Download Middle Ages - Teacher Copy - 2014-15

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The Fall of Rome
The Middle Ages began with the Fall of Rome in 476.
Hordes of barbarian invaders destroyed the once great Roman Empire. First the Huns, under their war
leader Attila, pillaged and plundered towns across Gaul and the Italian Peninsula. As Attila the Hun
approached the Eternal City in 452, the mighty Roman Legionaries were unable to slow his progress.
From the city, Pope Leo the Great emerged and approached Attila’s camp. No one knows the words that
passed between these two men, one a saint and the other known as the “Scourge of God”, but the Hun
agreed not to attack. However, the invasions did not end with him. Next came the Teutonic (tue-Tawnik) tribes from the mountains, thick forests and swamps of what is now Germany. These tall, lightskinned and blue-eyed warriors wore animal skin and woolen clothing. Eventually, these Teutonic
barbarians, the Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Vandals, took the city of Rome and deposed the last emperor:
Caesar Augustulus or “Little Augustus”. From there, barbarian tribes continued to move into Rome’s
former territory: the Franks occupied Gaul and became the French and the Angles and Saxons traveled
into Britain and became British.
Rome, the greatest empire of the ancient world, was no more. It had fallen to barbarians. The loss of Pax
Romana meant chaos in Europe. Multitudes of people reverted to surviving as nomads and bandits.
Travel and trade became difficult because it was dangerous and the roads and bridges fell into disrepair.
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In fact, entire cities fell into ruins. Moreover, the barbarians destroyed Roman culture: artwork, books
and buildings were destroyed. Much of this knowledge and learning was lost to history forever.
Yet, despite the devastating loss of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, established almost a half a
millennium earlier, survived. In fact, the Church, with its capital still in the city of Rome, didn’t just
survive, it flourished and grew. God allows great suffering to bring us closer to Him. Christ’s promise to
St. Peter that, “I will be with you until the end of time” cannot be broken. Christ instructed his Apostles
to go out and teach all nations and His Church converted the pagans of Rome. Now the seeds needed to
be planted among the barbarians. It worked. Gradually, these unruly, uncouth and uncivilized warrior
people, settled down and became Christians. Throughout the thousand years of the Middle Ages, the
Holy Spirit helped guide these barbarians into the Christian nations of Europe: England, Portugal, Spain,
France, Holland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria and Russia.
1. Describe the Fall of Rome. (4 marks)
2. Describe the Catholic Church at the time of the Fall of Rome. (2 marks)
Feudalism (129) see castle on 133 (and 148-150)
Feudalism
Feudalism is the system in which a person’s power was based on land ownership.
During the middle ages, land equaled power!
In modern times, upon what is power based?
Monarch
The king or queen.
Serf
Peasant farmer. They owned no land and had no power.
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Religious
Today we think of this word as meaning any person who has faith. But in the proper
sense it refers to anyone who serves the church; specifically: priests, nuns and monks.
Monastery
During the Middle Ages, many villages or fiefs had both a church and a monastery. A
monks’ residence is called a monastery. (A nuns’ residence is called a convent.)
Vassal
Somebody who gives loyalty to another for permission to occupy land.
So, serfs are vassals to their lords; lords are vassals to the king; and kings are vassals to
God.
Hierarchy
When a group of people are ranked in order of importance. In the feudal hierarchy, the
people with the most land are ranked highest.
The Feudal Hierarchy
3. Using your textbook, draw the image on page 23 of the feudal class structure of the middle ages.
Monarch
So who do you think had the most land? That’s right: the king (or queen!). Due to the fact the monarch
had the most land they possessed the most power. And as everyone knows: “With great power comes
great responsibility”. The monarch was responsible for protecting his subjects and making laws that were
good for his kingdom. Many of the kings of Christian Europe – the Italian, French and Germanic
kingdoms – considered themselves to be vassals to God. Most of these landowners and monarchs believed
that God gave them their wealth and that it was their responsibility to rule it wisely and justly. The king
recognized that in the end, he would have to answer to God for all his actions as king.
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However, also as everyone knows, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Sometimes, the royalty of the
Middle Ages were selfish and greedy. Instead of creating peace, they created war; instead of helping their
people, they hurt them; instead of living by “God’s Will be done”, they lived by “my will be done”.
