Fall of Western Roman Empire to Enlightenment

Question 1

What was the official religion of the Byzantine Empire?

Answer 1

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Question 2

What was the religion of Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

Answer 2

Catholicism (Another type of Christianity)

Question 3

Who was the most important Emperor of the Byzantine Empire?

Answer 3

Emperor Justinian

Question 4

What were the most significant accomplishments of Justinians reign?

Answer 4

1. ALMOST expanded the Byzantine Empire back to its size under Augustus. He failed at getting there, but did conquer lots of land.
2. Created Justinian’s Code
3. Began construction of the Hagia Sophia, a building that is still around today

Question 5

What was the downside to the land gained under Justinian?

Answer 5

The Umayyad Caliphate conquered most of the lands Justinian conquered within 50 years of his death.

In addition, these conquests (which did not last because the Umayyad re-conquered them) weakened the Byzantine Empire’s military strength.

Question 6

What was the purpose of Justinian’s code?

Answer 6

To simplify the law code, making it easier for the common people to understand

Question 7

What was the major threat facing Western Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire?

Answer 7

Well, it was nothing for about 300 years.

Then around the year 700ish, the Umayyad Caliphate tried to conquer Western Europe (which was decentralized) in an effort to surround Constantinople on both sides.

Question 8

Did the Umayyad Caliphate conquer Western Europe?

Answer 8

No.

With the help of the Catholic Church, the nomadic group of people called the Franks, fought the Umayyad Caliphate off, preventing them from conquering Western Europe.

The person who led the Franks in their victory against the Umayyad Caliphate was someone named Charles “The Hammer” Martel.

Question 9

Who is Charlemagne?

Answer 9

Charlemagne is the grandson of Charles “The Hammer” Martel.

But that’s not why he’s famous.

Charlemagne is famous because he was the first person to unite parts of Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. Because he was the first to unite them, they called him Emperor Charlemagne.

Question 10

Who were the Vikings?

Answer 10

They were a nomadic people who lived in Northern Europe.

These nomadic people were similar to the Mongols in that they would use terror to steal resources from cities.

Vikings would often attack cities within Charlemagne’s Empire and did not stop until the year 1000.

Question 11

What were the Crusades?

Answer 11

These were started by Emperor Alexius of Byzantium who asked for Western Europe to help defend them from Muslim attacks by the Abbasid Caliphate. He also asked them to “retake the Holy land”.

When Pope Urban found out about the ask for help, he called on all Christians in Western Europe to go and help the Byzantine Empire. Pope Urban said anyone who died in the fight for the Holy Land would go to heaven.

Even though they were different types of Christians, they united in their fight against the Muslims.

Question 12

Were the Crusades successful?

Answer 12

No.

The first one was, but within 100 years, the Abbasid Caliphate had retaken the land.

The 2nd and 3rd Crusades were failures.

Don’t even get me started on the 4th crusade LOL

Question 13

Ok, ok, what was special about the 4th Crusade?

Answer 13

Well, that crusade was bad because instead of re-conquering the Holy Land, Catholics went and conquered Constantinople, which was home to the Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Eventually, the Byzantine armies got their city of Constantinople back.

Question 14

What country came up with the Magna Carta and how did it come to exist?

Answer 14

King John of England was the first King of England.

England is on an island.

King John was an unpopular King because he would treat the people unfairly. One day, the rich people went to him and demanded that he give them some rights.

King John, knowing that he had to agree to their rights or he’d get kicked out, agreed to give them some rights.

The rights that he agreed to give them is called the Magna Carta.

Question 15

Besides guaranteeing basic rights to English citizens, what else is important about the Magna Carta?

Answer 15

It established Parliament.

Parliament was basically made up of a bunch of rich people from England who could approve or disapprove of any of the new taxes the King wanted.

Laws were still passed by the King, but taxes required the permission of Parliament.

Parliament was basically like the Roman senate. Only rich people could be in it.

Question 16

How did the country of France develop?

Answer 16

French Kings were basically just relatives of Charlemagne. At least the first few French Kings were.

They created the Estates-General, which is basically the same thing as the British Parliament, except its in France.

Another big difference between the Estates-General and the British Parliament is that there are only three estates, and each estate would only get one vote.

Question 17

What are the three estates of France?

Answer 17

Estate #1 Clergy (Catholic Church) (0.1% of population)

Estate #2 Rich people (0.1% of population)

Estate #3 Everyone else (99.8% of population)

When the Estates-General would vote, each Estate would only get one vote. Most of the time, the Clergy and the Rich people who vote together.

For this reason, the rich and the clergy did not have to pay any taxes in France.

Question 18

What was the Hundred Years War?

Answer 18

It was a war that did not last for 100 years. LOL. No Seriously, it didn’t last for 100 years.

It was a war between France and England.

It’s alot of drama as to why it started, but it changed the development of France and England forever!

Question 19

How was England affected by the 100 years war?

Answer 19

The King was unable to raise taxes without asking Parliament.

Parliament wanted to win the war so they approved the tax increases to pay for the war.

But the important thing to remember is that the King STILL HAD TO ASK Parliament. The Monarchy in England would develop into a Constitutional Monarchy.

England won the 100 years war!

Question 20

How was France affected by the 100 years war?

Answer 20

The King didn’t ask the Estates-General for money, he just demanded that they give him the money to help win the war

As a result, the Estates-General was far weaker compared to the English Parliament.

The King got more power in France compared to England. In France, the Monarchy would become an “Absolute Monarchy”. Meaning the King had all the power.

Question 21

What is Isaac Newton known for?

Answer 21

He wrote the Principia Mathematica

He also devised three laws of motion based on gravity

1. Objects in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force
2. Force = Mass X Acceleration
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Question 22

What is Galileo known for?

Answer 22

He was the first *living* person to propose the Heliocentric Theory

Nicolas Copernicus had proposed this theory too, but he did it after he died in a book that wasn’t published until after his death

As a result of proposing this idea, he was put under house arrest by the Catholic Church.

Question 23

What is Voltaire known for?

Answer 23

He was known for criticizing the Catholic Church and was a defender of Civil Liberties.

He also advocated for a separation between Church and State (he HATED theocracies).

In particular, Voltaire defended the people’s right to freedom of religion, speech, and protest.

Question 24

What is Joan of Arc known for?

Answer 24

Leading some of the French armies into Battle.

The reason she led the armies was that she said God told her to do it.

She was burned at the stake by the English after she was captured

Question 25

What is John Locke known for?

Answer 25

He believed that people are born with natural rights but that they would give up some freedom to protect these rights

he believed that people are born good.

Question 26

What did John Locke believe was the best kind of government? Could it be overthrown?

Answer 26

Representative Democracy (Republic)

You can only overthrow a government that violates a person’s natural rights

He inspired the American Revolution because people like Thomas Jefferson believed that the King of England had violated their natural rights

Question 27

Who is Thomas Hobbes?

Answer 27

He believed that people create gov’t in exchange for law and order

He believed that all people were evil.

Question 28

What did Thomas Hobbes believe was the best type of government?

Answer 28

He thought Absolute Monarchy was best.

He also didn’t think you could overthrow the government, ever.

Question 29

Who is Jean Jacques Rousseau?

Answer 29

He believed all people are born good but that society messes them up

He believed that the only good government is the one that respects the free will of the people and protects their freedoms

Question 30

What type of government did Jean-Jacques Rousseau support?

Answer 30

He supported a direct democracy. This is where everyone votes on everything.

He believed you could only overthrow the government if it wasn’t respecting the peoples freedom or wasn’t protecting it.