Category: 10th Grade History

Major innovations of the Gothic cathedral. According to anthenapub.com, “The two main structural innovations of Gothic architecture were pointed arches and ogival or  (Bony 1983).” A pointed arch is an arch were the crown of the arch is pointed upward. According to people.wou.edu, “Pointed arches were used to direct weight onto load-bearing columns at a sharp angle, thus allowing for much taller vaulted ceilings.” The ribbed vaulting, according to wikipedia, is “an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs.” According to people.wou.edu, “A ribbed vault is an arched form created by the intersection of two or three barrel vaults used to support the weight of walls or a ceiling or roof.“

The significance of the rise of the medieval towns. There were many reasons for the growth of medieval towns. Some of them are the improvement in agriculture, and the revival of trade. Many sellers of products and goods became residents of the towns. Also, towns started to govern themselves with their own government. The rulers of towns were usually just a mayor and a town council.

The divine attributes. According to Cambridge.org, “The Divine Attributes explores the traditional theistic concept of God as the most perfect being possible.” The Divine Attributes are personhood, transcendence, immanence, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, perfect goodness, unity, simplicity and necessity. According to Wikipedia, “The attributes of God are specific characteristics of God discussed in Christian theology. Christians are not monolithic in their understanding of God’s attributes.”

The just-war theory. According to Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Just war theory deals with the justification of how and why wars are fought… The principles of the justice of war are commonly held to be: having just cause, being a last resort, being declared by a proper authority, possessing right intention, having a reasonable chance of success, and the end being proportional to the means used.” So the just-war theory justifies why and how wars were fought, or at least deals with it.

A brief overview of the life and work of Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas was a very influential philosopher, theologian, priest, and Italian Dominican Friar. He was also the number one greatest of the Scholastic Philosophers. He wrote many books and works in his life. According to Google, “His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work.“

What kinds of developments occurred during the renaissance of the twelfth century? According to Wikipedia, “The epoch of the Crusades, of the rise of towns, and of the earliest bureaucratic states of the West, it saw the culmination of Romanesque art and the beginnings of Gothic; the emergence of the vernacular literatures; the revival of the Latin classics and of Latin poetry and Roman law; the recovery of Greek science, …” So, a lot of things happened. But they were all very important.

What was Scholastic philosophy? According to Wikipedia, “Scholasticism is a method of learning more than a philosophy or a theology, since it places a strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference and to resolve contradictions.” So it’s a type of way to learn more things that than a philosophy.

What was the significance of the Magna Carta? According to Independent, “Magna Carta, which means ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most important documents in history as it established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial.” Some consider the Magna Carta to be significant because it subjects the king to the same rules as the citizens. So the king and citizens of the kingdom follow the same rules. It was also the very first ever step that took place in England towards establishing something called parliamentary democracy.

What was the significance of King Philip IV of France? According to Wikipedia, “Philip IV, called Philip the Fair, was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1284 to 1305, as well as Count of Champagne.” It is said that his reign was one of the most important in medieval history. Why? Well, because he challenged traditional power of the office or authority of the Pope of France, and was successful.

Describe the mendicant orders of the thirteenth century. According to Cambridge.org, “Four main mendicant orders, with diverse geographical and ideological origins, became influential in Britain: the Franciscans (Friars Minor), the Dominicans (Friars Preacher, or Black Friars), the Augustinian (Austin) Friars, and the Carmelites (the White Friars).” The Franciscans are a group of mendicant Christian religious orders that are all related. They are primarily in the Catholic Church. The Dominicans, also known as the Order of Preachers, was founded in Toulouse, France, by Saint Dominic and is an order of the Catholic Church. The Augustans were consecrated religious and a Latin Rite Order. The Carmelites, also known as the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, is a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order for both men as well as women.

What are some common misconceptions about the Crusades, and why are they incorrect? One common misconception about the crusades is that Christians joined the crusades because of their lust for money and wealth. However, we now know this is not true. People actually sold stuff in order to go crusading.

Another misconception is what we know as the “second-sons” theory. You see, when a father dies, he leaves all his land and estate to his oldest son, so the second oldest was left with nothing. So it was believed that the second oldest sons went on crusades to win land. However, it was the oldest sons that went on crusades.

The events of the Fourth Crusade. The beginning the fourth crusade was the preparations to start the crusade and the departure to Zara to capture it. They were successful. After this they are summoned to Alexis and had a meeting with King Philip. The king made a proposition. Alexis arrived later and they had some difficulties with him. After that they sacked Constantinople and stole priceless Christian artifacts.