Nobles / Barons
Within each larger kingdom, the land was divided up into smaller, more local fiefs or territory. In the
feudalist system, a noble or a baron controlled each of these fiefs. This territory included mostly
farmland, but also had a small village, the noble’s castle, some animal pens, a few barns, a church and
other buildings.
Religious
The word “religious” refers to anyone in service of the
church. People in this vocation included: priests, nuns,
monks and anyone higher up such as bishops or
cardinals. The Religious social class were common in the
middle ages and a typical fief would likely have many
men and women who had been called by God to serve His
Church. Of course, beyond anything else, serving God is
the most important job. Primarily, the religious were
given the responsibility of teaching the Good News for the
salvation of all. On Sunday’s the small village church
would be filled with all the citizens. Sitting in the pews
one would see nobles sitting next to peasants celebrating
the mass in Latin and awaiting the moment of Christ’s
sacrifice know as the Eucharist! The religious were often
the only educated people in an area, so they frequently
looked after more than just their parishioner’s souls.
Within a typical monastery, the monks within kept busy
by:
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Teaching literacy to pupils;
Caring for the sick and dying;
Assisting orphans or widows; and
Copying books.
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Knights
Ah yes, who hasn’t heard of the knight in shining
armour? Perhaps what you don’t realize is that these
gallant men were real. Each of them was guided by a
Code of Chivalry.
4. As a class, view PowerPoint and define
Chivalry.
Selflessness
Courage
Honour
Justice
Loyalty
Prudence and Temperance
Faith
A knight’s duty was first and foremost to serve God.
After, they desired to protect their king and land
against invaders. Many knights were also landowners
or nobles.
Peasant Serfs
Finally, at the bottom of the feudal social class
structure, were the lowly peasant serfs. While the
vast majority of the population was serfs, they also
had the least amount of power. A serf farmed the
nobles land. They were allowed to keep the majority
of their harvest but were expected to give a certain
amount to their landowner. As well, serfs
traditionally donated 10% of their profits to the
church. As a result, serfs were most often very poor.
But their poverty hardly meant that they were
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unhappy.
Serfs knew what was important in life: God, family and friends. While they certainly did not have any
worldly material luxuries, they had so much more: a pretty good shot at eternal salvation. Unlike today,
prayer, fasting, Sunday Mass, and the sacraments were just a part of their routines. People didn’t miss
Mass because the Church bells at the center of the village rang loudly and everyone went. Yes, the serfs
worked hard: six days of the weeks these persevering men and women toiled from sunrise to sunset; but
they also played hard. Sundays were a day of celebration and Church feast days and holidays (read: Holy
Days) were a time off work to enjoy God’s gifts, family and friends.
5. Opinion Question: Do you think peasant serfs during the Medieval Era were happy? Why or why
not? (2 marks)
Castles
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The first thing that distinguished a castle was the moat. Most were filled with deep water to prevent
enemies from coming in and the steep walls prevented the enemy from entering. The only way to cross a
moat was on the drawbridge. These wooden structures could be raised or lowered depending on whether
or not the people in the castles wanted you to come in. Upon crossing the drawbridge, you would reach
the curtain wall. This exterior wall surrounding the castle was strong enough to survive a battering
ram, a common weapon, and could be anywhere between 8 and 20 feet thick. A gatehouse was built into
the curtain wall. An iron grate was used block entrance, in addition to heavy wooden doors. Small holes,
called murder holes, were added to the ceiling above the main entrance to pour boiling liquid down on
entering enemies.
Towers were also a part of the curtain. They allowed people to look about and keep watch outside the
castle’s walls. In addition, at times they kept prisoners. For example, the Tower of London in England
was well known for the important political prisoner kept within its walls.
The Keep of the castle was the highest point and the center of defense. The strongest and most secure
place in a castle. If the castle was under attack, the Lord and his family could take refuge in the keep.
Inside the castles walls were many things. There was a kitchen where the cooks made meals. The great
hall was where everybody ate and the servants slept. Court jesters often sang, juggled, and told stories
here to amuse the lord and his family. Stables were used to house livestock of all sorts and each castle
had a chapel that could be located in a tower or gatehouse. In the courtyard was the well for drinking
water. Also, in the courtyard was the garderobe or the outhouse. Castles also had one or more houses
within the walls for the Lord and his guests.
