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

feudal compact= An arrangement  between a lord and his vassal involving the exchange of property for personal service

fief= A grant of land that a lord gave to a knight after he pledged loyalty 

Vassal= a knight under the oath of loyalty to a lord 

knight= warrior who has to go through training

homage= A vassal’s act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord

serf= bound to the land and to the lord for a lifetime and you can't go anywhere 

baron= A great lord who exercised government  authority over fast family territory.

peasantry= 

estates= 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 or 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

internal colonization= The process of cultivation and settling in formerly wild land in medieval Europe

suburb=the towns that formed outside of the protective walls 

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 had served an apprenticeship and who was employed by a master and paid at a fixed rate per day.

Apprentice= A “learner” in the shop of a master

masterpiece

water mill

iron plow- 

After Rome: 500-700 A.D.

Germanic Kingdoms of Western Europe 

• Germanic Barbarians 
• Barbarian 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 barbarian peoples who lived beyond the frontiers and were still pagans
• Angles and the Saxons the Saxons (from Denmark and NW Germany) invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons 
• Most of the Anglo- Saxons were converted to Christianity in the 7th 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 nobles themselves 

Meanwhile Back in the Eastern Empire

• 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 reconquering 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 killed a lot of the west

It’s a Christian Empire now

• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and the heads of the Christian Church
• Byzantine preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture, philosophy, and writing despite mush of it being non- Christian
• Justinian built the massive domed Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, considered to be the most glorious church in earth at the time
• Third version of the Hagia Sophia was finished in 537 - 1500 years ago- still here today
• When the Muslims took over it was changed into a mosque- then changed into a museum; prayer room for Christians and Muslims

Two Emperors 

• Diocletian
• ruled from 284 to 303 
• cool to persecute Christians
• Rome needs a big army (400,000 strong) 
• Rome  needs a big government (20,000 officials ) 
• Constantine 

• ruled from 306- 337
• it's cool to be a Christians  
• 313- his Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship 
• moved the capital to Byzantium (in the east) and renamed it Constantinople

The Struggle of the Peasants 

• Life in the 4th Century 
• country dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection 
• new farming system; peasants 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 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 then the faraway empire 
• foreshadowing feudalism 

The Western Empire Crumbles 

• Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power 
• Western Empire is too poor, being to be neglected 
• Huns migrate from China to Eastern Europe 
• Visigoths takes over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
• Vandals control Carthage and the Western Mediterranean 
• other Barbarian Tribes:
• Ostrogoths in Italy 
• Franks in Gual 
• Angles and Saxons in Britian 

End of an Era

• From the Beginning  
• 500 B.C. - the monarchy is abolished 
• 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 
• 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 (very last emperor) by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him 

When did Diocletian rule?
How many people were living in the Roman Empire during 300 A.D.?
     60 million
What is "predestination"?
     The belief that God new where you were going (Heaven or Hell) from the moment you were born
Who are the 4 Gospel writers?
      Mathew, Mark, Luke, John
When did Constantine rule?
     306-337
What were Diocletian's edicts meant to do?
     end the religion of Christianity
Who was Paul of Tarsus?(short answer)
     The apostle who had a vision and from that he knew he was to spread the word of Jesus. He is the     reason why Christianity is still practiced today. He traveled a lot and preached to many people, and he set up many churches for the new Christians.
How did Paul stay connected to the new Christians?
     he wrote letters
How long did the Pax Romana last?
     207 years
How much lager was Diocletian's army than Augustus'?
     One Third
In 150 B.C. how much of the population was slaves?
     One Third
Where did Constantine move Romes capital too?
     Bizantium
What did Constantine rename the capitol?
     Constantinople
Describe Constantine's vision?
     He prayed to the Christian God  because the Roman God's were not answering the sacrifices and he saw a cross in the sky that said "Conquer by this"
What battle did fight after he had the vision? Did he win?
     Milvian Bridge

