Sunday, January 26, 2014

Janruary 26, 2014 - Middle Ages Unit

We are continuing our study of the Middle Ages.  Depending on the weather this week we may have to push the test back a few days.  So stay tuned for further updates.

Review questions (answers will appear later in the week)
- Who performed surgeries in the Middle Ages?
- What was the most common surgeries performed?
- Monasteries: Monks = __________ : Nuns
- What worked as a Medieval deodorant? (maybe it would have been called New Spice)
- What is a fief?
- What technology revolutionized the spread of knowledge in the 1450s?
- Traveling to the Holy Land is an example of _________________.

Here are the highlights from this weeks instruction:
1. Magna Carta was a document that limited the King's powers of taxation and required trials before punishment
2. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land.
3. The king awarded land grants or "fiefs" to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops, in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies.
4. Serfs were peasants that contributed goods and services to the lord for protection
5. Martin Luther was the German Monk that tried to "Reform" the church starting the Reformation
6. Luther tried to stop the selling of indulgences and translated the Bible to German
7. The Renaissance(Rebirth) brought back the ideas of Ancient Greeks and Romans; Leonardo Da Vinci (Mona Lisa and The Last Supper), Shakespeare  (Macbeth and Hamlet).

Cultural Literacy -
Hammer and Sickle: The emblem of the Communist movement, it shows to alliance between workers(hammer) and peasants (sickle).  On the flag of the former Soviet Union.

During class Friday we started discussing the purchase of Alaska.U.S. takes possession of Alaska. I included a short video from the History channel that explains the purchase of Alaska.
We also discuss the blood thirsty behavior of Ivan the Terrible.  Here are some of his aggression; he created a police force dressed all in black, astride black horses, that existed more to crush dissent than to keep the peace,1570 massacre of the wealthy city of Novgorod, Fits of rage, drunken feasts, fasting in remote monasteries. In 1581, during a violent dispute Ivan accidentally killed his eldest son. Here is a link to his biography Ivan the Terrible

Current Events and Opinions-

I am very surprised by the Sochi Summer...oops Winter Olympics.  Not only is it in a sub-tropic location, but it is very close to the Caucasus Mountains and Chechnya makes it a perfect area for Terrorism.  A memo from the State department has told U.S. athletes and citizens to wear inconspicuous clothing, not the red, white and blue.  At least 40,000 law enforcement and security will be available and U.S. is placing a warship in the Black Sea.  The Olympics have had a dark history of the years,  Munich Games in 1972 were darkened by the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli team killed by Palestinian terrorists. A bomb at the Atlanta Olympics  in 1996 left one dead and 11 injured. This will be something to keep an eye on for the next few weeks.

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