End of Western Civ

Since today is our last day of blogging we are reflecting on the year. I really enjoyed this class. As much as I hated the blogs at the beginning, I ended up getting used to them and I like how much they help my grade. If the blogs weren't a thing, then my grade would be a lot lower. I also liked that throughout the year you always told us what would be on the test and exactly what to study. I can tell that you really care about all of us doing well cause you try to help us get good grades. Overall I really enjoyed this class and I would like to thank you for being such a good teacher. You have been one of my favorite teachers and I hope I get to be in your class next year.

Luther

95 Theses:
- 95 objections with the church nailed to the church by Luther
- "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficiency of indulgences"
1. people win salvation by faith in Gods gift of forgiveness
2. All church teachings should be based on the Bible
3. All people with faith are equal. People do not need priests to interpret the Bible for them
"Reformed" = "Reformation"

Pushback from church:
- Luthers ideas get popular and church criticizes him and his "heretical" ideas
Pope Leo X- Issues a decree threatening Luther with excommunication unless he took back his statements
- Luther is declared "an outlaw" and a "hectic" and escapes from Worms
- He is supposed to be arrested
- It is made a crime for anyone to give Luther food or shelter
- His writings are banned and books are burned
- Anyone is permitted to kill Martin Luther
- Disguises himself as "Junker Jörg"

Luther/Reformation

Church is weakened:
Socially- Renaissance emphasized secular values and challenged churches authority
printing press helped ideas spread

Politically- Some rulers (especially Germans) began to challenge political power

Economically- Northern merchants resented paying church taxes to Rome

Wrong with church:
- Corrupt leadership
  Popes spent peoples money on personal things
  Pope Alexander VI admitted to having several kids
- Priests were poorly educated and not able to read or teach
- Many priests drank to excess and gambled

Indulgences:
- Sold indulgences and made people believe they could be bad on earth but still get into Heaven
- Johann Tetzel was a monk who sold indulgences to try to rebuild St. Peters Cathedral

Luther Leads the Reform

An indulgence was a pardon that released a sinner from performing the penalty that a priest imposed for sins.
The reformation was a movement for religious freedom.
The Lutherans were a separate religious group created by Luther and his followers.
Protestants were the protesting princes at one time, but are now Christians who belong to non-Catholic churches.
The famous religious settlement where princes agrees that each ruler would decide the religion of his state was called the Peace of Augsburg.
Annul means to set aside.
The Angelican Church was set up by parliament in 1559.

3. The political, economic, and social problems that helped bring about the Reformation were the idea of humanism that made people realize they had value. Also the invention and usage of the printing press helped them to excel.

4. The term Protestantism originated from Martin Luther who started Lutheranism, John Calvin who founded Calvinism, and King Henry VIII who started Anglicanism. Those were the three branches of Protestantism at first that developed from the Reformation. They spread throughout Europe and into the rest of the world.

Painting Press

Today in class we learned about the printing press. It was invented originally in China. Johannes Gutenberg was the one who revolutionized it. We also watched a long video that showed how it is used. It is a long and interesting process, but at the time it was the quickest solution. With this invention, books were able to be printed much quicker. The old man in the video spent his whole life devoted to a printing press. It is almost sad because there are so many modern inventions that could be used instead. If that's what he enjoys though, then good for him.

Renaissance

Humanism-
- A deep interest in what people had already achieved, as well as what they are capable of achieving in the future
- Classical (Ancient Greek, Roman) writings were important to them
- Worldly (secular) values- concerned with here & now

"Renaissance man"-
Someone who could master many fields of work
ex- Leonardo da Vinci

"Renaissance woman"-
Women there to inspire artists. not create art
ex- Isabella d'Este


Sculpture-
- Made realistic figures such as Pieta
- Carved from marble by Michelangelo
- St. Peter's Basilica
- Frescos- A technique of mural painting made upon freshly-laid, wet lime plaster

