Lesson 1 Unit #8 – Middle Ages

 To help us prepare for our unit, please answer the following questions in complete sentences: Following the Great Schism of 1054, what side of Europe becomes Roman Catholic? What is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church called? In Western Europe, what becomes the dominating unifying force among people?

 All babies are color blind when they are born.  An eagle can attack, kill, and carry way an animal as large as a small deer.  Male hospital patients fall out of bed twice as often as female patients.  Papaphobia is the fear of Popes.

 The Middle Ages took place in Europe beginning in the 5 th century and lasted to the middle of the 15 th (approx. 476 – 1453).  The importance of the Roman Catholic Church grew as the Roman Empire collapsed in Western Europe. The Church became more powerful and unifying force in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.

The Roman Catholic Church will become the focal point of peoples’ lives. Many of the Germanic tribes that had previously migrated to Europe before the collapse of the Roman Empire had converted from their native polytheistic religions to Christianity.  Angles and Saxons (later the Anglo-Saxons) settled in northern France and the British Isles.  Franks who settled in northern France and Germany.

AAfter the fall of the Roman Empire, people looked towards the Church for political, social, and spiritual support. Quality of life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages was low compared to the Islamic and Byzantine Empires. Majority of people were peasants. Lack of cultural contributions during this time period.

PPope – leader of the Catholic Church. Power and importance of the Pope and Church will surpass those of kings and emperors. RReligious power proves to be more powerful than worldly (secular). PPope holds the spiritual authority over Christians.

Church conducts baptism, communion, mass, marriage, prayer, etc., which was a major part of peoples’ lives in Europe.  Parish priests (local priests) served the religious and social needs of the people under direction of the pope.

DDevelopment of Monasteries Monastery = religious community/residence where monks mostly lived in seclusion to follow certain religious vows. Served as centers of knowledge in the absence of dominant empires. HHelped educate people, provide medical treatment, and give shelter.

 Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing gas in a spacesuit will damage them.  A baby eel is called an elver, a baby oyster is called a spat.  Two-thirds of the world’s kidnappings occur in Columbia.

Throughout monasteries in Western Europe, monks preserved Greco-Roman Cultural achievements.  Monks preserved important Greek and Roman books by copying them by hand.  Collections of knowledge and literature were kept in the monastery’s library.

MMissionary Movement In 597, Pope Gregory I commissioned missionaries from Rome to spread Christianity to Germanic tribes, mostly in Britain. MMissionary – a person sent by the Church into an area to convert people to Christianity, TTaught Christianity and Latin alphabet to Germanic tribes. FFamous missionary sent to Britain was Augustine

 Pope Gregory enlists musicians to develop Gregorian chant to be sung during Mass.  The first Pope who was also the secular leader of Rome – increased power of the Pope in European affairs.

 The Pope anointed leaders/Emperors, missionaries converted the Germanic tribes to Christianity, and the Church served the social, political, and religious needs of the people. In 800, the Pope will crown Emperor Charlemagne, displaying the power of the Pope over emperors. Charlemagne (King of the Franks) will then be named the Holy Roman Emperor, recalling and associating Charlemagne with the great Roman emperors of the past.