w. 50

Papers:

Barring any unforeseen problem, your papers will be returned during Tuesday’s lesson.

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Material that we have been covering in recent weeks is also covered in your book. I’ve noted below where in the book you can find information that I’ve discussed. Just browsing through these pages (where there are images and maps) can have a beneficial effect.

 I will also upload some files on Vklass that include slides I showed during class.

The spread of Greek culture by Alexander the Great – Chpt. 5, section 5, pp. 146–149.

I noted that Greek culture (science, technology, language, philosophy, art . . .) was spread to western Asia and northern Africa via Alexander’s armies.

The spread of the Roman Empire – Chpt. 6, section 2, pp. 162–163

The spread of Roman rule throughout western Europe provided a central political authority in Europe.

The fall of the Western Roman Empire - Chpt. 6, section 2, pp. 175–176

Split between Western and Eastern Roman Empires – Chpt. 11, section 1, p. 304–305

I didn’t talk about this that much, but here you’ll find a little info about when the split happened and about the differences between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox.

Effects of the fall of the Western Roman Empire – Chpt. 13, section 1, p. 353

Feudalism – Chpt. 13, section 2, p. 360-361

I didn’t talk about feudalism, but it is the basis of European politics in the Middle Ages

The expansion and organization of the Catholic Church – Chpt. 13, section 4, pp. 370–371

I noted that Christianity spread throughout Europe during the first half of the Middle Ages. So even though Europe was no longer unified politically, and people all over Europe spoke different languages, there was a unity of a sort via the religion they practiced. And this was all the more the case because the Catholic Church became a very structured organization. (Recall the pyramidal organization I presented.)

The Crusades – Chpt. 14, section 1, pp. 382–383

The book talks about why the Crusades occurred and some of the reasons people joined these military campaigns to take back the Holy Land from Muslims. My focus was on the effects of the Crusades, which is discussed in the next point (Renaissance).

The Renaissance – Chpt. 17, section 1, pp. 471, 472

The increase in trade and the introduction of new ideas re-introduced to Europe as a result of the Crusades is the basis for economic growth, a shift in values, and new intellectual pursuits in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. See p. 485 for “The Legacy of the Renaissance.”

Protestant Reformation – Chpt. 17, section 3, pp.488–489, 491

A new form of Christianity is introduced into Europe via the Protestant Reformation. Other churches also developed besides Lutheranism. For our discussion of Swedish history, we will focus on Lutheranism. And our focus will be on the ability of GV to take over the CC’s wealth (econ.), that the Swedish king became the head of the church in Sweden (pol.), and that Lutheranism put a focus on each person reading the Bible as a part of their spiritual development (social/educ.).

Scientific Revolution – Chpt. 22, section 1, pp. 623–628

The Sci. Rev. is of key importance because of the way in which Europeans start to look for answers to questions. Rather than depending only on the guidance of religious leaders and even texts from antiquity, people start using observation, experimentation, the collection of data, the use of instruments to make various measurements to get evidence in order to test ideas and find answers. This is important not only for advances in science and technology (for there can be no Industrial Revolution without science and technology), but it also provides a logical approach that will be used to answer other questions not related to the physical world (e.g., politics, human rights, behavior . . . ).

The Enlightenment – Chpt. 22, section 2, pp. 629–634. Also, see file on Vklass

There are many key ideas that are very important to understand:

-the idea of natural rights – p.630

-separation of powers (or the branches of power/government) – p. 631

-questioning the divine right of kings – p. 633

-effects of the Enlightenment (secularism, importance of the individual) – p. 634

w. 48

Here is the abbreviation/symbol table I showed you. Later today or tomorrow, I will post a summary from last week's lesson.

Here are some of the highlights of what we covered in class during w. 48:

We are working on getting a basis of European history so that we will be able to discuss Swedish history of the past 500 years. Once we get to Sweden want to be able to think about

-religion

-economics

-politics

-social issues

-military issues

Because we are going to be talking about how all of these issues are interconnected. So you will further develop skills in understanding and discussing processes of change and various causes and consequences.