Literature-
- Wrote in vernacular (native language)
- Previously written in latin or greek
- More accessible to masses
- Wrote to express thoughts and feelings
- Shakespeare wrote in English
- Dante Alighieri wrote about Hell in Italian- The Divine Comedy
- Niccole Machiavelli wrote in Italian- The Prince
- Books theme was that the aims of glory and survival can justify being immoral

Renaissance and Reformation

1300- Renaissance begins in Italian city-states- Florence, Milan, and Mantua
1324- Mali king Mansa Musa makes a pilgrimage to Mecca
1368- Hongwu founds Ming Dynasty in China
1405- Chinese explorer Zheng begins exploration of Asia and Africa
1434- Medici family takes control of Florence
1453- Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople
1455- Gutenburg Bible printed in Mainz
1492- Columbus reaches the Americas
1517- Martin Luther begins Reformation in Wittenberg
1526- Babur establishes Mughal empire in India
1534- English King Henry VII starts the Church of England
1563- Council of Trent mandates reforms in Catholic Church

Renaissance- period of "rebirth"
- Started because of trade with Eat and rediscovery of ancient manuscripts
- Martin Luther started the reformation
- Reformed practices in Catholic Churches
- Invention of printing press made books quickly and cheap
- New technology helped spread revolutionary ideas

- Italy-  birth place of Renaissance
- Rebirth of learning
- Produced many great works of art/literature
- Art and literature still influence modern art and literature

The Renaissance

Questions 1,3,4, and 5

1. Renaissance is the movement that started in Italy that cause an explosion in art and writing from 1300 to 1600.

Humanism is an intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements.

Secular is the basic spirit of the society, meaning worldly instead of spiritual. 

Patrons were church leaders during the Renaissance who beautified Rome and supported artists. Wealthy families and merchants were also patrons

Perspective was a technique that artists used which showed three dimensions on a flat surface.

Vernacular is the everyday language of people in a region or country.

3. Renaissance men were very charming and well educated. They were good writers and enjoyed dancing and music. They were very good riders and wrestlers. Woman were also very charming. They were to inspire art, but were not the creators. 

4. Italy's cities helped make it the birth place of the Renaissance because the merchant class was very wealthy. The heritage of Greek culture also helped them to thrive. 

5. The attitude of the Church leaders was to care a lot about Rome. They beautified it and spent a lot of money on art. They also became patrons because they supported artists financially. 

Test day

Today we took our test and it was pretty hard. I was expecting it to be hard since there's so much we learned to remember and jam into our brains. I wanted to do well but I think I probably got like 10 questions wrong. Thats still an 80% so that's good I guess. It's my fault and I should have studied more but with everything going on these past couple days for me I have been slacking with school a little bit. I guess I'll see what I got on the test soon enough though.

Rome test tomorrow

- Built on hill-  Palatine
- Roman legion- 5000 unpaid soldiers
- Punic Wars- three wars, Rome vs. Carthage
first war- fought in Sicily
second war- Hannibal came from north
third war- Rome came in and slaughtered Carthage

- Etruscans- came from north central part of peninsula; metalworkers, artists, architects
- Latins- first to settle in Rome; Settled on banks of Tiber
- Tarquin the Proud- Seventh and final king of Rome
- Lucretia- Matron in Rome who Sextus raped; eventually killed herself

- Kings replaced by two consuls
- Patricians- 2% of population- rich people
- Plebians- 98% of population- poor, farmers
 refused to serve in military until laws were written out - 12 Tables Law
- Tribunes- elected tribal leaders
- SPQR- Senatus Populusque Romanum

Rome review day

I was absent Monday the 13th.

