4/28 Blog

Notes:

-Over 500 massive Gothic cathedrals (Cities of God) are built throughout Europe between 1170 and 2170
-In the late eleventh century, Jerusalem was controlled by the Muslims.
-It was Islam's 3rd holiest City
-It's the Holy City to Jews and Christians
-Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim Turks
-Thus began 200 years of religiously sanctioned military campaigns, from 1095 to 1291
-Crusade means "Taking off the cross"
-These "Soldiers of the Church" took vows to take back the Holy Land
-The Pope promised those who died in the endeavor would receive immediate remission for their sins

4/27 Blog

Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
-Charlemagne Spread Christian civilization
-Middle ages=Medieval Period
-5th century German invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire
-The invasions caused loss of learning
-Germanic Kingdoms emerged in AD 400-600
-Clovis rules the area of Gaul (Known as the Franks)
-He and 3000 other people became Christian
-Pope Gregory I goes secular
-Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
-Clovis ruled the Franks until his death in 511


-In the late century, Jerusalem was controlled by Muslims.
-It was Islam's third holiest city
-It is the holy city to Jews and Christians
-Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Turks.
-Crusade means "taking of the cross"

4/25 Blog

Notes:

• Most of what we know of Jesus comes from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

   "Gospel" means "good news

 

• Jesus was a Jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from other "Messiahs"
• Jesus taught God’s personal relationship to each human being
• Message of love

 

• Jesus' followers believed he was the “Messiah” who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the kingdom of God
• Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God; both human and divine
• Jesus was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, though his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven

The followers of Jesus who attempted to spread the word of his teachings were known as apostles

 

• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus

• Paul talked of “predestination” which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned

• Paul was well-travelled, he helped found churches in many places, and he kept in touch with these new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus)

 

• Both Jews and Christians were monotheistic
• They refused to worship Roman gods
• Early in the Pax Romana, it was easy to travel and to spread ideas (Paul wasn’t the only one)
• Poor Romans were a receptive audience

 

• But Jews and Christians were sometimes persecuted by Roman authorities, since monotheism contradicted Roman law
• They could be exiled, imprisoned, executed, crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals
• This would happen as things began to go wrong for the Roman Empire, and scapegoats were “needed”

Scapegoat: Aaron confessed Israelites’ sins over a goat, then sent the goat to carry the sins away symbolically

 

 

 

 

 

 

4/26 Blog

Notes:
-Many Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire were reunited under Charlemagne's empire
-Charlemagne Spread Christian civilization
-Middle ages=Medieval Period
-5th century German invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire
-The invasions caused loss of learning
-Germanic Kingdoms emerged in AD 400-600
-Clovis rules the area of Gaul (Known as the Franks)
-He and 3000 other people became Christian
-Pope Gregory I goes secular
-Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies
-Clovis ruled the Franks until his death in 511


-In the late century, Jerusalem was controlled by Muslims.
-It was Islam's third holiest city
-It is the holy city to Jews and Christians
-Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Turks.
-Crusade means "taking of the cross"

4/22 Blog

Notes from class:

-From 800 to 1000, invasions destroyed the Carolingian Empire.
-Muslim raiders from the south seized Sicily and raided Italy.
-Vikings (also called Northmen) were Germanic people.
-They worship warlike gods and took pride in nicknames like Eric Bloodaxe
-Vikings carried out their raids quickly.
-Viking warships were awe inspiring.
-The largest of the warships held 300 warships, with rowing the ship's 72 oars.
-Vikings were also traders, farmers, and explorers.
-The Magyars swept across the plains of the Danube River and invaded western Europe in the late 800s.
-The invasions from Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims caused widespread disorder and suffering.
-The worst years of attacks spanned from 850-950.
-The feudal system was based on rights and obligations.
-The Manor was the lord's estate.
-Typically, 15 to 30 families lived in the village on a manor.
-The Manor was a largely self-sufficient community.
-You had to pay a large price to live on the Manor.

4/20 Blog

Today in class we went over the test that everyone apparently failed. I didn't fail, I passed with an 87. The class average was a depressing 76. There was also a class above us who somehow got an 86, and a class below us which got a 66. So we're pretty much the average class out of the two. Since we are now finished studying Rome, we are now own to learn about a new type of civilization I believe were called the "Franks". I enjoyed studying ancient Rome and kind of wish we could go more in depth on Rome and even Greece to be honest.

