GOOD BYE MR. SCHICK

DEAR MR. SCHICK,
                 You're class was totally amazing and a lot of fun. It was great getting to know you. You are one funny guy. I'll miss you a lot if I don't have you next year! Have a great summer!

THE IRON PLOW WILL LIVE ON FOREVER!!

                                                               Lots of love,

                                                                          Tona (a.k.a - Toner)

Feudalism Vocab

Today in class, we searched for some vocab words to help get ready for the Feudalism test on Tuesday and to help a little with the exam.

1. Feudalism - a system use in Medieval Europe that thrived from the 19th to 15th century.
2. Feudal compact - an arrangement between a lord and his vassal involving exchange of property for personal service.
3. Fief - a grant of land and accompanying government responsibilities and power.
4. Vassal - a warrior in exchange for secure possession of land.
5. Knight - a man who served a sovereign or lord in exchange for land.
6. Homage - a vassal's act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord.
7. Serf - laborers, often farmers and lower class people.
8. Baron - a great lord who exercised government authority over vast family territory.
9. Peasantry - those who farmed the land that was owned by a higher class.
10. Estates - in the Middle Ages, the groups that made up society: often defined as those who pray, those who fight, and those who work.
11. Manor - the principal farming property and social unit of a Medieval community, usually belonging to a member of the feudal nobility or a Church Institution.
12. 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.
13. Internal colonization - the process of cultivating and settling in formerly wild land in medieval Europe.
14. Suburb - land outside the city walls.
15. Guild - an organization of merchants or craftspeople who regulated the activities of their members and set standards and prices.
16. Master - a craftsmen who had the right to operate workshops, train others, and vote on guild business.
17. Journeymen - a licensed artisan who had served an apprenticeship and who was employed by a master and paid at a fixed rate per day.
18. Apprentice - a "learner" in the shop of a master.
19. Masterpiece - 
20. Water mill - 
21. Iron plow -

Missed School Today

Today I missed school, so I missed western civilization class today. "Why did I miss school?" you ask. Well, I woke up this morning and I felt very queezy and I felt like I wouldn't make it through the day, so I simply stayed home. I just hope I didn't miss anything really, really important.

Feudalism

• The Feudal Compact 

• Feudalism is a term used by historians to describe the governmental system and the relationships between landowners and warriors. 

• Warriors, known as knights, would pledge his allegiance to a lord, who would in turn give that knight some land. 

• The lord would grant a fief (property) to the knight, who would then become the lord's vassal (servant)--this was called the "feudal compact." 

• The vassal must fight for the lord when he needs it and attends his court once a month.

• Homage and Knighthood 

• A vassal was required to pay homage to his lord, usually this meant kneeling down, taking the lord's hand, and speaking an oath of loyalty. 

• Men were apprenticed to older knights before they could become a full knight themselves. 

• When a knight died, his fief would revert to his son, though his lord would be protector of that son if he was underage, or if it was a daughter.

• The Feudalism of the Church 

• Church land was bound up in feudalism like most other land. 

• Some clergy were known to fight as knights themselves. 

• By the 11th century, most clergy assigned fiefs to vassals who fought on their behalf.

• Feudal States 

• Barons were loads of large territories who usually paid homage to a king. 

• Often a baron's army could outnumber that of king, which kept a check on the king's power. 

• The divine right of the king gave him power over his vassals, no matter how much land they had. 

• In countries like France and England, the kings built up enough land and power to rule effectively over their barons. 

• In the case of France, the kings of England were vassals of French king, their first included Gascony, Aquitaine and Normandy.

• The Manorial Estate 

• Medieval society was divided into three estates 

• The clergy 

• The nobility 

• The common people 

• Usually the peasantry farmed on large plantations known as "manors" which were owned by a lord or lady of the nobility (or a member of the clergy) 

• Iron plows and water-powered grinding mills helped with agricultural production, but the yield was still miniscule by today's standard. 

• To maintain the health of the soil, the "three-field system" was used where two fields were planted (one in fall, one in spring, and one field was left to reconstitute its fertility--then they were rotated. 

• Villages sprung up on and around manors with small cottages for the peasants and a large manor house for the lord and lady.

• The People of the Manor 

• The lord oversaw major agricultural issues but delegated everyday overseeing to his stewards or bailiffs. 

• The lady of the house ran household operations, oversaw servants, entertained guests and ran the manor when her husband was away. 

• Most peasants were serfs, meaning they were bound to the land and to their lords for "labor service" a few days each week.

• The Location and Appearance of Towns 

• Most medieval towns were surrounded by walls. 

