Journal #7

Saga a Viking story about exploration

Knight a mounted soldier
Noble/Lord a person who has inherited
power and wealth
Muslim a follower of Islam
Endured put up with

World History
Before 1492
1.3 and 1.4

The Viking Explorations

The Vikings were from Scandinavia
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
They developed a new style of ship which they used to
trade and raid
Leif Eriksson
Vikings were farmers
They did human trafficking
Girls were married as young
as 12 and could inherit land,
request a divorce and reclaim
their dowries.

The Vikings
Described their adventures in
sagas
Long, heroic stories that mixed myth and fact
Lief Eriksson or Ericssons Dad, Eric the Red named Greenland
to market it and have people come to it.
Eriks Saga tells about Leif Erikssons voyage to North America
around 1000 A.D.
Leif Erikson called North America as Newfound Land and later
named colony Vineland, later LAnse aux Meadows. It was the
Eastern coast of Canada.
Vikings first ones to give surnames to their children.
Vikings did not travel back to Vineland, but Leifs sister and a small group
did, but all were killed by the Indians.

The Middle Ages

* The Roman Empire falls due to political and
economic problems around 476
* This is the beginning of The Middle Ages from
500 to 1500 A.D.
* Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages
because trade, communication and education was
limited. Sometimes referenced it as the medieval
times.
* During the Dark Ages the constant was the belief
in Jesus Christ.
* Those who did not believe in Jesus were known as
pagans, because they believed in many gods.

Characteristics of the
Middle Ages
1.

Limited trade and communication

2.

People move into the country

3. Feudalism A social, political, economic and

military system based upon security and protection.
The King gives land to trusted friends who become
lords or nobles, lords then give some land to vassals
in exchange for loyalty and protection, vassals then
made peasants and serfs farm the land

4.

Many vassals were mounted knights who protected the

manors of the nobles
Peasants and serfs were the lowest class - farmers, poor

Birth determines your place in society

Feudalism

How Feudalism Works

The King gives land to trusted friends who become

lords or nobles, lords then give some land to vassals
in exchange for loyalty and protection, vassals then
made peasants and serfs farm the land
Many vassals were mounted knights who protected the
manors of the nobles
Peasants and serfs were the lowest class - farmers, poor

Lords ruled and lived in large houses or castles with

moats and high walls for defense, noblewomen took
care of the house and were usually religious

Peasant and serf families lived in a single room,

worked all day, and had little chance to move up in
life

The Catholic Church

The Church was the center of religious and social life,
all people attended church
Priests were part of the nobility, churches owned large
amounts of land
Priests helped influence decisions of kings.
Women became nuns because they were allowed to get
an education.
Many men became monks.

The Early 1200s

Nations (Kings) gain more power, nobles rebel
This leads to the Magna Carta in 1215

Trade increases, leads to the Renaissance

A rebirth of the arts and learning of ancient Greece
and Rome

Increased technology and trade lead to higher

populations and by 1500 the middle ages were
over

The Magna Carta

In the early 1200s, nobles in England rebelled against
King John
In 1215 they forced John to agree to the Magna
Carta,
A document which limited King Johns rights and protected the
rights of the nobles in 1215, it is one of the first documents
protecting the rights of free people and it was an inspiration
for the U.S. Constitution

1.4 Trade
Across
Continents

 Born in 570 in Mecca (Arabia)

Orphaned at an early age
Became a successful merchant
(trader)
Unhappy, he goes to a cave and
has a vision
From this vision he creates the
Islamic religion
He begins to spread his religion
throughout the world
He has 13 wives, one whom he
married when she was 7 years old
He died in 632
Muslims consider him the most
important prophet of God (Jesus is
another)
He is one of the most influential
people of all time

Muhamma
d
(570-632)

Islam
Founded by Muhammad, their book is the Quran
Islam spreads quickly, and Muslims take over many
areas
Jerusalem, Syria, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, Spain

Muslims thought that education and knowledge was

very important
He who has not endured the stress of study will not taste
the joy of knowledge

Gen. 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will

be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and
he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. about Ishmeal.

The Crusades
Muslims stop allowing Christians to visit their longtime
holy land (Jerusalem) in 1077
In 1095 Pope Urban II called on all Christians to start a
holy war
The next 150 years of fighting between Muslims and
Christians are called the Crusades

In Asia
There are lots of different rulers and
dynasties
Fighting was taking place between China
and the Mongols
Chinese emperors built the Great Wall to
keep the Mongolians out
It doesnt work Genghis Khan and the
Mongolians take over part of China around 1200

 Birth name is Temujin

United nomadic tribes of
Northern Asia
He started the Mongol
invasions, which included
massacres of civilians
Became the founder and
ruler of the Mongolian
Empire which included part
of China
The Mongolian Empire was
tolerant on religion
Viewed highly today as the
founding father of Mongolia
Mongols loved to trade and
helped
and because of this helped
spread

Gengis Khan
(1162-1227)

In Asia
In 1368 the Ming dynasty overthrew the Mongol
Empire in China
The Chinese build a large fleet and establish new
trade, bringing wealth and knowledge to the
country
By the mid 1400s China abandons its command of
the seas

African Kingdoms
Africa began to participate in world trade
Arabs begin to trade with African tribes
Islam eventually spreads in Africa

Because of this trade, several kingdoms

become very wealthy and powerful
Aksum
Ghana
Mali Timbuktu
Songhai

African Kingdoms