6. On a separate sheet of paper, draw the floor plan for the sweetest castle, ever. Your design must:
a. Label all the above bolded vocabulary words; and
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b. Insuring that the castle can be defended.
Age of Faith
Right now, sitting in this very room, you are a part of, perhaps, the most secular era in the history of the
world. Throughout all of human history, people have understood that we are spiritual beings, who have
been created for a purpose. However, in today’s modern world, few people grasp this most basic and
important concept.
Unlike today, the Middle Ages were a time of faith. All across the globe, people understood the Truth: we
are a created people with a purpose. While not everyone knew the full revealed Truth offered by Jesus
Christ, most cultures were far closer to understanding the supernatural or spiritual reality than our
society.
It would be appropriate to refer to the Medieval Times as the Age of Faith. For during that era, the world
came to know God much more fully. First, and most importantly, the Roman Catholic Church, aided by
hundreds of thousands of monks in as many as 37,000 monasteries spread the Good News of salvation
throughout Europe. Because of the work of these hardworking clergy, millions of souls were saved.
Secondly, in the places where Christ’s teaching were not heard, the Islamic Empire expanded and, at
least, taught millions more about God (Allah). Given the increase in knowledge about God, the Middle
Ages can rightfully be called the Age of Faith.
Christendom
7. What does a “Christian” believe? Are Catholics Christians? Who is NOT considered a “Christian”?
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Life in a Christian Monastery
The local monastery was busy place. For a 1000 years of Medieval history, monasteries and the monks
within are credited with many achievements:
- Carefully transcribing the Bible as well as books from the ancient Greeks and Romans;
- Educating the locals both intellectually and spiritually;
- Nursing the sick and dying;
- Collecting and distributing alms;
- Providing beds for travelers;
- Caring for orphans and widows;
- Offering a place for mass, adoration and the sacraments;
- Praying for the community;
- Researching science and inventions;
- Teaching agricultural techniques;
- Improving the village’s infrastructure;
- Offering a library; and
- More!
Essentially, monks offered all the services normally associated with today’s government.
In this reading, we are taken into a Benedictine Monastery. Here the monks lived by the Benedictine
Rule that reflected the two primary principles of monastic life - Ora et labora or “prayer and work”. The
monks lived by a strict timetable of prayer, labor and study. Also, personal possessions are forbidden.
Much of their day was spent in transcribing the Bible and ancient texts left from the Roman Empire,
preserving these sources of knowledge for future generations.
8. Why do you think personal possessions were forbidden?
This text was written by an abbot who, while unknown at the time, becomes the pope and is now known
to history as Saint Gregory the Great. In the following story, written in 585, shows the consequences of
one young monk keeping three gold pieces for himself.
The Consequences of Breaking the Rules
"There was in my monastery a certain monk, Justus by name, skilled in medicinal
arts. . . . When he knew that his end was at hand, he made known to Copiosus, his
brother in the flesh, how that he had three gold pieces hidden away. Copiosus, of
course, could not conceal this from the brethren. He sought carefully, and examined
all his brother's drugs, until he found the three gold pieces hidden away among the
medicines. When he told me this great calamity that concerned a brother who had
lived in common with us, I could hardly hear it with calmness. For the rule of our
monastery was always that the brothers should live in common and own nothing
individually.
Then, stricken with great grief, I began to think what I could do to cleanse the dying
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man, and how I should make his sins a warning to the living brethren. Accordingly,
having summoned Pretiosus, the superintendent of the monastery, I commanded
him to see that none of the brothers visited the dying man, who was not to hear any
words of consolation. If in the hour of death he asked for the
brethren, then his own brother in the flesh was to tell him
how he was hated by the brethren because he had concealed
money; so that at death remorse for his guilt might pierce his
heart and cleanse him from the sin he had committed.
When he was dead his body was not placed with the bodies of
the brethren, but a grave was dug in the dung pit, and his
body was flung down into it, and the three pieces of gold he
had left were cast upon him, while all together cried, 'Thy
money perish with thee ! ' . . .
When thirty days had passed after his death, my heart
began to have compassion on my dead brother, and to
ponder prayers with deep grief, and to seek what remedy there might be for him.