Toward that end, you need to have some basic outline of European developments. By week 50, I would like for you to be able to lay out on a timeline the falling historical periods and events:

Ancient Rome (republic and empire)

Middle Ages

Crusades

invention of the printing press

Renaissance

Protestant Reformation

Scientific Revolution

Enlightenment

Industrial Revolution

Note:

1)    most of those things are capitalized (both first and second word)  
2) many of those things overlap one of two of the other things. So when laying them out on a timeline, you have to show that they overlap by doing something like this:

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I discussed some elements regarding Antiquity because we refer back to Ancient Greece and Rome when discussing the Crusades and the Renaissance.

ANTIQUITY

-The civilization of the Ancient Greece was in its Golden Age in the 5^th c. B.C.E. (400s B.C.E.). This was the time of the Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian Wars, the Parthenon, the great dramatists such as Sophocles and Euripides, the philosophers Socrates and Plato.

-Alexander the Great created his empire the 4^th c. B.C.E. (300s B.C.E.). He was tutored by Aristotle. AtG loved Greek culture and spread it throughout his empire. As a result, much of the ancient world –– including texts of drama, philosophy, medicine, mathematics (which was primarily geometry), science –– were spread throughout lands outside of Greece. These texts were not only known but were in some case were further developed in Arabic and Indian societies. We brought this up because it is relevant to understanding the reconnection with culture from Antiquity that occurs as a result of the Crusades.

During the Roman Empire (from the 1^st c. B.C.E. to the 5^th c. A.D.), there was political unity throughout the empire, there was intensive trading within Europe, and there was intensive trading with people and societies outside of Europe.

During the 5^th c. A.D., the western part of the Roman Empire falls. As a result

-       there is no longer a central political governance of Europe.

-       Europe breaks into many small kingdoms. Occasionally a large kingdom appears, but until we get to the 1400s, these usually don’t last that long.

-       trade with Europe decreases dramatically.

-       trade with peoples and societies outside of Europe decreases dramatically. (The Vikings become important in terms of trade in Europe between 800 and 1000.) Once Europe re-establishes trade with Asia during the Crusades, there is no longer the same need for Vikings as traders.

During the Middle Ages

-       literacy drops significantly in Europe.

-       Christianity spreads gradually throughout Europe. It becomes what unifies Europe. (That is, there is no common political leadership, there is no common language among people). The Catholic Church develops a top-down organization. The monks become the primary scribes (people who write things) in Europe. And thus most texts are religious texts.

-       the Church becomes the source of most all knowledge and information.

-       human life is not valued. It is the afterlife that is of greatest importance. Man is understood to be full of sin.

-       Art reflects the desire to glorify God and His message. It is the spiritual message that is most important.

Crusades

-       These were the result of the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (based in Constantinople), Alexius I, reaching out to the pope, Urban II (the head of the Catholic Church), to request “back-up,” if you will, to keep at bay Seljuk Turks who the emperor felt were threatening him.

-       Urban II went beyond the request and rather than sending an army, decided to try to call together soldiers from throughout western Europe, under his (the pope’s) leadership (not literally on the battlefield) to take back the Holy Land from Muslims (which was not was Alexius asked for). As a result, soldiers – or crusaders – came together from all over Europe to go fight non-Christians in the Holy Land.

-       What we care about is that there were multiple Crusades, starting in 1096 and ending in the early 13^th century, and as a result of Europeans going back and forth and back and forth and back forth and back and forth between Europe and the Middle East, Europe got

1)    renewed contact with culture from Ancient Greece and Rome

2)    contact with new goods and products (e.g., foods, textiles, luxury items) – which they rather liked.

-       Most important!!: Trade within Europe and with people and societies outside of Europe starts to increase. This increase in goods, in knowledge – and this increase in income that comes with the trade – creates major changes in Europe. And so we get a new name for this new period.

The Renaissance

-       The Ren. starts in Italy – because it is physically so close to all this back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth travel with the Middle East.

-       During this time, people gain a new world’s view. As a result of this change, man’s life on earth is valued in a manner it was not during the Middle Ages. There is a new appreciation for man’s accomplishments during life here on earth. As a result, we know the names of many individual artists, architects, writers, and others – which was not the norm during the Middle Ages.

-       After the Crusades some universities were started in Europe (Bologna, Oxford, Naples, Paris, Padua . . .). The focus of study was still very much focused around religious issues, but during the Renaissance, there is a greater and greater focus on knowledge connected with work from Ancient Greece and Rome.