What was the 12th Century Renaissance?

The twelfth century renaissance was a spread of monasticism and an increase in literacy. It is known as an internationalist movement. There were "wandering scholars". They were scholars who traveled from country to country. There were many social, political, and economic transformations. There were many philosophers who had an impact on this renaissance and they wrote a lot about theology. There were big changes in architecture. They developed the Gothic architecture from Romanesque architecture. In the twelfth renaissance many of the things paved the way into the Italian Renaissance.

source:

e Twelfth Century Renaissance." University of Wisconsin - History Department. Web. 01 May 2010. http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20112%20renaissance.htm

What do you 'think'? How did people of different classes 'think' differently?

In the middle ages there were four different groups. There were the knights, the merchants, the nuns, and the peasants. Since they were all raised differently and had different roles in life they probably thought differently about things. So each group might think differently about the same exact thing. Even today people in everyday life will think differently about the same thing. That is why people argue and it is also what makes people different. These four groups all had different opinions on things because of the way that they lived their life.

One group in Middle Ages were the knights. Knights are” a man, usually of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as page and squire was raised to honorable military rank and bound to chivalrous conduct.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knights) They lived in castles because they were always in a constant threat of war. The knights were more of wealthy people since they had to protect the king. Since they were wealthy they thought differently about things that people that were not as wealthy would think. The knights had servants cook for them and work for them. They probably did not think of anything being wrong with it and they probably thought the servants did not care. The servants probably thought they were not being treated right and that it wasn’t fair to them. Also the knights might think of going in to war is not as dangerous as the people who were not knights thought. The reasons for these people thinking different things is just because they were raised differently and their daily life is completely different from each others. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/knight.html)
Another group of the middle ages are the peasants. Peasants are “a member of a class of persons, as in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, who are small farmers or farm laborers of low social rank.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peasant)

The peasants usually lived on a manor. They worked for the lords and had to do pretty much anything the lords told them to. But the way that the peasants thought about this kind of treatment was not too bad. They respected the lords and since this was their daily life they were used to it. Also the lord didn’t think much of making the peasants do work for him. He didn’t see anything wrong with it. If the lords and the peasants were to switch places there would probably be a lot of problems. Since both of these groups thought a lot differently they would probably have a hard time being in each other’s shoes. The lords would not want to do everything the peasants tells them to do and the peasants would probably not order the lords to do everything just because it is not in their nature. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/peasant.html)
Another middle age group are the merchants. Merchants are “a person who buys and sells commodities for profit; dealer; trader.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/merchant) The merchants lived in towns and they had to pay taxes to the lords. That is about all they had to give to the lords. Their lives were probably pretty normal and the closest to our lives today. They would own their shops and make things to sell to other people. They probably thought in a more creative way than other groups. They were able to think up of much better inventions than a peasant or a lord might think of. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/merchant.html)
Nuns were also a middle age group. Nuns are “a woman member of a religious order, esp. one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nun) Nuns would devote themselves to a holy life. They lived in nunneries and promised to live a single life. They worshiped God a lot and prayed to him a lot. They would also go to a lot of church services. They thought of God in a much different way than the other groups did. They out him above all else and worshiped him all the time. Their whole life was just around God. The other groups had other things to do and also worshiped other things. (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/nun.html)
All the groups thought differently about things because of the way they were raised and the kind of life they lived. The same thing happens today in America. Different religious groups think differently about God. There are also arguments today about people thinking differently about something. It is just a fact of life that we all think differently. That is what makes up part of our personality.

sources:

Works Cited

Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 01 May 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/

"The Knight's Realm." Web. 01 May 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/knight.html

"The Merchant's Realm." Web. 01 May 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/merchant.html

"The Nun's Realm." Web. 01 May 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/nun.html

"The Peasant's Realm." Web. 01 May 2010. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/peasant.html

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Find examples of French Gothic influence on British architecture.

In the French Gothic Architecture and the British architecture they both have arches in the ceilings inside the church.

The French Gothic architecture had the stained glass window and that stayed in the British architecture.