Then I called before me Pretiosus, superintendent of the monastery, and said sadly:
'It is a long time that our brother who died has been tormented by fire, and we
ought to have charity toward him, and aid him so far as we can, that he may be
delivered. Go, therefore, and for thirty successive days from this day offer sacrifices
for him. See to it that no day is allowed to pass on which the salvation-bringing
mass is not offered up for his absolution.' He departed forthwith and obeyed my
words.
We, however, were busy with other things, and did not count the days as they rolled
by. But Io, the brother who had died, appeared by night to a certain brother, even
to Copiosus, his brother in the flesh. When Copiosus saw him he asked him, saying,
'What is it, brother? How art thou?' To which he answered: 'Up to this time I have
been in torment; but now all is well with me, because today I have received the
communion.' This Copiosus straightway reported to the brethren in the monastery.
Then the brethren carefully reckoned the days, and it was the very day on which
the thirtieth oblation was made for him. Copiosus did not know what the brethren
were doing for his dead brother, and the brethren did not know that Copiosus had
seen him; yet at one and the same time he learned what they had done and they
learned what he bad seen, and the vision and the sacrifice harmonized. So the fact
was plainly shown forth how that the brother who had died had escaped
punishment through the salvation-giving mass."
References:
Gregory's account appears in Robinson, James Harvey, Readings in European History (1906); Evans, Joan (ed.), The Flowering
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of the Middle Ages (1985).
How To Cite This Article:
"Life in a Christian Monastery, ca. 585," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).
9. In three sentences, write a synopsis for the above passage.
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Rise of Islam
Islam
There is no ______________ but ______________, and ______________ is his
______________.
Muslim
Muhammad
Allah
Heresy
Prophet
Mecca
Koran
Archangel Gabriel
Shrine of Ka’aba
632
Islamic Empire
The following is adapted from E. H. Gombrich’s, “A Little History of the World”.
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There is No God But Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet
Can you picture the desert? The real hot, sandy desert, was
crossed by long caravans of camels laden with cargoes of rare
goods? Sand everywhere. Just occasionally, you see one or two
palm trees on the sky line. When you get there you find an oasis
consisting of a spring with a trickle of greenish water. Then the
caravan moves on. Eventually you come to a bigger oasis where
there is a whole town of white, cube shaped houses, inhabited by
white-clothed, brown-skinned men with black hair and piercing
eyes.
You can tell that these men are warriors. On their wonderfully
swift horses they gallop across the desert, robbing caravans and
fighting each other, oasis against oasis, town against town, tribe
against tribe. Arabia probably still looks much as it did
thousands of years ago. And yet it was in this strange desert
land, with its few, warlike inhabitants, that perhaps the most extraordinary of all the events I have to tell
took place.
It happened like this. At the time when the monks were teaching simple peasants and the kings were
ruling over the Franks – that is to say around the year 600 – nobody talked about Arabs. They were busy
wandering the desert and living in tents. They had a faith like the Babylonians: they worshipped the
stars, and also a stone which they believed to have fallen from heaven. This stone lay in a shrine called
the Shrine of the Kaaba in the oasis town of Mecca, and the Arabs often made pilgrimages across the
desert to pray there.
Now at that time, in Mecca, lived a man named Muhammad, son of Abdallah. His father was of high
birth but not a rich man, a member of the family charged with watching over the shrine. He died young,
and all he left his son Muhammad was six camels, which didn’t amount to much. When Muhammad was
six his mother also died and he had to leave the desert encampment where he lived with other children of
men of high rank and earn his living tending goats for the well-to-do. Later he met a rich widow, much
older than himself, and made great journeys in her service as a camel driver. They married, had six
children, and lived happily together. Also, Muhammad adopted his young cousin, Ali.
Strong and vigorous, with black hair and beard, eagle nose and heavy, loping gait, Muhammad was
highly respected. He was known as the ‘Trustworthy One’. He had shown an early interest in questions
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of religion and enjoyed talking not just to Arab pilgrims
who came to the shrine in Mecca, but also with Christians
who traded in the area, and with Jews of whom there was a
large number in Arabian oasis towns. In his conversations
with Jews and Christians one thing particularly inpressed
him: both spoke of the doctrine of the One, Invisible and
Almighty God.