What is an indulgence? According to Wikipedia, “In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is ‘a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins'”. So indulgence was used in the Catholic church and are still part of the Catholic tradition. Basically, it is something the Catholics sell to people to “forgive” them of their sins. It is sort of like a card that you get that means that you do not go to hell. It could also mean a ticket that gets you into heaven.

What are the sacraments? According to Wikipedia, “There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those who receive them with the proper disposition”. The seven sacraments are Confirmation, Anointing of the sick, Matrimony, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Baptism, and Holy Orders. Some people believe that the sacraments are rituals that are used to teach and strengthen people.

What was the Great Schism? What factors brought it on? According to Britannica, “East-West Schism, also called Schism of 1054, event that precipitated the final separation between the Eastern Christian churches (led by the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius) and the Western church (led by Pope Leo IX)”. According to the National Geographic Society, “The Great Schism came about due to a complex mix of religious disagreements and political conflicts”. So the Great Schism was a series of religious disagreements and political conflicts between the Eastern Christian churches and the Western church.

What were the problems besetting the Church in the tenth and eleventh centuries? What was “moderate reform”? In the tenth and eleventh centuries the church began to have some problems. One of them was that the church began to deteriorate. According to the Dictionary that word means “become progressively worse”, or worsen. So the church began to worsen. The people in charge of the very large Western Empire began to not be able to do all that was required of them because the Empire was very large. So they began to hire church officials to do their work for them. The church was caught up in the feudal system. Church officials began acting like vandals. This really disrupted the church. The “moderate reform” was a period in which Pope Leo IX wrote A Collection of 74 Titles which emphasized papal authority.

Describe the events that took place during the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV. What was at stake? In 1073 Pope St. Gregory VII was elected. He hade radical ideas about the king that the king did not like. The Pope said that the king was only supposed to establish peace and order and not to elect clergymen. If he did not accomplish this the Pope said he was a tyrant. Gregory declared that the judge in this matter was the Pope. This started a showdown between Pope St. Gregory VII and King Henry IV. There were very many events that took place between the two’s conflict. One of which was when Henry asked for forgiveness from the Pope. Gregory agreed to forgive him if he stayer three days out in the cold and succeeded. However, the conflict still went on. The Pope excommunicated the king, but Henry instead exiled Gregory. He died in exile.

What was Christendom? Christendom specifically refers to Christians, the Christian world, and so much more. I am a Christian, and I live in a Christian world, so I am a part of Christendom.

According to the Dictionary, feudalism is “the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.” So in summary it means that people were allowed to live on the lord’s lands and supply him with work and other things. What’s in it for the people living on the land? Military protection. Why would they need military protection? Because this was during the times of Barbarian and Viking invasions.

According to Britannica, “manorialism, also called manorial system, seignorialism, or seignorial system, political, economic, and social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were rendered dependent on their land and on their lord.” So, it was the method of land ownership at this time.

Procopius was a Greek-Byzantine historian. He wrote a portrayal of emperor Justinian who was recognized the most well-known Byzantine emperor. Thankfully this account has survived today because this is actually the most accurate account of Justinian that we have today.

Procopius begins with Justinian’s physical characteristics which aren’t that bad. Then he goes on to his personality, not a very nice guy if you ask me. When he became emperor he made a lot of changes to the government, the laws, the political offices, etc. He turned everything upside down. However, he had one major goal, and that was to unify Africa, Italy, Spain, Gaul and Britain with orthodox Christianity.

The person Procopius ultimately says Justinian was was a cruel person, but he had goals and ambitions to help serve his people with. For example, to unite different areas with orthodox Christianity.

Who was the Venerable Bede, and why was he significant? The Venerable Bede (also called Saint Bede the Venerable) was, according to The British Library, “one of the greatest scholars of the Anglo-Saxon period. He produced a large number of works on subjects as varied as science, music, poetry and biblical commentary, but he is most famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, one of our best-written sources for early English history”. Why was he significant? Let me tell you. He was one of the most important people of the middle ages because he was a great teacher and writer of his time. He is considered to be the most important scholar of his time by many historians.

The process by which Christianity was spread in England. According to BBC, “We tend to associate the arrival of Christianity in Britain with the mission of Augustine in 597 AD. … It began when Roman artisans and traders arriving in Britain spread the story of Jesus along with stories of their Pagan deities.”