4/18 Blog

Notes on Charlemagne:

-In the fifth century, German invaders overran the western half of the Roman Empire.
-Repeated invasions caused:
1. Disruption of trade
2. Downfall of cities
3. Population shifts

-The invaders of Rome were not able to read or write.
-Small Germanic kingdoms replaced Roman provinces.
-In Gaul, people called Franks held power.
-The Franks leader was Clovis, who brought the idea of Christianity.
-Germans began to adopt the ways of Christianity.
-In 590, Gregory I become the pope.
-He was the head of the church in Rome.
-After the Roman Empire dissolved, different small kingdoms sprang up.
-A man known as the Major domo became the most powerful person in the Frankish kingdom.
-At death, Charles Martel passed on his power to his son, Pepin the Short.
-Then began the Carolingian Dynasty, which ruled the Franks from 751-987.

4/15

Today in class we reviewed for the test on Monday. Questions were asked about Rome and we answered them. Not really much to blog about. There were questions given like "What did the Greeks bring to Rome" and "When was Julius Caeser killed".

4/14 Blog

Notes:

Caesar's reforms:

-Granted citizenship to people in provinces

-Expanded the Senate, adding his friends

-Created jobs for the poor, especially through public work projects

-Increased pay for soldiers

-Started colonies where those without land could own property

 

-The senators saw Caesar's rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability

-They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved

-Senators were not punished

-Octavius was named Julius Caesar's sole heir

 

Julius Caesar's grandnephew - and adopted son - Octavian takes over at the age of 18 with his own triumvirate.

Mark Antony is an experienced general

Lepidus is a powerful politician

 

Octavian forces Lepidus to retire

He and Mark Antony become rivals

Mark Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt

Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium

 

He is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome

He was given the honorific "Augustus"

He was also given the title "Imperator"

This is where we get the word "Emperor"

Now Rome is an empire, not a republic.

 

After Octavian's death, power was passed down to emperors

Some were good, some were horrible, some appeared to be completely insane

 

Augustus:

-Ruled from 27 BC to AD 14 (41 years)

-Born Octavian, handpicked by Caesar

-Took over after Julius Caesar was assassinated

-Began the era of Pax Romana

-Expanded the empire into Africa, built a network of roads, established a police force and fire-fighting service for Rome

-Died of natural causes

 

Tiberius:

 

-Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37

-An excellent General, but a reluctant emperor

-After the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge

-Died at age 77

 

Caligula:

 

-Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (4 years)

-Won a power struggle after Tiberius' death

-Known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant

-Assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court, trying to re-establish the Republic

 

Claudius:

 

-Ruled from Ad 41 to AD 54

-Suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering, possibly because of cerebral palsy

-Took over because he was the last adult male in the family

-Ruled well - built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain

-Died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

 

Nero:

 

-Ruled from 54 to 68

-Emphasized the arts

-Huge fire in 64

-He wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic

-He hugely overspent, and even raided the temples for money

-Historians do not look kindly on him

4/13 Blog

Today in class was pretty much a free day since we were ahead of all the other classes. Nothing really not blog about really.

4/12 Bog

Today in class we went over notes on the powerpoint on Rome. We discussed things like how there was a Roman leader who tried to influence others to help him on passing a law in which the rich land owners would have to pay equal taxes, and also to give up some of their land to the people in which they bought it from. This frustrated them, causing them to eventually kill the leader soon after. It was also brought up that the U.S. is going into decline like how the Romans eventually collapsed.

4/5 Blog

Today in class we finished all of the other presentations. I would give them all an 11/10. Some of the presentations were raps, one was an animation, and finally one was a game of non-scripted jeopardy. I enjoyed a majority of the presentations due to their creativity.

4/4 Blog

Rap:

I'm Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome.

And I'm cool because I sit upon the throne.

I'm a caesar salad. I got Lettuce and Rome

is my fetish.

The Roman Empire is mighty strong in power

But Finally gave in as it succumbed in the last

Hour :(

 

But that's not the point.

My name is JC, and these rap’s will make you hazy

People call me crazy,

But I’m the most triumphant third of the triumvirate

 

I’m world class

And I’ll pave roads with the bones of your slaved ass

I'm the leader today

And you shall obey.

I may have been stabbed by brutus

But as your ghostly host

I’ll put your head on a post.

 

I’m a Dictator,

And I’ll tell you bout’ it later

And that loudmouth Brutus

Oh Yeah, he’s a traitor

His mom was my waiter

I couldn’t hate her any greater.

 

Call me a hypocrite?

I’ll smack you in your face

You are a disgrace and equivalent to my waste

Now get out of my face

As I leave with haste