Diocletian's Edicts

First edict:
- he ordered for all Christian churches and sacred literature be burned and destroyed
- prohibited all Christians from assembling to worship
- which lead to them meeting in secret like at people's houses or other secluded areas
- all Christian were to lose their ranks/ jobs
Second Edict:
- all bishops and priests were to be arrested
- so many of them were arrested that the prison had to release other criminals
Third Edict:
- if any clergyman in prison wanted to be released he must make a sacrifice to the roman gods
Fourth Edict:
- ordered all men, women, and children to meet in the public area for a collective sacrifice.
- if they refused to come they would e executes in terrible ways

The Roman Empire Struggles

Third Century A.D.
-diseases spread throughout the empire
-armies can't defend against the intruders
-emperors began to lose hold on power; started serving 2.5 years- war/ assassination
-armies were expensive to maintain
-large amounts of homelessness/poverty (major problem)
-not good for society or the government
-cant event contribute to society
284 A.D. ~Diocletian's reforms~
-increased army size to 400,000
-1/3 bigger than when Augusts ruled
-recruit soldiers from captures lands
-divided the huge empire into smaller provinces
-allowed them to make their own decisions
-made the government 20,000 officials
-better at collecting higher taxes
-more ideas
-high her taxes provided more money for the army

Christianity in the Pax Romana

• Jesus was a preacher in Judea- he set himself apart from the other Messiah 
• he taught that one must strive to be perfect because God is perfect 
• he taught that we will always fall short when we try to be as perfect as God
• sought out the imperfections in humanity
• Jesus chose the middle class (and lower) people to talk/preach to because the government was making decisions that made them feel worthless
• The government saw him as a threat (like he wanted to be a ruler) and crucified him 
• his followers believe that he rose from the dead and went to heaven
• All of his followers who continued to spread his message are known as the apostles 
• All people who spread his word are apostles- not just the very well known 12 
• Paul of Tarsus fell off of his horse on the road to Damascus and was blind for three days 
• during those three days Jesus spoke to him 
• Paul talked about "predestination"- God chose who will be saved and who will not be saved 
• While Paul traveled to spread Jesus' word, he set up many churches
• the people in the churches still had many questions for Paul after he left them
• they wrote him letters and he wrote back; these letters are read in current day mass 
• Corinth
• Thessalonia 
• Rome
• Ephasus
• Paul is the reason why this religion is so popular today and practiced widely 

Christianity in the Era of the Roman Peace

-Mainly spread throughout the Roman Empire
Jesus
- Taught during a period of Jewish conflict; consequently, the Temple was destroyed (70A.D.)
-Gospels written about 40 to 70 years after Jesus died
-Gospels focused on things mainly to describe that Jesus had two roles ; teacher explaining Gods purposes and as Messiah sent by God
The Teacher
- Taught that the most loyal person to the law would still not be "enough" to plead God
- Women left there homes and families jus to follow him
The Messiah
- Jesus calls himself "Son of Man" and "Son of God"
- The Gospels announced a big change in the traditional Jewish understanding of the one truth about the one God
- Priests arrested Jesus and he was crucified
- Gentiles arguing over the meaning of the "Good News" changed the religious outlook and the power structure of Western Civilization
Gentiles and the Law
-Paul of Tarsus: the most forceful advocate of freedom from the law- came from a city in Anatolia
- Originally came to Judaea as a studious Pharisee an opponent of the new belief
- Paul had a vision which made him believe that Christ is the Messiah and to become an apostle
-Paul founded many groups in Anatolia and Greece
-Wrote letters to his (Paul) groups around 50 to 60 A.D. In Greek- earliest documents of the new belief
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Fall of Rome

-Roman Republic government lasted for 500 years
- Tiberious Grahccus the I hated kings and monarchs
- His son was also named Tiberious
-Tiberious died in battle defending his fathers beliefs that kings/monarchies were bad
- The third Punic War lasted 6 days then Carthage finally surrendered
- After capturing Carthage Rome still had to capture the surrounding lands such as Spain
- Rome had a hard time controlling lands far from it
- Made a peace treaty with Spain
- The plebeians lost land and were forces to live in the streets so Tiberious said patricians should give all plebeians some land
- Octavian kept saying Vito when Tiberious offered the law so Tiberious brought the hole government to a halt by vitoing to open things
- Octavian and other politically powerful people started saying Tiberious lied and was too powerful.

