exams

our final will be on guns, germs, and steel(15), sumerians(10), egypt(10), greece(35 questions), Rome(20), the middle ages and feudalism(12). Papua New Guinea is in australia. Jared diamond had a theory based on geographic luck. It depended on animals and plants being domesticated. Plants had to be able to be stored. Used to be hunters and gatherers. Less time worrying about food allows specialized labor. Sego trees. cuneiform was sumerian writing. Prehistory was before written history. agricultural revolution, operating plows and allowed people to have villages and stuff. mesopatamia was located near tigris and euphrated which flowed south to north. Nile was center of egyptian life. pyramids were built for the pharaoh. sphinx was a cat thing. greece was once an oligarchy which was a group of men. spartans were more war like. Athens was into arts. athenians had a strong navy.

5/28/13

all we did today was take a test on feudalism.

5/24/13

this is what we did in class today:

Feudalism-  the legal and social system that evolved in W Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and were required to serve under them in war(relationship between landowners and warriors)

feudal compact- the agreement between the knight and lord in which the knight inherits a fief for pledging allegiance to the lord

fief- land granted to knights by the lords

vassal- servant of a lord who pledges loyalty

knight- one who pledges allegiance to a lord and defends his land

homage- the gratitude a knight pays to his lord

serf- a laborer of the land(bottom of social ladder)

baron-lord of a large territory who pays homage t o a king

peasantry- those who farmed the land of manors owned by the lords

estates- clergy, nobility, common people

manor-land owned by the lords

three-field-system- a system practiced in order to not over-use land by switching between three fields

internal colonization- cultivating and settling previously uninhabited land

suburb- the land outside of the wall

guild- a group of people who practiced a job

master- the highest ranking artisans of a practice

journeyman- the rank in a guild that gets payed to do their work but is not yet a master

apprentice- an artisan level below journeyman

masterpiece- a piece created by an journeyman approved by a master making him a master

water mill- a water powered mill that grinds flower or wheat

and yes, iron plow-were invented and water-powered grinding mills helped with agriculture

5/22/13

  Today in class we went over everything that we learned yesterday through maxwell and david. They were wonderful and now I understand everything completely because they opened my eyes to the meaning of life. Maxwell was getting frustrated with Mr. Schick because he wanted to take his position as teacher. then we had a discussion about pinky toes. We will have them forever luckily. thanks for clearing that up.

5/21/13

feudalism describes the governmental system and the relationship between landowners and warriors. Knights pledged allegiance and the Lord would give him land. The land given to the knight was called a fief (feudal compact). Knight was required to pay homage. If a knight dies, the land would revert to his son and the lord would take care of him if he was under-aged. Some clergy served as knights. Barons were lord of large territories who usually paid homage to a king. Baron's army could outnumber the king. Medieval society was divided into three estates the clergy, nobility, and the common people. Peasantry farmed on farms known as manors owned by lords or ladies. Iron plows were invented and water-powered grinding mills helped with agriculture. Three field system was used to not over-use land. Ladies ran house-hold operations, oversaw servants, entertained guests, etc. Most peasants were serfs. Serfs were bound to to the land. Most medieval towns and villages were surrounded by walls. Outside wall was suburbs. Town were dominated by church and a central market place. wealthiest families also lived in center of town. Townspeople had their own hierchy. Merchants at top, then skilled craftsmen and artisans, then skilled laborers and apprentices. guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals. Craftsmen were classified as masters.

5/20/13

Today in class all we really did was go over the test and surprisingly I did very well.

5/17/13

barbarians is a name for all of the non roman people living around Europe. Barbarian warlord became the "Nobles" or aristocrats. Germanic tribes were still the pagans. The angles and Saxons (from Denmark and Germany)  invaded Britain and adopted culture. most anglo-saxons converted to Christianity  Most powerful Germanic tribe was the Franks. They had the best trained best army. Power lay with the "mayors of the palace" who were royal officials and nobles. Eastern part of the empire continued on while the west was being divided by barbarian tribes. Emperor Justinian came to power in 527 and decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering  western territories. He succeeded for a time ,but soon barbarians took over again and massive plagues struck. Greek byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and head of the christian church. They preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture, philosophy, and writing. Justinian built massive domed Hagia Sophia in Constantinople  considered to be the most glorious church on earth at the time. Hagia Sophia translates to holy wisdom. Third version of this church was built in 537.