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!

Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow we apparently have a test which I wasn't really expecting. It's all on Rome and some of our tests that we took over these past two weeks. The only thing that will be new on it is the power point that we went over yesterday. Today we just went over the power point and went over a few things. That was basically it, that was all we did in class today. I will study hard for this test and I will get a good grade!

Notes

• Decline of the Roman Empire
• AD 180: Rome has problems 

-economic- trade is risky, takes too high, food supply dropping 

-military- frontiers were hard to patrol, Roman generals fought, soldiers loyalty declined, mercenaries appeared

• Diocletian divided the empire into 2

-Greek-speaking East- had more resources 

-Latin- speaking West- Rome, tradition

Diocletian:

    Diocletian was the Roman emperor from 284- 305. Living in a poor family when he was younger he rose up to become the cavalry commander to the emperor Carus. He was born in Solin, Croatsia and he died in Split, Croatia.  

- AD 324- Constantine becomes emperor over both halves of the empire 

-moves the capital from Rome to Byzantium, where Asia met Europe 

-after his death, empire is divided again

- this time, "barbarian invaders (Huns, vandals, Visigoths, angles, Saxons, Franks) 

Test

Today we took the test and I am proud of myself because I got an 88%. I also got a (half) ding. It didn't move my grade down either, well at least I don't think it did. I thought the test was pretty easy. Some of them I had to think about and some of them I didn't even have to look at the answers because I already knew them. Tomorrow we don't have class so I will see ya Friday!

Notes for tomorrows test

• Where did the first Indo-Europeans settle around 750 B.C.?

Tiber River

• three groups that dominated 

-Etruscan's 

-Latins

-Greeks

• Tarquin the Proud 

was the last of the king's

• Tarquin's son 

raped a women and got away with it

• how did Rome move from a monarchy to a republic

-ruled by Etruscan kings(monarchy) who were advised by patricians(aristocracy)

-after Tarquin(tyranny) the government became Res Publica(republic) 

• patricians and plebeians

-patrician: upper-class, landowning, established, connected, powerful

-plebeians: common people, workers, small-time farmers, some wealthy none patricians

• Define

-Senate-government assembly of 300 patricians; appointed for life, first by kings, then consuls

-consuls- 2 senator who led the government and military for one-year terms; could veto each other

-tribunes- leaders of the plebeian assembly; first rather powerless, gaining around over the years

• twelve tables

-marked the first time that the laws were written down in Rome

-set up to protect plebeians who were getting pushed around by patricians

-displayed in forum

• Roman republic; modern government and modern document

-the Constitution of the US and its separation of powers

-Senate/ assemblies- US Senate/ House of Reps

-Consuls/Dictator- President of the US

-Senate could act like judges- like our Supreme Court

• kings who ruled between 600 and 500 BC

Forum- Rome's political center

Roman Notes

The word spreads 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 Britain
• He writes letters to many of those he spoke to- these epistles are part of the New Testament
• if not 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 of 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
• all in all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful" (according to the historian Philo) 

bad finish for Caligula 

• he began to fight with the Senate 
• he claimed to be  god, and had statues displayed in many places- including the Jewish temple in Jerusalem(sacrilege) 
• other examples of cruelty and insanity: he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in to many spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest (at least that's what the critics said)  
• assassinated by his own aids, AD 41 (pg. 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 Zeolots 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
• 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 opression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200 , around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians 

