Class today

Today in class we took a quiz on feudalism. Mr. Schick graded our quiz during class and we just sat there and did other work. He told us our grade, then the class was over since we had a 2 hour late bell.

Feudalism vocab and definitions

Feudalism- A term coined by historians to describe the type of government institutions, as well as the general social and political relationships, that exists among the warrior-landholders in much of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Feudal compact- An arrangement between the lord and his vessel involving the exchange of property for personal services.

fief- A grant of land and accompanying government responsibilities and power.

vassal- acts as a servant, and worked for the knights. 

knight- Warrior who pledges allegiance a lord. Goes through training with an older knight. Entered into the feudal compact with another lord.

homage- A vassal's act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord. 

serf- bound to the land and lords for "labor service" a few days each week. Lifelong heredity status.

baron- A great lord who exercised government authority over vast family territory. 

peasantry- Lowest group in society. 

estate- In the Middle Ages, the groups that made up society; often defined as those who pray, those who fight, and those who work. 

manor- The principal farming property and social unit of a medieval community, usually belonging to a member of the feudal nobility of to a Church institution. 

three field system- A method of crop rotation designed to maintain the fertility of the soil and to provide for a regular supply of fall and spring crops. 

international colonization- The process of cultivating and settling in formerly wild land in medieval Europe. 

suburb- The more country part of a town. Usually a lot of farming takes place in these areas. 

guild- An organization of merchants or craftspeople who regulated the activities of their members and set standards and prices. 

master-A craftsman who had the right to operate workshops, train others, and vote on guild business. 

journeyman- A licensed artisan who has served an apprenticeship and who was employed by a master and paid at a fixed rate per day.  

apprentice- A "learner" in the sop of a master.

masterpiece- This was the final work of art a apprentice would present to his master to prove he could do stuff on his own. 

Fudalism

• Feudalism
• Feudalism is a term used by historians to describe the governmental system and the relationships between landowners and warriors
• Warriors, known as knights, would pledge his allegiance to a lord, who would in turn give that knight land
• The lord would grant a fief(property) to the knight, who would ten become the lord's vassal(servant)- this was called the "feudal compact"
• The vassal must fight for the lord when he needs it and attend his court once a month
• A vassal was a professional relationship not like a servant where the servant cant look or talk to the lord
• Homage and Knighthood
• a vassal was required to pay homage to his lord, usually this meant kneeling down and taking the lord's hand in his while speaking an oath of loyalty
• Men were apprenticed to older knights before they could become a full knight themselves
• When a knight died, his fief would revert to his son, through his lord would be protector of that son if he was underage, or if it was a daughter. 
• The Feudalization of the Church
• Some clergy were known to fight as knights themselves

Test

Today in class we got our tests back and the pop quiz we took in class last week. I got 2 dings, because i got a A on both. I enjoyed the study day we got and going over all of the information because i think it helped me a lot to realize what was important and what was not needed as much. Also, i would not have known the name of Constantinople before, but you helped me learn that the name of it was Byzantine. The roman government had 20,000 government officials, and i would have not been able to guess that there were 60 million people that were a part of the Roman society. I thought it would be a couple thousand, not million.

Germanic kingdoms of Western Europe

Today in class we went over another power point. Here are some of my notes:

• The Germanic barbarians. 
• Barbarians warlords and their families who assimilated into Roman culture became the "nobles" or aristocrats of medieval Europe.
• Germanic tribes who ruled former Roman lands sought to conquer and assimilate other barbarians people who lived beyond the frontiers and were still pagans.
• No more Christians persecuted, they were in power, and future emperors were Christians. 
• The Angles and Saxons (from Denmark and northwestern Germany) invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons. 
• Most of the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity in the seventh century. 
• The most powerful Germanic tribe was the Franks.
• But the real power lay with the "mayors of the palace" who were royal officials and noble themselves. 
• from "Eastern Empire" to "Byzantium" 
• The Eastern Roman Empire continued on while the west was now divided up by the barbarian tribes.
• When the emperor Justinian came to power in 527, he decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering the western territories.
• Justinian succeeded for a time, but the land he re took was soon conquered by new barbarian tribes and a massive plague depopulated much of the west.
• Plague killed barbarians, Romans, people from other empires and a lot of things did not happen.
• Smaller army.
• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and the heads of the Christian church.
• Byzantines preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture  philosophy and writing despite much of it being non Christian.
• Justinian built the massive dome Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople considered to by the most glorious church on earth at the time. 
• 
  

Rome fades away

Today we went over a power point. Here are some of my notes:

• Diocletian rules from 284-303
• He thinks its 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.
• Thinks its cool to be a Christian.
• he converts to Christianity. 
• 313- his Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship. 
• Built a new capital in the East, Byzantine soon to be known as Constantinople. 

• country dwellers are getting bankrupt by endless tan collection.
• New farming system: peasant 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 debt and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work.(such a deal.)
• Landowners can hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than a faraway empire. 
• Foreshadowing feudalism.

• Romes 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 its self in 410.
• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean.

• From the beginnings...
• 500 B.C- the monarchy was established. 
• 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 barbarian 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.
• 476- last emperor is gone. (THE END) 

LO1 The Carolingians

Here are some of my notes from the LO reading.

• By A.D 700, the kingdom of the Franks, once the most powerful state in western Europe, was seemingly falling apart. 
• Nobles were scrambling for wealth and power. 
• Carolingians- The Frankish dynasty founded by Charles Martel in the eighth century, as successors to the Merovingian. 
• They rebuilt the Frankish kingdom, and although their power melted away in its turn, their achievements outlast them.
• Charles was a ruthless and warlike ruler who went down in history as Charles Martel. 
• Rewarding followers meant giving them the gift of land. 
• give land to the foot soldiers who served in peace and war.
• Charles Martel's son, Pepin, decided that the time had come for the actual power in the kingdom to be recognized as legal power. 
• In search of a way to take over the kingship that would be seen as legitimate, in 751 Pepin turned to the generally accepted highest religious authority, Pope Zachary. 
• The popes acquired a legal basis for authority over a much wider region than before, and they ruled their new territory over a thousand years-until the unification in Italy in 1870.
• Charles, Pepin's son and Charles Martel's grandson, was a towering figure, celebrated in history and legend under the name of Charlemagne- the French version of "Charles the Great."
• He reigned over the empire for 46 years and contributed mightily to the evolution of western Europe. 
• Charlemagne was almost constantly at war. 
• He expanded boundaries of both Christianity and Frankish power outward in all directions by military force. 
• He made the capital Aachen.