptized by the bishop 
• the church in Rome approves of the "alliance" 
• Clovis and the church begin to work together

C. Germanic peoples adopt Christianity

• (Pope) Gregory 1 expands papal power
• Papacy= pope's office
• Secular power = worldly power
• Papal Power (power of the Pope) is political power presented from the Pope's palace

d. the church can now use church money to: 

• raise armies
• repair roads
• help the poor

e. Gregory the Great began to act as mayor of Rome, and as head of an earthly kingdom (Christendom) 

Notes

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

- in other words: the system is based on personal loyalty to people who can help you

• 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, money less, rights-less, just working the land for "the man" (their lord)

• Mind your manors

manor- the lord's estate

-the lords manor house

-a church

-some workshops

-15-30 families

all on a few square miles

• How harsh is it?

 peasants are poor and pay high taxes

-tax or grain

-tax on marriage

-church taxes (tithe=10% of their income)

-They live in crowded cottages

-Live with animals and insects

-eat very simply

Test!

The test today was a success! I got a 90% and I am very proud of myself. I wish I would have gotten just a little bit of a higher grade so that it would move my grade up one point! I am okay though, it is okay I will get the next test and hopefully maybe the blogs could bring me up one point. I want to have an A going into exams. So yeah the test was not that hard, I just got confused on the Roman emperors, but that was all! We don't have class tomorrow so I will see ya Friday!