One evening beside a fountain he had a vision. Do you
know what that is? It’s a dream you have when you’re
awake. Muhammad believed that the Archangel Gabriel
appeared before him, and addressed him in thunderous
tones: “Read!” cried the angel. “But, I cannot,” stammered
Muhammad. “Read!” repeated the angel. Then the angel
commanded him, in the name of the Jewish and Christian
Lord, his God, to pray. Profoundly shaken by this vision,
Muhammad returned home. He didn’t know what had
happened to him.
For three long years, as he journeyed across the dry desert,
he reflected on his experience, turning it over and over in his mind. Then, another vision: Gabriel
reappeared in a blaze of heavenly light. Afraid, Muhammad ran home. His wife covered him with his
cloak. Suddenly, he heard the voice again: “Rise and give warning!” he was commanded. Then: “Honour
thy God!” Muhammad knew this was God’s message, that he must warn mankind about hell and
proclaim the greatness of the One Invisible God. From that moment, Muhammad acted like the Prophet
through whose mouth God would make known his wishes to mankind. In Mecca, he preached the
doctrine of the One Almighty God, the Supreme Judge, who had appointed him, Muhammad, to be His
messenger. But most people mocked him. Only his wife and a few friends had faith in him.
However, it was clear to the priests and officials of the Shrine of Kaaba that Muhammad was no fool, but
a dangerous enemy. They forbade anyone in Mecca to associate or do business with Muhammad or his
family. This resulted in years of hunger and hardship for Muhammad. During this time, Muhammad
continued to preach, sometimes to distant (sometimes enemy) oasis towns.
The news that Muhammad was preaching to these hostile tribes, and that his popularity with them was
growing, roused the tribe’s leaders to a fury. Muhammad had already sent his followers out of Mecca to
the desert town that had befriended him, and when the assassins who had been sent to kill him entered
his small home, he climbed out the back window and fled to join them. This flight is known as the
Emigration – the ‘Hegira’ in Arabic – and it took place on June 16th, 622. Muhammad’s followers have
counted the years from that date, just as the Romans had done after the birth of Christ.
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In his new home, which was eventually renamed Medina – meaning ‘the City of the Prophet –
Muhammad was given a warm welcome. Everyone ran out to meet him and offered him hospitality. In
Medina, Muhammad now set about instructing his followers, who listened to him attentively. He taught
them about Abraham and Moses. He explained how God revealed himself to the old prophets and how he
had been chosen to be God’s prophet.
He taught them that they should fear nothing and no one but God – or Allah (Allah means “God” in
Arabic). That it was futile either to fear or to look forward to the future, for their fate had already been
ordained by God. Muhammad taught his followers that they must surrender themselves to the will of
God. In fact, the word Islam in Arabic means: “submission to the will of God”.
One of the most misunderstood parts of Muhammad’s teachings is that he told his followers that they
must fight for this teaching and be victorious. He explained that if they are attacked by unbelievers, then
it is not a sin to kill them.
Here is the section of the Koran explaining:
"Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not disobey. And slay them wherever you
catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are
worse than slaughter... But if they stop, God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful... If they stop, let there
be no hostility except to those who practice oppression" (2:190-193).
In other words, Muhammad wanted his followers to fight anyone who oppresses or controls them. If they
fight or kill for a just cause, then it is not a sin. While non-Muslims and extremists often use this quote to
explain terrorism, they are forgetting one important thing: Muhammad wanted his people to remember
that God is merciful and once the unbeliever leaves them alone, then they need to stop the attack.
Muhammad taught his people about Heaven or Paradise. He explained that by killing an Infidel (an
oppressive unbeliever), then they would go straight to Heaven (Paradise) while Infidels would go to Hell.
He described it as a place “where immortal youths lie of plumb cushions facing one another bearing
goblets filled with pure liquor, and no one who drinks of it has a headache or is made drunk. All fruits
are there … [as well as] doe-eyed maidens as beautiful as the hidden pearl.”
Can you imagine the effect of this promise of Paradise on poor tribes people living in the scorching desert
heat, and how willingly they would fight and die to be admitted.
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And so the inhabitants of Medina attacked Mecca, to avenge their prophet and loot caravans. At first
they triumphed, and carried off the rich spoils. Muhammad, with fifteen hundred men, made the journey
to Mecca. The people, who remembered him as poor and derided, now recognized him as a mighty
prophet. Many people went over to him. And once Muhammad had conquered the whole town, he spared
the inhabitants, only emptying the shrine of its idols.