The French Gothic Architecture had a point at the very top and it influenced the British architecture because the British architecture also had the point at the top.

photos from wikimedia commons

Medieval Times Notes

1. The Normans brought Christianity with them to England and converted the Anglo-Saxons and the Irish
2. The Feudal system- social system in Europe. They were not equal and people were above other people
3. People were born into a class and that is how you would stay for the rest of your life
4. They believed in many monsters.
5. They believed in dog heads, fish man, and different monsters
6. They had fear of the unknown
7. They thought the world was ending and judgment was upon them
8. The value of your life was depended on what class you were in
9. The peasants were servants and had to work on their lord's land and would get punished if they tried to escape. They could also be sold

Review Notes

1. Mesopotamia
• Ziggurat is a Sumerian temple
• In the old testament account of genesis Eden is its own place in Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia- cradle of civilization
• First writing system and first mathematic, first law, monumental architecture
2. Egypt
• Egypt was a death obsessed culture
• The pyramids were tombs
• Egyptians believed in the life force name ka
• They believed when you die it is essential to prepare the body so the ka could leave the body and call it when it is ready.
• When the ka leaves the body it does not go right to the afterlife it has to hang around in the tomb
• When the ka is called to the after life it has to sit in the judgment where the heart is weighed against a feather. If it is lighter than a feather then your soul is destroyed and there is no after life.
• It was the job of the pharaoh to make sure it rained enough
• The geography of Egypt is there is dessert then green land and then the river
• The pharaoh becomes a symbol or god for making sure that the cycle happens over and over again of the river flooding
3. Ancient Greece
• Minoans- king Minos. Lived on Crete.
• The Minoans ended when a nearby island had a volcanic eruption it caused tsunamis to hit Crete and the gasses alter the climate a lot and it had a failure of their harvest and they could not survive.
• There are many ways that culture can collapse
• Misonian culture- Greeks of the Trojan war
• People think of whether the war actually happened and there are many theories about it
• After the Trojan war Greece goes into the dark ages
• Polis is Greek for city-state
4. Persian wars
• if the Greeks lose Athens then everything we know about European doesn't happen. And there is no north American civilization
• Then Athens becomes a huge power
• Meanwhile Sparta is gaining strength
• They start to fight

What's So Wrong With Social Orders?

Social orders were a very bad thing, they caused problems and they were very unfair. Social orders are,” a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_order) In the middle ages the social orders were terrible and it was very unfair to the people.
The social orders in the middle ages were unfair but also uncontrollable to the people. When you were born you were born into a specific class and you had no control over it. So you could be born into a peasant family and you would be a peasant for the rest of your life. If you were born into an upper class family you would always be in the upper class. In the middle ages there was also feudalism. Feudalism is “a social system based on a society in which peasant agriculture is the fundamental productive activity; in which slavery is non-existent or marginal but peasants are tied to the land in some way; and in which a small elite defined by military activity dominates.” (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1i.html) Feudalism was unfair to the people and it made the people in the lower class angry.
In the feudal system there was the upper class and the lower class. The upper class had control over all the lower class. The upper class was more of the kings and nobles. The lower class were the peasants and the serfs. They were born into their class so no matter what they did they would never move up to the upper class. These social orders were discriminating because it was not fair to the lower class people. The lower class was much bigger than the upper class. The peasants were about ninety percent of the population of the middle ages. The peasants weren’t slaves but they were pretty much treated like that. They could even be sold. They would also be punished terribly of they did something wrong. It was terrible to be born into a lower class family. (http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/hifeudal.html)
There were three orders in medieval society. These three orders were those who work, those who fight, and those who pray. Those who work were the serfs, peasants, and slaves. They would work on their lord’s land. They didn’t travel much farther than the estate that their lord lived on. Most serfs were not free but eventually when the economy was changing more and more serfs started to become free, but a lot of them were still not free. Those who fight were the medieval nobility. They had to protect the weak and poor. They also had to conduct chivalry. The members of nobility were free but they still had some limitations. They had military obligation to their lord. Those who pray were the clergy. They were at the top of the medieval society. The village priest had to administer the sacraments. There were also many monks. These social orders were a bad thing because it was extremely unfair to the people who worked because they would do a lot of work and not have as much money as the people who fight who did not have to work but still had more money. (http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture23b.html)
Overall social orders were a bad thing which also led to the peasant revolt. It was very unfair to the lower people because they probably worked harder than the upper class people but they got much less in return. All of the different parts of social orders were bad in the middle ages.

sources:

Centuries, 12th. "Lecture 23: Medieval Society: The Three Orders." The History Guide -- Main. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture23b.html

"Medieval Sourcebook: Crisis, Recovery, Feudalism?" FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1i.html

"THE MIDDLE AGES: THE FEUDAL SYSTEM." Oracle ThinkQuest Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/hifeudal.html

"Social Order." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_order

Did Gothic architecture reflect a change in Church theology?