• Residences also sprang up outside the walls in the suburbs. 

• Towns were dominated by a main church and a central marketplace. 

• Buildings for the craft guilds and the wealthiest families would also be in the center of the town.

• The Life of the Townspeople 

• Though townspeople were free, unlike serfs, they still had a hierarchy: merchants at the top, then skilled craftsmen and artisans, then unskilled laborers and apprentices. 

• The Guilds 

• Merchants, craftsmen and artisans formed their own groups called guilds which regulated their trade and protected it merchants 

• Craftsmen were classified as masters, journeymen, and apprentices 

• Once became a master after spending years learning as an apprentice, working as a paid journeyman for a number of years, and completing his "masterpiece." 

• Guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals, social organizations and usually provided weld for charities.

Absent Kids Take A Pop Quiz

Today in class, we--well I really shouldn't say we, but the absent kids--had to take a quiz on the barbarian people. But the sad part is, they never even learned this stuff. I wonder how difficult this was for them. Who knows but them, right? After they took the pop quiz, Mr. Schick gave us our Rome III tests back. I wasn't sure what I got at first, but apparently, I did well, because I got a ding from the bell. My actual grade was a 86, but since Mr. Schick bumped everyone's grade 4 points, I got a 90. YAY!! I actually only got 3 and a half wrong on this test. The questions I got wrong were:

1. What years did the Pax Romana begin and end?--27BC to 180AD
2. Around 300 AD, how many people lived in the Roman Empire?--60 million
3. Constantine ordered the capital of the Roman Empire to be moved from Rome to another city, which was eventually named Constantinople. What was the name of this city before it was renamed?--Byzantium, which was later named Constantinople, which is current day Istanbul
4. What was the purpose of the Edict of Milan?--Freedom to worship for all religions

Pop Quiz and After Rome

Today in class, we started off with a pop quiz. This pop quiz was about the barbaric tribes that took over.

After Rome: 500-700

The Germanic Barbarians
- Barbarians warlords and their families who assimilated into Roman culture became to "nobles" or aristocrats of medieval Europe.
- Germanic tribes who rules former Roman lands sought to conquer and assimilate other barbarian peoples who lived beyond the frontiers and were still pagans.

More On Germanic Kingdoms
- The Angles and the Saxons (from Denmark) invaded Britain and assimilated the Britons.
- Most of the Anglo Saxons where converted to Christianity in the seventh 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.

Back In Eastern Europe
     From "Eastern Empire" to "Byzantium"
       - The Easter Roman Empire continued on while the west was now divided up by barbarians
       - When the emperor Justinian came to power in 527, he decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering 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 depopulated much of the west.

Christian Empire
- Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and the heads of the Church.
- Byzantines preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture, philosophy and writing despite much of it being non-Christian.
- Justinian built the massive domed Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, considered to be the most glorious church on earth at the time.
- Third version finished in 537, the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, Justinian' cathedral, was later a mosque and is now a museum.

Rome Fades Away

Today in western civilization, we started a new section and took some notes. Here is what I took:

• Two Emperors
• Diocletian:
• ruled from 284 - 303
• its okay to persecute Christians
• Constantine:
• ruled from 306 - 337
• it's acceptable to be a Christian
• converted into Christianity
• 313 - Edict of Milan
• built a new capital in the East
• Byzantium, soon called Constantinople
• Peasant struggle
• Life in the fourth 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 landlords
• paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work
• sort of like a loan
• landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
• foreshadowing feudalism
• Western Empire Crumbles
• Rome's power is decreasing, while barbarians gain more
• Western Empire is too poor and begins to be neglected
• Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
• Visigoths take over Spain and capture and loot Rome itself in 410
• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
• The other barbarian tribes:
• Ostrogoths in Italy
• Franks in Gaul
• Angles and Saxon in Britain
• INVASIONS
• Invasions of the Roman Empire : 100 - 800
• The End of An Era
• from the beginnings:
• 500 BC - the monarchy is abolished
• 450 BC - the Twelve Tables are established
• through the glory days:
• 44 BC - end of the line for Julius Caesar
• 27 BC - 180 AD - Pax Romana
• to the end:
• constant fifth invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• the last emperor was a teenager in 475 who was installed by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustulus without bothering to kill him

After taking down notes, Mr. Schick gave us an assignment where we have to look farther in the barbarian tribes.

Who were the Huns?

• The Huns started the Great Migration
• They appeared in Europe in the 4th century
• The Huns were nomadic, war-people, and were from the Grass Lands of North Central Asia (above China)

Who were the Visgoths?