His power and prestige were immense and people came from far and wide to hear his message. Shortly
before his death, he preached before a gathering of forty thousand pilgrims, insisting for the last time
that there was no other God, but Allah and that he, Muhammad, was his Prophet; and that the fight
against infidels must go on. He urged them to pray five times a day, facing Mecca, to drink no wine and
to be brave. Soon afterward, in 632, he died.
The Arabs obeyed their Prophets words, and when the infidels in their desert had been either killed or
converted they moved on to nearby countries. Under the leadership of Muhammad’s representatives, or
Caliphs, Abu Bakr and Omar they conquered. Within six years of Muhammad’s death, the Arab warriors
had already made bloody conquests of Palestine and Persia, and amassed vast quantities of loot. Other
Islamic armies attacked Egypt – still part of Byzantine – and in four years it had fallen.
The great city of Alexandria met the same fate. It is said that, when asked what should be done with the
wonderful library, which at the time held seven-hundred-thousand scrolls by Greek poets, philosophers,
and writers, the Caliph Omar ordered, “If what is in them is already contained in the Koran, they are not
needed; and if what is in them is not contained in the Koran, then they are harmful.” Whether this is
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true or not, we’ll never know, but certainly there have always been people who think like that. So in all
the fighting, that most important collection of books was lost to us forever.
The Islamic Empire went from strength to strength, the flames, as it were, spreading from Mecca in all
directions. It was as if Muhammad had thrown a glowing spark onto the map. From Persia to India,
from Egypt through the whole of North Africa, the fire raged. At this time the Arabs were far from
united. Several caliphs were chosen to succeed Omar after his death and they fought ferociously against
one another.
From around the year 670, Arab armies made repeated attempts to conquer Constantinople, the capital
city of the Byzantine Empire (Rome East), but the inhabitants put up a heroic defence, withstanding one
siege for seven long years, until the enemy finally withdrew. The Arabs had to be content with the
islands of Cyprus and Sicily.
But they didn’t stop there. Returning to Africa, they crossed over into Spain. In a battle that lasted
seven days, General Tarik, one of the Islamic Empire’s most revered generals, was victorious. Now Spain,
too, was under Arab rule.
From there they reached the kingdom of the Franks, were they were confronted by bands of ChristainGerman peasant warriors. The leader of the Franks was Charles Martel – which means Charles the
Hammer – because he was so good at knocking people down in battle. And he actually succeeded in
defeating the Tarik and the Islamic warriors, in 732 – exactly a hundred years after the Prophet’s death.
If Charles Martel had lost those battles at Tours and Poitiers in southern France, the Arabs would surely
have conquered all of what is now France and Germany, and destroyed the monasteries. In which case
we might all be Muslims, like so many people in the world today.
Islam vs Christianity
1. This is one of the most important questions you may ever be asked: Would you convert to Islam?
Why or why not?
- It is better to die for the Truth than live for a lie.
2. What makes you so sure that you are on the right side? How do you know that Christianity is
true?
- We know it is the Truth because our Church is established by God; whereas all other
churches are established by men, who, like us, are sinners.
3. Wait a minute…does Christ actually claim to be God?
a. Well, they did crucify Him for such a claim. If He wasn’t, wouldn’t He have mentioned it?
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b. Jesus does say, “I am the way, the light and the Truth.”
c. Jesus does say, “Whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father.”
d. God does say, “This is my Son”.
e. What does “Christ” mean? Savior!
f. What about His miracles? What about the Resurrection?
4. How do we know that the bible writers were telling the truth?
a. There are still miracles
b. There are still saints: judge them by their fruits
c. Faith in Christ will bring us happiness.
d. The apostles all, except one, died proclaiming the Truth. Moreover, many, many more men
and women who had contact with Christ were martyred. None of them recanted.
e. Jesus appears in many other sources outside the Bible. The Bible sources has all been
cross-checked with history, and they all pass the sniff-test.
f. The prophecies: the temple was destroyed.
Open Book Quiz
1. Describe Muhammad (4 marks).
2. Describe Islam. In other words, what do Muslims believe (8 marks)?
3. How do we prove that Jesus Christ was God and that Muhammad was wrong (8 marks)?
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The
Crusades
What were the Crusades?