Gothic architecture did reflect a change in Church theology. Gothic architecture changed from the Romanesque architecture. The Romanesque architecture was much more dark but the Gothic architecture had more light and windows and was more positive. When the churches started to be more Gothic it made the church theology more positive and they didn't think of the end of the world coming. In the Romanesque architecture there would sometimes be on the front of the church as you walk in a picture of Jesus on judgement day. they would always be prepared for the end of the world so they taught people to be careful of what they do because judgement day might be coming soon. Now with the Gothic style there was more hope. They let much more light into the church. they would also look on the more positive things and not look on judgement day coming.

source:

Art Prehistory, Contemporary Art Oceanic/Pacific. "Gothic Art | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Metmuseum.org. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mgot/hd_mgot.htm

Application To be a Knight

Q: Why do you want to be a knight?
A: I want to be a knight because I have worked very hard as a squire to get here. I also want to gain a lot of respect from the people around me and I want to known by the people. I also love to fight which would make being a knight very fun for me.

Q: Are you educated?
A: Yes, I am educated. When I was about eight years old I went to a castle and was trained to become a knight. I strengthened my body and started to learn how to fight as a knight. I was also taught how to read and speak. Then when I was fifteen I became a squire and helped a knight out with his food an armor.

Q: Why would you make a good knight?
A: I think I would make a good knight because I have been training for this for many many years. I know how to fight and use a sword and everything. I know I would be willing to give up everything just to fight and I will not be afraid of death.

Q: Have you ridden horseback?
A: Yes, I have ridden horseback. I actually started riding horseback when I was eight years old and started learning about how to be a knight.

Q: Have you fought before?
A: I have never fought a real, official fight as a knight, but I have fought in practice fights when I was learning and training to be a knight.

Q: Are you willing to give up your life to fight?
A: I am definitely willing to give up my life for fighting. I know that as a knight it will be dangerous and I am ready for the danger. I would rather die as a courageous knight then as a coward.

Q: Are any family members knights?
A: My father and brother are both knights. My father's brothers were also knights, so I want to carry on the tradition in my family and be one as well. It is an important part of our family history.

Q: When did you first want to be a knight?
A: I wanted to be one when my father became a knight because I saw how powerful he was. He was always ready for anything and could face any challenge at any time. Many people looked up to him.

Q: What qualities do you possess that are good to have as a knight?
A: I am a leader, courageous, and loyal. I know what needs to happen in situations and can figure out what should be done in order for something to go the right way.

Q: How long would you want to be a knight?
A: As long as you needed me to be one.

Source:

Wikipedia. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight

Picture Source:

Wikimedia Commons. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gothic_armor_2.jpg

Attack of obesititus

In Germany people loved their food that came from pigs. It was a very common food there since there were so many pigs. Almost every meal consisted of some kind of meat from pigs. In the 10th century these pigs started becoming extremely fat. Nobody knew what the cause of this fatness was. But the people of Germany did not really care because they did not think it was a big problem. In fact, some butchers thought this was a good thing because it would make the meat better.
There was one family in Germany that absolutely loved their pig meat. They had it every night for dinner. Some nights they had pork, and other nights they would have bacon. There was one girl in the family named Sam who was about 14 years old. She was a vegetarian so she never had the meat, but the rest of her family did. She then started to experience a very weird thing. The rest of her family was becoming very very fat and obese. Then as she walked through the city she saw a lot of other people becoming extremely fat. She would always wonder why they were so fat all of a sudden. Then one night she was in her room sleeping when he heard a loud kaboom. She ran over and looked in the room where her brother slept and just saw blood and bones everywhere. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Then her parents ran over and as they were running she just saw both of them explode. This scared the crap out of her. She called 911 and the ambulance came and saw this horrible thing. They decided to take the exploded family to the hospital for testing. They found that something was stopping their digestive system so they got so fat that they blew up. They didn’t understand why Sam didn’t get it while the rest of her family did. Then on the streets random people would just randomly blow up. It was a scary and gruesome thing to see. Many scientists were trying figure out what happened. They finally figured that it was the pig meat that everyone was eating. The bad thing was that Sam started to become fatter. Nobody knew why she was getting it since she never ate meat. They finally figured out that this disease was extremely contagious and just by walking past someone in the street with that disease could get you the disease. Soon everyone was suffering of this disease which they called obesititus. And not many people were left in Germany. Then with people traveling to other countries it started spreading all over the world. People thought the world was going to die. Poor Sam knew that her end was coming very soon. Eventually she blew up and died. Now that over half the world’s population was dead, scientists and doctors were frantically trying to find a cure. They found out if they take the pigs and make them more fit and skinny it will stop infecting the meat that comes from them. Soon they did this to all the pigs and the people stopped getting obesititus. Then the world’s population came back and everyone lived happily ever after, enjoying their pig meat.