Notes

• 44 B.C. Caesar secured a vote from the senate making him dictator for life
• his death produced another crop of warlords and more bouts of civil war
• mark Antony and Octavian were the rival loyalists of Caesar
• they joined forces against Caesar's assassins
• Marcus Lepidus formed into a group with them and he was a lesser warlord
• they then divided the roman world 
• Octavian was based in Rome
• Lepidus was in north Africa
• and Mark Antony was sin Alexandria 
• in 31 B.C. the two halves of Rome's empire went to war
• the Roman version of Greco- Roman civilization prevailed in Western territories 
• LO1- the Rule of the Emperors
• princeps- a traditional name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensable to the Republic
• 27 B.C. Augustus was confirmed as commander
• After Augustus won supreme power, Greek city- states in Anatolia began building shrines and sacrificing to "Rome and Augustus 
• When Augustus died the Senate declared him a Devine Being like Julius Caesar
• Vespasian was known for cynical sense of humor
• Praetorian Gaurd- legion sized part of his army
• Augustus was convinced that if their peace and stability will last, the changes he made must continue after his death
• Domitian- was Vespasian's son was assassinated near the end of the first century 
• the philosopher- statesman was Marcus Aurelius
• he was also called the best of rulers, the cultured and energetic Hadrian, and the wise and dutiful Antoninus   

Nothing at all

Today in west civ we absolutely did nothing at all. We sat there for like 15 minutes in the beginning of the class because you said we could do whatever. All we did was talk and then you just stood up and told us to go to the cafeteria for the rest of class. So we did and we sat there and that was it. We don’t have class tomorrow so you won’t hear from me till Friday! 

Roman empire notes

• Octavian- AKA Caesar Augustus
• Augustus - the first emperor- getting it done

- beings the Pax Romana- period of peace and prosperity
- built roads, aqueducts (brought water to cities)
- set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service
- Augustus dies at age 76 in A.D. 14, and passes power too...

• Tiberius!
• From Jesus to Christianity 

- Jesus was a Roman citizen and a practicing Jew 

- at 30, he began his ministry (A.D. 31- 33), preaching to the poor (and there were lots of 'em) in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders

- statements like "My kingdom is not of this world" made the Romans (and the Jews) nervous, and they began to plan his execution

- the governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by Jewish high priests, sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion

Notes

Today we just took notes and went over things in our textbook. Then at the end we started to watch this video on Caesar and Rome and that was all we did.  

• proletarian- second class citizens, but they no longer own property and not living a very good life like they used to 
• Pompey and Crassus and J.C. = first trimvirate 
• Rubicon is a river that marks the northern Roman empire 
• Caesar had built a powerful army personally devoted to himself
• Caesar moved swiftly to make himself supreme ruler of the republic 
• the only enemies he has right now is the senate 
• Caesar go stabbed 23 times but the senate  

last of the Projects and notes

Today we had 2 more groups/people that went for the projects. They presented and one of them was food and the other one was on art and sculptures. Then we all got our books and took notes and went over some things for our next chapter.

• many army commanders turned into what amounted to independent warlords
• they liked the idea of everyone keeping track of each other and no one is in full power
• Caesar came in and took over siding with the poor citizens
• he stood up for them rather than helping the middle class or rich
• Caesar was a brilliant thinker and great politician 
• in 60 B.C. he began to collaborate with Pompey 
• Pompey was an officer promoted by Sulla
• Caesar won an appointment as proconsul of a province that included the southern regions of Gaul

More Projects

Today more people presented there projects and they were very good once again. We got some more good food and got to see some more very good presentations. Some people did a really nice job on some of their projects. I like watching people present them and getting to eat different foods that they made. I still think Hanna and I took the house down, but you know others have been doing a great job too. Well tomorrow we do not have class so I'll see you Friday!

Projects

Today was the start of presenting our projects! I am pretty excited to say that Hanna and I did pretty well on this project. People liked it and they were interested. We had made a roman cheesecake/pie and we also brought in grapes and apples because that is what they ate in Rome. We worked very hard on it so I think we deserve a good grade. Otherwise some other people went and one other person had sesame cookies and then three other people/groups went and they made like coliseums. Well that was all we got through with today and I can't wait to see more projects tomorrow!

Test

Today in west civ we took a test on Ancient Rome. I have the right to say that I passed it. I didn't pass it by much though. Oh well hopefully when I come back Hanna and I will ace this next project. We have it all pretty planned out and it's going pretty well so far. This time at least I hope our class will give us a better grade than last time. I wasn't to happy about the grades my class we giving us on our video project. Well this is my last blog for what like 11 days so I hope you have a nice Easter break!