The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars
fought between Christendom and the Islamic
Empire. The Crusades started in 1095 when
Pope Urban II called together a Church council
at Clermont (klair mawn) in France. In one of
the most important speeches ever given, Pope
Urban II called upon the hundreds of bishops
and multitudes of priests and laity to rescue
the Holy Land, specifically Jerusalem, from the
Turks. He asked all the men going to defend
the Holy Land to wear a cross as a sign of their
vow. The word crusade means to take the
cross.
Muslims had been in control of
Jerusalem since 732, why did the
church wait until 1095 to call for the Crusades?
While Muslim armies had been occupying Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land for over
300 years, they had, for the most part, left Christians alone. Christians, were actually made up
the majority of the population of Jerusalem in 1095 were allowed to practice their faith, visit the
Holy sites and receive the sacraments.
However, in 1065, just 30 years before Pope Urban II delivered his historical speech, everything
changed. Jerusalem was conquered by the Islamic Turks and immediately 3000 Christians were
massacred. Moreover, churches were seized and Holy sites were closed to Christians. It looked
much like ISIS in Syria and Iraq today.
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Crusades: A Reading Comprehension Quiz
name: ___________
Read pages 20 and 21 in order to answer the following questions.
1. What was the purpose of the crusades?
2. Which three religious faiths consider the Middle East lands to be holy?
3. The reading says that entire armies were exposed to a new way of life in the east. Describe three
ways in which the travelers were “exposed to a new way of life” (3 marks).
Analyze the map on page 20.
4. Find Italy. What image can be seen located on Italy?
5. In the Jewish faith, what are the teachers called?
6. List the two ways to spell the Muslim holy book.
Analyze the map on page 21.
7. Name two cities located in the disputed area of the Holy Land.
8. What is the most likely way that the armies traveled from Marseille to the Holy Land?
9. What is the approximate distance between Genoa and Rome?
10. In what year did the crusades end?
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Jerusalem
Besieged or siege
Saracens
Sepulchre of our Lord
Procession
Prayers, Alms and
Fasting
The Crusaders Capture Jerusalem, 1099
The name of the author of the following eyewitness account is unknown, but it is considered a reliable
description:
"Exulting with joy we reached the city of Jerusalem on Tuesday, June 6, and we besieged it in a
wonderful manner. Robert of Normandy besieged it on the northern side. ...Godfrey and Tancred carried
on the siege on the west. The Count of St. Gilles operated from the south, on Mount Sion, near the church
of St. Mary, the Lord's mother, where the Lord supped with His disciples. . . .
During the siege we were unable to find any bread to buy for about the space of ten days; …also we were
afflicted by great thirst. [Our water came from] the fountain of Siloam, at the foot of Mount Sion, but the
water was sold us at a high price. . . . We sewed up skins of oxen and buffaloes in which we brought the
water six miles. The water we drank from such receptacles was fetid, and what with foul water and
barley bread we daily suffered great affliction and distress. Moreover the Saracens hid near all the
springs and wells and ambushed our men, killing and mutilating them.
Then our leaders planned to attack the city with machines, in order to enter it and adore the sepulchre of
our Saviour. They made two wooden towers and many other machines. . . . Day and night on the fourth
and fifth days of the week we vigorously attacked the city on all sides; but before we made our assault the
bishops and priests persuaded all by their preaching that a procession should be made round Jerusalem
to God's honour, faithfully accompanied by prayers, alms and fasting. Early on the sixth day we attacked
the city on all sides and could do nothing against it. We were all surprised and alarmed. Then, at the
approach of the hour at which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to undergo the passion of the cross for us,
our knights in one of the towers fought bravely, amongst them Duke Godfrey and his brother, Count
Eustace.
One of our knights, climbed on to the wall of the city. When he reached the top, all the defenders of the
city quickly fled along the walls and through the city. Our men followed and pursued them, killing and
hacking, as far as the temple of Solomon, and there was such a slaughter that our men were up to their
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ankles in the enemy's blood. . . .
The emir who commanded the tower of David surrendered and opened the gate where pilgrims used to
pay tribute. Entering the city, our pilgrims pursued and killed the Saracens up to the temple of Solomon.