• They lived on the Delta of the Danube River

And that was all we got up to before the bell rang.

The Horrible Horrible Test

Today in western civilization, we had our test on Constantine's conversion and Diocletian. Now, you would think that this test would be easy, but NO, NOT AT ALL!! Mr. Schick created one of the hardest tests I think have taken all semester. For starters, it wasn't multiple choice. And you would then that it would be fill in the blank with a word box and everything, right? NO. It was still fill in the blank but there was absolutely no word box and it was completely frustrating. I mean, I think I did okay, but I didn't answer two of the fill in the blank questions because I didn't know the answers to those. And one of them was a question that probably no one knew the answer to since we never even discussed it. But whatever, I still think I did okay, because I think I got the essays right. I mean, we'll see.

Test Tomorrow With Sample Quetions

First in class today, we got our 5 question quiz back that we took on Friday. I had only got one question wrong because I got confused with Peter and Paul but it's okay because I know what the correct answer is now. After we got those back, Mr. Schick told us to write down some question for the test that we are going to have tomorrow because he might use them on the test. Some questions that I came up with were:

1. The survival of the Roman Empire depended on what among nearby and distant people across which Hemisphere?
2. What is the meaning of Romanization?
3. Who were the Gentiles?
4. What were the two roles of Jesus?
5. Who were the apostles?
6. What happened to Paul that made him change his ways against the Christians?
7. What is the doctrine that God determines in advance who will be saved and who will be damned?
8. Who was Diocletian?
9. What did Diocletian do to Christians?
10. Who was Constantine?
11. What happened to Constantine before he went into battle?
12. What did Constantine see in the sky before he rode into battle?

Now, I didn't know if these questions were good or not but I thought they were pretty nice.Now some questions that other people came up with were:

1. What did Constantine do to reform the Empire? -- He made Christians feel more welcome and no longer persecuted.
2. How long did the Pax Romana last for?
3. Who took over after Augustus? -- Tiberius Caesar 
4. What revaltion did COnstantine have? -- He saw the cross in the sky
5. Where did Constantine see the vision in the sky? -- The Battle of Milvian Ridge
6. What did Constantine do before he went into battle? -- He and his army painted crosses on their shields
7. What does Gospels mean? -- Good News
8. What god did the Christians have to give sacrifice to? -- Jupiter
9.  Who create the fires in the Imperial Palaces? -- They never found out who create the fire and just tortured the Christians anyway
10. What was the religion Jesus born into? -- Judaism
11. What was the religion that Constantine's mother born into? -- Christianity
12. The new government under Diocletian had how many government officials? -- 20,000
13. What were three problems in the Roman Empire? -- the epidemic disease, they couldn't defend the frontier against the barbarians, and the emperor's could hold onto power, and too much poverty.
14. Explain who Christianity appealed to? -- it appealed to poor people, because they were more vulnerable, and the other gods mostly appealed to higher people in power
15. What did the Edict of Milan do? -- tolerated diversity in religion
16. Who create the Edict of Milan? -- Constantine
17. What is an edict? - an official law

So later I am just going to study these questions and some notes and I hope I do well on the test tomorrow.

Grace Kelley

Today in western civilization, we did something a little different. Mr. Schick let Grace and Kelley teach class today. It started off a little bumpy but we got down to business. They read us all the information that they had taken from Wednesday and we listened to see if we had the same information. I had almost everything Grace and Kelley had. On Grace's blog, she had this information:

Diocletian Persecution

His initial accession in 284 didn’t leave an immediate change to Christianity but it caused a gradual change. Diocletian purged the army of Christians and surrounded himself with public opponents of Christianity.

First edict: February 23, 303, Diocletian ordered that the newly built Christian church at Nicomedia be razed, scriptures burned, and treasures seized. The edict rodereed the destruction of Christian scriptures, liturgical books, places of worship across the empire, and prohibit Christians from worshiping. Christians were not allowed to go to court about any of these things happening.  Christian senators, equestrians, decurions, veterans, and soldiers had the positions taken away and imperial freedmen were re-slaved. He requested that no blood would be shed.

Second edict: summer of 303- ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all bishops and priests. There was no logical necessity of this second edict. Diocletian said he did it because the first edict was not working as quickly as wanted. Prisons began to fill.

Third edict: November 20, 303- any imprisoned clergy man could now be freed as long as he agrees to make a sacrifice to the gods. Some people were more willing than others to make a sacrifice sine it was considered unacceptable.

Fourth edict: 304- all persons (men, women, and children) to father in a public space and offer a collective sacrifice. If you refused, you were executed. This edict was not enforced at all of the domains of Maximian and Constantius.