Rome (Day 8)

- Borrowed and adopted cultural elements from Greek and Hellenistic cultures
- Each province and city governed the same way
- Proud of ability to rule
- Second century BC- Romans conquered Greece
- Educated romans learned Greek language
- Romans didn't copy culture, they took and it and adapted it to and created their own style

- Roman art and liturature conveyed ideas of strength, permanence, and solidity
- Sculptors made realistic portraits in stone
- Practical and used for public education
- Used  bas- relief to tell stories
- Skilled in making mosaics
- Very good at painting

- Borrowed philosophy from Greeks
- Stoicism- philosophy of Greek teacher Zeno
- encouraged virtue, duty, moderation, endurance

- Virgil- Greek poet
- Spent ten years writing the Aeneid, most famous work of Latin literature
- Modeled after Greek epics of Homer
- Tactius- Roman historian who presented facts accurately
- Concerned about Romans lack of mortality

- Latin remained language in the West after fall of Rome
- Official language in Roman Catholic Church until 20th century
- More than half the words in English have a Latin basis

- Arch, dome, and concrete combined to build Colosseum
- Arches supported bridges and aqueducts
- Colosseum construction started by Emperor Vespasian
- Completed by his sons- Titus and Domitian
- Both rich and poor got to enjoy for free

- Many US buildings have Roman features
- Roads built by army
- Constructed out of stone, concrete, and sand
- Connected Rome to all parts of Empire

- Early Roman law- strengthened rights of Roman citizens
- As empire grew people believed laws should be fair to rich and poor
- Standards of justice influenced by Stoic philosophers
- Most important principles-
  * All persons had right to equal treatment
  * Innocent until proven guilty
  * Burden of proof rested with accuser not the accused
  * Person should be punished for actions only, not thoughts
  * Any law seeming unreasonable or unfair  could be set aside

1. Greco-Roman culture- The new culture that emerged when elements of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman were mixed
Pompeii- Ancient Roman town that got smothered in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted.
Virgil- Roman poet who spent ten years writing the Aeneid
Aqueducts- Designed by Roman engineers to bring water into cities and towns

5. Latin influenced the development of other western languages because it started the Romance languages.

Rome (Day 7)

The United States and the Roman Empire have many similarities and many parallels when it comes to the possible collapse. However, the United States has learned from the mistakes of the civilizations that came previously and knows what to do to avoid a collapse. I think that there is definitely a chance that the United States will fall, but it is unlikely. One reason that the U.S. could collapse is the rising cost of elections. Every year, the cost of elections rises, just like the Roman Empire. This is definitely a concern, as well as the amount of debt that we are in. A reason that there would not be a collapse is that the military is very different. Rome's military power changed a lot and was taken over many different times. America has a very good and powerful army with nuclear warfare if needed. Hopefully it won't need to be used anytime soon, because a nuclear war would be very bad for the country. We are at constant war so that is a reason that there could be a collapse. Overall, there are many reasons for both sides of the argument, but I think that America is pretty stable, at least for the time being and won't have a collapse. 

Rome (Day 6)

- Faced many problems in 300 AD that came from inside and outside the empire
- End of the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius
- Ended the Pax Romana
- Leaders that followed didn't know how to deal with the empire

- Tribes in Mediterranean Sea disputed trade
- Romans lacked new sources of gold and silver
- Gov raised taxes cause they needed money
- Made coins containing less silver
- Economy suffered from inflation
- Harvests in Italy/Western Europe lost its fertile soil due to being overworked
- Years of war destroyed farmland
- Food shortages and disease spread made population decline

- Roman soldiers were less disciplined and not loyal
- Gave allegiance to commanders instead of Rome
- Gov defended against threats with mercenaries
- Accepted little pay but were not loyal to empire
- Citizens became less loyal
- Stopped caring about the fate of the empire

- Survived intact for 200 more years because of good emperors and empires division into 2 parts
- 284 AD- Diocletian became emperor
- Limited personal freedoms
- Restored empire and increased strength
- Doubled the size of army
- Set fixed prices for goods to control inflation
- Claimed he descended from Roman Gods
- Divided empire east and west
- East spoke Greek, west spoke Latin
- Controlled eastern half and appointed co-ruler for west but kept overall control
- East more wealthy than west
- Retired in 305 AD due to bad health
- Cicil war broke out right after