There the Saracens assembled and resisted fiercely all day, so that the whole temple flowed with their
blood. At last the pagans were overcome and our men seized many men and women in the temple, killing
them or keeping them alive as they saw fit. On the roof of the temple there was a great crowd of pagans of
both sexes, to whom Tancred and Gaston de Beert gave their banners [to provide them with protection] .
Then the crusaders scattered throughout the city, seizing gold and silver, horses and mules, and houses
full of all sorts of goods. Afterwards our men went rejoicing and weeping for joy to adore the sepulchre of
our Saviour Jesus and there discharged their debt to Him. . . .
The city was captured by the Christians on Friday, July 15."
How To Cite This Article:
"The Crusaders Capture Jerusalem, 1099," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000).
10. Summarize the above passage.
Bubonic Plague
Newspaper Primary Source from The
Florentine Chronicle
By Marchione di Coppo Stefani,
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Concerning A Mortality In The City Of Florence In Which Many
People Died
In the year of the Lord 1348 there was a very great pestilence in the city and district of Florence.
It was of such a fury and so tempestuous that in houses in which it took hold previously healthy
servants who took care of the ill died of the same illness. Almost none of the ill survived past the
fourth day. Neither physicians nor medicines were effective. Whether because these illnesses
were previously unknown or because physicians had not previously studied them, there seemed
to be no cure. There was such a fear that no one seemed to know what to do. When it took hold in
a house it often happened that no one remained who had not died. And it was not just that men
and women died, but even animals died. Dogs, cats, chickens, oxen, donkeys sheep showed the
same symptoms and died of the same disease. And almost none, or very few, who showed these
symptoms, were cured. The symptoms were the following: a bubo in the groin, where the thigh
meets the trunk; or a small swelling under the armpit; sudden fever; spitting blood and saliva
(and no one who spit blood survived it). It was such a frightful thing that when it got into a
house, as was said, no one remained. Frightened people abandoned the house and fled to
another. Those in town fled to villages. Physicians could not be found because they had died like
the others. And those who could be found wanted vast sums in hand before they entered the
house. And when they did enter, they checked the pulse with face turned away. They inspected
the urine from a distance and with something odoriferous under their nose. Child abandoned the
father, husband the wife, wife the husband, one brother the other, one sister the other. In all the
city there was nothing to do but to carry the dead to a burial. And those who died had neither
confessor nor other sacraments. And many died with no one looking after them. And many died
of hunger because when someone took to bed sick, another in the house, terrified, said to him:
"I'm going for the doctor." Calmly walking out the door, the other left and did not return again.
Abandoned by people, without food, but accompanied by fever, they weakened.
No one, or few, wished to enter a house where anyone was sick, nor did they even want to deal
with those healthy people who came out of a sick person's house. And they said to them: "He is
stupefied, do not speak to him!" saying further: "He has it because there is a bubo in his house."
They call the swelling a bubo. Many died unseen. So they remained in their beds until they
stank. And the neighbors, if there were any, having smelled the stench, placed them in a shroud
and sent them for burial. The house remained open and yet there was no one daring enough to
touch anything because it seemed that things remained poisoned and that whoever used them
picked up the illness.
At every church, or at most of them, they dug deep trenches, down to the waterline, wide and
deep, depending on how large the parish was. And those who were responsible for the dead
carried them on their backs in the night in which they died and threw them into the ditch, or else
they paid a high price to those who would do it for them. The next morning, if there were many
[bodies] in the trench, they covered them over with dirt. And then more bodies were put on top of
them, with a little more dirt over those; they put layer on layer just like one puts layers of cheese
in a lasagna.
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Bubonic Plague: Reading Comprehension
Before beginning the reading quiz, complete the following directions on the above map.
a) Colour all the water blue but make sure that you can still read all the dates.
b) Locate: Spain, France, Germany, Poland, England, Greece, Turkey, Russia and Italy (if
necessary, use an Atlas).
11. Based on the information available on the map, which European country was least affected by the
plague?
12. According to the map, the plague first struck Europe in December, 1347. Describe, in detail, the
route the plague followed through Europe.
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13. When did the plague first hit England?
14. Approximately, how old was Marchione di Coppo Stefani when the plague first arrived in
Florence?
15. Describe the symptoms of the plague.
16. Find a quote from the above passage that supports the opinion: “Many people died of the black
plague.” For full marks, cite your quote.
STOP! Watch the Monty Python Video, “Bring Out Your Dead”.
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