5-24

• Feudalism: A term coined by historian to describe the type of government institutions, as well as the general social and political relationships, the existed among the warrior-landholders in much of Europe during the middle ages
• Feudal Compact: An arrangement between a lord and his vassal involving the exchange of property for personal service
• Fief: A grant of land and accompanying government responsibilities and power
• Vassal: A name for the relationship between the lord, and the knight
• Knight: A mounted soldier serving under a feudal superior in the Middle Ages
• Homage: A vassal's act of promising loyalty and obedience to his lord
• Serf: The lowest class of a peasant, who is bound to the land, it is a lifelong status & you can't work your way out of being a serf
• Baron: A great lord who exercised government authority over vast family territory 
• Peasantry: The status or character of a peasant 
• Estates: In the Middle Ages, the groups that made up society: often defined as those who pray, those who fight, and those who work
• Manor: The principal farming property and social unit of a medieval community, usually belonging to a member of the feudal nobility or to a church institution 
• 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
• Internal colonization: The process of cultivating and settling in formerly wild land in medieval Europe
• Suburb: The are composed of much districts
• Guild: An organization of merchants or craftspeople who regulated the activities of their members and set standards and prices
• Master: A craftsman who had the right to operate workshops, train others, and vote on guild businesses 
• Journeyman: A licensed artisan who had served an apprenticeship and who was employed by a master and paid at a fixed rate per day
• Apprentice: A "learner" in the shop of a master
• Water mill: A mill operated by a water wheel
• Iron plow:

5-23 - Last Chapter of the School Year

• 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 land
• The lord would grant a fief (property) to the knight who would them become the lord's vassal (servant) this was called the "feudal compact"
• The vassal might fight for the lord when he needs it and attend his court once a month
• a lord is the owner of the land that you work for, not an actual lord that we worship, but similar
• Homage and Knighthood
• A vassal was required to pay homage to his lord, usually this meant kneeling down and taking the lord's hands in his while 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 Feudalization of the Church
• Some clergy were known to fight as knights themselves
• Feudal States
• Barons were lords of large territories who usually paid homage to the king
• Often a baron's army could outnumber that of a king, which kept a check on the king's power
• The Manorial Estate
• Medieval society was divided into three "estates" : the clergy, the nobility, and 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 minuscule by today's standards
• To maintain the health of the soil, the "three-field system" was used where two fields were planted 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
• Peasants and Lords
• The lord was in charge but he gave other people things to do
• 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 lang and to their lords for "labor service" a few days each week
• The serfs were responsible for the "internal colonization" of Europe, that is the cultivating and settling of previously uninhabited land
• Art was not given very much attention back then
• The Growth of Trade
• After 1000 many towns established across Europe
• Items like spices and silks came overland from port cities like Venice and Genoa, who received the goods from eastern capitals like Constantinople
• England and Low Countries were particularly known for their trade in wool and cloth
• Europeans exported wool, linen, horses, weaponry and slaves, to name a few
• Farm produce and animals were solid in towns and people with wealth bought their luxury items there
• Trade and Towns
• Most medieval towns were surrounded by fortified 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
• 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 group called guilds which regulated their trade and protected its members
• 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, a completing his "masterpiece"
• Guilds participated in religious feasts and festivals, social organizations and usually provided well for charities

5-20-13

Today we didn't have class because we watched a really awesome performance by jugglers at out freshman retreat!

5-17

• After Rome: 500-700 AD
• Germanic Kingdoms:
• Barbarian warlords and their families who assimilated intom Roman culture became the "nobles" or aristocrats of medieval Europe
• Germanic tribes who ruled former Roman lands sought to conquer and assimilate other barbarian peoples who lived beyond the frontiers and were still pagans
• The angles and Saxons invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons
• Most of the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity in the 7th century
• The most powerful Germanic tribe was the Franks
• the real power lay with the "mayors of the palace" who were royal officials and nobles themselves
• Eastern Empire:
• The Eastern Roman Empire continued on while the west was now divided up by the barbarian tribes
• When the emperor Justinian came to power in 527, he decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering the western territories
• Justinian successes for a time, but the land he re-took was soon conquered by a new barbarian tribe and a massive plague depopulated much of the west
• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and the heads of the Christian Church
• Byzantines preserved Greco-Roman art, architecture, philosophy and writings despite much of it being non-Christian
• Justinian built the massive domeed Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Constantinople, considered to be the most glorious church on earth at the time

5-16-13

• Diecletion ruled from 284-303
• Constantine ruled form 306-336
• Constantine thought that it was "cool" to be a Christian, and taught other people that
• The Edict of Milan said that it was okay to practice and religion
• 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 the landlords
• paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work (such a deal!)
• landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire
• foreshadowing feudalism
• Western empire is too poor, being to be neglected
• Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe
• Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture a lot of Rome itself in 400
• Other tribes:
• Ostrogoths in Italy 
• Franks in Gaul
• Angles and Saxons in Britain
• End of an era:
• fron 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- the Roman Peace (pax romana)
• the bitter end
• constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling 
• the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• 476: the last roman emperor ever.
• barbarians deposed Romulus Austulus (teenage emperor) without bothering to kill him

5-15-13

Today in class we took a test, in all honesty I don't think that I did to good on it, I think my highest school is possibly an 80!

Stuff that will be on the test on Wednesday

• Constantine's army: 500,000
• He moved the capital to Peasntitum and named it after himself
• Jesus hung out with the poor people, and prostitutes when he was preaching because there were more poor people in Rome and other places, than there were rich people. He did this to get more followers.
• This caused christianity to grow quickly
• Gospel means "good news"
• **Know what Constantine's vision was
• He fought the Battle Of Milvian Bridge right after he got this vision
• Vision: he prays to the Christian god and it he said "By this conquer"
• He ended the persecution against christians
• Diecletion:
• He wanted to burn all the churches and wipe out the religion completely
• demanded that the books must be demolished
• the christian careers should be destroyed
• take out the hierarchy of the church
• Have to make a sacrifices to the roman gods to be free
• You are not aloud to assemble anymore in public
• It didn't encourage people to stop their religion
• Edict of Milan: Said you couldn't persecute anyone for their beliefs
• 300 A.D: 60 million people lived under the Roman empire, several million were christians
• Predestination: The idea that God knows from your birth what's going to happen to you
• The four gospel writers are: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John