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.