Why is dictionary.com a good history source?

http://dictionary.reference.com/ is a very good source to use for history papers. When you have to write a paper about history there will probably be words that you have to put in the paper that most people won't know about. When you put those kind of words in your paper it is a good idea to put a definition for the word also and this website gives you great definitions. Also there might be words that you don't know and it is a good idea to look up what they mean so you know exactly what you are writing about. This source is a great help when you are writing about history.

Submission to Class Blog

By: Michelle Trasatti, Mackenzie Rayburn, and Jen Kreis

Humans have the innate instinct to be free and it is showed by the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Statue of Liberty. The United States of America's Declaration of Independence includes some of the rights that we as human beings have. It states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp) Another symbol of our freedom is the statue of liberty. The idea developed from a Roman goddess that stood for the freedom of many things. Making a statue was one way she show we are a free country. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty) In the first amendment to the Constitution, it states that we have the freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. (http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=about_firstamd) At birth we have rights and freedom due to the fact that we are citizens of the United States based on the laws and rights of the government. Everyone has freedom but a different extreme of freedom. We all have the ability to be free in our country. We have free will and are able to make our own decisions, and most humans have an innate instinct to be free. Most people want to have the ability to say, do, and think whatever they want. People have the desire to be free, but do not always use their freedom. Many people for example, instead of speaking out, follow the crowd. We want to be able to say and do what we want, but we sometimes follow what other people do and do not make a choice based completely on our thoughts and feelings. Most humans have the desire to be free, but some do not use their freedom or some use it in the wrong way.

sources:

"Avalon Project - Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776." Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp

Buchanan, Brian J. "Firstamendmentcenter.org: About." Firstamendmentcenter.org: Welcome to the First Amendment Center Online. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=about_firstamd

"Statue of Liberty - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

The Year 1066

Why do you think the Church and the monasteries became the centers of learning?

In Medieval times the church and monasteries were the centers of learning. Since all the people believed in heaven, hell, and God they really believed in the church and listened to what it said. People thought that the only way they could get to heaven was if the Catholic Church let them. They also learned about how bad hell was. The peasants would also work for the church and pay them in seeds. They believed if they didn't work for the church. the church would be upset and make them go to hell. The church was also very wealthy because they got a lot of money from the people because they were afraid of going to hell. Also the church did not have to pay taxes. All these things came into play with the people always believing what the church said. And since they believed in what the church said so much it made the church the center of learning in medieval times. (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_church.htm)

source:

"The Medieval Church." History Learning Site. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_church.htm

How was the Medieval concept of power and equality different from our contemporary concept?

The Medieval concept of power and equality was extremely different from our concept of power and equality now. They had a higher class which were the kings and the lords and the richer people. These people were worth more money and they were treated much more fairly. They thought of them as much better people. The lower class were the peasants and the slaves. They were worth a lot less money and were treated terribly. People didn't think of them as being as important as the upper class people. In our concept today we think of every one as equal no matter how rich or poor you are. Of course there is still racism and some equality problems, but for the most part people think of everyone as equal.

In the medieval times you were just born into your class. So if you were born into a family that was rich and noble and in the upper class, that is where you would be for the rest of your life. You would not move down to the lower class. Unfortunately for the people that were born into a family of slaves or peasants that were poor and in the lower class, they would stay their for the rest of their life. No matter what they did they would not be able to move up to the upper class. In our world today we are not born into a specific class. If we are born into a family that is poor we can grow up and get a good job and eventually become rich. If we really tried we could even become president even if we were born poor. In the same way, if we are born rich we can then not get a good job and end up being so poor we have to live on the streets. We think of equality in a much better way today then they did in the medieval times.

sources:

"THE MIDDLE AGES: THE FEUDAL SYSTEM." Oracle ThinkQuest Library. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medfeudal.html

Describe the Medieval Imagination

In the medieval times the people had a very big imagination. They believed in many things that today, we find absolutely crazy. Some of the things they believed were true are crazy and we wonder why they believed in those things. They believed in many different monsters other things. They had one story where there was a man in the water and when they took him out the water he would not tell them anything about how he lived in the water. He wouldn't tell them even when he was tortured. They also believed that there used to be people that had dog heads. They thought even though they had dog heads that they were still completely human and acted like humans. There must be some reasons they believed in all of these and also where they came up with these stories. Since they thought that the world was going to end and that judgment was coming upon them all the people were afraid so that is probably why they were so anxious and afraid of everything.

sources:

Inside the Medieval Mind «." Medievalists.net. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. http://www.medievalists.net/2010/02/03/inside-the-medieval-mind/