LO-3 Notes

-After Punic Wars Rome had the biggest empire of that time period
-War and conquest brought the traditional social order into chaos
-The people elected into the Roman Republic would use their power to their advantage and not the people's
-After the Republic ended, a monarchy was started
-The Punic Wars and other conflicts caused small farmers to be assigned to a battle instead of choosing to join
-Farmers would serve for many years and come home too find that their land has gone bad or the rich had bought it too add onto a latifundia
-The small farmers fell to the social status of a "proletarian"
-A proletarian is a person who doesn't have property but they can vote for government leaders

Punic Wars and More

First Punic War- Carthage wanted complete control over Cecile and lost to Rome
Second Punic War- Hannibal (general) convinced the government that if they could defeat Rome that the entire Med. area would be theirs. They attacked Rome by going through an unexpected route with elephants and a big army; they lost a lot of elephants while going through climates they weren't used to. Even though they caught Rome off guard after destroying many small towns, they lost so many people from the journey through the mountains and terranes, Rome won again.
Third Punic War- Rome was annoyed with Carthage getting into Rome's business and completely destoryed Carthage. They enslaved people, killed people, put a curse on the land, did every thing they could to make sure the people never came together again. Small farm owing men would go to fight in this battle and their families would strggle with the farm. In most cases the rich people would come but the farmers
Assembly- represented the lower class of people or plebeians, called TRIBUTES; democracy
Consuls- were the highest powers in government, they could veto each other; monarchy
Senate- made of about 300 people, represented the Patricians/ richer class; aristocracy

Rome LO-1 Definitions

Patrician- Upper- class citizens who belonged to the oldest and noblest Roman families 
Republic- In reference to ancient Rome, the system of city- state government in which decision making power was shared between the senate and the assemblies of male citizens 
Plebeians- The Roman common people, including workers, small farmers, and wealthy people who were not patricians 
Senate- In ancient Rome, a government assembly appointed by the king, and under the Republic by the consuls; originally all members were patricians, but in time wealthy plebeians were appointed as well 
Consuls- In the Roman Republic, two senators lead the government and military for one- year terms and appointed their own successors 
Dictator- In the Roman Republic; a single leader with full decision making powers, appointed for a maximum six-month term during times of an emergency
Tribunes- Magistrates elected by the plebeians, who eventually gained the power to initiate and veto laws
Client- A person who provides personal services in return for money and protection from a patron 
Patron- A wealthy person who supports others with money and protection in exchange for personal services 
Pontiff- in ancient Rome; one of the Republic's leading priests
Paterfamilias- The "family father" in ancient Rome, who had unlimited power over his house hold 
Matron- Title of honor given to a married women in ancient Rome 

Rome Notes

• Roman valued the Greeks 
• The Romans imitated and improved Greek methods and ways
• Government
• Began as a monarchy with kings 
• Saw the Greek way with the senate to advise the king (senax- oldmen)
• The senate would meet and choose who would replace the king
• Republic-- res publica- the peoples business
• Rome thought it was important for the people to have a say in government
• War
• Took Greek methods and improved upon them and were more successful than the Greeks
• Roman army was the most feared at its time 
• Used many Greek war methods and made them better 
• Italy was in the middle of the middle; great location; better than Greece 
• On seven hills, that helped because they could see enemies coming 
• Believed Gods had given them the perfect location and thought they were the chosen ones to rule 
• Similar climate to Greece, same latitude, but they did not plane olives 
• They had all the advantages of Greece PLUS more room to grow crops- more people- bigger army 
• Latins, Etruscan's, and the Greeks settled the Italian peninsula 
• Patrician- Upper class families, must be born into them, wealthy- the men in charge; with land, money, influence, ect. 
• plebeians- the common people including workers, small farm owners, AND wealthy people who aren't patrician 
• A patrician farmer has many people working on his latifundia (huge area of land) and can sell it for a large amount of money 
• Legend that two boys founded Rome, not the Latins, Etruscan's, and Greek's 

DEFINITIONS:

Rome notes continued 4/9

ROMAN REPUBLIC : THE SENATE AND THE PEOPLE 

• When first settling, their city- state was ruled by Etruscan conqueror's and other kings 
• king was advised by a group of men called the senate 
• When the king died, the senate chooses a man from themselves to take the throne 
• The man they choose to take the throne must be approved by male citizens
• Rome was controlled mostly by the senate and the patricians 
• 500 B.C. Rome threw out the Etruscan rulers and ended monarchy 
• The Roman Republic was developed under the influences of the social conflicts between the aristocrats and commoners 
• Roman government ended up being a combination of both Greek democracy and an oligarchy 

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS 

• Patricians were the aristocrats 
• Plebeians were the commoners, you were a plebeian if you did not belong to a Patrician family
• In early times the senate was about 300 Patrician men, 2 of them were consuls 
• The consuls led the army and government for one year terms
• Consuls appointed senators and chose their own successors 
• Consuls had the ability to veto the others law making proposals
• Romans always put two men in charge of the same magistracy to avoid becoming a monarchy again 
• 
  
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Rome pages 88-94 Notes 4/8

• Imitated Greek civilization but improved on warfare and government 
• Had a Republic style government for centuries that was better than the Greek government 
• Battle techniques were more successful than the Greeks 
• Rome treated captured enemies better then Greece did 
• Over 5 centuries Rome was an empire that expanded from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic Ocean 
• The expansion led to social conflicts, political crisis, civil war, and unstable rule by army commanders 
• The ruler problem ended when Augustus Caesar(military commander) took charge and turned military rule in to a manageable system that one man could control

ITALY AND ITS PEOPLE

• Tribes moved into Italy, in a Mediterranean land 
• the land had similar farming resources to Greece or Palestine, but could support more people and armies 
• Settlers formed into groups, one of them the Latins of central Italy 
• Some Latins settled towards the mouth of the Tiber river and built small civilization on the small hills, getting the known name of "Seven Hills"
• in 750 B.C. the small settlements came together and formed a city-state know as Rome 
• The Latins being already settled there had influence on Roman Civilization 
• Roman's learned the alphabet and about Greek city states from their neighboring city-states
• Etruscan's 
• non Indo-European immigrants 
• Arrived in Italy from somewhere East around 9th century 
• Got control of lands north of the Latins called Etruria 
• They established city-states with ruling Kings 
• Created a civilization with influences from eastern areas and Greece 
• in 7th century they conquered Latium 
• At one point Etruscan Kings ruled Rome 
• Romans adopted a gridiron street plan, gladiatorial combats, and the masonry arch 
• Notes continued on 4/9 post 

Hellenistic- "International"period of Greek history, when Greece ruled most of the Mediterranean and southwestern Asia. During and after the rule of Alexander the Great, happened by 300 B.C. Greeks culture was the most popular but the people they conquered weren't forced to change their ways.
Macedonia Map:

Athens lost the Peloponnesian War for many reasons, such as disease. The plague struct Athens hard and nearly wiped out 1/3 of the entire population and even killed their leader. The city couldn't focus on the war when they were struggling to stay alive. The Black Plague killed the leader who thought of going to war with Sparta, leaving the Athenians clueless as to what to do. People could not decide on a leader and Athens never returned to the peaceful place it was before Pericles had passed. Also, Athens fleet of naval ships was being destroyed. By 413 B.C. Athens had lost 2/3 of the ships again Syracuse, Sparta's allies. Spartans became allies with the Persians and built more ships to overcome the power of Athens. With Sparta winning the war and Athens losing many needed ships to transport food and other supplies to survive, Athens lost. The Athenians began starving and were forced to surrender to Sparta.

In 359 B.C. King Phillip II took the throne over Macedonia. He wanted to gain control of all the city-states and bring together a strong force to invade the Persia Empire and take over that land. He made several plans to take over Greece and had secret agents living in the city states to make sure the people didn't rebel against him.

