Western Civilization

Today in class we voted and decided not to take the last test. To help our grade, Mr. Shick allowed us to do the questions in the chapter.  My grade is currently a 87.95 and I really want it to go up to a 89.5 .

SOCIALLY: the Renaissance emphasis on the secular (worldly) and the individual challenged Church authority The printing press helped spread these ideas POLITICALLY: Some rulers (especially the Germans) began to challenge the Church’s political power ECONOMICALLY: northern merchants resented paying church taxes to Rome Corrupt leadership Renaissance-era popes spent extravagantly on personal pleasure Pope Alexander VI admitted that he fathered several children Many priests and monks were poorly educated Some priests got married and had children Some priests drank to excess, many gambled The selling of indulgences (pardons) “releases a sinner from performing the penalty a priest imposed for sins” Johann Tetzel was a monk who sold indulgences to help rebuild St. Peter’s Cathedral A monk named Martin Luther objected to this practice Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483 He studies the trivium - grammar, logic, and rhetoric - and hates it He attends the Univer...

Today we took the test over the Middle Age. It was not as hard as last test but it was pretty confusing. Hope I did well on the test.

Today in class we did the powerpoint on the Crusades. 1.It's the Age of Faith The Holy Roman Empire is  the strongest kingdom in Europe The Church has considerable  spiritual and political power Over 500 massive Gothic cathedrals  (Cities of God) are built throughout  Europe between 1170 and 1270 2.Jerusalum In the late eleventh century, Jerusalem was controlled by the Muslims It was Islam's 3rd holiest City (after Mecca & Medina) It's the Holy City to Jews it's a Holy City to Christians 3. The Holy War 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 of the cross" ( crux) 4. 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 Roger Bacon warn...

Today in class, we continued on the slides. 1.Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France" comes from) in 496 he has a battlefield conversion - he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians the Church in Rome likes this by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners 2.Church + Frankish rulers = rise in Christianity In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks: vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)  chastity (no marital relations) obedience (listen to church superiors) His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books 3. Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldly power) Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies This is a theocracy Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany 4. Clovis rules the Fra...

Today in class we did some extra credit questions to bring our grades up. It is over the Feudalism in Europe. I already did them in note book so I'm not going to type then here again. We got quizzed one the definitions and I didn't know what to do. I got "vassal", which means a person who receives a grant of land called fief from a lord. Know I think I'll never forget about this.

Today in class we first went over the test and then we finished our questions in the chapter. I actually typed the questions today before class cuz I thought we were supposed to turn it in one Blog. 1. Middle Age: the era in European history that follows the fall of the Roman Empire.     Franks: Germanic people who settled in the Roman province of Gaul and established an empire during the middle age.     Monastery: a religious community of men who gave up their possessions to vote themselves to a life of prayer and worship.      Secular: concerned with worldly rather than spiritual matters.     Carolingian Dynasty: The rule of Pepin's family with papal influence. 2. Roman heritage, Germanic customs, Christian believes 3.Literary, language, loyalty 4. strengthened the empire, involved in politics, worldly power. (I already showed this to u on my note book, I thought we need to turn it in con blog)

Today we had a test on ALL ROME and Christianity. And we took notes on the new chapter and answered the questions.

Today we learned about the Germanic kingdoms of Western Europe and the Eastern Empire that eventually turned into a Christian empire. And then we talked about The Hagia Sophia and Mr. Shick showed us a pic of the Hagia Sophia and it makes me want to go there. And then we watched some videos about the Turkish ice-cream. They serve the ice-cream while playing tricks which is pretty hilarious and unique.

Today in class we learned about the decline of the Roman Empire. The first two slides of the power point we basically had already went over last week and just basically about Jesus and his ministry and death. The Roman leader Constantine made Christianity legal in the empire. But as Christianity strengthen, Roman Empire starts to decline. There were a lot of problems appearing. Economic: trad became risky; taxes were too high;food supply were dropping. Military: frontiers were hard to control;Roman generals fought for control; soldiers loyalties decline and mercenaries arts appearing.Then Diocletian divided the empire into two parts, Greek-speaking East and Latin-speaking West. Constantine then became the emperor of both parts. Other regions on the wold started to take control of their frontiers, the empire were divided agin into four parts. The Roman Empire ends in AD 476

Today in class we learned about the strengthen of Christianity and the weaken of Rome. The Roman emperor Constantine was going on a battle and the night before the battle he saw in the sky a cross with angels all around it and the words"in the sign, conquerer". He was shocked and felt blessed by the Christian God. Then that night he told all his soldiers to paint a cross on their shield and they will be blessed by God. All his soldiers did do and they won. After he battle of milvian, Constantine made  Christianity a new and legal religion. As Christianity grows, Roman Empire starts to weaken. The last Roman King was a 14 year old boy.

today in class we learned about the conflicts between Christianity and the Roman laws and problems of monotheism. Mr. Shick also read us the ranking of the top 100 influential people in the world history. I was pretty surprised when I heard it. There are only three US presidents on the list, but I really like how there are a lot of great musicians on the list. The first top few are mostly founder of religions or scientists.

Today in class, we started on the new chapter. We learned about the starting of Christianity. It was started with Jesus. He did not consider his teaching as a new religion at first. But after His death, his followers and Paul spread his messages and teachings across the world and the new believers became the real Christians. But this new believe is a threat to the Roman leaders because it is against the Roman laws. This is also why Jesus was crucified, his teaching was contradictory to the Roma laws so the authorities killed him.

Today in class Mr. Shick was not here and we almost finished the reading in the book, so we just had a free mod.