 Constantine

Constantine, son of Constanitius, was against the persecution of the Christians. On July 25, 306, he succeeded his father. He immediately ended all ongoing persecution and returned property that had been stolen. Constantine was seen as a possible liberator of oppressed Christians everywhere. First Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, over the ago of 40. He issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed tolerance of all religions throughout the empire. Throughout his rule, he supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy, and promoted Christians to high office. Made a law so that Jews could not have Christian slaves.

The reason Constantine converted was because he had a vision of a sun with a cross above and it has the words engraved across it: "Conquer by this."

It was pretty accurate information and Mr. Schick chimed in and gave some information from time to time. Some students also asked some very informative questions.

Edict - an official order or proclamation.

The Roman Empire Struggle - After The Pax Romana

Today in western civilization, we started on another section that focused on Christianity within the Roman Empire.

•  In the 3rd century
• Disease spreads throughout the empire.
• Too hard to defend the frontier against barbarians.
• Emperors lost their hold on power.
• Stayed in power on average of two and a half years.
• Expensive army maintenance.
• Too much poverty.
• 284 AD - Diocletian's reforms
• Increase the size of army to 400,000
• Divide Roman territories into smaller provinces.
• The new government had 20,000 officials.
• More efficient at collecting taxes.
• 300 AD
• 60 million people in Rome
• Several million more Christians
• Christianity has appealed to the poor.
• More Christians > more talks & more conversations > more children
• Christians gaining powerful positions, becoming ruling elites.
• Persecute
• Diocletian (284 - 305) left Christians alone at first.
• Then he undertook the most systematic persecution of all.
• Constantine ruled as emperor (306 - 337)
• The Diocletian Persection - Diocletian issued a series of edicts demanding that Christians comply with traditional Roman religious practices.
• Edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice.
• Constantine converted and was made a saint.
  

Christianity In The Pax Romana + 5 Points

Today in class, we got our western civilization tests back that was on Tiberius Gracchus, Julius Caesar, the triumvirate and everything in between. I was of upset that I got an 80. I really did think that I had gotten at least a 90, but I guess not. I actually only got four wrong. The four I got wrong were; who was Tiberius' brother?--Gaius; those who lost their farms were reduced to the lowest citizen status, known as--proletariats; which o theses modern day countries was NOT part of ancient Gaul--Iran; upon assuming power, Octavian was given this honorific--Augustus. For the last one, though, Grace had found out that in the book it had said "Father of the Father Land," which was the answer I had put, so Mr. Schick gave us five points back, which change my 80 to and85 and bumped up my grade to an 88--2 POINTS AWAY!! After we went over the test, went started taking notes for the next chapter from the power point - Christianity In The Pax Romana.

• A new religion in the empire.
• It all began with Jesus.
• Most of the info comes from the Gospels.
• Jesus was a Jewish nomad who set himself apart from other messiahs.
• Jesus told us to strive for perfection.
• Jesus looked for the imperfect.
• Jesus' followers believed he was the Messiah.
• Jesus was both man and Son of God.
• Jesus was a threat to the Roman Rule and the government crucified him.
• monotheistic - one God
• polytheistic - many gods
• The followers of Jesus who attempted to spread his worl of his teachings were known as Apostles.
• His followers believed Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.
• Paul of Tarsus became a follower of Jesus.
• Paul talked of "predestination" - which meant God saved you when you were damned.
• Paul was well-traveled, he helped found churches, and kept in touch with Christians.

After taking some notes, we had a pop quiz on what we had just learned. I had only gotten one wrong because I confused Peter with Paul. 

The Paper, The Test, and The Shift to Christianity

Today in class, we turned in our papers. This paper was to be written about the Pax Romana and how Caesar Augustus had made changes in government and introduced reforms. My partner for this project was Kate and we had worked on it all weekend. When we finally finished, we had come to a total of 2,325 words on 8 pages. I know, crazy, right?! Anyway, after everyone turned in the paper, Mr. Schick began looking through them and got hilariously outraged when he found out that almost everyone had the same title that he told he told us not to use. It was crazy! Luckily, Kate and I came up with a different title for our paper. After that, Mr. Schick asked us if we were ready for his test. Everyone was shocked. He had never told us we had a test--well, he didn't tell us in person that is. But same thing. Everyone was really outraged and began to think that we shouldn't have a test but we still had it anyway. And actually, it wasn't that bad. Once we finished the test, everyone got on his blog and saw that we were starting a new lesson and it was on Christianity in the Era of the Roman Peace, or LO-2 for short.