2-21

Today in West Civ. we continued reviewing for our test. We went over that Sparta was a different city-state. The men were completely dedicated to the state for their entire lives. Men sometimes wouldn't even live with their wives or families, they would live in a 'training camp' with the other men. With the men gone for most of the time, women had a lot of freedom, unlike other women in other city-states. The women were expected to raise the family, run business', and do other forms of work that men typically did. Sparta had a governmental system that allowed the landowners to have complete domination over the noncitizen people that were forced to work for them to keep the land they lived on. The workers weren't payed nearly enough to become wealthy, just enough for them and their family to survive. We learned that a Tyranny was a stage before Democracy. A Tyranny is a form of government with one ruler who took power by force. The rule is usually a man who obviously isn't a very nice person, also he probably has a lot of wealth. We ended with leaning that Sparta tried to remain isolated from all other civilizations to keep their  way of life. The teacher gave us the rest of the class off to do homework.

2-20

Today in west civ we are reviewing chapter three. Mr. Schick tried to be boron but didn't succeed and then made Ben read. Ben was really loud and didn't pronounce like 1/2 the words. We reviewed that the early Europeans talked in Indo-European languages that formed into the Greek and Latin that our languages formed from today. We learned that the Dark Ages is Mr. schicks least favorite time period. There was no writing and nothing productive occurred. During this terrible time, the Greeks were not affected and even expanded their territory.

2/15

Today in west civ we went over our tests that we took a while ago. We had to answer 25 multiple choice questions and had two written answers. We had two choices for each written answer. I chose the important details of a pyramid and we had to name three of them. I named the building material, location, and how many workers you use. For the second written answer I chose to explain how the Nile River helped the Egyptians. I explained how it flooded and they made an irrigation system to water their crops. It also left behind rich soil that benefitted the farming. They also used it for bathing and traveling. Since they could only get to northern Egypt and couldn't get back down the river they invented the sailboat. The Egyptians took advantage of the wind to push them down back to upper Egypt.

2/7

Today in West Civ. class we reviewed for the upcoming test tomorrow that is apparently going to be hard. We went over the uses of the Nile River, Upper and Lower Egypt, mummification,and some religious beliefs of the Egyptians. Also someone brought in example of how the Egyptians used to paint the hieroglyphics and what the paper felt like. We also learned some things about what the Egyptians thought happened after you died. When you died you had to get your heart weighed, and the heavier it was the greater chance you had of being sent to the afterlife paradise instead into the jaws of a monster.  The reason you wanted your heart to be heavy is because it was believed that the more good deeds you did, the heavier your heart became.

Today in class we had to find a partner and then had to build a pyramid. To build the pyramid you had to choose the location and the amount of people you wanted to build it. Then you had to choose the angle of the pyramid and what material you wanted to use to build it. You had to choose a majority of farmers to do all the labor and about 1/4 the amount of them is the craftsmen and the officials make up a small part of the work force. My partner was Alex and we finished first.

                                                            Geographic Luck

         Jared Diamond was right about Geographic Luck. He was right because the shape of the country had a large impact on early civilizations. The shape of an area had such an impact because plants and animals survive better when in generally the same climate. If the area you lived in was longer from East to West than the plants and animals in that location would have a greater chance of thriving. But if the area you were in was longer for North to South than the plants and animals wouldn't be able to expand as well as they would going West to East. This is because climate is believed to stay generally the same at the same latitude and climate changes greatly going North to South. He was also correct because the areas with larger animals that were able to be domesticated had communities that were able to take advantage of this. By domesticating large animals people got more nutrition and were able to speed up farming. Therefore, Jared Diamond was right about Geographic Luck.

First Day of West Civ.!

                Today during West civ. I was late to class. But when I got there we went over how to make you blogger account. We also went to the teachers blog and read over the instructions for our blogs. We were told that we had to make a blog after every class summarizing what we learned that day. The teacher recommended we do the blogs all after every class because the few points they’re worth add up and do make a difference in your grade. Also, we were assigned books numbers and told that we need to buy a notebook. The teacher wants the ugly notebooks that we used in 1^st grade and he likes them a lot because they have a taped spine and not a spiral spine. He said that the spiral notebook spines “..get caught on your backpack and your shirts..” and no one agreed but it wasn’t worth the argument.