- 311 AD- 4 rivals fought for power
- Constantine gained control of western empire in 312 AD
- 324 AD- Secured control of the east and was now single ruler
- Moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium (now Turkey)
- Center of power shifted to the east
- City took new name of Constantinople
- Constantine died and the empire divided again
- East survived, west fell

- Collapse took place over many years
- Collapse the result of internal problem, separation of western empire, and outside invasions
- 370 AD- Mongol nomads, the Huns moved into region and began destroying everything in sight
- Germanic people pushed into Roman lands
- Western Empire could not get an army together to stop them
- 410 AD- Germans overran Rome

- 444 AD- Huns united under powerful chieftain named Attila
- 100,000 soldiers terrorized all of the empire
- Armies attacked 70 cities
- Couldn't conquer the city because of famine
- Attila died and the Huns were no longer a threat
- Germanic invasions continued

- Emperor was 14 year old boy, Romulus Augustulus
- Ousted by German forced in 476 AD
- No more rulers or emperors after that
- No more Roman power in the western half
- Eastern half came to be called Byzantine Empire
- Preserved Greek and Roman heritage for another 1000 years
- Empire lasted until 1453 when it fell to Ottoman Turks

1. Inflation- A drastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices
Mercenaries- Foreign soldiers who fought for money
Diocletian- Strong-willed army leader who became emperor of Rome in 284 AD
Constantinople- Byzantine's new name when it became the capital
Attila- Powerful chieftain who united the Huns in 444

3. The main causes of the empires decline were inflation, the growing population, loss of loyalty, and economy fall. There were many other reasons as well but those were the main reasons.

4. Diocletian succeeded in preserving the empire because he fixed many problems and he split the empire in half,  making it smaller and easier to control.

5. Germanic tribes began invading the empire because they were fleeing the Huns. They ran from them through the provinces of Gaul, Spain, and North Africa.

Rome (Day 5)

- Worship of Gods practiced without emotion
- Empire grew so did Christianity
- Power spread to Judea
- Rome took control of Jewish kingdom in 6AD and made it part of empire
- Jesus born in town of Bethlehem in Judea
- Chief priests of the Jews denied he was the Messiah
- Body placed in a tomb and gone 3 days later
- Convinced apostles more than ever Jesus was the Messiah

- Followers of Jesus spread his ideas after his death
- Christianity spread slowly throughout Roman Empire
- Apostle Paul had a vision of Jesus and spent his life spreading his teachings
- Paul wrote letters called Epistles
- Pax Romana made travel very safe
- Spoke Latin and Greek

- 66 AD- band of Jews rebelled against Rome
- 70 AD- Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed Temple
- half a million Jews killed during rebellion
- 132 AD- Jews tried to break free of Romans again
- Another half a million Jews died over 3 years of fighting
- Jews driven from homeland into exile

- Christians were a problem for Roman rulers
- Refusal to worship Roman Gods was seen as opposition to Roman rule
- Second century- Pax Romana began to crumble
- Persecution of Christians intensified
- Thousands were exiled, imprisoned, burned, killed by wild animals, or executed
- Persecuted Christians as martyrs- people willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of a belief or a case

Christianity grew cause it-
- Embraced all people
- Appealed to those who were repelled by Rome
- Offered a personal relationship with a loving God
- Promised eternal life after death

- 312 AD- Roman emperor Constantine fought three rivals for leadership of Rome
- Prayed for divine help and saw an image of a cross
- Put image of cross on soldiers shields
- Won the battle, giving all credit to God
- 313 AD- Constantine announced the end to persecution of Christians
- In the Edict of Milan he declared christianity one of the religions approved by the emperor
- 380 AD- Emperor Theodosius made it empire's official religion

