Middle+Ages

=Middle Ages= toc With the decline of Rome, there was no one to stop the advancement of the warring Germanic tribes. These tribes traveled in search of food, wealth, and shelter, and often left devastation behind them. The result was that civilized life saw a long period of decline. Building slowed down, bridges and roads fell into serious decline and disuse. The lack of good roads and bridges, and the danger caused by the roaming Germanic tribes, and bandits made it difficult to send goods from one place to another.

The lack of trade seriously hurt the local economies of Europe. Additionally, during this time period there was a general decline in education. Overall, the lives of the people were harder, they had less food, poorer educations, and lower living conditions than earlier generations. This time period has come to be known as the Dark Ages, or Medieval times. Medieval means “Middle Age” and refers to the fact that these difficult timess bridged the ancient world with the modern world.

=Geography= Even though Europe is considered its own continent, one of the seven of the world, it is actually part of a larger mass of land. Europe forms the western portion of the landmass and Asia forms the eastern part of the same landmass. This entire mass is called Eurasia. The Ural Mountains, the Ural River, part of the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains mark the boundary between Europe and Asia. Europe has mountainous regions and islands. It also has peninsulas like the Italian Peninsula, Scandinavian Peninsula, and the Iberian Peninsula.

Europe’s Waterways, Vegetation, and Climate Europe is crossed by various waterways. The Seine River runs through modernday France; the Danube River crosses part of modern Germany, Austria, and Hungary; and the Tiber River is in modern-day Italy. To the south of the continent is the Mediterranean Sea. To the north is the Baltic Sea above part of Germany and Poland, and the North Sea above part of Germany and the Netherlands and to the east of Great Britain.

Europe has many forests, although many of them have been cut down for human settlements. Pine trees, fir trees, and oak, elm, and maple trees are often found in the central part of the continent that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the boundary of Asia. In the high mountains of the northern portion of the continent, you might see mosses, shrubs, lichens, and wild flowers. There are prairies on the Great European Plain. The Mediterranean region has many olive trees and other fruits like grapes and figs.

The climate of Europe is usually moderate. In the northern part of the continent, it is temperate cool. For most of the remaining part of the continent, it is temperate warm.

=The Franks= In A.D. 481 a Merovingian King by the name of Clovis came to power. He was a brutal warrior, who delighted in bloodshed on the battlefield. Fifteen years after taking the throne, Clovis became converted to Christianity. The conversion of Clovis was critical in European history. He encouraged his people to also convert to this new faith. The Germanic tribes would be critical in later years in defending Christianity against invading Muslims. By A.D. 700 the Merovingian kings had lost control of the region inhabited by the Franks. Instead, power fell to a leader who was known as the Mayor of the Palace. In A.D. 732 Islam invaded Europe in an attempt to convert the Christians to the Islam faith. They had already conquered much of Europe, including almost all of Spain. As the Muslims entered what is now modern day France, a mayor of the palace by the name of Charles Martel met them with his forces in the city of Tours. Martel and his forces were able to beat back the Muslims, protecting the rest of Europe, and insuring that the religion practiced by the Europeans would remain Christianity.

Coat of Arms || The concept of using a coat of arms as a form of identification goes way back to Roman times, and possibly further back than that. In Roman times, a coat of arm was used to identify groups of fighting men within the Roman legion. In the Middle Ages, a distinctive coat of arms was used to identify each noble family. Each item in the design had meaning. Once a coat of arms was adopted by a family, the design was placed on shields held by knights of the manor, embroidered on tapestries, and carved in stone throughout the castle or manor house. It was placed on swords and on banners and even burnt into the top of breads on special occasions. A family's heraldry was important. It said, "This is who we are, and we are special." That is heraldry. Each noble family not only had its own heraldry, each employed a herald. A herald was a person. ||
 * Heraldry includes a family motto and a family coat of arms. A herald is the person hired to take care of the objects of a family's heraldry. People in medieval times used personal and family banners and shields to express their identity and status in society. Think of your school logo, or the logo of a professional sports team. These logos are so distinctive that you can recognize your school banner or your favorite team simply by their logo. Heraldry is the same kind of thing, but a bit more structured. Heraldry includes a family motto and a family coat of arms. The actual design of the coat of arms followed a pattern, although each was distinctive. As time went on, a family's heraldry was recorded so that no one could copy the pattern or take it for themselves. Today, you can look up a family name and find their family coat of arms in the old records. There is usually a charge for this, but you can do it. The records are there. ||  ||
 * A herald's job was to make sure that the family's heraldry was properly used, displayed, and understood.
 * The herald was responsible for teaching the sons and knights of the fief to recognize the heraldry of other noble families. In these violent times, it was important to be able to quickly recognize friend from foe.
 * The herald also acted as the announcer or the scorekeeper at a joust. He shouted out what was happening, who was winning, and why.

Once a coat of arms was adopted by a family, the design was placed on shields held by knights of the manor, embroidered on tapestries, and carved in stone throughout the castle or manor house. It was placed on swords and on banners and even burnt into the top of breads on special occasions. A family's heraldry was important. It said, "This is who we are, and we are special." That is heraldry. Each noble family not only had its own heraldry, each employed a herald. A herald was a person.
 * The concept of using a coat of arms as a form of identification goes way back to Roman times, and possibly further back than that. In Roman times, a coat of arm was used to identify groups of fighting men within the Roman legion. In the Middle Ages, a distinctive coat of arms was used to identify each noble family. Each item in the design had meaning.
 * A herald's job was to make sure that the family's heraldry was properly used, displayed, and understood.
 * The herald was responsible for teaching the sons and knights of the fief to recognize the heraldry of other noble families. In these violent times, it was important to be able to quickly recognize friend from foe.
 * The herald also acted as the announcer or the scorekeeper at a joust. He shouted out what was happening, who was winning, and why. ||

||
 * May 30 ||  || Notes: Europe and the Middle Ages ||   || [[file:Europe and the Middle Ages.pptx]][[file:skeletal notes europe and the middle ages.docx]] ||
 * May 31 ||  || The Feudal Order ||   || [[file:feudal_hierarchy.pdf]][[file:The Feudal Order.docx]] ||
 * June 1 ||  || Venn Diagram ||   || pages 63- 67
 * June 4 ||  || Coat of Arms ||   || [[file:My_Shield.doc]][[file:Shield_Template.doc]] ||
 * June 5 ||  || Religion in the Middle Ages ||   || [[file:Religion in the Middle Ages.docx]] ||
 * June 6 ||  || The Crusades ||   ||   ||
 * June 7 ||  || Environmental Days ||   ||   ||
 * June 8 ||  || The Crusades ||   ||   ||
 * June 11 ||  || The Crusades ||   ||   ||
 * June 12 ||  || Medieval Towns ||   || [[file:town reading.pdf]] ||
 * June 13 ||  || Black Death ||   || [[file:The-Black-Death.pdf]] ||
 * June 14 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * June 15 ||  || last day of school ||   ||   ||
 * June 14 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * June 15 ||  || last day of school ||   ||   ||