CHRISTIANITY IN THE ERA OF THE ROMAN PEACE:

- In the first two hundred years of Christianity, it acquired many features over its beliefs and practices.

- The development of this new found religion involved Christians, Jews, the Gentiles, and the Roman Empire, through which it was spread.

JESUS

- During the period of Jewish conflict and dispute leading up the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.  was when Jesus lived and taught.

- What we know about him was found from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which were written about forty to seventy year after he died.

- The authors didn't particularly shed details on Jesus's life, they mainly discussed his birth, the years he spent wandering as a preacher in Judaea, and the aftermath after his death.

-This was necessary to show Jesus in two roles: as a teacher, explaining God's purposes, and as a Messiah sent by God.

THE TEACHER

- The gospels portray Jesus as an outright opponent of the other Jewish groups.

- Jesus obeyed the Law, visited the Temple, and called acceptance of Roman rulle, while standing apart from the Temple priests.

- Jesus taught that even the faithful righteousness according the Law fell far short of what was necessary to please God. He said, in short terms, "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

- Jesus's biggest difference with the Pharisees was that he proclaimed that "the kingdom of God has come near" when in fact, with himself, it has already arrived.

THE MESSIAH

- Apostles : Jesus's followers and messengers of his teachings.

- The apostles were Jesus's followers and were sent out by him to fulfill his command--"Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

PAUL

-Predestination - the doctrine that God determines in advances who will be saved and who will be damned.

The Overthrow of the Republic

Today in western civilization, we took a whole lot of notes about the LO-3, which is on the overthrow of the republic of Rome.

• WHAT'S WONG WITH ROME?
• the soldiers often lost their land and were reduced to proletarian citizens.
• war profiteers abounded and profited from latitudias and slaves.
• "Just grab some land."
• IT'S A LIVING
• war profiteers
• used their wealth to buy ruined farm.
• in 150 BC, 1/3 of the Italian population was made up of slaves.
• THE GRACCHUS ATTEMPT
• in 2nd century BC, they attempted to help the poor get back their land.
• THE PLAN
• resettle the poor
• grow grain (welfare)
• raise the number of independents
• reduce the gap between the rich and the poor

• Tiberius ran for Senate 
• BEST LAID PLANS
• one year service--fell short and didn't do complete everything to help the people
• illegal re-election
• Senate saw Tiberius as a threat
• the Senate killed Tiberius

• Tiberius' little brother was killed by the Senate as well because he tried to uphold and go on doing his brother's will 

• THE START OF JULIUS CAESAR
• a talented politician
• formed a unique government--triumvirate
• named the proconsul of Gaul and conquered most of western Europe, giving him great wealth, power, and influence.   

• POWER AND AMBITION
• Senate gets worried and Pompey get jealous
• they tell him to disband his army before returning to Rome
• instead, he and his army cross the Rubicon and make a grand enterance
• this causes a near civil war between Caesar's and Pompey's army 
• Pompey was defeated in Greece and killed in Egypt 

• LARGE AND IN CHARGE
• 46 BC : Caesar was declared "Father of the Fatherland"
• Senate named him dictator for life 

• WITH THE POWER
• resettled war vets.
• extended citizenship
• built buildings and roads
• introduced reforms

• KILL CAESAR
• Ides of March--44 BC

• MARC ANTONY
• Marc and Octavian each got some of Caesar's troops and formed another triumvirate
• Marc Antony had a love affair with Cleopatra with was unpopular with Rome
• Octavian defeats Marc + Cleopatra
• Octavian is supreme warlard
• Octavian is now known as Augustus, which means "revered one"

The End of Tiberius Gracchus

Yesterday in class, we finished watching the video about Rome and the Gracchus brothers. What we came across today was that the Senate was tired of Tiberius Gracchus and really wanted to get rid of him. So guess what they did, they contemplated against him by telling the people that were once on his side that he wants to be king of Rome, and then once they have had enough of his outrageous outburst, they kill him. It was so sad. They were so cruel, beating him with sticks and wood boards. Then they don't even give him a proper funeral and burial, like they did his father, they just throw his lifeless body into the River Tiber. It was inhumane and displeasing. But one thing that really got me was why they never talked about the other Gracchus brother, it was only Tiberius they ever spoke of. After we finished the video in class, Mr. Schick asked us a question; do you think Tiberius was truly a hero of the people or just another power-crazed political figure? Most of the class responded that he was truly for the people but he kind of got big-headed along the way and sought out the more power than he needed. After discussing our points of view on this, on went on to the topic of North Korea and their way of life and how they only have one person with so much power in his hands. It was really riveting, even though we didn't get to finish up.