- Peter became first bishop in Jerusalem
- Peter the "rock" on which christianity was built, according to Jesus
- Each major city eventually had its own bishop
- Rome was the capital of Empire and center of the church

- Belief that contradicted church teachings was called a heresy
- Nicene Creed clarified the beliefs of Christians
- Fathers of the church were early writers who were very influential
- Augustine was very influential
- Wrote the City of God
- Christianity rose while Roman Empire weakened

1. Jesus- A Jew born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea who is known as the Messiah in the Christian religion
Apostle- 12 men who were taught under Jesus
Paul- An apostle who had an enormous influence in Christianity's development
Disapora- The dispersal of the Jews
Constantine- Roman emperor who fought three rivals for leadership of Rome and won
Bishop- Someone who is also a priest and supervised several local churches
Peter- The apostle who traveled from Rome to Jerusalem and became the first bishop there
Pope- Father or head of the christian church

3. Jesus emphasized God's personal to each person in his early teachings.

4. Early Christians faced persecution from the Romans because they refused to worship Roman Gods and this was seen as opposition to Roman rule.

5. The Nicene Creed is important because it defines the basic beliefs of the church.

Rome (Day 4)

Rap vs. the textbook

The rap starts out talking about the Etruscans, Greeks, and Latins coming first. This is what actually happened and the textbook tells us that they battled for control of the land from 1000-500 BC.

Tarquin was a tyrant in Rome who "got a little loud" according to the rap. He was driven from power in 509 BC according to the textbook. This is when Rome declared that they would never have a king again and they created a republic. 

It says in the rap that it was three governments rolled into one. The textbook tells us how the Romans took features of the democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy and ruled it into one. 

Also, there were Patricians which were the group of wealthy land owners, and the plebeians who were the group of common farmers. 

A roman legion consists of 5000 soldiers and they each had a shield, sword, dagger, armor, and tunic. Rome fought against Carthage during the Punic Wars. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general who was a great and smart leader, but the Romans were able to defeat him. 

Next in the rap it says that the rich are getting richer. This refers to the patricians because they were the rich and privileged ones, but the plebeians were no match for them. When it says the farmers can't cope and they're low on hope, it's talking about the plebeians who don't have nearly as much as the patricians.

The Gracchus brothers tried to help the poor, but ended up making a lot of enemies with the rich and senators. That is what is meant when it says in the rap "Rich, please don't attack us! We got a feeling that the senators will whack us."

In 60 Bc was when Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a triumvirate. The textbook tells us that they dominated Rome for the next ten years. Caesar led his soldiers to conquer Gaul and won his mens loyalty. "He swept over Gaul just like an ocean" and then came back to Rome. Pompey fled and couldn't understand all of the commotion. 

Julius Caesar and his troops then crossed the Rubicon River in Italy and kept going. They defeated Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. In 44 BC Caesar was appointed dictator for life. 

On March 15, the Ides of March according to the rap and powerpoint, Brutus and the Senate murdered Julius Caesar. They stabbed him 23 times, according to the rap. 

Octavian, who was only 18 years old formed a new triumvirate with Lepidus and Mark Antony. It says in the rap "And Mark Antony I trust ('Til Marky met thus chick Cleopatra from Egypt)". Once that happened, the textbook tells us how he was accused of trying to rule Rome from Egypt and became enemies with Octavian and forced Lepidus to retire. It says "Lust for power started peakin", referring to Mark Antony. 

They gave Octavian the name Augustus which meant "exalted one." He became the unchallenged leader of Rome and "All his subjects did proclaim." 

In 27 BC for 207 years, according to the rap the "Pax Romana is the word that brings the cheer." The textbook tells us that it was a period of peace and prosperity in Rome. The government built roads.

The slaves living back then didn't have many rights. The textbook tells us that the slaves who lived in wealthy homes had more rights then the ones who lived in poorer homes. The were forced to be in gladiator fights.