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.

5/15/13

Diocletian ruled from 284-303. He persecuted Christians  Army expanded to 400,00 people.20,00 officials. Constantine riles from 306-337. Converted to Christianity when he had a vision of a cross in the sky. 313 his edict of Milan ended the persecution of christian. he then built a new capitol in the east. Byzantium soon to be known as Constantinople. Life in the fourth century(peasants): country dwellers became bankrupt due to many taxes. New farming system: peasants worked for elite landlords on large farms. When avoiding taxes they are getting hit just as hard by landlords. The landlords payed off debts making the "allowed" to live in the land in exchange for work. Christianity was becoming more established. Foreshadowed feudalism. Romes power was decreasing and the barbarians were running the frontiers and gaining power. Divided into the west and the east. money was in the East. Huns migrated from China to western Europe. Visigoths take over Spain. vandals control Carthage. Ostrogoths in Italy. franks in Gaul. angles and Saxons in Britain. CE stands for the common era. 500 B.C. monarchy was abolished.450 B.C. twelve tabled established. 44 B.C. end of Julius Caesar. Pax Romana (27-180). Romulus Augustulus was the last emperor and was 15.

5/14/13

Today we just took a test which I either did terrible on or pretty well. The first few questions were pretty easier other than  the question about the date pax romana began and ended. Also I am not sure what city was turned into Costantinople. Hopefully we will go over everything tomorrow. Also the short answer questions were hard because I was expecting something about Diocletion or Paul. My picture for the long answer part was pretty great though so i should be getting at least 20 out of 20. Personally I think I deserve extra credit for that.

5/13/13

Today in class we came up with questions for the test:

1.) In 284 what did diocletion's reform do to the army?

it increased the army size to 400,000

2.) The new government under diocletion had how many officials 

20,000

3.) How many of the Roman people in the year 300 were christian

several million

4.) who did christianity appeal to?

poor and disenfranchised 

5.) when did diocletian rule?

284-305

6.) what language is pax romana in?

latin

7.) after obtaining power Octavian was given what title?

Augustus, father of the fatherland

8.) What did the edict of the milan do?

issued by constantine, ended persecution
9.) what were three problems in the roman empire?
epidemic disease, not able to defend against barbarians, emperors lost power, maintaining armies was expensive

5/10/13

Constantine converted to Christianity when he has a vision of God before a major battle. he saw a cross in the sun that said conquer by this. All of his soldiers also witnessed this and converted, painting religious symbols on their shields. He sought divine assistance from God and prayed for help. He knew if God was on his side he would be invincible. knew many others before him believing in oracles and multitudes of gods did not succeed. He then went back home and liberated the Christians, giving them back what they had lost. This was a major turning point for the catholic religion. Going back to Diocletian, he was pushed by Gallerius to persecute Christians. Executions were done of the bishop, and many other Christians. Churches were knocked down, possessions were stolen, and they were not allowed to take these crimes to court.

5/8/13

The Diocletian persecution was the last major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In the 250's laws were passed against christian citizens. In 260 Gallineus issued an edict that regarded tolerance towards Christians resulting in peace for many years. Later, Diocletian began to persecute Christians after being urged by Galerius . the great persecution lasted form 303 to 311. Diocletian's goal was to wipe out the church. He thought they were causing a fire and wanted to end it. They were told by him to offer sacrifices to Jupiter. h was trying to convert them back to paganism. Some of the edicts he issued were:  1.) commanding that the churches Should be razed to the ground, the Scriptures destroyed by fire, those who held positions of honor degraded, and the household servants, if they persisted in the Christian profession, be deprived of their liberty. 2.) if they would sacrifice, but that those who refused should be tormented with countless tortures; 3.) all the people throughout the city should sacrifice and pour out libations to the idols. 4.)all the people should offer sacrifice and that the that the rulers of the city should see to this diligently and zealously. These were the main edicts that affected the Christians. Later, Constantine restored the Christians faith and rebuilt their churches.

5/7/13

Today in class we went over the test and I did pretty well. I only had 2 questions wrong and one was right so I got the points back. The question was about what Octavian was called. The original answer was Augustus, but he was also named father of the fatherland. Another question I got wrong was about the name for the lowest class of people. I thought it was plebeians but, plebeians can own land making them higher. Also I called my mom and we ever got Rita's. We did get Chick-fil-a.

5/6/13

Today we took a test and began reading a new chapter afterwards, here are the notes I took:

• Jesus lived during the period of Jewish conflict up until the destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 
• His life was recorded in the gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John
• came not only to deliver the jews, but to fulfill the whole human race
• When he comes again he said he would judge the righteous and the sinners
• Claimed he was both human and divine
• The priests arrested Jesus and had him crucified
• he rose from the dead and sent out his apostles to fulfill his command
• Jesus' followers began to question what they were supposed to be teaching
• Paul of tarsus once was against Jesus and was a persecutor of christians
• later he had a passionate vision and converted
• Some of his letters were written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 60
• Greek was the international language of Jews and gentiles 
• Within the first churches their was no structured authority
• held church in homes 
• consisted of baptisms and the Eucharist
• The believers of Christ tried to find a way to balance their world with the coming kingdom of heaven 
• Paul was most likely beheaded in A.D. 60
• majority of new believers were gentiles
• Divided into the Christians, Jews, and gentiles
• Churches began to appoint bishops and priests to lead teachings and worship
• the laity were the christian community
• clergy were the priests and other chuch leaders
• The writings about Jesus along with Paul's letters became known as the New Testament 

5/4/13

On Friday we began working in groups on an essay about Pax Romana. I am working with Drew and we finished writing about 250 words out of 500. I will probably end up writing more than a 500 word essay, since Pax Romana includes so much about architecture, literature, and governmental changes. Just covering what lead to Pax Romana and the ruling of emperors can take up 500 words. hopefully this project will bring my grade up.

5/1/13

we talked about Julius Caesar today and are no longer watching the videos. I already forgot everything Mr. Schick said about him. I took notes but still don't remember. the videos helped me understand everything and retain it so i am sad we stopped watching them. My notes were about Julius and 3 other people taking over Rome which was a certain kind of government involving the prefix "tri". Anyway one was very rich, one had military experience, and the other was Julius. later Julius takes over a lot of territory and returns heroicly instead of listening to the other person running Rome with him.This practically starts a civil war and later Caesar kill him in Egypt. I wish I brought my notes home.